All Hallows Honey Lane 11/4

Introduction

This tenement, on the W. side of Honey Lane, was associated from the end of the 12th century with the adjoining property in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street (111/1), lying to the N. of that church and extending to Milk Street. Because of this it is difficult to be sure where the boundary between the 2 properties, and the parish boundary, lay. St. Paul's cathedral had an interest in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street church in the mid-12th century; there may have been land associated with it then. Later, in the 13th century, St. Paul's interest and seisin extended to the Honey Lane property, but the two were probably separately held before the end of the 12th century.

In 1858 the site of the property was beneath the City of London School.

Twelfth and thirteenth centuries

The tenement in Milk Street belonged in the later 12th century to Edwin le Turch, who granted his land in Melecstrate beside the monasterium of St. Mary Magdalen to William Parvus, for £2 in silver as a gersum and 10s. yearly. Edwin may also (?later) have given the same land to the hospital of St. Giles Holborn, which in the later 12th century granted the land in Melcstrata which Edwin Tercus had given them to Herbert the mercer (mercerius), for a barrel of ale worth 2s. as a gersum and 10s. yearly. This Herbert may have been the Herbert de Antiochia mentioned soon after. (fn. 1)

The tenement in Honey Lane (11/4) was not part of Edwin le Turch's grant, and seems to have belonged to the Bucointe family in the late 12th century, when John Bucointe son of Alice Bucointe granted the land in Honey Lane which Robert Telnem had held of him and his mother to Herbert de Antiochia, for 10s. yearly and £6. 13s. 4d. as a gersum. Herbert and his heirs could do as they wished with the land, except grant it to Jews or religious, always saving the 10s. rent. (fn. 2) Herbert de Antiochia c. 1202 x 4 sold his managium in Milk Street in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen, to the N. of the church, and his managium in Honey Lane, to Alard the dean and the chapter of St. Paul's, with quitclaim and warranty; the properties were charged with 10s. rent to the brothers of St. Giles' (Holborn) and the same to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Alard gave £53. 6s. 8d. for this grant. (fn. 3) In a grant dating from before 1204, probably duplicating or reinforcing this one, Roger canon of St. Paul's granted to God and St. Paul and the dean and chapter the stone houses he bought of Herbert de Antioch' for £53. 6s. 8d.; one was in Milk Street beside the church of St. Mary Magdalen to the N., the other in Honey Lane, to the E. of and joined to the same church (ex parte orientali eiusdem ecclesie ipsi ecclesie iuncta). The dean and chapter were to receive £4. 6s. 8d. yearly and pay the two 10s. rents to the hospitals of St. Giles and St. Bartholomew, £2. 6s. 8d. to a chaplain at the altar of St. Radegund, 10s. for Roger's own obit, 5s. pittance to the canons present at his obit, and 5s. to the canons present at morning mass at St. Radegund's altar on her feast-day. (fn. 4)

Probably before 1212, the dean and chapter granted the two dwellings (managia) late of Herbert de Antiochia to Richard de Corilis, to hold in fee paying £4. 6s. 8d. yearly. One (111/1) lay in Milk Street to the N. of the church of St. Mary Magdalen, the other (11/4) in the parish of All Hallows Honey Lane iuxta gablum ecclesie sancte magdalene versus orientem. Richard was not to sell the tenements to Jews or religious or otherwise alienate without the consent of the grantors, who acquitted the tenements against the chief lords of the fee. Richard gave £3. 6s. 8d. as a gersum, and swore fealty to the dean on the gospels. (fn. 5) In 1212 or 1213 the dean and chapter granted the stone house in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street to William Joiner (usually recorded as Joymer, also as Joimer, Joinier) at £2. 10s. rent; it lay between the church to S., the land and house (late) of Pentecost the parmenter to the N., Milk Street (to W.) and the vicus of Honey Lane (to E.). For this rent they acquitted him of the rents to St. Bartholomew's and St. Giles', and he gave them 2 aurei as a gersum. This grant may not have inclued the house in Honey Lane, but Joymer certainly acquired this at some stage. He also held 5 in All Hallows Honey Lane, and the tenements may have become intermixed in his time: between 1223 and 1240, when he granted 5, or most of it, to Thomas de Wrotham, he also conceded a pit for the privy, extending under his other lands to the N. of 5. At a later date the boundaries between 4 and 5 were reviewed and adjusted. (fn. 6)

