St. Mary le Bow 104/17-19

Introduction

These properties occupied the site at the west corner of Bow Lane and Cheapside between the church of St. Mary le Bow on the S. and 20 on the W. From the early 15th century onwards three properties can be identified from south to north as 17, 18, and 19. In the 13th and early 14th centuries there were probably six or more shops between the church and Cheapside and several landlords had rents from different combinations of them.

In 1858 the property was no. 1 Bow Lane and part of no. 58 Cheapside.

Twelfth to fourteenth century

The whole property (17-19)

In the 13th century Canterbury Cathedral Priory had 3s. 6d. rent from the property, which it may have acquired at the same time as its substantial house to the W. (104/20). At the end of the 12th century the heirs of Sabelina owed 6s. rent at the feast of St. Andrew to the priory, almost certainly from this property. The priory would appear to have lost 2s. 6d. of this rent by c. 1220, when it had 3s. 6d. rent at Christmas from the shops adjoining the E. side of its stone house (104/20). The shops were held by Salomon de Basinges, Anger de la Barra, and Ralph de Cassel. In the mid 13th century Hamo the ironmonger (ferrarius) owed 12d. of this rent (perhaps for the N. part of 19) and Agnes Cheure owed 2s. 6d. (perhaps for the S. part of 19, 18, and part of 17). Soon afterwards Fulco Bret held part of the property (perhaps 19 and part of 18) and the prior of St. Mary Spital held another shop there (perhaps occupying the site of part of 18 and part of 17). (fn. 1)

The N. Part of the property (approximately 19)

Sabelina and her heirs may at one time have possessed the entire property (17-19). Their interest is subsequently recorded in connection with a holding which seems to have been identical with 19. In the late 12th century William Bocuinte, son of Sabelina, granted to his servant (famula) Edeva daughter of Wakerilda de Writele for her service a total of 10s. rent, including 2s. from the land and shops which Simon de Sancto Licio (cf. below) held in the parish of St. Mary le Bow at the corner of Corveserestrate. The rent was to pass to St. Bartholomew's Hospital if Edeva took up the religious habit there. (fn. 2) In about 1216-17 Anger de la Barra was said to hold this land from Simon de Senliz, to whom he probably owed 16s. p.a. rent. At this time Anger granted half the land with its appurtenances to Salomon de Basing, who made a down payment of £3. 2s. 6d. and was to pay rents of 8s. to Simon and his heirs and 1s. to Canterbury Cathedral Priory; both grantor and grantee were to share the cost of any plea which might arise concerning the property. Anger had probably owed 2s. rent to Canterbury for the whole of the land. By 1222 Salomon de Basinges granted to Hauisia daughter of Benedict the bell-founder (campanarius) 5s. rent from this property, which was now described as two shops held jointly by Salomon and Anger at the end of Corveserestrate. This grant had a pious purpose and the rent came into the possession of Campsey Priory, whose prioress Agnes c. 1230-1 granted it to the nuns of Clerkenwell in return for a payment of £2. 6s. 8d. Soon afterwards the nuns granted this rent to Albretha widow of William son of Alice, who was to receive it for the term of her life in return for a payment of £2. 10s. (fn. 3) The nuns still received 5s. quit- rent from 19 in the 15th century (see below).

Simon de Sancto Licio, described on his seal as 'Simon son of Earl Simon', was the illegitimate son of Simon of St. Liz II, earl of Northampton and Huntingdon, who died in 1153. He was probably still alive in 1207, and is mentioned in connection with this property c. 1216- 17 as if he were alive or only recently dead (cf. above). (fn. 4) Before c. 1216-17 Simon de Sancto Licio granted the 16s. rent from the two shops representing 19, which Anger de Barra held of him in fee, to William Juvenal in return for his service and a rent to the grantor and his heirs of a pound of cummin or 2d. The chief witness to this transaction was Abel the goldsmith. William Juvenal subsequently granted the 16s. rent to his own son Abel and Abel's heirs. The rent was later inherited by Abel of St. Martin, son of Sir Abel of St. Martin, knight, who by his will, proved in 1278, left this and other rents to his mother, Margery. In 1283-4, in return for a payment of £3. 6s. 8d. Margery granted the 16s. rent at farm to Jordan Godchep, citizen, for a term of 8 years from Easter 1285. The rent was now said to be due from Margery's shop between the highway on the N. and E., 20 on the W., and a tenement of the nuns of Clerkenwell (perhaps the S. part of 19) on the S. In 1286-7 Jordan Godchep released to Margery his interest in the rent in return for a payment of £3. 10s., and Margery, in return for a payment of £8 from the executors of Ralph de Donion, canon of St. Paul's, granted the rent to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's as part of the endowment of de Donion's chantry. St. Paul's still received this rent in 1542, when it formed part of the endowment of Everdon's chantry. (fn. 5)

