St. Mary le Bow 104/24

Introduction

This group of properties lay between 23 on the S. and 25- 33 on the N. In the 13th and early 14th centuries it appears to have extended from Bow Lane on the W. to 34 on the E. In the 14th century land at the E. end of the property was taken into 32 and 33. The S. part of 29-30 was bounded by 24 on its E., S., and W. sides.

On the street frontage the property corresponded to part of no. 49, nos. 50-3, and part of no. 55 Bow Lane in 1858.

Early history and quit-rents

In the 13th century 5 separate units of tenure can be identified along the Bow Lane frontage. They are identified here, from S. to N. as A-E. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries A and B formed one unit of ownership, C formed another, while D and E formed a third which seems once to have been part of the same property as 25-7. By the mid 13th century C-E appear to have come into the possession of a single family and were held severally by two brothers. By 1269 A-E had come into the possession of Henry de Walemond, who by that year granted them to Henry le Waleis. Le Waleis conveyed this property to Lord Edmund, brother of King Edward I, who in 1294 obtained a licence to alienate it in mortmain to the Minoresses outside Aldgate. (fn. 1) The Minoresses remained in possession until their house was dissolved in 1539.

24A-B

About 1200 Canterbury Cathedral Priory had a rent of £1 from Ralph son of John for this property, due in equal portions at the feasts of the Purification of the Virgin and St. Peter ad vincula. About 1220 the rent was due at Easter and Michaelmas from William de Esetesford for land held by John le Draper; Richard son of Reingerus responded for the rent on William's behalf. There may be some connection between this property and the two houses sub archa from which in 1191 William son of Reiner was assigned arent of 5s. as his share of the estate of his deceased brother Richard son of Reiner. William's son was Richard Renger, the sheriff and mayor of London who died in 1237, and who is probably identical with the Richard son of Reingerus who responded for the rent due to Canterbury Cathedral Priory. The phrase sub archa (no other indication of the locality of the two houses is given) may denote the siting of the property opposite, and to some degree overshadowed by, the vaults of the church of St. Mary le Bow. Soon afterwards Thomas Lambert held the land. (fn. 2) Lambert also held the N. part of 23 (q.v.). During the 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries the rent of £1 appears to have been due from 24 as a whole. It ceased to be paid in 1539 when the property came into the possession of the Crown, and in the mid 16th century was regarded as a 'decayed rent'. (fn. 3)

Thomas Lambert gave the property as dowry to his daughter, Joan, who in 1250-1, with her husband, Abel the goldsmith, granted it to Henry de Walemund. The property was now described as two messuages and was charged with the rent to Canterbury Cathedral Priory, £1. 6s. 8d. rent to Sir Simon de Croyl and his heirs, and £2. 13s. 4d. rent to the donors. De Walemund gave £10 in return for the grant. By 1254 Abel and Joan gave up their right to de Walemund in the £2. 13s. 4d. rent, reserving to themselves a rent of 1 lb. of cumin or 2d. In 1269 Henry de Walemond, citizen, granted these two messuages with their cellars and shops to Henry le Waleis, citizen and vintner, who paid £66. 6s. 8d. down and was to pay the rents due to Canterbury Cathedral Priory and the heirs of Simon Cryoil and a further rent of a clove to the donor. Endorsements on the two versions of the grant describe the property as two messuages with solars. In deeds relating to the next property to the N. A-B, or possibly B alone, is described as the capital messuage (managium) which de Walemond sold to Waleys. (fn. 4) The property may have consisted of a small house (24A) on the street frontage with a large house (24B) to the rear.

The £1. 6s. 8d. rent descended to William de Cryel, son of Simon de Cryel and of his wife Maud, who by 1281 granted it to Edward son of William de Borewell in return for a payment of £13. 6s. 8d. and a rent of a clove. At this time Jordan Godchep and Adam le Bret held the tenements representing A and B from Henry le Waleys. Godchep may have occupied the rear part of the property (24B) in association with an adjacent holding in Cheapside (cf. 31). The rent was subsequently assigned to Alice de Borewelle, widow of William de Borewell, for life, with remainder to the heirs of William. In 1294 Alice, with her next husband Ralph de Bromele, gave licence to Lord Edmund to alienate to the Minoresses the property, which was now described as a single tenement held by Jordan Godchep and Adam le Brock, formerly citizens. The rent descended to John de Glida who granted it to William de Trente, citizen, who in 1309 granted it to Richer de Refham, citizen and mercer. The rent was now due from a tenement of the Minoresses held by William le Taverner for the term of his life and bounded by other tenements of the Minoresses on either side. This tenement was probably 24A (perhaps bounded on the S. by an entry leading to 24B at the rear) and William le Taverner was also said to be holding it in 1307 and 1335. In 1319 de Refham granted the rent to his godson (filiolus), Richer son of William de Talworthe, who as Richer de Taleworth by his will, dated 1343 and proved in 1344, left it to his nephew, Thomas de Stondon. (fn. 5)

