St. Martin Pomary 95/5

Introduction

This property lay between 4 on the S., 6 and 7 on the N., and tenements in St. Lawrence Jewry parish fronting on St. Lawrence Lane on the W. At some periods 7 also adjoined the W. side of 5 towards its N. end. From the early 15th century onwards 4 and 5 belonged to St. Paul's Cathedral. In the records of letting the numerous parts of this combined property during the 15th century it is not possible certainly to identify those representing 5, although the identification adopted here probably corresponds closely, if not exactly, with the true situation. From the 16th century onwards the property representing 4 and 5 was leased in 2 parts, the more northerly of which probably represented 5. In the 13th century 5 may have been part of the same property as 6 and 7, although this is not certain.

In 1858 the property was nos. 20-3 Ironmonger Lane.

Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

In the mid 13th century 5 belonged to William Fot (or le Fot), goldsmith, who was hanged for clipping coin. In 1263-4 William's son Stephen had a tenement in St. Lawrence Jewry parish, probably in St. Lawrence Lane to the W. of 95/3-4. William's messuage in Ironmonger Lane, worth £2 a year, escheated to the Crown and King Henry III granted it to William de Faukeham, a marshal of the king's household, who by 1274-5 had granted it to John le Cofrer. (fn. 1)

John was identical with the John de Sandwyco, coffrer and citizen, to whom in 1284-5 Thomas son of Thomas and his wife Isabel, daughter of William Aschby, formerly citizen and draper, sold a rent of £1 in return for a gersuma of £10. 13s. 4d. and a rent of a clove. The rent was due from John's houses in the parish of St. Martin Pomary between a tenement which had belonged to a Jew (6-7 or perhaps 8) on the N. and a tenement of William de Parns, tawyer, (4) on the S. John was also known as John le Coffrer of Ironmonger Lane and by his will, enrolled in 1305, left to his wife Denise for life a group of properties including his residence. These properties probably represented 5 and 6 since he had disposed of 7 (q.v.) by 1292. The group consisted of a capital messuage which he inhabited, a bakehouse (pistrinum) on the S. side of the capital messuage, and 4 shops on the N. side of the capital messuage, all in the parish of St. Martin. After Denise's death the shops and bakehouse were to be sold and the capital messuage was to descend to John's nephew Salamon, who was to find a chaplain to celebrate in the chapel of St. Mary in the cemetery of the church of St. Martin Pomary and to sustain the chapel against wind and rain. Salamon le Coffrer, presumably John's nephew, was in possession of the capital messuage by January 1309, when he complained that Cecilia, widow of John de Bacquelle had taken naam in his tenement in Ironmonger Lane for 2 years arrears of a rent of 13s. 4d. which she claimed that she and her husband had received from John le Coffrer. A jury found that the rent was in fact due from a tenement once a bakehouse, but now empty and shut up, adjoining the S. side of the house which had belonged to John le Coffrer. The matter arose again later that year, when Cecilia took naam for arrears of a rent 6s. 8d. in Salamon's tenement and the jury said that the rent was due from a bakehouse and 2 shops next to the site of the houses which had belonged to John le Coffrer. (fn. 2)

Salamon le Coffrer seems eventually to have come into possession of the whole of the property left to his aunt, and in 1311 John de Longo Campo quitclaimed to Salamon, a citizen, in 13s. 4d. rent from the tenement between 4 on the S. and Salamon's tenement (the remainder of 5) on the N. This rent may have been that formerly claimed by John de Bacquelle's widow. In 1320 Adam de Antioch, cofferer, quitclaimed to Salamon in the same tenement. Salamon died in 1331 and by then had divided 5 into 3 parts, identified here from S. to N. as 5A-C, which probably corresponded approximately to the 3 parts in which John le Coffrer had bequeathed the property. (fn. 3)

5A

This evidently corresponded to the former bakehouse. It lay between 4 on the S. and 5B on the N., and in 1331 was a tenement of Richard de Berkynge and his wife Joan. Richard, who was named as owner in 1345, died in November 1355 and was survived by his wife Joan, but did not mention the tenement in his will. Joan subsequently had a life interest in the tenement and by June 1356 had married Nicholas de Exton. After Joan's death the tenement was to remain to her daughter by Richard de Berkynge, Alice, who in 1356 with her husband, Richard Berneres of Sawbridgeworth, granted the remainder to William de Ilkeston, rector of the church of St. Mary-le-Bow, of which Richard de Berkynge had been a parishioner. John de Hiltoft, citizen and goldsmith, had a claim in Richard de Berkynge's estate and on 16 November 1355 Joan, as Richard's widow and being then sole, quitclaimed to de Hiltoft in the properties in which she had a life interest. In June 1357 John de Hiltoft brought a plea of intrusion against de Exton and his wife Joan, who in July had Joan's quitclaim of the previous November enrolled in Husting. De Hiltoft recovered possesion of 5A and in December 1357 granted it to de Exton and Joan for the term of Joan's life with remainder to William de Ilkeston. A few days later Thomas de Kent, citizen and draper, and his wife Joan, who was Richard de Berkynge's other daughter, quitclaimed to de Ilkeston, who in 1359 quitclaimed to de Exton and Joan in the property. (fn. 4)

Nicholas de Exton, citizen and fishmonger, thus gained full possession of the property and in October 1372 granted the tenements here to Adam Stable, citizen and mercer, and his wife Katharine. In November de Exton bound himself for a sum of £40 that his then wife Katharine would make no claim of dower. (fn. 5)

