St. Mary le Bow 104/33

Introduction

In the 13th century this property was bounded by Cheapside on the N., 24 on the S., 32 on the W., and 34 on the E. In the mid 14th century the property was extended S. to include what had previously been a part of 24. Thereafter it was bounded on its S. side by 32.

In 1858 the property corresponded on the street frontage to no. 65 Cheapside.

Twelfth to early fifteenth century

In this period 3 main parts of the property can be distinguished (see Fig. 13): shops and solars on the Cheapside frontage (33A); a seld behind the shops (33B); a property to the S. of the seld which in the 13th century was part of 24 (33C). Before the mid 14th century the entry to the seld (33B) from Cheapside adjoined the E. side of the property and was bounded by the shops (33A) on the W. Later the entry appears to have occupied a central position in the Cheapside frontage.

In the late 12th century William son of Isabel granted the land in Cheapside (in foro) in the parish of St. Mary le Bow occupying the site of 33A and 33B together with the houses on it to Robert the tawyer (melgucerius), clerk, in return for a payment of £1 and a rent of £2. The land lay between the land of Reginald senex and the land of Robert de Cornhull and measured in length 80 ft. 15 in. (24.76 m.) and in width 18 ft. (5.49 m.) by the feet of St. Paul. If Robert or his heirs wished to dispose of the property they were to favour William or his heirs over other men by a gold bezant. At about the same time Denise daughter of Richard de Haverhell granted the same property to the same grantee in return for a payment of 4 gold besants and a rent of £2; the grantor or her heirs were likewise to be favoured by 1 besant should the grantee wish to sell. (fn. 1)

In the first half of the 13th century Richard son of Robert the tawyer (megucerius) granted his seld in St. Mary le Bow parish between 32 on the W. and 34 on the E. to Thomas Sibelin (or Sibling) and his wife Emma in return for a payment of £3 and a rent of £3. 6s. 8d. The grantees and their heirs and assigns were to pay in the name of the grantor rents of 13s. 4d. to the priory of St. Mary, Southwark, 13s. 4d. to the nuns of Haliwell, 13s. 4d. to Richard son of Walter and his heirs, and 16s. to the hospital of St. James (Westminster). There are two versions of this grant, one in chirograph form. The two groups of witnesses are not identical, but both are headed by Ralph Eswy, alderman. The chirograph probably represents the later and more definitive version of the transaction, for in the other text the 13s. 4d. rent, which is said in the chirograph and later sources to have been due to Haliwell Priory, is said to be due to the nuns of Clerkenwell. The apparently earlier version includes a clause favouring the grantor and his heirs by a gold besant should the grantees wish to sell. This clause is not present in the chirograph. (fn. 2) The property conveyed by this transaction presumably included an entry leading into the seld from Cheapside, but may not have included any shops that there may have been in the street frontage. In 1247-8 Richard son of Robert the tawyer granted the £3. 6s. 8d. rent which he had from his seld to his sister Rose, her husband Edmund son of Arnold the saddler, and their heirs. During his lifetime Richard was to receive from the grantees each year a saddle with its equipment (apparatus) and with a bridle decorated with silver (cum laurenis deargentatis), which were to be sent to Richard's house at Lymford; if this was not done Richard could distrain in the seld for 13s. 4d. (fn. 3)

Over the period 1250-3 Holy Trinity Priory acquired a total of 19s. quit-rent from the two shops with at least two solars above on the street frontage (33A), which at that time were apparently occupied by Ralph son of Thomas. The remaining part of the frontage was probably occupied by the entry to the seld, which now belonged to Emma Sibeling, widow of Thomas Sibeling. In 1250-1 John le Lung granted the priory 9s. rent which Ralph son of Thomas used to render from the 2 shops with solars over; the priory paid £4 as gersuma and was to pay a rent of 1/2 lb. of cumin to the grantor and his heirs; the two shops were said to lie between 32 and the seld (perhaps more strictly the entry to the seld) of Emma Sibeling. In 1251-2 Ranulf the goldsmith granted to the priory a rent of 6s. which Ralph son of Thomas used to render from a shop next to 32; the priory paid £3 as gersuma and was to pay a rent of 1/2 lb. cumin or 1/2d. to the grantor and his heirs. In 1252- 3 Emma widow of Thomas Sibeling granted to the priory 4s. quit-rent which Ralph son of Thomas rendered from 2 solars between 32 and Emma's seld together with free entry and exit through the atrium of the seld; the priory gave £1. 10s. as gersuma. (fn. 4) The fact that Emma had a rent from the solars suggests that they may once have been occupied in association with the seld behind. The stairs to the solars presumably rose out of the atrium of the seld, a term which may denote either an open yard or passage in the centre of the seld or the entry leading into the seld from the street. Ralph son of Thomas is recorded as paying the 19s. rent to Holy Trinity Priory, and was succeeded by Nicholas son of Ralph. (fn. 5)