24C-E

The earliest reference to this part of the property concerns D, or D and E, and occurs in extracts from the early 13th-century testament of Waleran or Waleram and his wife Lucy Bucointe, daughter of Humphrey Buqueynte. The testament was finalized after Waleran's death and had the assent of John Waleran, eldest son of Waleran and Lucy, of John's brothers, Matthew and Philip, and of Sir Andrew Blund, parmenter, who was then Lucy's husband. Waleran possessed a property represented by 25-7, which probably also included 24D and E. According to the extracts, (fn. 6) Waleran left to his son John Waleram 18s. quit-rent from land of Gerard le Corueisu' in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. This rent was subsequently in the possession of Lucy daughter of Humphrey Buqueynte (Lucy Bucointe on her seal), who c. 1230 in her widowhood granted it to William son of Robert de Paris and his heirs, reserving a rent of 1d. to herself and her heirs. The rent was now due from a tenement which Gerard le Cordewaner held of Lucy, between the land of Serlo the mercer (probably 24C) to the S. and land belonging to her son Philip Walram (27) to the N. Serlo the mercer's land is also recorded in the mid 13th century as adjoining the N. side of A-B, although in this case the reference could be to 29-30 rather than 24C. Earlier, perhaps c. 1220, the same land (24C or 29-30) belonged to William son of Brito. (fn. 7)

The next record, a deed enrolled in 1254, concerns D. Roger de Beauueys, cordwainer, granted to Henry de Walemund his land with houses built on it opposite the chancel of St. Mary le Bow and lying between the land of Roger's brother, Philip de Beauueys, to the S. (C) and another land belonging to Philip to the N. (E). Roger's wife Alice was present at the reading of the charter in Husting and quitclaimed to Henry her right of dower in the property. (fn. 8)

Henry de Walemund, citizen, purchased the two properties which had belonged to Philip de Beauueys (C and E) from Philip's son and heir, Walter de Beluac'. Henry then granted the properties which he had acquired here to Henry le Waleis and the transactions were confirmed by two charters dating from 1269. One of the charters concerns C and E, while the other concerns C, D, and E. C was described as land with houses, shops, and appurtenances opposite the chancel of St. Mary le Bow and lying between the capital messuage (A-B or B) which de Walemund had sold to le Waleis on the S. and the land with houses (D) which he had sold to him on the N. D was described as in the deed enrolled in 1254, except that the adjoining land (C and E) had ceased to belong to Philip de Beauueys and that D itself was now said to measure 8 1/2 ells 6 in. (26 ft; 7.92 m.) in length from N. to S. and 5 1/4 ells (15 ft. 9 in.; 4.8 m.) in width from the street to the stone wall of the seld of Haliwell Priory (29-30). E consisted of land, houses, and shops between the land which the grantor had sold to le Waleis (D) to the S. and the land and shops of William Bokrel (probably part of 25-6) to the N. Several quit-rents were due from these properties. A rent of 18s. was due to the heirs of Roger son of Roger from C alone. The following were due from C and E: a clove to the grantor and his heirs; 1d. to the heirs of Walter de Belvac'; 8s. 8d. to the joint tenants (participis) of the seld belonging to Haliwell Priory (29-30), which was held by Anketin le Mercer and William de Burewell; and 3s. to Edward le Blund. The following additional rents are listed in the grant which concerns C, D, and E, and so were presumably due from D alone: a clove to the grantor (de Walemond) and his heirs; 12s. to William de Paris and his heirs; 8d. to St. Bartholomew's Hospital; 1d. to St. Mary Spital; 1/2 lb. of cumin or 1d. to the heirs of Roger de Beluaco (half the rent reserved in the deed enrolled in 1254); and 18s. to the heirs of William son of Robert de Paris (the rent formerly due to Lucy Bucointe). (fn. 9)

