St. Mary le Bow 104/37-41

Introduction

These properties occupied the E. corner of St. Lawrence Lane and Cheapside between 104/36 on the N. and 104/42 on the E. In the 12th and early 13th centuries they were a single property which probably also included the S. part of 104/36 (q.v.). Later, several separate properties are identifiable: 37-9 were on the St. Lawrence Lane frontage, 40 was on the corner, and 41 occupied the ground floor only in the Cheapside frontage next to 42. Beneath all these properties was a cellar which eventually came into the same ownership as 37 and 41. In the early 16th century these separate holdings came once more into the possession of a single landlord.

In 1858 the property was no. 96 Cheapside.

Twelfth and thirteenth centuries

In the later 12th century the property occupying the site of 37-41 and the S. part of 36 supported a rent of £1. 10s. p.a. to Canterbury Cathedral Priory. The rent was due in equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas from William son of Isabel for the land of Robert Bucuinte. About 1220 the rent was due at the same terms from the heirs of Reiner the saddler (sellarius). By 1273 the priory had sold £1. 9s. of this rent, retaining only 1s. which itself appears to have fallen into default between 1316 and 1320. (fn. 1)

This property was the subject of a final concord of the reign of King John witnessed by Ralph Aswy, alderman, and probably therefore dating from 1216 or a little earlier. By this agreement Bartholomew son of Mazere quitclaimed to Reiner the saddler in the tenement held by Reiner in the parish of St. Mary le Bow on the E. side of the lane leading from Cheapside to the church of St. Lawrence Jewry. In return Reiner granted to Bartholomew and his heirs a shop (41) on the E. side of the entry to Reiner's seld and measuring in front towards Cheapside (forum) 2 3/4 ells (8 ft. 3 in.; 2.51 m.), at the rear 2 5/8 ells (7 ft. 10 1/2 in.; 2.4 m.), in length 4 1/4 ells (12 ft. 9 in.; 3.89 m.), and 3 1/8 ells (9 ft. 4 1/2 in.; 2.86 m.) in height from the plancher of the cellar (presumably the floor separating the shop from the cellar below). Reiner and his heirs were to maintain the structure at their own expense and were not to enlarge the window of the cellar, which measured 1 1/2 ells (4 ft. 6 in.; 1.37 m.) by 5/8 ell (1 ft. 10 1/2 in.; 571 mm.). Bartholomew and his heirs were to pay an annual rent of 2s. and undertook not to stop up the window of the cellar, not to impede its light, and not to make a pentice. (fn. 2) The rear part of the property thus appears to have been occupied by a seld, while on the Cheapside frontage there were probably 2 shops separated by an entry to the seld. The cellar, which was probably boarded over rather than vaulted, perhaps extended beneath both the seld and the shops and was probably lit at its Cheapside end by a window beneath each of the shops. These windows perhaps rose partly above street level so that the floor of the shops and the seld would also have been above the level of the street.

A deed of 1207-8 concerning land in Cheapside (in foro Lond') may relate to part of 37-41. No parish is named in the text, but the deed is entered in the cartulary of the hospital of St. Giles, Holborn, under the rubric for St. Mary le Bow. Richard the painter (pictor), nephew of Alexander the chaplain, granted to the hospital of St. Giles land in Cheapside between the land of Alexander Fynch and the land which William son of Thurstan the Frenchman (francigenus) had formerly held; the land was presumably set back from Cheapside, for with it was granted an entry 1 3/4 ells (5 ft. 3 in.; 1.6 m.) in width; the land is also described as a tenement and as a dwelling (managium). Specifically excluded from the grant were the shops in front of the dwelling, but the solar(s) over the shops were included. The grantees were to pay a rent of £1 to Roger son of William son of Isabel and his heirs. (fn. 3) The reference to William son of Isabel provides an association with 37-41 and it is possible that the £1 rent represents half the total income which William's heirs received from 37-41, for at a later date they received £1 from the N. half of 37-40 (see below). Another association is provided by the reference to William son of Thurstan, for c. 1300 Thurstan was recorded as a former owner of 40. It could be that the dwelling, solar(s), and entry conveyed in 1207-8 corresponded approximately to 40 or to 39-40, for from the later 13th century onwards 40 included solar(s) over the shops on the Cheapside frontage.

Reiner the saddler's property descended to Reiner son of Cecilia, who in 1247-8 granted to Nicholas Bat half of his seld which had belonged to Reiner the saddler. This half of the seld lay between the dwelling (managium) which belonged to Arnold the saddler (probably the S. part of 36, q.v.) on the N. and the part of the seld which belonged to John Krykenase on the S. Included in the grant was the upper room (solium desuper) in the seld lying between Arnold's dwelling on the N. and the upper room of John Krykenase on the S. The grantee was to pay rents of a pound of pepper or 6d. to the grantor, 15s. to Canterbury Cathedral Priory, and £1 to the heirs of William son of Isabel, and in addition made a payment of £20 in gersumam. Arnold the saddler and his assigns were to have free access to their dwelling through this part of the seld by a door opening on to Cheapside. The grantor and his heirs were to be responsible for supporting the stone walls on all sides (undique) and the posts supporting the joists of the floor (plancher) of the seld, while the grantee and his successors undertook not to remove the stone vault (vosura petrina) in the seld which extended from the door of the cellar opening towards St. Lawrence Lane. (fn. 4)