By 1261 the seld (33B) had come into the possession of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, which in that year granted a solar in the seld to Ralph son of Thomas le Gaunter in perpetuity in return for 4s. rent. The solar was beyond (ultra) the chests of Robert Auteyn, lay on the E. side, and extended in length and width between the 'two doors' (see below). Ralph and his heirs were to have access to the solar by the door of the seld and were to carry the water from the seld through the solar into the street. (fn. 6) This last provision suggests that the roof of the seld may have been at a lower level than that of the solar. Later evidence indicates that the solar was over the entry to the seld (see below), in which case the 'two doors' were perhaps situated at either end of the entry. In 1279-80 the hospital granted the seld, which lay in the Mercery (merceria) between 34 on the E., 32 on the W., and 24 on the S., to Richard de Staunfordia, mercer, and his wife Agnes, who were to have one moiety, and to William de Kelleshulle, who was to have the other moiety. The hospital reserved a rent of £2. 4s.; the £3. 6s. 8d. rent with which the seld was charged was now due to William de Dunolmia, and rents of 16s. to St. James's Hospital, 13s. 4d. to St. Mary Overy, and 13s. 4d. to Haliwell Priory were also due. A later rental records Richard de Staunford as owing the £2. 4s. rent to the hospital and subsequently the rent was said to be due from the new seld which Robert Hauteyn had held. Hauteyn's tenure, however, should probably be dated c. 1261 (cf. above). Richard de Staunford was named as owner of the tenement here in 1298, but John le Botuner, mercer, had succeeded him by 1299 when he was pardoned the arrears of the £1. 4s. (sic) rent due from the seld; the rent of 4s. from the solar over the entry to the seld which the hospital had granted to Ralph son of Thomas le Gaunter was not in arrears at this time. (fn. 7)

A later endorsement on the hospital's grant of 1279- 80 describes the property (33B) as the new seld which Henry de Durem', R. de Kelesey, and others held. Robert de Kelesey held the tenement representing the seld in 1306, 1311, and 1318, and was named as tenant of the shops and solars (33A) from which the rent to Holy Trinity Priory was due in 1307-8, 1315-16, and 1327-8. Robert was succeeded by his son Thomas de Kelesey, clerk. In 1336 Thomas failed to attend Husting to answer a plea of naam and the hospital was allowed to distrain for its £1. 4s. rent. In 1341 when Thomas was rector of Uherst (presumably Ewhurst, in Hants, Surrey, or Sussex), the 19s. rent from 33A, which was 15 years in arrears, was recovered by Holy Trinity Priory; the property from which the rent was due appears still to have consisted of two shops with two solars over them. St. Bartholomew's Hospital then recovered possession of its seld and solars (33B) from Thomas, and in 1344 granted this property in return for a rent of 4d. to Richard de Berking, citizen, Nicholas de Northampton, innkeeper (herbeg', hostiller), and Geoffrey de Haryngworth, chaplain. In the same year de Berking quitclaimed to the other two grantees. In 1345 the priory of St. Mary Overy successfully asserted its claim to the 13s. 4d. rent from 33B, then held by de Haryngworth and de Northampton, and pardoned them the 10 years' arrears which were owing. In 1350 the seld (33B) was said to belong to William de Blakeneie. (fn. 8)

The £3. 6s. 8d. rent due from the seld (33B) to William de Dunolmia in 1279-80 was subsequently augmented by 10s., probably by his successor, Henry de Dureme, citizen, who appears to have held a part of the seld (cf. above). Since the rent due to St. Bartholomew's Hospital from the seld fell by 10s. between 1279-80 and 1299 (see above) this was probably the result of an arrangement between two owners of quit-rents from the property. In 1306 Henry de Dureme took naam for arrears of the £3. 16s. 8d. rent, which Robert de Kelesey owed him. The distrained items were mercers' wares (worsted, chalons of Reynes (Rennes or Rayne in Essex), and caps of Paris) and were taken from plots within the seld held by William de Dallingge, Adam de Forsham, and Robert le Hattere. Henry's will was enrolled in 1315 and he was later said to have left his £3. 16s. 8d. rent from the seld to his daughter Joan and her heirs. Joan married John Corp, and in 1331 Robert de Kelesey acknowledged that he owed John and his wife Joan the £3. 16s. 8d. rent. John Corp, pepperer, died in 1331-2 and Joan then married Richard de Welleford, citizen and draper. In 1344 de Northampton and de Haryngworth acknowledged that the rent was due to Richard and his wife Joan, and then to their son Richard. The rent descended, however, to Joan's daughter and heir, Joan, who in 1359 with her husband, William de Hanannpstede, citizen and pepperer, granted it to Adam de Wymundham, citizen and mercer, and Thomas Blees. At this date the seld belonged to Walter de Berneye. (fn. 9)