Before 1223 Hugh, procurator of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and the brothers and sisters sold and quitclaimed to William Joymer in the 10s. quit-rent he used to pay them for the land he held of them in Milk Street and Honey Lane; he paid them £6. Joymer was still in possession in 1242, when the abbot and convent of Waltham Holy Cross quitclaimed to him in any right they might have of his grant in his lands in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street and All Hallows Honey Lane. William had been possessed of a £6 rent from the abbey's manor of 'Stanstede' (?Stanstead Abbots. Herts.) on the grant of Walter the earl marshal, and had probably released it to the abbey; this quitclaim may have been intended to ensure that William's title to his other lands was not prejudiced by the release. (fn. 7)

In 1243-4 the dean and chapter granted William Joymer their stone house in the parish of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street, between the church to the S., the land and house late of Pentecost the parmenter to the N., and between Milk Street and Honey Lane, to hold in fee for £1. 10s. rent and 2 aurei as a gersum. (fn. 8) In 1244-5 William granted them the lands with buildings, etc., in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street, from which they used to receive £1. 10s. yearly, and similarly all the lands built and unbuilt which he had in All Hallows Honey Lane. He put them in seisin, and asked for a perpetual memory for his soul. (fn. 9) Following this grant, in 1244-5, the dean and chapter granted to Joymer for life the houses in All Hallows Honey Lane which he had granted them. The houses contained in length beside the vicus regius of Honey Lane 11 1/4 ells of King Henry's ell without inches (33 ft. 9 in.; 10.29 m.), and in width 10 1/4 ells (30 ft. 9 in.; 9.37 m.). William was to render a 2 lb. wax candle yearly at the Annunciation, and could not grant, sell, or charge the tenement in any way. (fn. 10)

William Joymer had probably died by 1247-8, when the dean and chapter granted their lands, built and unbuilt, with buildings, exits, entries, etc., which they had of the gift of William Joymer, citizen, in the parishes of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street and All Hallows Honey Lane, to Elias de Cantuaria, draper (draperius). Elias was not to sell to Jews or religious, was to pay £2 yearly at 4 terms, and gave £100 as a gersum. (fn. 11) In November 1248 the dean and chapter confirmed the demise and sale made by Richard de Welkomestowe, chaplain, and the other executors of the late Elias de Cantuaria, to Andrew son of Robert de Karlton, citizen, of the houses Elias had held of their grant as above, for the same £2 rent and conditions. (fn. 12)

During the earlier 13th century the property seems to have passed in and out of the seisin of the canons of St. Paul's, but after the mid-13th century they kept only the £2 rent, which continued to be paid until the 17th century. A rental of the later 13th century shows that, although the £4. 6s. 8d. income mentioned in Canon Roger's grant of c. 1204 had been reduced to £2, St. Paul's still maintained at least some of his charges: 6s. 8d. was received for distribution on St. Radegund's day (13 August) to those attending the saint's service, from the houses which were William Joymer's in Milk Street, and £2. 13s. 4d. (of which £1. 3s. 4d. came from Joymer's houses) for the anniversary of Master Roger the chaplain on 16 November. (fn. 13)

Mid-thirteenth to sixteenth century

By c. 1284 the property had passed from Andrew de Karlton or his successors to Henry de Frowik, citizen, who in his will proved that year left his houses in Milk Street and Honey Lane to his son Reginald. Henry's widow Isabel was seised of the Milk Street tenements when Reginald made his will (proved 1300) leaving all his lands to his wife Agnes for life. Reginald's heir was his son Henry (II). Agnes, widow of Reginald, and Henry (II) granted the tenements in Milk Street and Honey Lane to John de Charleton, citizen, for life by 1332, when Edmund de Wyk and his wife Maud, occupants of 5, brought a writ of right against John concerning a strip of land 10 ft. by 5 ft. (3.05 m. by 1.52 m.) adjoining their tenement in All Hallows Honey Lane. John made default and Henry Frowyk (II) as heir to the reversion was admitted to plead. The problem related to the 4 ft. (1.22 m.) of 'underground' which in the early 13th century William Joymer had granted to Thomas de Wrotham along with 5. Henry now released the 4 ft. (1.22 m.) extending under his tenement solunc les murs de la garderobe of Edmund and Maud as in Joymer's charter, Edmund and Maud released the rest of their claim. (fn. 14)