5B

This was probably the capital messuage where John le Coffrer had dwelled and would have been included among the tenements which Salamon le Coffrer left to his wife Alice for life, along with her chamber containing jewels, silver cups, mazers, and linen and woollen cloths. Salamon lived in 5B, which in his will he described as a brewhouse (tenementum bracineum) with 2 shops, between 5A on the S. and 5C on the N. After Alice's death this property was to remain to Salamon's son David, who was to sustain a chaplain at the altar of St. Mary in the church of St. Martin Pomary, paying him £3. 6s. 8d. a year and 3s. 4d. a year to the church itself. Should David die without heirs the property was to remain to Salamon's son William and his heirs, with remainder to Salamon's executors, who were to sell. After the death of Salamon's widow 10s. quit rent from this and a nearby tenement in St. Lawrence Jewry parish was to be distributed for various purposes in the church and parish of St. Martin Pomary. Salamon le Coffrer thus seems to have maintained the chantry established by his uncle and passed on the obligation to his successors. The line of succession appears to have died out during the Black Death, and the last of the line was probably Joan daughter of David le Coffrer, who was presumably Salamon's grand-daughter. She had a life interest in the property and in December 1349, with her husband John de Donemowe, citizen, and acting as executrix of Richard Martyn the executor of Alice la Coffrer, widow of Salamon, granted to Geoffrey de Molton, citizen, the reversion of a tenement with shops and solars in St. Martin parish and of a messuage with shops and solars in St. Lawrence parish, which Salamon had left to be sold. Shortly after this, and probably on account of the chantry rent due from 5B, the church of St. Martin Pomary had come into possession of a part of 5, for in 1352 a shop of the rector of the church was said, together with de Berkynge's tenement (5A), to adjoin the N. side of 4. The rector was apparently claiming an interest in the N. part of 5 in 1358 when he complained of intrusion by William Fraunceys, goldsmith, and his wife Joan, who apparently held 5B and C (cf. below). (fn. 6) There is, however, no later record of the parish church's specific interest in 5, although this may have been confused with its interest in 4. Early in the 15th century 4 and 5 belonged to one landlord who paid a quitrent from them to the parish church, but this payment appears to have ceased by 1420 (see 4).

The property seems next to have been in the possession of John Pecche, citizen and alderman, who in 1360 sold to Richard de Stortford, citizen and leatherseller, the 2 shops with houses built on them and a vacant plot of land adjacent between 5A on the S., 6, 7, a tenement of Robert de Kayton and his wife Reyne (possibly in Catte Street in St. Lawrence parish), and a tenement of William Fraunceys and his wife Joan (probably part of 5, cf. 5C) on the N., Ironmonger Lane on the E., and a tenement of Elsing Spital (in St. Lawrence parish) on the W. How Pecche acquired this property is uncertain; a little later, as mayor and escheator, he was in possession of 4 (q.v.), but this cannot explain his interest in 5B. William Fraunceys, a goldsmith, had an interest in exactly the same property. In 1357 his tenement adjoined the N. side of 5A and in 1360 with his wife Joan granted to Henry Wylwes and John Lucas, clerks, a tenement with 2 shops in Ironmonger Lane between 5B on the S., 7 and a tenement belonging to the same William Fraunceys (?5C) on the N., and a tenement of Elsing Spital on the W. Later in 1360 Wylwes and Lucas granted this property to William de Horewod, clerk, who in 1361 granted it to John Seriaunte of Magna Horewode. In 1372 the former tenement of William Fraunceys on the N. side of 5A was said to belong to Richard de Storteforde, who had probably consolidated his claim to the property and had by then also acquired 7. In 1380 Richard Storteford sold to Adam Stable and his wife Katharine the 2 shops with houses and a parcel of a vacant plot of land which John Peche had granted him. This property was said to lie between tenements of Maud Holbech (6?) and Richard Storteford (7?) on the N., 5A on the S., Ironmonger Lane on the E., and the garden of Richard Storteford (7 or possibly a property in St. Lawrence Jewry parish) on the W. (fn. 7)

5C

This northernmost part of the property was represented by the 4 shops on the N. side of the capital messuage which John le Coffrer mentioned in his will (see above). They seem later to have been in the possession of Salamon le Coffrer, who granted a shop, subsequently identifiable as 6(q.v.) and probably representing the northernmost of the four to Walter de Bardeneye. Salamon's tenement is later recorded as adjoining the S. side of 6. In his will of 1331 Salamon described 5C on the N. side of his residence (5B), as the tenement of his daughter Agnes, widow of Thomas de Wyght. Thomas may have been identical with the Thomas le Fourbour, whose former tenement adjoined the S. side of 7 in 1349. In 1358 and 1360 this seems to have been the tenement of William Fraunceys, goldsmith, and his wife Joan. In 1380 it was probably part of the property which Richard Storteford sold to Adam Stable and his wife Katharine. (fn. 8)

Late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

General

From 1383 onwards 5 was subject to the same series of transactions as 95/2 and 4, and in 1409 came into the possession of St. Paul's Cathedral as part of the endowment of the duke of Lancaster's chantry. From 1394 onwards 4 and 5 were described in a single phrase as 'certain tenements with 9 shops adjacent and a vacant plot of land', and in 1409 they were described as 3 messuages with 9 shops and a vacant plot. Of these it seems likely that 5 was represented by 2 of the messuages, 6 of the shops, and the plot. The 2 messuages probably corresponded to 5A and 5B, the latter of which had included 2 shops. There were perhaps 3 shops on the site of 5C and a further shop, making 6 in all, within 5A. (fn. 9)