In 1332 the rent due to Holy Trinity Priory from 33A was said to be due from Nicholas Armerer, who was probably a tenant of Robert de Kelesey. Nicholas was also known as Nicholas le Clerk, armourer, as Nicholas Larmarer, clerk, and as Nicholas le Girdelere, armourer. In 1340 he complained of intrusion by the hospital of St. Bartholomew, and by about this date was in possession of 33A. In 1343 there was an exchange of properties between him and the hospital, the purpose of which appears to have been to shift the entry to the seld (33B) to a more central position in the Cheapside frontage. In this transaction the hospital gave Nicholas a piece of land which had been the entry to the seld lying between the stone wall of 34 on the E. and the shop and plot of land belonging to Nicholas on the W.; the land measured 1 1/2 ells 3 in. (4 ft. 9 in; 1.45 m.) in width, 4 3/8 ells 2 1/2 in. (13 ft. 4 in.; 4.06 m.) in length from the street to the seld, and 2 5/8 ells 2 in. (8 ft. 1/2 in.; 2.45 m.) in height to the summer of the solar belonging to Nicholas above. In exchange Nicholas granted the hospital a piece of land of the same dimensions lying immediately to the W. Nicholas and his successors were to have free access through the entry (presumably the new entry) to the seld and in the entry were to have 2 easements (us; the text is in French) called rydyngdores opening into the shops on either side of the entry; the new entry was to be 1 1/2 ells 1 in. (4 ft. 7 in.; 1.4 m.) in width between the posts and was to be maintained by both parties; Nicholas and his successors alone were to maintain the posts in the entry which supported the solars above. Nicholas also held a tenement (33C) on the S. side of the seld (33B). In 1341 the hospital claimed that this was a third part of the seld of which Nicholas had dispossessed them, but Nicholas claimed, apparently successfully, that he held the tenement for a term of years from the Minoresses, who owned 24. Later Nicholas appears to have obtained full possession of this tenement which came to be regarded as part of 33. Nicholas probably resided in 33C. By his will, dated and proved in 1349, he left the tenements which he held in fee in St. Mary le Bow parish (probably 33A and C) to his wife Joan and his children, John, Thomas, Joan, and Margery, and their heirs. These heirs apparently failed and in 1356-7 the rector of St. Stephen Walbrook possessed 33A. (fn. 10)

33A was charged with a rent of 18s., which in 1368, when it was 21 years in arrears, was due to John FitzSimond and had formerly been due to Reginald de Conductu, John's grandfather (avus). This rent was probably identical with that later due to St. Helen's Priory (see below). In 1368 the rent was due from John Knyf, who in 1379 was named as the owner of the front part of 33, and was presumably identical with the John Gyrdelere who owed the rent due to Holy Trinity Priory from 33A in 1363-4 and 1375-6. John Hailesdon, the owner of 33B, owed the rent in 1377-8. Knyf's property here was inherited by his son, who as John Knyf son of John Knyf of Buckinghamsire, formerly citizen and freeman, in 1394 granted it (described as lands, tenements, and rents) to John Newnham and his wife Agnes. In 1405 Newnham and Agnes granted this property, now bounded by le Crownseld (33B) on the S. to John Wodecok and John Shadworth, citizens and mercers, and William Cressewyk. (fn. 11)

The hospital of St. James, Westminster, maintained its interest in 33B well into the 14th century, for in 1356-7, when the hospital's possessions were temporarily in the hands of the Crown, they included shops in St. Mary le Bow parish which had belonged to Robert de Kelsey and were now held by Walter de Bernay. In 1377 and 1379 the seld (33B), and probably also the tenement to the S. (33C), was described as the property of Walter Berney and John Ailesdon, citizens and mercers. Ailesdon, or Heylesdon, was later the sole owner and by his will, dated and proved in 1384, left his tenement called la selde coronata, with other properties in London, to his wife Joan for life with remainder to his daughter Margaret and her heirs, with the proviso that should Joan recover possession of a certain tenement in Norwich his daughter Alice was to have the seld in tail. Margaret died without heirs and, according to the terms of Heylesdon's will, his surviving executor in 1390 sold the reversion of the property after Joan's death to William Brampton and Thomas Newton, citizens, John Maxfeld, clerk, and William Skreen. Heylesdon's widow Joan married Sir John Seyton, knight, who in 1389 was named as owner of the property and in 1394 with his wife granted the reversion after Joan's death to William Battisford, rector of Maideswell, John Hedon, James de Billyngford, and John Douve, to whom in the same year Brampton and the other grantees of 1390 conveyed their interest. Hedon then died and in 1395 Battisford, de Billyngford, and Douve granted the reversion after Joan's death of le Crowneselde in le Mercerie and other properties formerly belonging to Heylesdon to Guy Moon, clerk, and to John Pountfreit, Henry Pountfreit, and Simon Docer, citizens and saddlers. The seld now included 33C and was bounded by 32 on the S. and W. (fn. 12)