Henry Frowyk (d. 1377-8) survived his son Thomas Frowyk (d. 1374-5), but the latter seems to have been in possession of these tenements in 1353, when the dean and chapter of St. Paul's brought a plea of intrusion against him, probably for disseisin of the £2 rent. Thomas was also the principal in an agreement in 1369 with Walter de Walden, citizen and apothecary, occupant of 5, over a jetty of Walter's which overhung Thomas' ground, probably along the N.-S. boundary of 5 (q.v.) and Thomas' Milk Street tenement (111/1). Thomas granted Walter the right to the overhang, while Walter granted that he would claim no further right or easement in or above Thomas' soil. (fn. 15)

After the deaths of Henry Frowyk (II) and Thomas Frowyk, the property came to Henry Frowyk (III), Thomas' son. He died in 1384-6, leaving his rents in the parishes of Milk Street and Honey Lane to his wife Alice for life, to find a priest to pray for 10 years, with remainder in tail to Henry Frowyk (IV), his son. By this time the Frowyk family seems to have been resident at South Mimms (Herts.), and the tenements were probably let or leased, but no tenants' names are known. (fn. 16) In 1438 Thomas Frowyk of Middlesex, esquire, granted to Henry his brother, citizen, alderman, and mercer, two tenements, one in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street between that church to S. and the tenement in which Richard Lovelas, mercer, lived to N., and the other in Honey Lane, between the cemetery of All Hallows Honey Lane to E. and the church of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street to W. The grant was secured by a further grant, to be void if Henry enjoyed possession of these and other tenements, of a quit-rent of £13. 6s. 8d. on Thomas' lands in South Mimms. (fn. 17)

Henry Frowyk, mercer and alderman, died before 1460; his son Sir Thomas de Frowyk, kt., died before 1485, and in 1492 the latter's widow Dame Jane and his son and heir Henry leased the messuage with shop, cellars, solars, etc. in All Hallows Honey Lane, late occupied by Thomas Orewell, mercer, to John Hawe, citizen and mercer, for 30 years. The rent was £3, payable to Jane during her lifetime and thereafter to Henry; the landlords were to repair. Sir Henry Frowyk died in 1505, having granted the tenements in Milk Street and Honey Lane to John Legh of Stockwell, Edmund Denny, and Ralph Legh, to hold to the use of himself and his wife Margaret and their heirs. His heir was his son Thomas, aged 14 in 1508. The tenant at about this time was Robert Imber, mercer. (fn. 18)

By c. 1518 the tenement had passed to Henry Frowyk son of Sir Henry Frowyk. In 1518-19 he sold his 2 tenements, one in All Hallows Honey Lane and the other in St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street, adjacent to the church, to Sir Thomas Exmewe, kt., citizen and alderman, on behalf of the parish of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street, for £140 (paid by the parish). William Marland, tenant of the Honey Lane tenement, paid his rent to the parish from 1519. He held the remainder of Hawe's lease, and when Frowyk's grant to Exmewe was confirmed by a common recovery in 1520, Marland objected that this was done with intent to defraud him of his term. He was assured that this was not the case and paid the £3 rent in 1520 and 1521. The parish repaired his hearth in 1521. (fn. 19)

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

When Merland's lease expired in 1522 the parish did not renew it but began to demolish the tenement in order to extend the church. It is not clear whether William Merland, mercer, assessed c. 1522-4 for subsidy in the parish of All Hallows Honey Lane was still then occupying 4. Part at least of the plot in Milk Street seems to have been vacant, and in use as a churchyard. The parish sold a strip of Frowyk's late tenement to the Drapers' Company, who owned 5, and granted another part to Thomas or John Gresham to build a mansion on the W. side of the churchyard, between the church and the messuage lately inhabited by Exmewe. When the rebuilding was complete, the chancel had been extended to take in the whole of 4, but the cellars beneath, with access from Honey Lane, remained in secular use for some years and were let to John Gresham with the new tenement on the N. side of the church (111/1) from 1528 or 1530. (fn. 20)

The rent of the cellars (£1. 6s. 8d.) was paid with the rent of the new house in Milk Street (£4) until 1546, when John Gresham paid the former and Robert Bowse or Bowser the latter. Gresham paid until 1552, when the rent fell into arrears for 3 years, and from 1556 to 1559 Robert Bowse(r) paid both rents. Bowser died in 1559, a lease was made of the house at £6 rent to Allen Hill, mercer, and the cellar under the church was let at 15s. rent to Thomas Cole, grocer. Cole paid this rent until 1574, when William Harcourt, grocer, took over, paying until 1584. The cellar was viewed for the parish in 1585, and in 1588-9 Randal Barryngton, haberdasher, paid £5 for a 21-year lease. No rent was received after 1584; in 1589 the parish decided that the 'profit and commodity' of the cellar under the chancel should be to the use of Mr. Sperlyng, the rector. Thereafter no rent was recorded. In 1587-8 and 1589-3 the parish paid 4s. yearly rent to the churchwardens of All Hallows Honey Lane for 'the way to the cellar.' There was probably no access from Milk Street to it. (fn. 21)