The 2s. rent from this property granted by William Bocuinte came into the possession of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and in the later 13th century was due from a shop of Osbert de Suffolk. Osbert's holding descended to Robert de Uptone, who in 1310 complained that the master of the hospital had taken naam for 6 years arrears of the rent. The master wrongly claimed to have acquired the rent from Osbert and there is no later record of his interest in this property, which seems to have been identical with 19 (cf. below). (fn. 6)

The middle part of the property (approximately 18 and the N. Part of 17)

Early in the 13th century Reginald son of William de Hauuile granted to Salamon de Basing an 8s. rent in St. Mary Abchurch parish and two shops in St. Mary le Bow parish between the shop of Ralph Musheghee (? part of 17) on the S. and a shop of Simon de Senliz (part of 19) on the N. Salomon made a payment of £5. 13s. 4d. and was to pay rents of 1s. 6d. for the shops to Canterbury Cathedral Priory and of a pound of cummin or 2d. for the whole property to the donor. At about the same time Geoffrey son of Geoffrey the alderman and uncle of the donor confirmed this grant and offered properties of his own in counterpledge for his warranty, in return for a payment of 6s. 8d. made by Salomon de Basing. (fn. 7)

These two shops probably represent 18 and part of 17. St. Bartholomew's Hospital appears subsequently to have acquired the more northerly of the shops and c. 1260 granted it to Silvester the tawyer (allutarius) and his heirs and assigns in return for a down payment of 13s. 4d. and a rent of 13s. p.a. This shop was said to be in the entry of Corueseristrate beneath (subtus) the chancel of the church of St. Mary, and between the shops of the nuns of Clerkenwell (19) on the N. and the shops of St. Mary Spital (perhaps subsequently divided between 18 and 17) on the S. In a transaction which apparently took place in 1259-60, perhaps even before the grant to Silvester, the executors of John Normham granted to St. Bartholomew's Hospital a rent of 10s. from the hospital's shop at the east end of the church of St. Mary le Bow beneath (sub) the chancel. This was evidently the property in Cordewanerestrete which John de Flaundene, chaucer, and his wife Margery held from the hospital in 1307. (fn. 8)

The references to the shop 'beneath' the chancel presumably indicate that it was in the shadow of the church rather than in the crypt directly below it, since later properties which appear to have occupied the same site lay to the N. of the church structure.

By his will, dated and proved in 1332, John de Flaundene now described as hosyer, left his shop in Cordewanerestrete to his younger son John, who was to pay £2. 13s. 4d. p.a. to the testator's elder son John for four years after the testator's death. The younger son John was probably the John de Flaunden, citizen and hosier, who died in 1366 and left the shop he had in Corwanerstrete in Hosierlane in Westchepe to his wife Katharine and to Margaret Nayleres for the term of their lives. There then followed a dispute over the property, for in 1367 a scrivener was punished for having in 1365-6 forged deeds dated 1339 by which John de Flaundene, hosyer, was supposed to have had the title to his holdings, including those in this parish, vested in himself, his wife Margery, and their heirs. The property was described as a shop with a solar above in 1385, when it was taken into the city's hands following a suit of gavelet initiated by St. Bartholomew's Hospital on account of its rent of 13s. which had been 3 1/2 years in arrears. Katharine widow of John de Flaunden was said to hold the shop, but did come forward and the hospital seems subsequently to have recovered possession. (fn. 9)

The S. Part of the property (approximately the S. Part of 17)

The southernmost part of 17-19 is the least well recorded in the Middle Ages. The Ralph de Cassel who owed rent to Canterbury Cathedral Priory c. 1220 may have held part of it. At about that date Ralph Mushagee may have had a shop there; Ralph de Cassel was perhaps followed in the mid 13th century by Agnes Cheure and then by St. Mary Spital which owned a shop here c. 1260 (for these tenants, see the preceding sections). The shop acquired by St. Mary Spital was probably represented by the moiety of a shop in veteri archa (the reference is probably to the stone, and presumably vaulted, structure of which these shops formed a part; cf. 104/20) which Ralph de Cassel granted to the hospital. The shop had previously belonged to Ralph's grandmother Herset and to his mother Emma. (fn. 10) St. Mary Spital had a shop here in 1340 (see below), but by the mid 15th century this had been absorbed by the neighbouring holding(s) (see below, 18).