Nicholas Bat seems subsequently to have acquired the whole of 37-40. The property was probably represented by the seld next to Cheapside on the corner of St. Lawrence Lane (iuxta forum in cornerio vici sancti Laur') which by his will, enrolled in 1259, he left to his wife Elizabeth as her dower. Out of this and other properties Elizabeth was to pay a rent of 4s. to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and it was probably Bat's intention that the hospital should have the property after her death, although this is not expressed in the surviving texts of the will. The hospital was in possession of the property by 1268-9, when it granted the whole seld with appurtenances in the cellar which Nicholas Bat had left to the hospital to Henry le Coffrer in return for a rent of £4. 7s. 8d. Henry paid a pittance of 2s. to the sick at the hospital for the grant and was to pay a further pittance of 6s. 8d. if he failed to pay the rent at any term. Henry Walemond (cf. 36) had a right of way through the seld. At some date during the second half of the 13th century Henry le Coffrer was responsible for paying the 12d. rent due from the property to Canterbury Cathedral Priory. (fn. 5)

Henry le Coffrer's property (37-40) passed to Roger le Cofrer and then to Roger's widow Florence, who in 1300 was receiving rents totalling £3. 6s. 8d. from it. At this date the rent of £4. 7s. 8d. due to the hospital had fallen into arrears totalling £12, and Florence made over her income from the property to the hospital until the arrears were paid off. As a result the hospital appears to have received an annual income of £5 from the property for 18 years. Other parts of the property appear to have been held in 1300 by Adam de Hallingbury (see below, 39) and Margery de Burley, both of whom seem also to have been in arrears with rents due to the hospital. Florence then married Thomas of Louth (de Luda) and in 1303 she and Thomas came to an agreement with the hospital that the latter would give up its claim to the arrears in return for a payment of £6. 13s. 4d., and that the £4. 7s. 8d. rent due would be reduced by 6s. 8d. for a term of 20 years or Thomas's life, whichever was the shorter. Florence was still alive in 1316-17 when her son John, as son and heir of Roger le Cofrer, quitclaimed to Thomas of Louth and his heirs and assigns in the tenement on the corner of St. Lawrence Lane. Several tenants of 37-41 are named in a case in 1313; the holdings of most of them can be identified and are described below, but those of Philip fitzHerves and William de Forsham cannot. (fn. 6)

Fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

In this period the five parts of the property (37-41) can be identified and for much of the time each part was held by a separate tenant. St. Bartholomew's Hospital received rent from 37-40 and the Minoresses claimed rent from 37- 41. Each of these landlords made attempts to recover possession of their rents, which were progressively reduced in value. In cases concerning these rents 37-41 was in 1365-6 described as a cellar, 7 shops, and 5 solars, and 37-40 was in 1376 described as a cellar, 10 shops, and 3 solars. (fn. 7) The discrepancy between these 2 descriptions suggests that some of the shops at the latter date, and possibly also at the earlier date, occupied upper rooms.

Rents due to St. Bartholomew's Hospital (37-40)

The rents received by the hospital from the property are recorded in a series of extracts from fourteenth-century rentals, some of them undated but arranged in chronological order. According to a sequence of extracts dating from before 1324-5 the hospital in 2 years was due to receive £5 from 5 rents, then was due to receive £3. 14s. from 4 rents, and then £6. 4s. from 5 rents. For a year between 1324-5 and 1336-7 the hospital was due to receive £6. 4s. from 5 rents and in 1336-7 was due to receive £4. 7s. 4d. from 3 rents. In 1355 the hospital took naam for 3 1/4 years arrears of the rent of £4. 7s. 8d. and a plea of naam followed. In 1374 the hospital took naam from several parts of the property for a rent of £4. 6s. 8d. In the course of the suit which followed 5 tenants or possessors of the property were named and at the settlement of the case in 1376 it was apparently decided that 2 of them, who can be identified as the owners of 38 and 40 (q.v.) were the hospital's tenants in fee and that the other 3, who presumably held 37 and 39, were not. The 3 were Joan Hanchurch, William Potenham, girdler, and Thomas Irland, skinner. Five tenants may have occupied 37-40 in 1384; they were John Potenham, John Stokesby, Jonette Gailly, Margaret Horston, and Thomas Wellyngham (see below, 38). Over the period from 1374 to 1423 the hospital received 5 rents totalling £3 a year from 38 and 40. The hospital complained in 1426 of intrusion against 4 tenants of the property, and in 1456 appears still to have been in receipt of the £3 rent, but there is no later record of its interest there. (fn. 8)

Rent claimed by the Minoresses (37-41)