The rent of 8d. said in the charter of 1269 to be due to St. Bartholomew's Hospital (probably from D) seems in fact to have been due to St. Bartholomew's Priory. In 1294 the priory granted licence to alienate to the Minoresses the tenement from which the rent was due. In 1306 the priory's only rent of 8d. in this parish was due from John Travers, who presumably held 24D from the Minoresses. (fn. 10)

A life interest in the 18s. rent formerly due to Roger son of Roger from C passed to his widow Joan, who subsequently married Hugh de Bedeford. The rent was said to be of the inheritance of John son of Roger, who was probably the son of Roger son of Roger but may have been his grandson and therefore brother of Roger son of Roger. By means of a fine John agreed that Richard de Alegate, clerk, should have the reversion of the rent. In 1294, when Joan appears to have been dead, Richard de Alegate granted to the Lord Edmund licence to alienate to the Minoresses the tenement from which the rent was due. Ralph de Alegate (presumably a relative of Richard, unless a clerical error is involved and Richard is meant) granted the rent to William of York (de Ebor') and his wife Juliana, who in 1299 attempted to claim it from the Minoresses for a term of years. William was evidently identical with William Everard, goldsmith, who in 1319 with his wife Juliana granted the 18s. rent due from a tenement opposite the gable of the church of St. Mary le Bow to St. Mary Spital for a term of 7 years. The rent passed to William's daughter, Joan Everard, who by her will, dated and proved in 1365, left it to be sold. In the same year Joan's executors sold the rent, which was now due from a shop of the Minoresses, to John Lenne, clerk, Robert Lyncoln, draper, John de Berkyngg and John de Somersham, citizens. (fn. 11)

The 8s. 8d. rent due from C and/or E passed to Gilbert de Assindon, mercer, as tenant of the seld of Halwell Priory (cf. 29). By his will, proved in 1307 Gilbert left the rent, now due from the tenement which Stephen de Upton held of the Minoresses, to his wife Margaret for life, with remainder to John the elder son of Adam Braz. This indicates that the rent was due from C alone. Margaret probably then married John Arounde, who in 1311 with his wife Margaret granted the rent to Stephen de Feryng, taverner, and his wife Joan, for the term of Margaret's life (for other details of the transaction, see 29). The rent reverted to John Bras, citizen, who in 1335 granted it to William de Elsingg, citizen and mercer. The rent was now due from a tenement of the Minoresses bounded by other tenements of the Minoresses to N. and S. and by 29-30 to the E. Probably as a result of de Elsingg's will (cf. 23) the rent passed to Elsing Spital, to which it was due in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was extinguished when the two houses were dissolved. (fn. 12)

The William son of Robert de Paris and the William de Paris who had rents of 18s. and 12s., respectively, from D were probably related (perhaps father and son). By a deed enrolled in 1271 Richard Leugar, clerk, and Sibilla, widow of William de Parys, as executors of William granted this total of £1. 10s. rent from houses of Henry le Waleys in Cordewanerstrete to Adam de Stratton. After de Stratton's murder his property passed to the Crown. Edward II granted it with other rents to Walter de Shependon, kt., for a term, and in 1339 Edward III granted the reversion to Reginald de Conductu. In 1509 Dame Joan fitzLewes daughter and heir of Robert fitzSimond, esquire, formerly of Barling (Essex), and widow of Philip fitzLewes, granted this rent to William Maryner, citizen and salter. There is no evidence in the Minoresses' rent accounts of 1487-8 and 1531-2, however, that the rent was being paid at that period. (fn. 13)

In the 16th century a quit-rent of 10s. was due from 24 to the churchwardens of Great Wakering (Essex). It is possible that this was associated in some way with the £1. 10s. rent acquired in 1509 by William Maryner (see above). The rent was paid to the churchwardens in 1539- 40, but not subsequently. (fn. 14)

Fourteenth and fifteenth century

In 1487-8 24 was let as five tenements, to one of which a shop was annexed. Thus throughout the later Middle Ages the arrangement of the property on the Bow Lane frontage probably corresponded closely to that of the five units, A-E, identifiable in the 13th century. To judge from the topographical evidence of the 13th and 14th centuries and from the later rent receipts it seems probable that 24 contained 3 larger tenements (approximately A-C) and 2 smaller ones (approximately D and E). The two largest properties (approximately A and B) probably occupied the S. part of the site and may originally have extended E. as far as 34.