A late 12th- or early 13th-century deed recorded in the 15th century cartulary of the hospital of St. Giles, Holborn, may refer to this part of 17-19. By this Walter de Stauuges, cordwaner, and his wife Gunnilda granted to Osbert Lorimer and his heirs their land and appurtenances in Cordewanerio in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. The land lay beside the entry and exit which had belonged to Ralph Bussel (possibly identical with or associated with Ralph de Cassel); the grantee was to pay rents of 1/2 lb. of cummin to the grantors and 10s. to the chief lords, and made down payments of £2. 13s. 4d. to Walter, 2d. to his wife, and 1/2d. to each of their 3 children. It is possible that the 10s. rent was identical with that later due from the shop of St. Bartholomew's Hospital and that this land included the site of the shop. Soon afterwards Osbert granted the land to John Brokedent and his heirs, for which John paid £3. 6s. 8d. The same source contains a copy of a deed of 1216 or soon after which concerns an adjacent property. William Sputing granted to Nicholas de Bemreys land in the parish of St. Mary le Bow between the land of Martin son of William and the land of John Rokedent, who were both witnesses to the transaction. The land was measured in King Henry's iron ells, and contained 3 1/4 ells less 2 inches (9 ft. 7 in.; 2.92 m.) at the E. end next to the street, the same width at the west end, and in length 12 1/4 ells plus 4 inches (37 ft. 1 in.; 11.3 m.). Nicholas made a down payment of 15s. and was to pay annual rents of 2s. to London Bridge and 2s. to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. (fn. 11) The latter rent suggests that this land may have been identical with 19 or a part of it. On the other hand, 19 was much shorter from E. to W., and in the 16th century at least, 17 extended back from the street about the same distance as the land granted by William Sputyng. There may, however, have been some confusion over the identity of the property from which the rent was due.

A part of 17 was the subject of a deed of 1340, by which Thomas son and heir of Thomas Bacwelle, formerly citizen, granted in perpetuity to four named parishioners of St. Mary le Bow and their fellow parishioners a shop in Cordewanerstrete in the parish between a shop belonging to the same church (part of 17) on the S. and a shop of St. Mary Spital (cf. above) on the N. The grantor reserved a rent of 12s. p.a., for which he was to be able to distrain in the shop to the S. The grantees were not to enclose the shops next to the street in such a way that it would be impossible to enter to make a distress. As part of Thomas Bacwelle's estate (cf. 104/10) this 12s. rent later passed to John Fressh, citizen and mercer, and was due from a shop which the church of St. Mary le Bow used for its vestry. By his will, dated September 1397, Fressh left the rent and reversion to his daughter Margery and her husband Walter Cotton in tail with reversion to his daughter Katharine in tail. In November 1397, after Fressh's death, his surviving cofeoffees granted the property to new feoffees, who in 1401 conveyed it to Walter Cotton for life with remainder to a further group of feoffees (cf. 104/10). In the mid 14th century Canterbury Cathedral Priory claimed a rent of 12d. from a shop next to and belonging to the church of St. Mary le Bow; this rent was in default between 1354 and 1356. (fn. 12)

Fourteenth to seventeenth century

17

In 1523 this was the parsonage house of St. Mary le Bow and measured 33 ft. 10 in. (10.31 m.) E./W. and 14 ft. 6 in. (4.42 m.) N./S. at the E. end. It probably covered the site of the two shops which were in the possession of the parish from 1340 onwards and part of the site of the shop of St. Mary Spital which had adjoined them to the N. (see above). In the early 17th century Owen Seintper leased the property from the parish and used it as 'rooms adjoining' his establishment next door (18). He bequeathed the lease to his son Owen, who c. 1623-4 also held rooms forming part of 20 from the tenant of that property and had a door leading to them inserted in an old stone wall running N./S. at the W. end of 17. This wall formed part of 20 and measured 22 ft. 6 in. (6.86 m.) in length. About 1633-4 the tenant of 20 rebuilt this wall in brick and the tenants at the corner of Bow Lane (? 18- 19) appear to have dug a cellar which undermined either this wall or the wall between their property and 17; in addition a vault had been dug (perhaps by the tenant of 17) which undermined one of these walls. At this time 17 was said to measure 28 ft. 6 in. (8.69 m.) in length. (fn. 13) After the Great Fire a strip of ground 1 ft. 8 in. (508 mm.) wide was cut off the property for enlarging Bow Lane. (fn. 14)