The Minoresses owned 36 to the N., and their interest in 37-41 probably derived from the right of way which in the 13th century the owners of 36 had had through the property. In 1365 the Minoresses took naam in 41, claiming that 4s. rent due from the whole property was 15 years in arrears, and in the same year took naam in 37 claiming that 6s. 8d. rent due from the whole was in arrears for the same period. In 1366 further distress was levied in 41 in respect of the 4s. rent, and in 38 and 40 in respect of the 6s. 8d. rent. According to an account of 1487-8 the Minoresses had formerly received rents totalling 8s. 1 1/2d. from the property: these were 3s. 7 1/2d. from 38, 3s. 7 1/2d. from 40, and 10 1/2d. from 39. (fn. 9)

37

This property consisted of a shop or shops on the St. Lawrence Lane frontage (bounded by 36 to the N. and by 38 or 38-40 to the S. and E.) with the cellar which extended beneath the shop and the whole of the remainder of the property (38-41). By the mid 14th century the shop and the cellar were in the possession of Elsing Spital, which subsequently also acquired 41.

At the beginning of the 14th century the shop was held by Florence widow of Roger le Coferer. John de Oxenforde and Roger le Callere then held it jointly, paying £1. 6s. rent to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, an arrangement which suggests that the shop had 2 parts. For a year before 1324-5 this was apparently the shop of Thomas de Waltham for which Roger le Kellere owed the hospital 12s. 6d. rent. After 1324-5 but before 1336-7 William de Elsyng was said to owe this rent for de Waltham's tenement, which he held for the term of his life. De Elsyng was later in full possession of the shop, probably as part of the cellar and shop acquired from William Taburer which at his death in 1349 he left to enlarge the endowment of Elsyng Spital. In 1403-4 37 probably consisted of 2 shops in St. Lawrence Lane held of Elsyng Spital, one by Richard Coventre, mercer, for £1 rent and the other by Philip Coost, girdler, for 16s. rent. Subsequently, 37 consisted of a shop, a little parcel of a shop, and a cellar which Nicholas Yeo, citizen and draper, held for a term of years by indenture from Elsyng Spital together with the shop representing 41. Yeo probably held most, if not all of 37-41 and had a freehold interest in 40 by the right of his wife (see below). By his will, dated and proved in 1444, he gave up his remaining term of years in 37 and 41 to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In a list of Elsyng Spital tenants in St. Lawrence Lane in 1448 the tenants of 37 are probably to be identified as Thomas Eyr, who paid £1 rent, perhaps for the shop, and John Weldon, who paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent, perhaps for the cellar; it is unclear in this case whether these rents represent annual or termly payments. In 1510 Elsyng Spital leased 37 and 41 to the Grocer's Company for a term of 99 years at £4 rent, the tenants being responsible for repair. In this lease the shops in St. Lawrence Lane were represented by a shop and a parcel of a shop. The shop was occupied by Thomas Peverell and was bounded by 36 on the N. and a shop of the Grocers' Company (38 or 38-40) on the S. and E.; the shop measured 2 1/4 ells 2 1/2 in. (6 ft. 11 1/2 in.; 2.12 m.) in width by the street, 2 1/4 ells (6 ft. 9 in.; 2.06 m.) in width at the rear, and 3 1/8 ells 1/2 in. (9 ft. 5 in.; 2.87 m.) in length. The parcel of the shop also lay in St. Lawrence Lane and had once belonged to William Peverell; it measured 2 ft. 9 in. (838 mm.) by the lane, 1 1/2 yards 9 in. (5 ft. 3 in.; 1.62 m.) in depth, and 4 ft. 10 in. (1.47 m.) in height. (fn. 10)

Early in the 14th century the cellar on the corner between 36 on the N. and 42 on the E. belonged to John le Botener, junior, a mercer living in St. Lawrence Lane who leased it to Roger Peche and his wife Alice for a term of 4 1/4 years from 1308 until the tenants should have received a total of £7. 6s. 8d. which le Botoner owed them from the property, together with £1. 6s. 8d. a year quit- rent; if the tenants failed to let the cellar they were to hold it longer than the agreed term until the debt and the quit-rent had been paid. John le Botoner still held the property in 1313. There is no indication that St. Bartholomew's Hospital received quit-rent from the cellar in this period. In 1325 the cellar belonged to William le Taborer, from whom it passed to William de Elsyng, who in 1349 left it to Elsyng Spital. In 1403-4 Thomas de la Mare, cofferer, paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent for the cellar and in 1448 John Weldon may have been tenant at the same rent (cf. above). In 1466 Thomas Eyre held the cellar (see below 39). In 1510 when the cellar was let to the Grocer's Company (see above) it was probably already occupied by the company. (fn. 11)

38

This property lay between 37 on the N. and 39 on the S. In 1304 it apparently extended E. as far as 105/11, but by 1358 was bounded by 104/42 in that direction.