In a rental which probably dates from c. 1409 5 is represented by a tenement in which Katharine Syfrewast used to dwell with a vacant plot of land and 4 shops, from which £11. 12s. rent was said to be due. Katharine, who died in 1403, was the widow of Adam Stable (see 2) and had presumably moved to 5 from 2, where Adam had lived. Whether she lived in either 2 or 5 with John Syfrewast, whom she married after Adam's death, is uncertain. This property could have been described equally well as 5 houses or tenements and a vacant plot, and thus seems to correspond with the 5 houses or tenements and a plot with a stable which seem to represent 5 in the first of the series of rent accounts for the property, covering the year 1413-14. These tenements and the plot had been let for a total of £7. 12s. rent, but the full amount was received neither in 1413-14 nor in subsequent years. The vacant plot and stable, which clearly correspond with the vacant plot described in 1409, probably lay to the rear of the property, perhaps on the site of the house successively occupied by John le Coffrer and Salamon le Coffrer. The rent accounts appear to list the tenements in order from S. to N. (cf. 4), and by 1420 the last 2 in the list had been replaced by a row of 4 new shops or tenements which seem to correspond with a group of 4 houses, each of similar size, which are recorded in the 17th century as occupying the northernmost part of the frontage of 5. This part of the frontage may have corresponded with that part formerly occupied by 5B and 5C, in which case the other 3 tenements in 1413-14 would have occupied the site of 5A. These identifications, however, are far from certain, and so the 5 tenements and a plot listed here in 1413-14 have been numbered 5D-I. The 4 new tenements which replaced the northernmost 2 tenements (5H and I) have been numbered 5J-M. The possible correspondences on the street frontage between the successive groups of numbers are summarized in the following table (5G occupied the rear part of the property):

5D

John Byset, pinner, paid 16s. 8d. rent for this tenement for the first half of 1413-14. The full rent of £1. 13s. 4d. was received from an unknown tenant in 1414-15, and between 1415 and 1420 Isabel Purser, also known as Isabel Peraunt, purser, paid this rent for the tenement, which she inhabited. Boards and quarter-cut timber were purchased for making benches and a gutter in 1414-15 and a tiler repaired the roof in the following year. In 1417-18 work costing £1. 9s. 2 1/2d. was carried out: a carpenter worked for 6 days on the steps and on repairs; a carpenter worked for 8 1/2 days on the chimney, for which a traues, a mantelshyde, a retourne, and a braas were purchased; a dauber worked on the chimney for 6 days, and a lock with 2 keys was purchased for a door. The house was vacant in 1420-1, when a carpenter repaired a window and a stall there and a cart of rubbish was carried away. The house was again vacant in 1421-2.

Thomas Wynter, mercer, lived in the house between 1422 and his death in 1426, paying £1. 6s. 8d. rent. A seat was purchased for the latrine there in 1422-3. The house was vacant for 3 terms in 1426-7 and it was probably the one which John Comfort held for 3 terms in 1431-2 at an annual rent of £1. 5s. Comfort's tenement was vacant for 3 terms in 1432-3.

The property was subsequently represented by a shop and a solar let for £1 rent. Richard Swanton held it at £1 rent between 1445 and 1460, but in 1445-6 paid only 16s. 8d. rent since the shop he inhabited, which had been let for 10s. was now let for 6s. 8d. From 1448 onwards the property was described as 2 cottages and from 1456 onwards the shop, let for 6s. 8d. rent, was said to belong to Robert Swanton, although this might be a clerical error. The cottages were vacant for a term in 1465-6, and in 1466-7 John Hawstede paid 4s. for part of the year's rent. The cottages were vacant in 1468-9 and no tenant is named for 1469-70 when the rent seems to have been paid. Between 1470 and 1475 Thomas Ilom held the 2 cottages for 13s. 4d. rent. The property may subsequently be represented by the tenement for which Richard Crosse, founder, paid £1 rent between 1477 and 1488.

5E

This was a tenement known as le Belle which between 1413 and 1420 was let for £1. 13s. 4d. rent to John Cameswelle, who lived there. The name of the house, however, is not recorded after 1415. Four pipebord and a segestol were supplied for the latrine of the house in 1415-16. An unnamed tenant paid the full rent in 1420-1. Between 1422 and 1433 John Cadyn paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent for the tenement and lived there. A dauber worked there with loam, lime, sand, laths, and nails in 1422-3. The Joan Cadyn, widow and resident of this parish, who died in 1440 was probably John's widow and successor in this tenement. (fn. 10)

Between 1445 and 1448, when it was vacant for a term, Richard Andrew, pinner, paid £1. 16s. 8d. rent for the tenement, which was vacant between 1450 and 1453. Between 1453 and his death in 1454 Thomas Hill, citizen, girdler, and resident of the parish, (fn. 11) held and probably lived in the tenement, paying £1. 13s. 4d. rent. Thomas Abell held the tenement between 1455 and 1457 at £1. 16s. 8d. rent, although the tenement was vacant for the first and the last 2 terms of this period. The tenement was vacant in 1458-9 and was let for £1. 6s. 8d. in 1459-60. Between 1469 and 1475 John Moungomere held it for £1. 6s. 8d. rent and between 1484 and 1488 it was probably the tenement which John Kingeston, pointmaker, held for the same rent.