It seems likely that by the 17th century the parish was letting 17 to tenants and that the parson lived elsewhere: in 1666 he was living in or near George Yard (cf. 23A). The occupant of 17 in 1638 was probably Mr. Rigs, who had a shop valued at £6 a year; in 1666, on the eve of the Great Fire, the occupant was probably Edward Boswell, whose house had 3 hearths. (fn. 15)

18

In 1456 this was a shop of St. Bartholomew's Hospital which had been let to John Norman, alderman (presumably the draper who d. 1468), and was now let to Thomas Bacheler, draper, for 10s. rent. This shop incorporated a parcel of a shop of St. Mary Spital which had been acquired under an indenture of 1407-8 and for which a quit-rent of 3s. 4d. was due. This quit-rent continued to be paid to St. Mary Spital and then to the Crown until St. Bartholomew's Hospital was refounded in 1546. (fn. 16)

In 1526 the hospital let the tenement and shop here to Thomas Daye for a term of 30 years at 13s. 4d. rent. Day or a member of his family may still have held the property in 1546, and in 1544 a John Day lived in this part of the parish. In 1547-8 and 1552-3, however, John Smartwayte (also spelt Smerewet, Smertweight, and Smertwet) held the property for the same rent. (fn. 17) Smartwayte, a barber surgeon, surrendered the lease in 1553 and took a new lease, under which he was to be responsible for repairs, for a term of 21 years at £1 rent. In 1574 Isabel Smartwayte, widow, renewed this lease for a fine of £2. She was also known as Elizabeth Smartwayte and lived in the property. In 1588 Owen Sayntpyer, citizen whose trade was described variously as that of cook or 'pastyler', sued for a lease to come into effect after her death. She died in 1589 or early the next year and in February 1590 Sayntpyer renewed the lease for the same term and a fine of £6. 13s. In May 1590 Sayntpyer obtained a new lease for a term of 40 years, in return for which he was to build a new house 4 1/2 stories high within a year. He clearly built well and in 1591 was allowed to renew his lease for a term of 60 years. In 1594, when he took yet another lease, now for a term of 58 years, the newly-built tenement was said to contain shops, cellars, solars, halls, parlours, chambers, rooms, and yards. He was dwelling in the house in 1596, when he proposed to use it as a tavern for the sale of wine. When Sayntpyer died in 1613-14 he was living in the parish of St. Alphege. His establishment in Bow Lane included 17 (q.v.), and he bequeathed his interest in the leases of these two properties to his son Owen. In 1603 the S. side of the house he had built required weatherboarding and in the following year the house was to be plastered. (fn. 18)

During the 1620s and 1630s the establishment of the younger Owen Sayntpyer comprised 17, 18, and a part of 20 (see 17). In 1638 18 was probably a shop occupied by Mr. Clapshaw and valued at £6 a year. In 1648, when 18 was occupied by Rowland Reginald, Simon Hammond, citizen and cook, obtained an agreement that on the expiry of Sayntpyer's lease he should have a new lease of 18 for a term of 21 years at £2 rent and a fine of £42, and on condition that he did not allow the tenement to be converted into a victualling house 'as it now is'. Hammond paid £40 of the fine in 1649 and the remainder in 1651, but the lease did not commence until the latter year. In 1649, when Mr. Beale was tenant, the house needed glazing and tiling and some support for its upper part which was bending towards the street. (fn. 19)

Simon Hammond's widow held 18 from 1653 onwards and in 1663, when a gutter was in disrepair, her undertenant was Edward Williams. The occupant in 1666, just before the Great Fire, was probably Christopher Nicholson, victualler, whose house had 4 hearths. After the Fire a strip of ground 1 ft. 8 in. (508 mm.) wide was cut off to enlarge Bow Lane and Richard Yerberry, who had held a part of 20 (q.v.), was assigned the lease of 18 on condition that he rebuild it. Yerberry was acting in association with his father-in-law William Farr, to whom this lease was assigned in 1670, and who was responsible for rebuilding all the houses on the site of 18-20. A single new house on the site of 18 and 19 also extended over the E. end of 20. (fn. 20)