In the late 13th or in the 14th century the E. end of 24 was taken into 32 and 33 (q.v.), by 1332 and 1341, respectively. In 1318 a tenement on the S. side of 32, which was probably part of 24, belonged to Ralph le Balancer. It seems unlikely that Ralph's tenement was part of 23, which by 1332 adjoined 32 on its N. side, but it could have represented the S. part of 32. In 1307 and 1335 a tenement representing A or A-B was held by William le Taverner and in the late 14th century (probably c. 1386-7) the same property, from which the rent to Canterbury Cathedral Priory was due, was inhabited by Robert Warwike, citizen and draper. Robert's widow Alice Warwyk probably continued to live there until her death in 1409. (fn. 15) In 1299, 1307, and 1315 Stephen de Upton, citizen and hosier (caligarius), held C for a term of years. Subsequently C was described as a shop of which part descended to Stephen's daughter Rose, who in 1330 with her husband John le Yonge of Shoreditch granted it to Stephen de Berkynge, citizen and hosier (caligator), for a term of 6 years in return for a lump sum. The other part of the shop was in 1330 held by Robert de Lincoln, hosier (caligator), while in 1335 C was held by Robert de Lincoln and John de Berkyng. In 1365 Robert Keleseye, draper, held the shop representing C. This may have been the former shop of Stephen de Upton in Cordewanerstrete in the parish of St. Mary le Bow from which Thomas of St. Albans granted a rent of 3s. 4d. to William de Derby, citizen and tailor. In 1352 Stephen de Asshewy son and heir of Sir Stephen de Asshewy, kt. and uncle of Thomas of St. Alban, quitclaimed to de Derby in this rent. (fn. 16) D, which adjoined a stone wall forming part of 29-30 (q.v.) and included a privy next to that wall, was a tenement held in 1306-7 by Henry de Stok for the term of his life, and in 1335 was held by John de Godeston. (fn. 17) Two other tenancies of 24 during the 14th century are on record, but cannot certainly be identified with any particular part of the property. In 1322 the Minoresses let to Richard de Holbech, citizen and hosier (calligar'), and his wife Agnes a tenement and shop, formerly held by Richard de Weleford, for the term of Richard's life at £6. 13s. 4d. rent; after Richard's death his executors could occupy the property for a year in order to dispose of his goods and Agnes could hold it for the same rent so long as she remained unmarried; the tenants were to be responsible for repairs; and by an agreement of the same year the rent was reduced to £4. 13s. 4d. John de Kyllyngworth, draper, held a shop from the Minoresses and by his will, dated 1355 and proved in 1357, bequeathed his interest there to his wife Alice if she followed the draper's trade; if not, his interest was to pass to his son Richard and to Robert de Warewyk, together with the utensils belonging to the shop and with de Kyllyngworth's apprentice, Thomas. (fn. 18) De Kyllyngworth's shop was perhaps part of A-B, where Robert Warwike was dwelling later in the century (see above).

In 1455 the E. end of 24 was marked by a stone wall on the W. side of an alley running N./S. within 32. A lead pipe had been made by which rainwater ran through the wall from 24 into the alley. It was agreed that in order to enjoy this easement the Minoresses should pay annually to St. Bartholomew's Priory, the landlord of 32, a pair of beads made by the ladies within the abbey. As the result of a carpenter's negligence a post forming part of the structure of 24 rested on the land of the Elsing Spital (23), to which in 1487-8 the Minoresses owed a rent of 6d. (fn. 19) A part of the property was held by John Halyate, mercer, in 1428, when furs, falsely made and packed, were found in his house. Halyate's tenure had ceased by 1433, when the Minoresses granted at farm to John Broddesworth and Richard Coppying, citizens and hatters, the shop with a cellar below which Halyate had held for a term of 20 years at £1. 6s. 8d. rent, the landlord to repair. In 1487-8 24 was held by 5 tenants, who owed a total of £18. 5s. 4d. rent. Two holdings were probably equivalent to D and E: Robert Wymond, mercer, paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent, probably for the property once held by Halyate, and Richard Estgate, mercer, paid £2 rent. C may have been represented by a shop for which John Fuller, mercer, paid 6s. 8d. rent, together with a tenement annexed to it. For which he paid £3. 8s. rent. A and B may have been represented by the holdings for which Thomas Lokke, mercer, paid £5. 6s. rent and Hugh Browne, mercer, paid £5. 18s. rent. (fn. 20)

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

It is not known how the rear part of 24 was held in relation to the houses on the Bow Lane frontage during the early 16th century. In 1540 William Lock acquired the whole of 24 and may have taken the rear part of it into his residence (cf. 23B and 27). The houses on the street frontage, however, continued to be occupied separately. After Lock's death his former capital messuage was identified as 23B alone and so it is possible, perhaps even likely, that Lock's residence did not include any part of 24. If this was so, the rear part of 24 was probably held and occupied with the S. part of the property on the street frontage throughout the 16th century, as it certainly appears to have been in the early 17th century.