In 1401, Guy Moon having quitclaimed to Henry Pountfreit, and the other grantees of 1395 being dead, Henry Pountfreit granted the seld (33B and C) to William Cressewyk and to John Shadworth, John Wodecok, William Parker, John Whyte, senior, and Nicholas Bacon, citizens and mercers. Wodecok may have occupied the shops (33A) in the Cheapside frontage at this time, for in 1397-8 he owed the rent due to Holy Trinity Priory. In 1407 Shadworth and Wodecok, their co-grantees of 1401 being dead, and Nicholas Bacon having given up his claim, granted the property to William Cavendyssh, Richard Mederose, and John Fauntleroy, citizens and mercers, who later in the same year granted it to Wodecok, Shadworth, William Askham, fishmonger, John Cokayn, chief baron of the Exchequer, and Richard Whityngton, Stephen Speleman, William Marcheford, Thomas Aleyn, and John Whatle, citizens and mercers. These groups of feoffees held on Wodecok's behalf, but the prevalence among them of influential members of the Mercers' Company suggests that the company, which since its charter of incorporation in 1394 had been empowered to acquire property worth £20 a year, was already by 1407, if not by 1395, considering 33 as a potential acquisition. (fn. 13)

By his will, dated 1408, Wodecok left his tenements in the parish of St. Mary le Bow to be sold by his executors. He was dead by June 1410 when the rent collector of Holy Trinity Priory acknowledged the receipt from his executors of a part of the 19s. rent due from the front part of the seld called le Crowne. Application was then made for a licence for Stephen Spelman, William Marcheford, and John Whatele to alienate the seld and shops (33A-C) to the Mercers' Company in mortmain. An enquiry was made in October 1410, at which the property was said to be worth £7. 13s. 4d. a year. The licence was granted in January 1411 and in February Speleman, Marcheford, and Whatele granted the property to the company. Revenue from the Crown was entered for the first time in the Mercers' Company records in the account for the year ending 24 June 1411, when £15. 15s. 5d. rent was received and the following quitrents were paid: 19s. to Holy Trinity Priory and 18s. to St. Helen's Priory, both for the front, and 13s. 4d. to Haliwell Priory for the seld within. £1. 5d. was spent on repairs, leaving a balance of £13. 5s., substantially more than the valuation made the previous October. At some time during this year the company paid John Wodecok's executors £200 for le Crownselde (33B and C) with le front (33A) before it, a sum which was perhaps calculated as 15 years' purchase. In addition £3. 14s. 4d. were paid for costs concerning the royal writ of inquiry and £1 was paid for legal counsel. The sums in the rent account suggest that the Mercers' Company received the revenue from the property for the whole year up to June 1411, that is from well before the date when the Crown ordered the inquiry into the proposed acquisition. It is possible that the company was informally receiving the revenue from the property even before Wodecok's death, although there are no references to the income in earlier accounts. (fn. 14)

The 13s. 4d. quit-rent due from 33 to the priory of St. Mary Overy, not mentioned in the Mercers' account for 1411, was probably in arrears at this period, and it was almost certainly in connection with this rent that in 1413 the prior complained of intrusion by the wardens of the company concerning his tenement in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. The prior's action seems to have been successful, for by 1422 the mercers were paying the rent, which appears as a regular item in later accounts. In 1431-2 the company took the opportunity provided by the arrangements then being made to finalize the establishment of Whittington's charity, of which the company was trustee, to reinforce its title to 33. In these transactions 33 was described as a seld and a shop between the seld and the street; the property apparently included cellars. (fn. 15)

Fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries (to 1525) (fn. 16)