19

Robert de Uptone's property (cf. above) descended to Stephen de Upton, from whose former shop on the corner of Cordewanerstrete Edward de Derby, clerk, had a quit-rent of 5s. in 1361 when he died. The rent had belonged to Edmond's father, William de Derby, who had bequeathed it to his wife Agnes for the term of her life, with reversion to his heirs. Edmund died ten days before his mother and in 1370 was said to have left no heirs. Edmund in fact had a cousin and heir, William 'in the lane' of Mackelewodehous in Derbyshire, who in 1361 granted and quitclaimed Edmund's former properties to William de Bukkeby, rector of St. Mary Aldermary, and Henry de Idebury, clerk. At the same time William 'in the lane' made a separate grant to the same grantees at the 5s. rent, which was said to be due from a corner shop now inhabited by John Bouemarche, draper (pannar') between 20 on the W. and 18 on the S. In 1370 the rent, which with other former properties of Edmund de Derby had come by escheat to the city authorities, was assigned to Robert de Louthe, joiner. (fn. 21) The shop was thus charged with a minimum of £1. 6s. p.a. quit-rent: 16s. to St. Paul's, 5s. to Clerkenwell Priory, and 5s. to Robert de Louthe.

In 1367 John Bouemarche, citizen and draper, and his wife Juliana granted this shop with the houses built on it to James Andreu, citizen and draper, and his wife Maud. Maud was probably dead by 1374, when James Andreu by his will, dated and proved in that year, left the tenement here to Kilburn Priory, where his cousin Isabel was a nun. Isabel was to receive from the property an income of £2. 13s. 4d. p.a., a sum which presumably represented its minimum rental value after the quit-rents had been paid. At this time the property was also described as a small mansio with a shop annexed worth £4 a year in rent and held by Henry Permestede. (fn. 22)

By 1489-90 the 5s. rent due to Clerkenwell Priory had fallen into default. In 1531 Kilburn Priory granted the tenement here to William Carkeke, citizen and scrivener, on a repairing lease for a term of 21 years at £2 rent. In 1540 the Crown sold this and other properties of former religious houses in the neighbourhood to William Lock, mercer, reserving a 4s. fee farm rent from this tenement. Carkeke still held the tenement when he died in 1548-9, leaving the remainder of his term of years to his son Ralph, who was to continue to pay the annuity of £4 to Margaret Stocker, then wife of Nicholas Stocker, which William Carkeke was bound to pay her for the term of her life. William Lock, knight, died in 1550 and bequeathed this property, described as a small tenement and shop where William Pereson lived, to his son Michael for the term of his life. Pereson had been living there since at least as early as 1541. William Lock's eldest son, Thomas Lock, was to have the reversion of this property and by his will, drawn up in 1554, left two parts of the reversion to his wife Mary for life with a remainder to his executors to hold on behalf of his son and heir William Lock. Thomas died in 1556 and his son William was dead by 24 October 1561, when William Pierson still held the property. (fn. 23)

In 1638 19 was probably a shop, valued at £8 a year, occupied by Mr. Whitfeld. (fn. 24)

In 1639 the corner messuage here belonged to Thomas Lock, esquire, of Merton, Surrey, who let it to Joan Hurst for a term of 21 years at £20 rent. In June 1640 Lock sold his interest to Elizabeth Erswell of London, widow, for a term of 99 years in return for a peppercorn rent and a payment of £223. A few days later, and by a prior agreement, Lock had his title confirmed by means of a recovery in the court of King's Bench. This was the messuage called the Windmill with its shops, cellars, solars, and chambers which in 1649 Elizabeth Erswell, then of St. Faith's parish, let to John Lancaster, citizen and merchant tailor, who was already tenant, for a term of 21 years at £20 rent. Lancaster's interest subsequently became vested in Thomas Challenor, citizen and 'musiconer', and John Strong of London, gentleman, on account of a debt and in 1651 his lease of 19 was sold to Challenor, who in the same year sold it to Lewis Edwards of London, boddice-seller. By her will, made in 1653 and proved in 1655, Mrs. Erswell left her interest in the messuage, which was now known as the 'Mill and Hatt', to her daughter Alice, wife of George Barnardiston, and to Alice's legitimate issue, with remainder to Christ's Hospital. Mrs. Erswell also left two annuities of £4 out of the property for the term of her interest there, one to Christ's Hospital and the other to Sarah Nicholls, widow, and her daughter Mary Nicholls. Immediately after the Great Fire the property was described as the land of Christ's Hospital, which eventually acquired full possession. In 1666, on the eve of the Fire, 19 was probably a house of 4 hearths occupied by Robert Timbrell, silkman. (fn. 25)