5F

Richard Coteler, otherwise known as Richard Lovelich, cutler, lived in this house for the first half of the year 1413-14, paying £1. 13s. 4d. rent. The tenement or shop was vacant between 1414 and 1416, was let for £1. 13s. 4d. in 1416-17, and was then again vacant until 1422. Several repairs were carried out during this period. In 1414-15 a cartload of litter was purchased for the house and a dauber worked there. In 1415-16 a dauber worked there there, 7 pipes of dung were carried from the latrine, a carpenter worked on the latrine, and a key was bought for the door. In 1418-19 £2. 11s. 1d. were spent on repairs, including a tiler with a boy working for 7 days, a dauber with a boy working for 2 days, 2 carpenters working for 2 days on the gutter, lead for the gutter, and a new louver board (lyrbord). £1. 9s. 4 1/2d. were spent in 1420-1, for work which included a carpenter and a mason repairing the groundsill, a carpenter making a stall, a hautepas above (supra) the kitchen, benches in the hall, and a screen (parclos) in the shop, and repairing the steps, and work by a dauber. Between 1423 and 1426 Thomas Baret, purser, lived in the house, paying £1. 6s. 8d. rent. Further carpentry and daubing were carried out in 1422-3, and an iron hinge and hook were purchased for a window there in 1425-6. Thomas Hereford held the tenement for a term in 1426-7, when a carpenter and a dauber repaired the chimney, using elm boards, nails, and loam.

Thomas Leche was named as tenant at £1. 2s. rent in 1431-2, when the tenement was vacant for the whole year, and in 1432-3, when it was vacant for a term. The property is then identifiable as a shop and solar which was held for a term in 1445-6 by William Torold and from then to 1448 by him at £1. 2s. rent. Between 1448 and 1454 John Odyham (also written as Oldham) held the property for the same rent. In the account for 1453-4, when it was vacant for half a year, the property was said formerly to have belonged to Walter Smewyn, who had perhaps been Odyham's undertenant. Oldham is again entered as paying the rent in 1454-5. Thomas Writill held the property for 3 terms in 1455-7, when daubing and paving was carried out, a latrine was emptied and repaired, and a dog of iron was purchased for a beam in a chamber. The house was vacant for 3 terms in 1458-9, when Robert Warde began a tenancy at £1. 2s. rent which lasted until 1461 or later. A carpenter made a stall and 2 doors, and hooks for windows and a door with hinges and hooks were purchased in 1458-9. William Priour paid the £1. 2s. rent between 1469 and 1471. Between 1478 and 1488 the property is probably represented by the tenement for which Richard Wymark, grocer, held for £1 rent.

5G

This was a vacant plot with a stable which between 1413 and 1424 Thomas Aleyn, mercer, held for £1 rent. From 1422 onwards the property was described as a close with a stable and solar built over it. Between 1425 and 1427 Aleyn paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent. In 1422-3 a dauber worked on Aleyn's houses and a lead cistern with 3 pipes weighing 291 lb. in all was supplied for the close. Work costing more than £2. 8s. 6d. was carried out in the close in 1425-6: the end wall of a great chamber was rebuilt by a mason, who did the underpinning, and carpenters, who replaced the groundsill and worked on the upper framework; a dauber worked on the walls of 3 chambers and oak boards were purchased for 2 solars; tiling was carried out there and on other old houses.

William Cantelowe held the stable for the second half of 1431-2 and for 1432-3 at 13s. 4d. rent. By this date a part of the structure which Aleyn had held had probably been taken into an adjoining part of 5. Richard Riche paid 13s. 4d. rent for the stable between 1445 and 1461, although the property was described as an alley between 1448 and 1452 and as a garden with a door (hostium) from 1458 onwards. These descriptive changes may mean that the stable was pulled down c. 1450 and that the tenant had access to the garden by an alley leading from a door or gateway next to Ironmonger Lane. The rent was apparently received in 1469-70 when Riche was named as a former tenant. In 1472-3 Riche's wife paid the rent. Between 1477 and 1488 the property appears to be represented by a tenement which Robert Suthwode held for 13s. 4d. rent.

5H

This was a tenement with a broken down shed (shedde debil') held by Thomas Cave, junior, for £1. 10s. rent between 1413 and 1416. A dauber made a hearth there in 1414-15. This house and 5I were both vacant and in ruins in 1416-17 on account of the new building of John Sel, grocer. The latter was probably 6-7A, which adjoined this part of 5 to the N. and to the rear. Between 1417 and 1420 the property was vacant and in ruins, and came to form part of the site of the 4 new tenements (5J-M).

5I

This was a tenement which Robert Skynner held for £1 rent between 1413 and 1415. Skynner's former shop was let for £1 rent in 1415-16, but was vacant between 1416 and 1420, when it came to form part of the site of the 4 new tenements (5J-M). A cistern for the latrine there was made out of 41 lb. of lead in 1414-15.

5J-M

The 4 houses of the 'new rent' in Ironmonger Lane are first recorded in the account for 1420-1, when all were vacant but it was evidently intended to let one (5J) for £2. 6s. 8d. rent and the others for £2 each. The houses began to be occupied in the following year. During the period 1423-7 the new houses were described as shops but they were subsequently described as tenements. The rebuilding probably began in 1419-20 when £2. 2s. 11 1/2d. were spent on removing tiles, timber, and 28 carts of rubbish from an old house and vacant plot in Ironmonger Lane and on erecting a hoarding (hurdys) of elm boards around the site. The main work of construction was probably carried out under a single contract of which no record now survives, for the repair accounts concerning the St Paul's properties in Ironmonger Lane form an annual sequence between 1417 and 1424 and list only minor expenditure on the new houses. Work on each of the 4 new houses is recorded from 1421-2 onwards. In 1422-3 £1. 17s. 3 1/2d. were spent on erecting 4 great pentices and 4 lesser pentices at the 4 new tenements: the pentices were timber-framed and perhaps clad with boards, 14 pentice- hooks costing 10d. were used, and les semes of the pentices were covered with lead.