The S. And E. Parts of 24 (probably 24A and B) and 23D

The southernmost part of 24 (probably 24A and B) was a tenement for which in 1531-2 William Gressam paid £5 rent. In 1538 the Minoresses let this tenement with its shops, solars, cellars, and warehouses where William Gresham, citizen and mercer, dwelled, to John Edward, citizen and haberdasher, for a term of 99 years, the landlord being responsible for repairs. In 1540 the Crown sold this tenement and the other properties representing 24 to William Loke, citizen and mercer, who was to render service of a twentieth part of a knight's fee and to pay a rent of £1. 8s. 8d. (fn. 21) Edward (also known as Edwards and once referred to, possibly in error, as a mercer) also had a lease of an adjacent part of 23, which Gresham had also held (see 23D). Loke also purchased that property from the Crown and from then on the S. part of 24 and 23D were treated as a single house. John Edwards was dwelling there in 1550, when William Loke bequeathed it to his son, Henry Lock. William died in 1550. Edwards died and his widow, Margaret, married John Bamridge (or Bambridge), citizen and mercer, who thus came into possession of the house. In 1554 Henry Lock, citizen and mercer, granted to Bambridge for a term of 25 years from 1560 at £2 rent a great cellar, a great warehouse over it, a great parlour and a buttery over the warehouse, and a great chamber over the parlour, all part of Bamridge's mansion house. These rooms probably represented 23D, the existing lease of which was due to expire in 1559. In 1559, in return for a payment of £250, Bamridge conveyed his interest in this house, held under 3 leases, to Peter Baker, citizen and scrivener. (fn. 22)

Henry Lock seems only to have had a life interest in this property. This was due to revert to Henry's brother, Thomas Lock, who by his will, dated 1553, left two parts of the reversion to his wife Mary for life, with remainder to his son William Lock. This William Lock died in 1558. His father Thomas was dead by 1561, when Thomas's widow, Mary, and Henry Lock were still alive. William's heir was his brother Matthew Lock, then aged 9. Peter Baker died in 1592, and by his will of the previous year left his interest in the 99-year lease of the S. part of 24 (i.e. 24A-B) to his wife Elizabeth. She died in 1594, leaving the lease of her dwelling house to be sold by her executors, with preference to be given to her former servant Robert Bankworth. In 1596 her executors, David Floud, citizen and cordwainer, and his wife Elizabeth, who was Peter Baker's daughter, sold the remainder of the term to Robert Bankworth, scrivener, for £133. 6s. 8d. (fn. 23)