This seems to have been the part of 37-40 for which, according to 2 early 14th-century rentals, Henry le Callere and John Somerc' owed a rent of 6s. 8d. to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Henry le Callere alone was said to be responsible for the rent in 3 later rentals, of which one was later than 1324-5, but there is no reference to the rent in a rental of 1337. The property was presumably the former tenement of Henry le Callere which in 1304, with other tenements in St. Lawrence Lane, was said to adjoin the W. side of 105/12. Henry evidently held a part of 37-41 in 1313, and in 1317 St. Bartholomew's Hospital took naam from Henry le Callere's tenement here, which it claimed that Henry and others held for £1. 6s. 8d. rent. This was in fact the sum of the rents due to the hospital from 38 and 39. The master of the hospital claimed that his predecessor had been seised of the rent by John atte Bernette, who is known to have held 39. Henry le Callere claimed that John had no more than a life tenancy in the tenement from which the hospital claimed the rent, and this may mean that John held 38 from Henry. (fn. 12)

Between 1353 and 1356 38 appears to have been in the possession of Thomas Piphurst, goldsmith, and his wife Joan, who in the company of other holders of 37-40 were in dispute with St. Bartholomew's Hospital over rent due from the property. In 1358 Piphurst was in dispute with a group of individuals, who appear to have been the joint owners of 104/42, over a gutter 23 ft. (7.01 m.) long and 3 ft. (914 mm.) wide, from which rainwater was flowing into the latter's messuage. The length of this gutter was probably the minimum length of the common boundary between 38 and 42 at this date. Piphurst was still in possession in 1366, when the Minoresses claimed rent. In 1373-4 38 appears to have been represented by a shop in St. Lawrence Lane from which Henry Frowik, junior, citizen and mercer, owed St. Bartholomew's Hospital £1. 10s. rent. Between 1374 and 1376 when the hospital unsuccessfully attempted to claim rent from Thomas Irland, skinner, apparently for a part of 38-40, Frowik was said to have his interest in the property by the right of his wife Joan, who may have been the widow or a relative of Piphurst. (fn. 13)

In 1374-5 Frowik's shops in St. Lawrence Lane were said to belong to Roger Canoun, citizen and mercer, who probaby occupied 38-40 as a tenant. In later rentals, however, Frowik's name continued to be entered in respect of the £1. 10s. rent due to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Frowik continued to hold the property (probably 38-9) by courtesy after his wife's death, and in 1384 granted the £10 rent he had there for the term of his life to his daughter Margery and Thomas Churchman. This was probably a marriage settlement and the grant was made in pursuit of an agreement between Frowik and John Chircheman, who was probably Thomas's father. The tenements from which the rent was due were held by John Potenham, John Stokesby, Jonette Gailly, Margaret Horston, and Thomas Wellyngham. It seems likely that these five tenants held 37-40 (or even 37-41) as a whole rather than 38 alone and that they were listed in Frowik's deed on account of the difficulty of identifying the separate parts of the larger property. Thomas Chircheman granted the £10 rent to Thomas Grace the younger, who in 1392 granted it to John Chircheman and John Doube, to whom Thomas Chircheman then quitclaimed. (fn. 14)

By 1415-16 John Wyssyngsett was in possession of the property formerly held by Frowik. Wyssyngsett was subsequently said to hold it by the right of his wife and in 1426 held it with his wife Margery. It is possible that this Margery was identical with the daughter of Henry Frowik, and that she had inherited her interest in the property from her mother. Wyssyngsett's tenement was later said to have been charged with a rent of 3s. 7 1/2d. to the Minoresses. The property seems later to have been part of 39-40 (q.v.). (fn. 15)

39

This property apparently lay between 38 on the N. and 40 on the S. In the 14th and 15th centuries it extended to 42 on the E.

In 1296 Roger, son and heir of Henry le Coffrer, granted to Lady Isabel de Beaumont (de Bello Monte), lady of Vescy and widow of Sir John Vescy, a quit-rent of £2. 11s. due from a tenement and shops which he had by the gift of his father in St. Mary le Bow parish on the corner St. Lawrence Lane. In return for the grant of this and other rents, totalling £9. 17s. 8d. in all, Lady Isabel gave £60 (i.e. just over 16 years' purchase). Joan le Coffrer, widow of Henry le Coffrer immediately quitclaimed her right of dower in the rents. Later references show that the £2. 11s. rent was due from the property identifiable as 39. In 1303 Thomas of Louth (de Luda) and his wife Florence, who was the widow of Roger son of Henry le Coffrer, took naam from tenements of Adam de Hallinggebury, from which they claimed a rent of £2. 11s., then 8 years in arrears, of which Florence had been seised by Roger le Barbour. Adam claimed that le Barbour had at one time held the tenements from which the rent was due but then since the rent was too high, surrendered them to Roger le Coffrer and Florence; afterwards Richard de Coudres and his wife, Norman Picard and his wife Maud, and others brought a writ of right against Roger le Coffrer, who lost the tenements by default. Against this Thomas of Louth and Florence claimed that the tenements had at one time been in the seisin of Isabel de Vescy, who granted the rent to Roger le Coffrer and Florence and their heirs, and that the rent was rendered by Roger le Barbour as tenant. The rent had evidently been in arrears since just before Roger le Coffrer granted it to Isabel de Vescy, and Florence's case, which betrays some uncertainty over what had actually happened, seems to have rested on whether she was debarred from seeking the rent because Roger le Coffrer had alienated it without her consent. Adam de Hallingbury, citizen, had held the property in 1300 (see above) and by his will, enrolled in 1305, left to his younger son Bartholomew 15s. quit-rent which Adam had purchased from John Moigne and which arose from a tenement in St. Mary le Bow parish on the E. side of St. Lawrence Lane; Richard de Coudres was said in the will to have recovered possession of this tenement against Roger le Barber. Following the probate of this testament in the court of Husting Thomas of Louth and his wife Floria (sic) put in a claim concerning 2 shops in St. Lawrence Lane which presumably represented 39. Adam's son Bartholomew was still a minor and was committed to the guardianship of Nicholas de Farndon. (fn. 16)