5J

Lawrence Steynour paid £1. 13s. 4d. for this, the first house in the new rent, for part of 1421-2. He then paid £2. 6s. 8d. a year rent for a tenancy which finished at the end of 1423. In 1421-2 £1. 9s. 1 1/2d. were spent on work there: a carpenter made 2 pentices in the garret, a window in the garret, steps belonging to the garret, and a screen (parclos) in the chamber; a dauber worked on the screen and in the buttery, Eastland board was supplied for 2 windows in the hall, and a little garnet (probably an iron hook) costing 4d. was bought. In the summer of 1424, after a short vacancy, the rent was reduced to £2, paid between 1425 and 1427 by an embroiderer (browderer). This tenant was also described as a corsewevere, that is one who made the bands of silk or other material serving as a ground for decoration with metalwork or embroidery. In 1426-7 a timber easement was made and 4 lead gutters were repaired at a total cost of 7s. 9d.

John Taillour, pinner, paid the £2 rent between 1431 and 1433, Thomas Graystoke paid it between 1445 and 1448, and then paid £1. 13s. 4d. until 1455. John Fisshe paid £1. 13s. 4d. rent between 1455 and 1457, and John Moungomere between 1458 and 1461, Edmund Lege between 1466 and 1470, Thomas Ilom in 1470-1, Richard Warde in 1472-3, and Robert Seccole (or Setcole), founder, between 1477 and 1488.

5K

The second house in the new rent appears to have been ready for a tenant during the last 3 terms of 1421-2, but was not let; 5s. 2 1/2d. were spent on work by a dauber and by a carpenter on a screen (parclos) and on the steps. In 1422-3 Stephen Goodsond, skinner, held the property at £2 rent. The rent was then reduced to £1. 13s. 4d., said to be paid by John Stodele, citizen and tailor, between 1423 and 1433. Stodele, who lived in this parish, died in 1431 and may have been succeeded as resident of this property by his widow Alice. (fn. 12) William Eyton or Exton paid £1. 13s. 4d. between 1445 and 1448, and for the latter part of 1448 Robert Bryan held at the same rent. John Cave paid the rent between 1448 and 1491, and may have been identical with the John Cave, bedmaker (a bead-maker or a weaver of bed clothes) who paid the rent between 1477 and 1488.

5L

The third house in the new rent was let to John Sange, goldsmith, at £2 rent between the last term in 1421-2 and 1423. 8s. 11d. were spent on work there in 1421-2, when a carpenter worked on a screen (parclos') in the chamber and a window in the garret, a dauber worked on the screen, and a segestol was purchased. The rent was then reduced to £1. 13s. 4d., paid by Thomas Beset or Byset, pinner, who lived there, between 1425 and 1454. A lock with a key was supplied in 1425-6. The tenement was vacant during the last 3 terms of 1454-5, John Boteler paid the £1. 13s. 4d. rent between 1455 and 1457, the tenement was again vacant between 1458 and 1461, an unnamed tenant paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent between 1469 and 1475, Andrew Austyn, grocer, paid the same rent between 1477 and 1479, and Robert Bucstede, barber, paid it between 1484 and 1488.

5M

The fourth new house was ready for letting during the last 3 terms of 1421-2, but no rent was received. In the same year £2. 14s. 3d. were spent on building work: a lead cistern with a pipe, a segestol, a door, and a lock and key were purchased for the latrine and a carpenter and a dauber worked on the screen (parclos') around the latrine; a new door, a lock, and a key were purchased for the buttery in the shop, and a carpenter and a dauber worked there; a new lattice was purchased for the hall and chamber, boards and an iron bolt were purchased for a cupboard in the hall, and 2 pairs of garnets (pargarnett: price 6d.) were purchased, probably for the hall; a lattice was made for the buttery in the hall; a lead pipe running out of the kitchen was made; a carpenter mended windows in the house; a dauber and a boy worked on le celour in the hall, on le colbyn in the garret, and on divers stairs; joists and rails were bought for a garret above the garret; and litter was bought for the buttery and screen and for the floor in the shop.

An unnamed tenant paid £2 rent in 1422-3. Thomas Clerk, tailor, paid £1. 16s. 8d. rent in 1423-4 and £1. 13s. 4d. rent between 1425 and 1427. John Ludwyk, founder, paid £1. 13s. 4d. between 1431 and 1456, and during this period the property was sometimes described as a tenement and shop. The tenement was vacant between 1456 and 1461, and in 1459-60 was said formerly to have been held by William Barley. Between 1466 and 1475 £1. 6s. 8d. rent was received and James Key was said to have succeeded Ludwyk as tenant, although it is not clear whether he had ceased to hold the tenement by 1469. In 1472-3 John Syght was tenant. Between 1478 and 1488 Joan Reynold, widow, was said to hold the tenement paying £1. 6s. 8d. rent. Joan in fact died in 1483 and was the widow of Robert Reynold, a founder and former tenant of part of 4B who died in 1476. She had kept up her former husband's business and had a shop, presumably in 5M, and left various tools of the founder's trade to her apprentice and to her former servant. In 1485-6 Brian Hobilson was named as a former tenant of Joan Reynold's house. (fn. 13)

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

The total rent due from 5 in 1487-8 (£10) represented no more than 70% of that due in 1420-1 after the rebuilding (£14. 6s. 8d.). The 4 houses erected c. 1420 (5J-M) held their value a little better than the older part of the property (5D-G) and in 1487-8 were worth 72% of their former value by comparison with 67% for the older part.