Peter Baker's lease of the rooms which seem to have represented 23D would have terminated in 1585. He may then have held two of the rooms as tenant of a member of the Lock family. The cellar may have been that let to Henry Heley, joiner, and the warehouse may have been that taken into 23B. In 1599 Matthew Lock let the 2 rooms lately held by Baker, the warehouse, and the cellar lately held by Heley to Nicholas Russell for a term of 21 years along with 23B (q.v.). In 1600 Russell leased to Robert Bankworth a messuage in Bow Lane containing several small rooms (probably 23D or a part of it) together with a watercourse for carrying rainwater and domestic water out of the messuage through the yard and tenement on the S. side and thence into Bow Lane. This watercourse was probably that which in 1558 had been in dispute between Peter Barker and Thomas White (see 23A). In 1613 Aminadas Cowper, citizen and merchant tailor, assigned to Bankworth for a term of 7 years a piece of ground taken out of the yard of the tenement where Cowper dwelled (part of 23B). This ground lay near the entry (now Well Court) leading from Bow Lane to 23B and extended 14 ft. 2 in. (4.32 m.) in length from Cowper's kitchen wall on the E. to a workhouse (part of 23D) occupied by Gabriel Cumberland, tailor. The ground was 4 ft. (1.22 m.) in width between the stone wall of Bankworth's dwelling house (probably 24A and B) on the N. and the outer face of the brick wall which now enclosed the ground on the S. On 17 January 1618 Bankworth assigned his interest in these leases and in the 99-year lease of the S. part of 24 (probably 24A and B) to John Cordell, merchant tailor, who was to reconvey them on request to Bankworth, who was to remain in occupation. The agreement was to be void if Bankworth paid Cordell 12d. On 19 January 1618, having obtained a royal licence to alienate, Sir Thomas Muschampe of Newington (Surrey), Thomas Lock of Merton (Surrey), esquire and son and heir of Matthew Lock, and Thomas's wife Jane sold to Robert Bankworth the messuage representing the S. part of 24 (probably 24A and B), where Bankworth dwelled, the ground Bankworth had had from Cowper, the two messuages on the N. side of Bankworth's dwelling (24C and D q.v.), and the messuage with its watercourse on the S. side of Bankworth's dwelling now occupied by Gabriel Cumberland (23D). The watercourse now flowed through a yard and tenement occupied by Thomas Munk (part of 23A and/or the N. part of 23C). The intent of the sale was that the vendors should levy a fine and that Bankworth should suffer Charles Hoskins, citizen and merchant tailor, and Edward Allen, citizen and fishmonger, who were party to the sale, to sue out a writ of entry leading to a common recovery of the premises, which were to be held to the use of Dame Margaret Muschampe for life, with remainder to Bankworth. Margaret was Matthew Lock's widow and Thomas Muschampe's wife, and had a life interest in the 4 messuages. Thomas Lock and his wife Jane had an estate in the remainder after Margaret's death. The only leases in force concerning this property were that of Matthew Lock concerning 24C and D and that of the same to Nicholas Russell which concerned the tenement occupied by Cumberland (23D). The recovery and fine were executed in February 1618 and Bankworth paid £160 for the latter. (fn. 24)

The bounds of the 4 messuages sold on 19 January 1618 were described in some detail. The properties said to be adjacent to the N. appear to have been 24E and 29-32; those to the S. appear to have been parts of 23A and 23B; and those to the E. appear to have been parts of 23B and 32. The messuages lay together in Bow Lane and contained 78 ft. (23.77 m.) in length from N. to S., excluding the jetty and buildings of the hall and rooms on the street side of the messuage occupied by Cumberland (23D). These rooms sailed over part of the shop in the tenement occupied by Thomas Munck (probably the N. part of 23C) by 3 ft. 2 in. (965 mm.) along a length of 18 ft. (5.49 m.). Also excluded from the length of 78 ft. (23.77 m.) was part of the great vault or arched cellar belonging to Cumberland's messuage which extended S. to the great gate and entry (now Well Court) leading to 23B, and in part lay beneath the tenement occupied by Munck (probably the N. part of 23C). This cellar is presumably identical with the substantial medieval cellar revealed by excavation in 1979 on the N. corner of Well Court and Bow Lane and there may be a reference to this structure in or before 1269 (see 23). Thomas Munck also held a yard on the N. side of the entry (now Well Court).

The location and ownership of Munck's holdings present a problem. The references to the watercourse associated with Cumberland's messuage suggest that Munck held a part of 23A, which almost certainly did not extend N. of Well Court. If this was so, the shop and tenement which he held over Bankworth's cellar and the yard which he held on the N. side of Well Court must have been part of 23D, and held from the Lock family. There are no later identifiable references to this shop, tenement, and yard. A stronger possibility is that the shop, tenement, and yard were part of 23C, which belonged to the Lock family and lay principally on the S. side of Well Court. In the mid 16th century at least one tenant of 23C seems also to have held a part of 23A which adjoined it to the E., in the same way as Munck could have done. If this was the case, 23C would have incorporated the gatehouse or gateway at the Bow Lane end of Well Court. The tenants of the N. part of 23C are not known between 1598 and 1637, and so Munck could have been tenant or undertenant in 1618. In 1647 the hall in the first storey of the N. part of 23C was said to have been enlarged by an addition of 3 ft. 6 in. (1.07 m.) at its N. end. This addition could have occupied the space where Cumberland's messuage oversailed Munck's shop in 1618. A difficulty with this interpretation, however, is that the description of the N. part of 23C in 1647 mentions only one shop on the ground floor, which had a cellar below it forming part of 23C and was presumably on the S. side of Well Court; but it is possible that the description omitted a shop on the N. side of the entry or that the shops on either side of the entry were used as one.