Before 1460 receipts from, and expenditure on, 33 cannot always be identified in the Mercers' Company accounts since they are often recorded only in totals with sums concerning other properties. The 4 quit-rents due were still being paid in the 1530s and so presumably amounted to a regular annual charge of £3. 3s. 8d., although these payments were sometimes made in arrears as is made clear by the payment in 1422-3 of 16s. 8d. to Haliwell Priory for 1 1/4 years' rent. The table (at end) summarizes, so far as is possible, what can be deduced concerning the company's total receipts from the property. Throughout the 15th and early 16th centuries the company let the property to tenants at will and was itself responsible for repairs. At the end of the 15th century 33 was usually let in 7 or 8 separate units. This was probably also the case earlier, for in 1427-8 7 tenancies at the Crown were vacant for 3 terms and in 1447 7 separate tenants were named, each of whom was said to hold a shop. In 1418-19 £19. 8s. 4d. rent was said to have been received from the Crown and there may have been no vacancies. Between 1436 and 1442 the nominal rental value of the property was £19; in each of these years it is likely that less than this was received on account of vacancies, although only those for 1436-7 are specifically recorded. By 1447 the nominal rental value had fallen to £15. 6s. 8d. By 1461-2 it had fallen to £14. 11s. 4d., although in 1460-1 it was given as £16. 8s.

The records of vacancies sometimes give rent values for individual shops or tenements and name the immediately preceding tenants. Thus a shop formerly let for £1. 6s. 8d. rent was vacant in 1419, and 2 shops formerly let to Richard Denton and Edmund Goldyngton for £1. 6s. 8d. rent each were vacant in 1436-8.

A rental dated Christmas 1447 records a total of £15. 6s. 8d. rent due from 7 tenants, each holding a shop: Ralph March' owed £4. 13s. 4d. rent, John Lyons £1. 6s. 8d., Nicholas Hatton £2, Gerard Reed £2, Robert Frankissh £1. 6s. 8d., Thomas Onhand 13s. 4d., and Elizabeth Flete £3. 6s. 8d. In 1453-4 one of the tenants requested that his rent be lowered by 6s. 8d. Nicholas Hatton still held his tenement in 1458-9, when his rent was raised by 5s., although at this time he still owed £1 as arrears; John Chamber was another tenant who was in arrears in the same year. In 1460-2 Thomas Lommore held a little chamber over Hatton's wife's shop for an annual rent of 3s. 4d. which had not been received before. In 1462-3 and for part of 1463-4 William Clerk's former tenement was vacant. A tenement formerly held by Henry Colet was vacant for part of 1463-4. A chamber formerly let for 3s. 4d. was vacant in 1467-8 and may have been the same as the chamber over Thomas Lomnore (also spelt Lymnour) which had been let for the same rent and was vacant between 1462 and 1472. Since Lomnore's chamber was over a shop at least part of the property stood a minimum of 3 storeys high above ground level. In 1471-2 a chamber formerly held by Edmund Joes for 13s. 4d. rent was vacant.

In 1472-3 the company received 8 separate rents from letting different parts of the Crown. The descents of most of these holdings can then be traced continuously to 1525-6, except for the period 1479-83. Several of the holdings can be identified with parts of the property mentioned before 1472. There was a relatively rapid turnover of tenants, some tenants moved from one part of the property to another, and the different parts of the property were held in varying combinations; it seems likely, too, that the physical divisions between the parts of the structure were altered from time to time, although the evidence for this is circumstantial rather than explicit. For these reasons, the following account conveys an impression rather than a full reconstruction of the pattern of occupation of the property. The 8 tenancies of 1472-3 are identified here as a-h. A brief discussion of the physical arrangement of the Crown follows the accounts of the descents of the individual properties.

33a was held by Richard Gowle, mercer, in 1472-3 for 12s. rent. This was probably identical with the shop held by Thomas Onhand in 1447. Gowle paid the same rent in 1474-5 and between 1477 and 1493, but paid 13s. 4d. rent in 1473-4 and between 1475 and 1477. The holding was vacant in 1493-4. Subsequently it was described as a shop or as a 'shop aloft' and was evidently at first floor level over a part of 33e. Thomas Wyndout paid 12s. rent for this shop between 1494 and 1498, Thomas Tunsted paid the same between 1498 and 1508, and George Atclyf the same between 1508 and 1520. The shop then seems to have been vacant, except for 1524-5, when 3s. rent was received for a single term.