The S. part of 5 (5D-F) was rebuilt, probably in 1532-3, by William Goodwyn, citizen and mercer, and is not listed in a rental of Michaelmas 1532. At this date 5G was represented by a yard with a tenement or stable, which had been leased to Sir William Purchase, alderman and mercer, for 13s. 4d. rent, was then held by John Aparke, mercer, and was now held by John's widow Alice Aparke. The 4 tenements, 5J-M, now brought in a total of £6. 3s. 4d. rent, 3s. 4d. more than in 1487-8: the southernmost tenement (5J) had been held by Richard Clyston and was now held by Thomas Butvillion (who lived in the parish in 1544) and was now held by Ambrose Barker for £1. 13s. 4d. rent; the next tenement (5L) was held by Richard Clugh's widow Alice for £1. 6s. 8d. rent; and the fourth tenement was held by John Bowser for £1. 10s. rent. The S. part of 5 (5D-F) had previously been leased to Thomas Cryspe, who had also held 4 (q.v.), and before Goodwin's rebuilding had consisted of 4 tenancies let for £4 rent. In 1533 the dean and chapter of St. Paul's let this property together with the 4 tenements (5J-M) and the stable and back yard formerly let for the rents listed in the rental of 1532, to William Goodwyn for a term of 40 years at £10. 10s. rent, 10s. more than had been received in 1487-8. Goodwyn had rebuilt 5D-E as a tenement or messuage where he now lived. It measured 23 ft. (7.02 m.) along Ironmonger Lane, where it was bounded by 4 on the S. and the entry leading to 5G on the N. On the S. side it measured 38 1/2 ft. (11.73 m.) in length from the street to the corner of a warehouse (it is not clear whether the warehouse was part of 4 or 5); then 34 1/2 ft. (10.52 m.) northwards from that corner to a gate at the W. end of the entry leading to 5G, and then 33 ft. (10.06 m.) eastwards to the street. The shop belonging to the messuage abutted westwards on a tenement called a stable or woodhouse (it is not clear whether this was part of 4 or 5) measuring 26 1/2 ft. (8.07 m.) in length, while the shop itself measured in width 14 1/2 ft. (4.42 m.) at the E. end and 16 ft. (4.88 m.) at the W. end. In 1542, when he was living in the messuage built by Goodwyn, Christopher Meryng, citizen and mercer, took a new lease of this property for a term of 32 years from 1574, when the existing lease ran out. Under his lease Meryng was at his own cost to rebuild the 'tenement or backhouse lately called a stable' with ruinous houses there (5G) and was to be responsible for repairs, paving, and the cleansing of the 'withdrawghts', both those within the property and his share of the one which was common to 4 and 5. (fn. 14)

Meryng is recorded as paying the £10. 10s. rent for 5 between 1548 and 1580. John Lockewod paid the rent between 1580 and 1594. The lease then came into the possession of Anne Elyott of London, widow, who surrendered it in 1604. The property may previously have been held by her husband, John Elyott, leatherseller, a resident of Ironmonger Lane, who died in 1597-9. In 1604 the messuage built by Goodwyn (5D-F) was inhabited by Anne Elyott herself, the first of the 4 tenements adjoining (5J) was inhabited by Frances Lockwood, widow, the next tenement (5K) was inhabited by Thomas Wood, leatherseller, the next (5L) by Robert Hayward, glover, and the fourth (5M) by Randall Pickering, haberdasher. On surrendering the lease Anne Elyott and Thomas Ketley, citizen and leatherseller, took a lease of the messuage (5D-F) and the more southerly 3 of the tenements (5J-L) for a term of 40 years at a rent of £10 plus 5 capons or 12s. 6d. This property was described in terms similar to those of the 1542 lease, although new measurements had been taken which differed by a few inches from those given in 1542. Next to the street the messuage (5D-F) measured 22 ft. 8 1/2 in. (6.92 m.); in length it measured 38 ft. 10 in. (11.84 m.) on the S. side of an angle or corner of the warehouse, then in breadth 35 ft. (10.67 m.) from the said angle to the N.W. corner of the messuage where there was a kitchen. This warehouse was evidently part of 5 and was identical with the inner shop or warehouse, bounded on its W. side by the 'stable and woodhouse' (presumably part of 4) and measuring in length 27 ft. (8.23 m.) on the S. side and 16 ft. (4.88 m.) on the N. side, and in breadth 18 ft. (5.49 m.) at the E. end and 16 ft. (4.88 m.) at the W. end. The lease also included the yard where there had been a 'tenement or backhouse' (5G) which was now used as part of Anne Ellyot's messuage. The 3 tenements with 3 yards (5J- L) were said to measure 41 1/2 ft. (12.65 m.) along the street, 33 ft. 2 in. (10.11 m.) on the N. side of the entry to Anne Ellyot's house, 33 ft. 8 in. (10.26 m.) from S. to N. along the yards on the W. side, and 31 ft. 5 in. (9.56 m.) from W. to E. on the N. side. (fn. 15)