The house in Milk Street (111/1)

The parish of St. Mary Magdalen continued to receive rent from the house next to the church. Allen Hill, mercer, paid rent for one term (a quarter's rent) in 1559-60 and Robert Brett for the remaining three. William Smith, mercer, paid the whole of the rent from 1560 onwards and also paid 4d. for his door into the churchyard (of St. Mary Magdalen). The £100 bond of Allen Hill for the fine for the lease was not finally paid off until 1565. Smith was succeeded by John Mendam from 1568 to 1574, paying £6 rent and 4d. for egress from the churchyard to his warehouse in Honey Lane - perhaps adjoining 5 in that parish. Rowland Martin paid the same 1574-80, Rowland Martin and Richard Loftis 1580-82, Richard Loftis 1582-4, Bartholomew Quyney 1584-7, and Walter Travers from 1587. Travers had a lease granted in 1589, at £66. 13s. 4d. fine, of which he paid half, with the rent, in 1589-90, and Mr. Sadler the second half and the rent in 1590-1. The rent receipts are confused 1591-3, but probably Sadler was the tenant, followed by Roland Mosley from 1592. (fn. 22)

Mosley paid the rent until 1605, on occasions omitting the 4d. rent. In 1604-5, Roland Mosley and Randall Belling paid the rent (£7. 10s. 6d. for 5 quarters) of the house where John Whittingham lived; in 1605-6 Belling alone paid for the same. In 1606 it was agreed that James Speght, the parson, should have a 5-year lease on the expiry of the present one, and until then he should have £20 yearly from the church stock and the parish. Belling paid the rent as before in 1606-7; from 1607 it was described as the house where Mr. Stevens dwells. Belling, and then his executors, paid until 1610, when Sir Thomas Challenor, kt., paid for one quarter, and then Mr. Henry Stevens, the occupant, until 1612. Mr. Speght, the parson, paid the rent from 1612 to 1617; Stevens occupied it until 1614, followed by Mr. Collet. In 1617 Collet got a 21-year lease for £66. 13s. 4d. fine and £20 rent. (fn. 23)

Collet paid the new rent until 1624, and Thomas Boarne in 1624-5; in 1625 the existing lease was surrendered, at the request of Basil Nicolles and Thomas Bornet, and a new lease made for the remainder of the same term to William Barker, gentleman. Barker paid the rent in 1625-6, followed by James Clark 1626-39, Mrs. Clarke 1639-44, Michael Pinder 1644-7, and Mrs. Mary Pinder 1647- 9. From 1649 to 1660 it is uncertain which of 3 tenements let by the parish at £20 rent is this one. In 1661 the occupants were Christopher Hussey and Samuel Harwarr; Hussey paid £20 rent from 1660 to 1664; the tenant from then to the Fire was either John Salmon or Mr. Sturges. During all this period, except for the Interregnum, the £2 quit-rent to St. Paul's had been paid by the churchwardens of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street. In 1661 they paid St. Paul's £3, to cover arrears during the Interregnum, for which they were not legally liable, and began to pay regularly again. (fn. 24)

The tenements, the church and the churchyard

From the time of Herbert de Antioch onwards, the property comprising 11/4 and 111/1 in Milk Street and Honey Lane appears to have lain in an L-shape to N. and E. of the church of St. Mary Magdalen Milk Street, actually abutting to the structure. (fn. 25) There seems to be no evidence that there was a churchyard on the N. side of the church before the 16th century; a deposition of 1499 states that a piece of void ground on the W. side of Milk Street was commonly called and named the churchyard of St. Mary Magdalen church, and that there was a cross there. (fn. 26) The stone houses mentioned in the 13th century had probably gone before the building works of the 1520s. When these works were completed the church had been extended eastwards, and it seems probable that the church was also extended northwards, to take in at least part of the tenement 111/1. The remainder of that tenement became churchyard, apart from the frontage to Milk Street, where the house let to Thomas Gresham in the 1520s was built.