33b was held by Thomas Ylam, mercer, between 1472 and 1474 for £4. 13s. 4d. rent. This was probably identical with the shop held by Ralph March in 1447. In 1474-5 John Reynold paid the same and between 1475 and 1477 William Whyte paid the same for the great shop that Ylam had held. Between 1477 and 1479 Whyte paid £7. 16s. rent for 3 shops representing 33b, c, and d, and between 1483 and 1487 paid £5. 13s. 4d. for the 'great inner shop' representing 33b. The £1 increase in rent was probably accounted for by the chamber which was let with the great inner shop during this period and later; this chamber was at first floor level or higher and was subsequently referred to as a little warehouse aloft or as a shop; it may have been the holding identifiable between 1472 and 1479 as 33g (q.v.). The property was vacant in 1487-8, when the £5. 13s. 4d. rent was said to be due from a tenement of William Easton. Easton paid £2. 13s. 4d. rent in 1488-9 for what appears to have been the same property; John Easton paid this rent in 1489-90, William Easton paid it between 1490 and 1498, and John Easton between 1498 and 1507. The property was then described as two shops, of which one had been let for £2 and the other for 13s. 4d.: the more valuable one was vacant in 1506-7 and both were vacant between 1507 and 1511. Philip Meredith paid £2 for 2 shops which probably represented this property between 1511 and 1513, but the shops were vacant in 1513-14. Between 1514 and 1516 John Barton probably held the shops in conjunction with 33f (q.v.) John Westgate then paid £1. 13s. 4d. for the two shops until 1519. They were then vacant until 1521 when John Booke, (also written as Rooke, probably both in error for Brooke) began a tenure at £1. 13s. 4d. which was still in force in 1525.

33c was held by William Whyte, mercer, between 1472 and 1475 for £1. 6s. 8d. rent. Between 1475 and 1477 Whyte paid £2. 14s. 8d. for the two shops representing 33c and d, and between 1477 and 1499 33c and d were held with 33b (q.v.). Between 1483 and 1488 John Wourthlee (or Wretheley), haberdasher, held 33c for £1. 6s. 8d., and from now on it is clear that the shop was on the ground floor next to the street. Between 1488 and 1491 Walter Hewett paid the same rent for the shop, in 1491-2 John (perhaps an error for Thomas) Gostewik's wife paid the rent, and between 1492 and 1495 Thomas Gostewik paid the rent for his wife's shop, which in 1494-5 was said to be beneath his own shop (33f). The shop seems subsequently to have been held with 33f (q.v.).

33d was held by William Whyte, mercer, between 1472 and 1474 for £1. 8s. rent. In 1474-5 it was held with 33c (q.v.) and between 1477 and 1479 with 33b (q.v.). Whyte paid the £1. 8s. rent between 1483 and 1486 and John Colett paid the same in 1486-7. The property was vacant between 1487 and 1492, when it was described as a great shop and as a 'shop beneath' (perhaps beneath Colett's other shop, which was part of 33e). In 1492-3 John Colett was entered in the rental as owing £2. 13s. 4d. rent, perhaps for this shop and a shop which had previously been part of 33e. Both these shops, however, were vacant between 1492 and 1494. Thomas Baldrey paid £1. 13s. 4d. for the shops between 1495 and 1510, when it is clear that one was at ground level and the other was aloft. The property was vacant for part of 1508-9. Philip Meredith appears to have held one of the shops for 3 terms in 1510- 11, paying 10s. rent. In 1511-12 John Applyard paid £1 rent for one of the shops and 13s. 4d. for the other. In 1512-13 Applyard paid £1 for one of the shops, which then became vacant and seems not to be mentioned in later accounts. The other shop was held by Richard Clyfford for 13s. 4d. rent from 1512 to 1520; John Brooke was regarded as holding it for this rent from 1520 to 1526, but it was vacant for half of 1522-3, for the whole of 1523-4, and for 3/4 of 1424-5.

33e was held by Richard Bull, mercer, between 1472 and 1479 for £3. 6s. 8d. rent. It was probably identical with the shop held by Elizabeth Flete in 1447. In 1483-4 William Pratt, mercer, paid the same, but the property was then divided and Pratt paid £2. 13s. 4d. rent until 1486, when he was succeeded by William Whyte, who paid the same until 1492. The other part of 33e was a 'little house above' for which John Colett paid 13s. 4d. between 1485 and 1492. Whyte paid £2. 6s. for two shops in 1492-3, when Colett's former shop may have been reckoned with 33d (q.v.). In the same year a shop formerly held by Whyte for 13s. 4d. and lying 'under Thomas Baldry' (cf. 33d) was vacant; this shop was also vacant in 1494-5 when it was said to be beneath Thomas Wyndout's shop (i.e. beneath 33a), but in 1495-6 it was let for 13s. 4d.; later the shop is said to be at ground level and was held by George Atclyf for 13s. 4d. rent in 1496-7 and for 12s. rent between 1497 and 1506; John Rauson paid the same rent between 1507 and 1513; the shop was vacant in 1513-14; John Reve paid the 12s. rent in 1514-15; Robert Cherssey paid it between 1515 and 1518; Henry Hastry paid it between 1518 and 1520; James Spenser paid the rent between 1520 and 1522 and continued to be named as tenant between 1522 and 1525, but the shop was vacant in 1523-4 and for part of the next year. The larger part of the property was generally described as 2 shops at ground level, although by 1503-4 they had been combined into one: William Whyte paid £1. 10s. rent for the shops from 1493 to 1503; Roger Man (or May) paid the same from 1504 to 1508; Richard Colyer paid the same between 1508 and 1510; Robert Bolle (or Bolte) paid £2. 10s. in 1510-11 and £1. 10s. in 1511-12; Amery Baynard paid the same in 1512- 13; John Erney (also named Arney and Harney) paid the same in 1513-14 and £2. 10s. from 1514 to 1518; John Barton paid £2. 10s. between 1518 and 1525, when his rent was reduced by 7s. 6d.; Barton was still named as tenant at the reduced rent between 1523 and 1525, although the shop was vacant for 1/4 year in 1523-4 and for 1/2 year in 1524-5.