5D-F and J-L

Anne Ellyot came into sole possession of these properties, leased to her and Ketley, and bequeathed her interest in them to her daughter Abigail, who by 1611 had married William Moseley, citizen and leatherseller or merchant. Anne Ellyot increased the size of the property by adding to it a piece of ground leased for a term of years from Robert Bunting, landlord of 6. She died in 1612 and under the terms of her will these leases passed to Moseley, who outlived his wife Abigail. Moseley lived in the principal messuage and at his death in 1617 left his interest in the 2 leases to his then father-in-law, Henry Vincent, citizen and leatherseller. In 1630 Henry and his son Daniel Vincent, leatherseller and merchant venturer, took a new lease from St. Paul's which they surrendered the following year and immediately, with Henry's wife Dorcas (whom he may have married since 1630), took a new lease for a term of 40 years at a rent of £10 plus 5 capons or 12s. 6d. The lessees, of whom Daniel Vincent died in 1636, lived in the messuage (5D-F) once inhabited by Anne Ellyot, which, including the yard to the W., measured 81 1/2 ft. (24.84 m.) in length from the street, 24 ft. 5 in. (7.44 m.) in breadth from N. to S. at its westernmost end, 17 ft. 2 in. (5.23 m.) from the N.W. to an angle where there was now a staircase, 23 ft. (7.01 m.) in breadth from that angle towards the S., 33 ft. (10.06 m.) in length from the N. side of that angle eastwards to the furthest part of an angle at the E. end of a brick wall, 59 ft. (17.98 m.) from that corner to another corner at the furthest part of the messuage southwards, and 38 ft. 10 in. (11.84 m.) from that corner along the S. side. These dimensions enable the bounds of the yard (5G) to be established. The dimensions of the 3 tenements or messuages next to Ironmonger Lane were described as in 1604 and they were now inhabited by Simon White, apothecary (5J), Richard Somershall (5K), and Alice Haward, widow.(5L). (fn. 16)

By 1649 the yard (5G) of Henry Vincent's messuage had been built on (see below). The building and consequent rearrangement of the property had probably been carried out by 1638 when Mr. Vincent was assessed for tithing purposes in this parish for 2 houses (5D-G) valued at £35 a year. The other 3 houses leased in 1631 were represented by Mr. Vanderhood's house (5J) valued at £14, Mr. Somershall's (5K) at £12, and Mr. (sic) Hayward's house (5L) valued at £13. The total value of 5D-G) and J-L was £74 a year. The reference to Mr. Hayward in the 1638 list may be an error since Alice Hayward, presumably the widow of Robert Hayward, was still tenant in 1649 (see below). (fn. 17)

In 1649 Dorcas Vincent, widow, held the lease but did not occupy the property. The parliamentary surveyors reckoned that overall the rent could be 'improved' by £100 and listed 5 undertenants or occupants, the full values (i.e. the reserved rent plus the improved rent) of whose houses were as follows: Daniel Nicholls, £35. 8s. for the house on Ironmonger Lane representing most of 5D-F; William Webb, £42. 9s. for the house at the rear occupying 5G and part of 5D-F; Peter Noble, £13. 5s. 6d. for 5J; John Keele, £11. 3s. for 5K; and Alice Hayward, £8. 17s. for the old decayed house representing 5L. For 5J-L these valuations were slightly less than those given in 1638 and so it is probable that the value of £35 given in 1638 for the remainder of the property concerned only one of the two houses held by Mr. Vincent and that the other house, which may just have been built or divided off from the remainder of the property, was not yet let.

The surveyors in 1649 described the property in detail (see Figs. 1 and 2). It was now said to measure 64 ft. 2 in. (19.56 m.) along Ironmonger Lane and 72 ft. 5 in. (22.07 m.) in breadth in the middle. The first house, which had been part of the capital messuage occupied by Henry Vincent and was now occupied by Daniel Nicholls, was on the street frontage at the S. end of the property and measured 22 ft. 6 in. (6.86 m.) next to the street, 39 ft. (11.89 m.)from E. to W., and 20 ft. (6.1 m.) from N. to S. at the W. end (most of 5D-F). This house adjoined the S. side of the entry leading to the other part of the capital messuage and contained: below ground, 2 cellars; on the ground floor, an entry, a warehouse, a kitchen and buttery, and a little yard on the N. side of the kitchen; on the first floor, a wainscoted dining room, 2 little narrow rooms on each side, and 2 wainscoted chambers; on the second floor, 4 chambers, of which one was wainscoted, and a closet; and on the 3rd floor 2 garrets and 2 small leads. The second house, which was the other part of the capital messuage and was now occupied by William Webb, occupied the rear part of the property and measured 65 ft. (19.81 m.) from E. to W. and from S. to N. 20 ft. (6.1 m.), the E. end, 38 ft. 9in. (11.81 m.)in the middle, and 24 ft. 5 in. (7.44 m.) at the W. end (5G and part of 5D- F). It included an entry, 5 1/2 ft. (1.68 m.) by 16 1/2 ft. (5.03 m.), and contained: below ground, a cellar; on the ground floor, a little room, a parlour and closet, a yard with 2 little butteries, and a kitchen with a little yard on its S. side; on the first floor, 4 chambers, of which one was wainscoted, and a little leads; on the second floor 3 chambers and a closet with a little leaded balcony; on the third floor a chamber, a long garret, and a leads over the same measuring 12 ft. (3.66 m.) by 21 ft. (6.41 m.). The southernmost of the 3 small tenements on Ironmonger Lane frontage (5J) was occupied by Peter Noble. It measured 33 ft. (10.06 m.) by 11 1/2 ft. (3.51 m.) and contained: below ground, a cellar; on the ground floor, a shop, a back room, and a little yard; on the first floor, a hall and kitchen; on the second floor, 2 chambers; and on the third floor 2 chambers with 2 garrets over. The next tenement (5K) was occupied by John Keele. It measured 32 ft. (9.75 m.) by 12 ft. (3.66 m.) and contained: below ground, a cellar; on the ground foor, a shop and a little yard; on the first floor, a hall and kitchen; and on the second floor 2 chambers with 2 garrets over. The third of the small tenements (5L) was occupied by Alice Hayward. It measured 31 ft. (9.45 m.) by 12 1/2 ft. (3.81 m.) and contained: below ground, a cellar; on the ground floor a shop, a back room, and a little yard; on the first floor 2 chambers; and on the third floor 2 chambers with 2 garrets over.