Bartholomew de Hallingeberi, presumably Adam's son, seems subsequently to have come into full possession of 39 and leased the tenement to John de la Barnette, mercer, and his wife Lucy for the term of their lives at £1. 7s. 6d. rent. Bartholomew then granted this rent and the reversion of the tenement to Robert Burdeyn, who probably by then held 40 (q.v.). By his will, dated 1325 and enrolled in 1327, Burdeyn left the rent, described as a quit-rent, and the reversion to his wife Emma for life, with remainder to his daughter Joan and her husband Adam de Thunderlee while Joan lived, and then to Burdeyn's other children John, Walter, and Thomas. In several early 14th-century rentals, dating from both before and after 1324-5, John de la Barnette was said to owe £1 rent to St. Bartholomew's Hospital for a tenement which had belonged to Adam de Hallyngbury; in 1336-7 John owed £2 rent, apparently for the same property, now described as a shop on the corner of St. Lawrence Lane. (fn. 17)

In 1350 39 was a messuage held by Katharine wife of Roger atte Tour for the term of her life. How she acquired her interest is not known, but she could have been the widow of one of the sons of Robert Burdeyn. Roger and Katherine in 1350 granted the messuage for the term of her life to John de Horwod and his son Nicholas. In 1352 Nicholas sought the assize of nuisance against Elsyng Spital, whose property lay beneath 39, concerning a tenement in this parish, and in 1355 John de Horewode quitclaimed to his son Nicholas in this property. Nicholas's tenement evidently adjoined 104/42 to the E., for in 1360 John de Horewode, senior, and Nicholas de Horewode complained of intrusion against the owners of the latter property. It seems probable that between 1353 and 1356 39 was occupied by John de Kelyngworth, draper, who is named as one of the tenants of 37-40 against whom St. Bartholomew's Hospital attempted to recover rent. De Kelyngworth was perhaps a tenant of the de Horewodes. The hospital claimed that it had £3. 1s. 4d. rent from the tenements which were held in common by Thomas Piphurst (38), John de Kelyngworth (39), and William son of Walter Burdeyn (40), but it is not clear how this total was arrived at. (fn. 18)

Full possession of 39 came into the hands of the de Horewode family. John Horwode, son and heir of John de Horewode, granted the tenement to Thomas Frankeleyn, chandler, and Roger Parys, ironmonger, and in 1369 the grantor's sister, Katharine de Horwode, quitclaimed in the property to Thomas and Roger. By an agreement of 1375, subsequently cancelled with the assent of both parties, John Horwode, citizen and son and heir of John Horwode, citizen, quitclaimed in the messuage which he and his father had granted to Frankeleyn and Parys; the quitclaim was with warranty only for the value of the lands which the grantor had inherited from his father. There thus appear to have been 3 generations with the same name associated with this property: John de Horewode, father of Nicholas, alive in 1355 and perhaps identical with the John de Horewode senior who was alive in 1360; John Horewode, son and heir of John de Horwode and brother of Katharine, who conveyed the property in or before 1369, was dead by 1375, and was probably the John de Horewode who died in 1366 (cf. 95/4); and John Horwode, son and heir of John Horwode, who was alive in 1375. In the agreement of this year the messuage was said to be bounded by 38 and 40 to N. and S. and by 42 to the E. Roger Parys, citizen and ironmonger, was subsequently in sole possession of the messuage and granted it to Robert Parys, citizen and ironmonger, Richard Merlawe, and Edward Hoddesdon. Merlawe and Hoddesdon quitclaimed to Robert Parys, who by his will, dated 1406, proved 1407, but not enrolled until 1469, left the messuage to his servant, John Bage, for the term of his life with remainder to the rector and parishioners of St. Michael Queenhithe for the maintenance of a chaplain. John Badghe, alias John Parys, and his wife Maud were in possession of the property in 1426, when St. Bartholomew's Hospital complained of intrusion. Later the Minoresses were said to have had 10 1/2d. rent from the former tenement of Robert Parys. (fn. 19)