33f was held by Thomas Lymnor, mercer, from 1472 to 1486 for £1 rent. Lymnor had held part of the Crown from at least as early as 1460 onwards. Between 1486 and 1591 Thomas Gostewik paid the same rent for a shop that Lymnour had held and a chamber. This shop was at first floor level over 33c and was therefore next to the street. In 1491-2 John (perhaps an error for Thomas) Gostewik paid the £1 rent; between 1492 and 1495 Thomas Gostewik paid the rent and between 1495 and 1502 paid £2. 6s. 8d. for this shop and the shop beneath (33c) which had been held by his wife. Gostewik was admitted to the fellowship of the Mercers' Company in 1502 and on this account his rent was to be reduced to £1. 13s. 4d., but he seems to have paid the rent of £2. 6s. 8d. until 1504. He paid £1. 13s. 4d. in 1504-5, but 5s. less in 1505-6, when the warehouse over his shop was vacant for part of the year. In 1506-7 the whole property was vacant. In the rental for 1507-8 Gostewik was charged with £2. 6s. 8d. for 3 shops, one at ground level worth 13s. 4d. rent and 2 above worth £1. 13s. 4d.; the two upstairs shops were both vacant and probably occupied the first and second floors respectively (for the upper one at an earlier date, see 33h). In 1508-9 John Barton paid the £1. 13s. 4d. for the 3 shops, he owed the rent in 1509-10, but appears to have paid it from 1510 to 1514. Between 1514 and 1516 Barton paid £3. 13s. 4d. rent for this property and 33b. From 1516 to 1519 Barton held the property representing 33c, f, and h for £1. 13s. 4d. rent, but owed 1/4 year's rent in 1517-18. The property was vacant in 1519-20; John Gooche held it for £1. 13s. 4d. rent from 1520 to 1525, but it was vacant for 1/2 year in 1523-4.

33g was held by Nicholas Hatton's wife between 1472 and 1479 for £2 rent. It was presumably identical with the shop which Hatton had held for this rent in 1447. The property cannot be identified after 1479, but it may have been identical with the chamber which appears to be being let with 33b by 1483.

33h was a shop supra Lymnor which between 1472 and 1486 was let for 3s. 4d. rent. It was probably at second floor level next to the street over 33f. Between 1486 and 1492 it was probably the chamber which was let with 33f at no extra rent. From 1493 onwards it is probably to be identified as the 'shop or chamber over Thomas Gostewik'. This chamber was vacant from 1493 to 1495, but was let for 13s. 4d. rent between 1495 and 1500. It seems then to have been vacant, but was described as a warehouse in 1500-1 and as a garret in 1505-6. The later history of the property is described under 33f, above.

Between 1488 and 1493 the accounts record a vacant part of 33 which cannot otherwise be identified. This was a holding for which William Smyth had apparently paid 13s. 4d. rent.