In 1649 the parliamentary commissioners sold this property to Dorcas Vincent for £360. 17s. 6d., being 11 years purchase for the reserved rent and 2 1/2 years purchase for the improved rent. Dorcas Vincent's trustees in the sale were George Sharpulls and John Doggett, both merchants of London, and John Jackson, merchant tailor. Sharpulls, Doggett, and Jackson were subsequently feoffees in trust for Abigail Fletcher, widow, and Rebecca Goss, widow, who were successors to, and perhaps daughters and heirs of, Dorcas Vincent. In 1656 these feoffees, by direction of Rebecca Goss and Abigail and her husband Christopher Webster, citizen and merchant tailor, leased 5L, now a messuage known as the Black Dog, to Samuel White, citizen and ironmonger, who then occupied the messuage, for a term of 21 years from 1671 at £12 rent. The lease was in consideration of £150 spent by White on additional building and repairing of the structure. At the Restoration St. Paul's regained possession of 5 and Rebecca Goss, her sister, and her sister's husband became the cathedral's tenants. (fn. 18)

All the occupants of 5 can be identified in the 1666 Hearth Tax assessment, and some of them in the 1662-3 assessment. 5D-F was a house of 8 hearths in 1662-3, when it was still occupied by William Webb; it had 6 hearths in 1666, when it was empty. 5G had been divided into 2 houses, inhabited by Daniel Nicholls, silkman, and Thomas Nost, the rector of the parish; both were rated at 8 hearths in 1666, but Nicholls's house had 9 hearths in 1662-3. 5J was a house of 4 hearths occupied by Edmund Winche in 1666. 5K was a house of 3 hearths occupied in 1666 by Mary Keele, widow. 5L was a house of 6 hearths, still occupied by Samuel White in 1662-3 and occupied by Peter King, attorney, in 1666. (fn. 19)

5M

The most northerly of the 4 little tenements on the Ironmonger Lane frontage was let under a separate lease from 1604 onwards. In that year Randal Pickering, haberdasher, who inhabited the tenement, took it on a repairing lease for a term of 40 years at £1. 10s. rent. The tenement measured in width 12 ft. 1 1/2 in. (3.7 m.) next to the street and 11 ft. 11 in. (3.63 m.) at the W. end, and in length 24 1/2 ft. (7.47 m.) on both sides. There was a little yard at the W. end of the house measuring 11 ft. 4 1/2 in. (3.47 m.) on the W. side, 6 ft. 11 in. (2.11 m.) on the S. side, 6 ft. 8 in. (2.03 m.) on the N. side, and 11 ft. 11 in. (3.63 m.) on the E. side. Randal Pickering the elder, citizen and haberdasher, surrendered his lease in 1627 and took a new one on the same terms, except for the addition of a capon or 2s. 6d. to the rent. At his death in 1630 Pickering bequeathed this lease to his son, William Pickering, who was still paying the rent in 1635. The lease then passed to William's brother, Randal Pickering, citizen and haberdasher, who in 1638 surrendered it and took a new one on the same terms. At this time the house was inhabited by Mr. Loving, who was listed in the parish assessment with a house valued at £13 a year. Pickering died in 1641, having assigned the lease to friends. (fn. 20)

In 1649 William Rawlyns, blacksmith, was in possession of the lease and occupied the house, which was reckoned to be worth £12 in addition to the reserved rent, that is a total of £13. 12s. 6d. a year. The house contained: below ground, a cellar; on the ground floor, a shop, a back room and a yard; on the first floor, 2 rooms; on the second floor, 2 rooms, and on the third floor, 2 rooms and a garret over (see Fig. 1). The parliamentary commissioners sold the property to Rawlyns for £47. 17s. 6d. (11 years purchase of the reserved rent and 2 1/2 years purchase of the 'improved' rent). St. Paul's regained possession at the Restoration and Rawlyns paid the rent between 1662 and 1664. 5M was probably the house of 6 hearths occupied by Henry Poole in 1666. (fn. 21)

After the great fire

5 was destroyed in the Fire and in 1668-9 St. Paul's granted 2 new leases corresponding to those under which it had been held before the Fire.

John Meeres of St. Giles Cripplegate parish, bricklayer, obtained possesion of the lease of the N. part of the property (5M) and a new foundation was surveyed for him, probably in April 1668. In December 1669 he surrendered the old lease and obtained a new one of the newly-built tenement with its shops, cellars, solars, chambers, rooms, and yards. By 1672 he had assigned the lease to Richard Andrew. (fn. 22)

The remainder of 5 was in November 1668 leased to Rebecca Goss, widow, Christopher Webster, citizen and merchant tailor, and his wife Abigail, who was Rebecca's sister, for a term of 40 years at £12 rent, on condition that within 2 years the tenants built 4 dwelling houses there. In fact 5 houses were built on the site. One of them was represented by a foundation occupying the site of 5L surveyed in April 1668 for Humphrey Sattawayte, who was presumably an undertenant of Rebecca Goss. The other 4 were presumably built on the initiative of Rebecca Goss and her co-tenants. By 1671 property on the site of 5G belonged to Mr. Dix, who was probably an undertenant of Rebecca Goss. (fn. 23)