The parson and parishioners of St. Michael Queenhithe were in possession of 39 in 1466 when they were in dispute with Thomas Eyre, citizen and draper, who held the cellar beneath (37). In a view of that year the property in dispute was described as a vacant space (voyde Rome unedified) lying at and above the level where there had previously been a floor over the cellar (the cellar was presumably now open to the sky). The space measured 22 ft. 2 in. (6.76 m.) in length, 6 ft. 11 in. (2.11 m.) in width at the E. end, and 5 ft. 8 in. (1.73 m.) in width at the W. end. Above this at a height of 9 ft. 9 in. (2.97 m.) where there had previously been another storey, the space measured the same length by 8 ft. 2 in. (2.49 m.) in width. This space had formerly been occupied by the messuage of Roger Parys, and the rector and parishioners granted it to Thomas Eyre, who in 1472 with his wife Elizabeth granted a quit-rent of £1 from the space to William Stevyns, citizen and hurer, who was to bequeath it to the parish of St. Michael Queenhithe for the purpose ordained in Robert Parys's will. The space was now said to lie above the ground (supra solum) of Elsyng Spital and between 40 to the S., 42 to the E., and the former tenement of Bartholomew de Alingbury (part of 39?) to the N. There may have been some confusion over the identity of the adjoining property to the N. and it is possible that by 1466 a part of 39 had been absorbed by 38. In 1472 the space was said to measure 5 ft. 11 1/2 in. (1.82 m.) wide next to the lane, 10 ft. 7 in. (3.23 m.) in width at the E. end, where it included a space beneath the step (gradus) of 40, and 20 ft. 2 1/4 in. (6.15 m.) in length; at a height of 8 ft. 9 in. (2.67 m.) above the pavement it was 8 ft. 3/4 in. (2.46 m.) wide next to the lane and 10 ft. 7 in. (3.23 m.) wide above the step belonging to 40. It seems possible that 10 ft. 7 in. (3.23 m.) represents the combined width of 39 and 40 at their E. ends next to 42 and that at the E. end of 40 there was a staircase providing access to the upper rooms (part of 40) next to Cheapside and over 41. (fn. 20)

40

This property occupied the E. corner of St. Lawrence Lane and Cheapside. It was bounded by 39 on the N., 41 and 42 on the E., and 41 on the S., and it included the upper storey(s) over 41.

In the early 14th century, before 1324-5, Roger le Callere owed £2. 6s. rent to St. Bartholomew's Hospital for a tenement of Florence, widow of Roger le Cofferer, which on one occasion was described as a former possession of Thurstan (see above, section i). The same rentals record that Thomas of Louth (husband of Florence) owed the hospital 1s. 4d. rent for the solar(s) above the tenement. Thomas of Louth evidently held a part of 37-41 in 1313. After 1324-5 these two rents were due from Robert Burdeyn, to whom Thomas of Louth had granted the property. In 1325 Burdeyn had a shop on the W. side of 41, a tenement on the N. side of 41, and a solar above 41. By his testament, enrolled in 1327, Burdeyn left these tenements to his widow Emma for life, with remainders to his daughter, Joan, and sons, John, Walter, and Thomas (cf. 39). Burdeyn's widow was paying the rent to the hospital in 1336-7, and by 1355, when the hospital was attempting to recover its rent, William son of Walter Burdeyn was in possession of the property. In 1358 William sought a plea of intrusion against the owners of 42, which adjoined his holding. William Bordeyn, goldsmith, paid the £1. 10s. rent due from this property to the hospital between 1373-4 and 1388-9, and in 1374 was permitted by the city authorities to repair the tenement which he held with Henry Frowyk (38), who had fled the city and so could not be compelled to pay his share, and to repay himself out of the rents due to Frowyk. (fn. 21)

From 1415-16 onwards John Bernes paid the rent to the hospital. He still held the property in 1426 and was presumably the John Biernes, citizen and goldsmith, who in 1430 held properties in several parishes, including St. Mary le Bow, by the right of his wife Benedicta, who had inherited them on the death of William Bordeyn. In 1430 Biernes and Benedicta granted those properties to John Sutton, junior, and John Wethyhale, citizens and goldsmiths, apparently in order to ensure the repayment of a debt of £33. When the money had been received the grantees were to reenfeoff the grantors of the properties. In 1440 Sutton, as the surviving grantee, conveyed the properties to John Patesle, goldsmith, Mr. John Somerset, John Pake, goldsmith, Matthew Halle, goldsmith, John Leycestre, gentleman, and Robert Kyngeston, vintner. In 1456 Nicholas Yoo, alderman, was said formerly to have held 40 in the right of his wife and of John Bernys, and in that year Thomas Eyre held it in the right of the wife of Nicholas Yoo. Eyre still held the tenement in 1472; he also owned 39, possibly acquired 38, and was tenant of the cellar (part of 37). (fn. 22)

41

This property was a shop on the Cheapside frontage between 40 on the N. and W. and 42 on the E.; the cellar below was part of 37 and the rooms above were part of 40. The shop was separated from the remainder of the property at the beginning of the 13th century (see above, section i).