The arrangement of the different parts of the property cannot be fully reconstructed, but an attempt is made in Fig. 14. There were probably two shops on the street frontage on either side of an entry. One of these shops was c, over which was f, and over f was h. The arrangement of the other half of the property next to Cheapside is uncertain and it may not have stood more than two storeys above ground. The largest part of the property, b, let for £4. 13s. 4d. in 1472-3, lay behind the shops on the frontage and included a little warehouse above; it was probably no more than 2 storeys high. It seems possible that g was a subsidiary part of one of these structures. The next most valuable part of the property, e, appears to have been a similar structure and probably lay in the rear part of the property. It is not known whether b and e were ranged in line down one side of the property or whether they were ranged on either side of a narrow courtyard in line with the entry. The latter arrangement is shown in Fig. 14, where a and d are shown adjoining the street, but this is far from certain. It is noteworthy that at one time or another each part of 33, even h at second storey level, is described as a shop. The upper rooms are also described as warehouses or chambers. The property included cellars; these are not mentioned in the rent accounts, but may have been let with b and e. None of the tenants were said to dwell in their holdings, and it seems likely that during the 15th century every part of the property had a solely commercial use. In the 16th century, however, when the 3-storey part of the structure next to Cheapside (c, f, and h) was held by a single tenant, John Barton, who also held substantial parts of the property to the rear, these holdings may have formed a unit with a domestic as well as a commercial function. At about this time one of the tenants of 33 may also have held the part of 32 which adjoined to the S., for in 1525-6 the seld called le Crowne was said to adjoin the N. side of 23B. (fn. 17)

1525 to 1565

During the early 16th century several parts of the property were vacant and the property brought in very much less rent than it had done (cf. table at end). It is not possible to identify the company's expenditure on maintenance, but the buildings had probably fallen into a poor state of repair. In 1524 Bartholomew Baron, mercer, obtained a lease from the company of the tenement and seld called the Crown for a term of 50 years from 1525 at £6 rent. Baron was to be responsible for repairs and within 3 years was to pay £100 towards the cost of new tenements, shops, and warehouses there; he was only to let or grant parts of the property to freemen of the Mercers' Company. His rent was said to have been reduced from £7. 14s., which had been the annual total received from tenants between 1517 and 1519, and probably amounted to the total rent which could be received if all parts of the property were let. In 1529 this lease was assigned to John Hare, mercer, who was probably living there in 1541 and 1544. In May 1550, when the company wished to raise money with which to buy back from the king certain properties which had been held as endowments for chantries, 33 was sold to John Hare and John Blundell, mercers, and their heirs and assigns for £120, a sum which was presumably calculated as 20 years' purchase, since it was probably known that the total of £3. 3s. 8d. quit-rent due was shortly to be eliminated. At the time of this grant John Hare occupied the property. He continued to live there until his death in 1565, when he left his dwelling house called the Crown with its shops, cellars, yards, and warehouses to his son Richard Hare and his male heirs, with successive remainders to his younger sons Hugh, John, and Thomas and their male heirs, and then to his eldest son Ralph Hare and his heirs. (fn. 18)

Following the dissolution of the religious houses the Crown received from the Mercers' Company the 4 quit-rents totalling £3. 3s. 8d. due from 33. (fn. 19) In July 1550 the Crown sold these and many other rents in the city due from the Mercers and other companies to Augustine Hynde and Richard Turke, citizens and aldermen, and William Blackwell, gentleman and common clerk of the city. Those grantees were acting as agents for the companies and in November 1550 quitclaimed to the Mercers' in the rents in return for a payment equivalent to 20 years' purchase. Further security of title was thought to be necessary, and in 1558 Blackwell granted the rents due from the Mercers' lands to Sir Roland Hill, who immediately drew up a testament by which he left the rents to the company. (fn. 20)

Late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

The descent of 33 after the death of John Hare in 1565 is not known. During much of the 1570s and 1580s the property was probably inhabited by William Ormeshawe, citizen and grocer, who held a shop in an adjoining property (34). At his death in 1590-1 he left to his wife Rachel during her widowhood the remaining 8 years, at £6. 13s. 4d. rent, of his mansion house in Cheapside known as the 'Gilte Crowne'. In 1638 this was perhaps the house valued at £40 a year and occupied by Mr. Pawlet. In 1644, when the property was still known as the Crown, it belonged to Sir Thomas Allen, from whom it was seized by the committee for sequestering the estates of delinquents and papists in London. The tenant in 1644 was Thomas Conn, assign of Lawrence Brinley who had taken a lease from Allen at £70 rent and had allegedly paid a fine of at least £200. At Midsummer 1643 there were 18 years to come on this lease. In 1666, on the eve of the Great Fire, 33 probably consisted of a house of 7 hearths occupied by Guthlac Holliet, draper, and a house of 5 hearths occupied by William Major, mercer. This may mean that the property had 12 rooms apart from cellars and garrets, only 3 more rooms than are recorded in the rent accounts of the 1470s. At this time the property belonged to Sir Thomas Allen, from whom Lady St. John purchased it shortly after the Fire. The site was rebuilt along with 32 (q.v.) and the survey of foundations records the boundaries of 33. There was a small break in the W. boundary of 33 at a point which corresponded almost exactly with the S. limit of the property in the 13th century. (fn. 21)