In the 14th century Nichola, niece of Hamo atte Castle, inherited this shop from her uncle, and in 1325 she and her husband, John de Thorp of Harwich, granted it to William de Mymmes, citizen and tawyer (allutarius). This grant was to be void if the grantors paid the grantee £10 in 1330, but in 1327 John and Nichola quitclaimed to de Mymmes in the shop. By his will, dated 1334 and enrolled in 1335, William de Mymmes left the shop to his wife Alice and his son John for their lives; it was then to be sold. In 1357 Alice, as William's widow and executor, sold the shop to William de Bristowe, citizen and tawyer (allutarius), and his wife Maud. The shop was now said to measure 9 ft. 4 in. (2.84 m.) in width, 12 ft. 6 in. (3.8 m.) in length, and 9 ft. 6 in. (2.9 m.) in height. De Bristowe died in 1367, leaving the shop to his wife Maud for life with remainders to his son Simon for life on condition that he celebrate masses for his parents, and then to his son William, who was to maintain a chaplain in St. Mary Aldermanbury. In 1371 this William quitclaimed in the shop to his brother Simon, who at his death in 1374 left this and other property to be sold by his executors. Simon's executors sold this estate in 1374 to Elsyng Spital on condition that the hospital maintained a chaplain at the church of St. Mary Aldermanbury to celebrate on behalf of William de Bristowe and his family. The hospital made this acquisition under a general licence to increase its estate granted in 1370. (fn. 23)

In 1403-4 this was probably the shop for which Thomas Carpenter, point-maker, paid Elsyng Spital £2 rent. At his death in 1444 Nicholas Yeo gave up to the hospital the remainder of the term of years which he had in this shop and in 37. The tenant cannot be identified in the hospital's rental of 1448. In 1510 the hospital leased the shop, described in exactly the same terms as in 1357, along with 37 (q.v.) to the Grocers' Company for a term of 99 years. (fn. 24)

Late fifteenth to seventeenth century

In the later 15th century 38-40 came to form a single property, which seems effectively to have been in the possession of the Grocers' Company from 1503 onwards. By that date the company may also have held 37 and 41 from Elsyng Spital and in 1510 took those properties on a 99- year lease. The company lost possession of the property in 1550.

The property eventually acquired by the Grocers was that held in 1472 by Thomas Eyre (38-40). In 1478 Robert Pacheford, Thomas Unton, Richard Iremonger, and Richard Dous recovered possession of this property and others by writ of right against Thomas Chadbourne, citizen and baker, who subsequently quitclaimed to them. At this time 38-40 was described as two messuages (38 and 40) and a vacant plot (39) which lay between them. The recovery was made to the use of John Broke, citizen and grocer, who in 1503, when the messuages were inhabited by Richard Dawes, grocer, granted them, and with his wife Alice quitclaimed in them, to John Wingar and Henry Kebyll, aldermen, and William Stede, Thomas Mores, Richard Wymond, John Paynter, Robert Hyll, Henry Ady, Angelo Dim, William Butler, Richard Harlewe, and John Reeste, grocers, in consideration of a payment of £178. 6s. 8d. for this property and 2 other messuages in St. Margaret Lothbury parish; in addition Broke and his wife were to receive from the 4 messuages an annuity of £8 for 4 3/4 years and then an annuity of £6. 3s. 4d. for life. In the same year Richard Dous, citizen and grocer, who was the survivor of those who had recovered the property in 1478 and may have been identical with the inhabitant of 38-40 in 1503, quitclaimed to the grantees in the 4 messuages. In 1515 William Butler, John Rest, and Henry Ady, and surviving grantees from 1503, quitclaimed to Henry Kebyll, the other survivor, who, by a will drawn up in 1515, left these and other properties to the Grocers' Company as the endowment for a chantry and obit in the church of St. Mary Aldermary. In addition to establishing the chantry the intent of this will appears to have been to assure the Grocers' Company of a number of properties from which it was already receiving revenue. (fn. 25)

The Grocers' Company were in possession of 38-40 by 1510, when they took the lease of 37 and 41, and there are records of their receipts and payments concerning the property from 1511-12 onwards (earlier accounts within the relevant period do not survive). According to the lease of 1510 the company owed £4 rent to Elsyng Spital for 37 and 41, but between 1511-12 and 1520-1 paid only £2. 13s. 8d. a year and between 1521-2 and 1549-50 paid only £2. 13s. 4d. a year; from 1539 onwards the latter rent was paid to the Crown. The company let the 2 tenements comprising the property for £12 rent, paid by John Dawis, grocer and alderman, between 1511 and his death in 1514, and then by his son Ralph Dawis until his death in 1517. Both John and Ralph inhabited the tenements, and Ralph's widow Eleanor paid the rent in 1517-18. William Laxton, grocer, paid the rent from 1518 to 1550. During this period the company was responsible for repairs. In most years less than £1 was spent on repairs, although in 1511-12 £1. 14s. 4d. were spent, in 1514-15 £2. 15s. 9d., in 1520-1 £1. 5s. 8d., in 1526-7 £1. 5s., in 1531-2 £3. 9s. 5d., in 1534-5 £4. 4s. 3 3/4d., in 1540-1 £1. 9s. 5d., in 1546-7 £1. 3s. 2d., and in 1548- 9 £1. 8s. 1d. Details are not always given but the specific work most often recorded concerned paving the street. Glazing was undertaken in 1511-12, a pentice and a chimney were mended in 1512-13, the windows of the storehouse were repaired with brick, glass, and iron in 1514-15, a carpenter made windows in 1520-1, lead was used 'to cover underfoot in the well light before the kitchen door' in 1526-7, and the rotten timber of the kitchen floor was repaired in 1531-2. (fn. 26)

The Elsyng Spital property (37 and 41) came into the Crown's possession in 1539. In 1544 it was granted to George Heton, merchant tailor, and William Toker, grocer, who in 1545 sold it for £21. 6s. 8d. to Sir William Laxton, grocer and at that time mayor. On the occasion of its grant the Crown reserved a rent of 5s. 4d., which in 1652 was sold by the commissioners for the sale of Crown rents to Brian Blomely along with other rents. (fn. 27)

The remainder of the property, or at least the rent deemed to be due to Kebyll's chantry, came into the Crown's possession as a result of the dissolution of the chantries in 1547. The chantry certificate also mentions the £1 rent due from 39 to the church of St. Michael Queenhithe, but to judge from the Grocer's Company accounts this had not been paid for many years. It presumably took some time to identify the properties from which the chantry rents were due and, as we have seen, the Grocer's Company continued in possession of 37-41 until 1550. In that year the Crown granted the rent of Kebyll's chantry and other chantry rents to Augustine Hynde, Richard Turke, and William Blackwell, the common clerk of the city. In 1562 Blackwell, as surviving grantee, at the request of the Grocers' Company conveyed those rents which had been charged on their lands to Edward Fouler, citizen and grocer. The tenements forming the endowment of Kebyll's chantry were among the 'concealed lands' of which the Crown, through agents, subsequently attempted to regain possession. In 1582 the Crown granted Kebyll's tenements and many others to Theophilus Adams and James Woodshawe, who in 1586 sold them to Robert Offley, Andrew Palmer, William Megges, Humphrey Huntley, Richard Saltonstall, skinner, and Richard Hale, grocer. In 1600 Saltonstall and Hale, the surviving grantees, sold the properties to John Garrard, Thomas Lowe, Edward Holmden, Thomas Smithe, Thomas Camble, and Humphrey Weld, aldermen, and Robert Offley, haberdasher, William Megges, draper, Richard Wiche, skinner, and Edward Cage, grocer, all citizens. (fn. 28)

It is unlikely that the grantees of 1582 and 1600 succeeded in establishing any claim to 37-41, or even that they were aware of having any. The Grocers' Company seems to have had no interest in it after 1550, when the whole property probably came into the possession of Sir William Laxton. 37-41 descended from Laxton to his cousin and heir, Thomas Wanton, the elder, grocer, and his wife Joan. In 1571 Joan, apparently then a widow, leased the messuage in reversion for a term of 21 years at £12 rent to her daughter Martha and her daughter's husband, William Layer, grocer. William Layer may have occupied this property, for by his will, dated 1595 and proved in 1597, he set over his shop in Cheapside, with part of his house and a stock of goods and ready money, to his son William Layer. The elder William also had a son John, who seems eventually to have come into possession of 37-41. The lease granted in 1571 apparently came into effect in 1600 and had 1 1/2 years to run in 1620, when John Layer, esquire, sold the property to Thomas Stead, citizen and girdler, for £1080. By 1620 the property, with its shops, cellars, solars, halls, parlours, chambers, warehouses, void grounds, and rooms, had been divided into 2 messuages lately held by (blank) Harvey and Richard Hawkins and now held by John Knight and Owen Roe; the property was charged with a rent not exceeding 5s. 4d. to the chief lords of the fee. Thomas Stead may have inhabited a part of this property in 1638 along with a part of 42 (q.v.) next door. The greater part of 37-41 in 1638, however, was probably represented by the house of Mr. Salmon valued at £40 year. By his will, dated 1640 and proved in 1642 Thomas Stead left the messuage representing 37-41, which was then or late in the tenure of Owen Rowe and Richard Glover, to his son, John Stead. In 1646 John Stead of Lambeth covenanted to stand seised of this messuage and another property in St. Mary Woolnoth parish, to the use of himself until his marriage to Mary Hammond, then, in consideration of Mary's marriage portion, to the use of himself for life with remainder to Mary for life and then to their heirs. In 1666, on the eve of the Great Fire the property appears to have contained one house of 3 hearths occupied by Daniel Woodgate, crewel-man, and one of 4 hearths occupied by William Yates, silkman. After John Steede's death Mary married Thomas Canham, merchant, who undertook the rebuilding of 37-41 after the Fire on condition that after Mary's death he would have a term of 40 years in the properties for a rent payable to Mary Steede, his wife's daughter by her former husband. The foundation surveyed for Canham measured 20 feet (6.1 m.) in width, 40 ft. 4 in. (12.29 m.) in length next to St. Lawrence Lane, and 42 ft. (12.8 m.) in length on the E. side. This was approximately the same width as 37-41 in the 15th century (see 39) and a little shorter than the sum of the lengths of the E. sides of 38, 39, 40, and 41 (q.v.) in the 14th and 15th centuries (46 ft. 1 in.; 14.05 m.). (fn. 29)