According to an agreement of 1628 Gabriel Cumberland had in 1618 occupied 2 little chambers, one above the other, which he had taken out of the house where in 1628 Simon Leeson dwelled and which he held as Leeson's tenant- at-will. Leeson's house was said to be on the S. side of the messuage (23D) in which Cumberland then dwelled and was identical with the shop and tenement held in 1618 by Thomas Munck (perhaps part of 23C). Leeson held the same property, and probably also part of 23A, in 1630. These chambers had been unintentionally conveyed to Robert Bankworth, scrivener, by the indenture of 1618. Bankworth died in 1621 and was succeeded by his son, Robert Bankworth, junior, doctor of divinity, to whom in 1628 Thomas Lock and his wife Jane gave up all claim in the chambers in return for a payment of £30. In the same year Sir Alexander Temple of Harmer (Sussex), knight, and his wife Mary, who was the widow of the elder Bankworth (described as a gentleman), in return for a payment of £333. 6s. 8d. quitclaimed to the younger Bankworth in their third share (presumably Mary's right of dower) of the 4 messuages. In October 1630 the younger Bankworth covenanted that in order to assure his wife Abigail of a jointure he would stand seised of the 4 messuages to the use of himself and his wife for life and to the use of their joint issue and Bankworth's own issue, with remainder to various of Bankworth's relatives, of whom two were named Robert Bankworth. At the time of this covenant the messuage once occupied by Cumberland (23D) was occupied by George Lawe, citizen and mercer, and the messuage once inhabited by the elder Bankworth (24A-B) was occupied by Edmund Wilson, doctor of physic, who had an indenture of lease. George Lawe was presumably the Mr. Lawes who in 1638 lived in a house (probably 23D) in this part of Bow Lane valued at £14 p.a. (fn. 25)

John Cordell, who in 1618 had acquired the elder Bankworth's interest in the 99-year lease of the S. part of 24 (probably 24A and B), in July 1630 conveyed that interest to the younger Robert Bankworth and John Bankworth of London, gentleman, on trust to allow Robert to remain in occupation. In September 1630 Robert and John leased the great messuage where the elder Bankworth had lived to Edmund Wilson, doctor of phisic, for a term of 5 years, and then for a term of 21 years or life after that, at a rent of £5 and in consideration for a sum of money paid. In addition Wilson covenanted to grant to Bankworth an annuity of £35 for the terms of 5 and 21 years. The great messuage with its shops, solars, cellars, chambers, rooms and yards is described in detail in a schedule of fixtures, which covered both the messuage itself and certain rooms used with it which were not leased but held from year to year. This house appears to have had at least 2 storeys, apart from cellar and garrets, but it is not possible to work out fully the disposition of the rooms. In the following account they are given in the order in which they appear in the list, which appears to begin on the first floor and then deals with the top floor before going downstairs. The main part of the house was next to the street. It included a great chamber next to the street (including a chimney); a closet within the chamber; a little chamber next to the great chamber (including a little house which was perhaps a privy); a garret chamber over the great chamber; a chamber over the little chamber (including a chimney); a garret leading out of the little chamber; a cock loft; a buttery between the hall and great chamber; a hall known as the 'white hall' (presumably on the first floor); a little wainscot chamber; a closet in the entry between the hall and kitchen (presumably on the first floor); stairs leading out of the entry up to the study; the kitchen (perhaps on the first floor); the study (perhaps on the second floor); a garret over the study, with stairs leading to the leads; a chamber over the kitchen; a chamber behind the shop (presumably on the ground floor); a little parlour (probably on the ground floor, including a chimney); the entry, containing a double door towards the street; the yard; the house of office; and the cellar under the shop (including a window against the street). The rooms let from year to year included the stone parlour; the outer larder; the inner larder (including a door on to the leads); the green chamber, the great chamber over the stone parlour; the garret over the great chamber; and the warehouse, which was at ground level and contained a door and window into the back yard and a door into the fore yard. This made a total of 22 rooms, including the cellar and garrets but excluding closets, stairs, and the cock loft. (fn. 26) The entry off Bow Lane was probably on the S. side of the property, as it also appears to have been after the Great Fire (see below).

Robert Bankworth the younger died, and in 1633 his widow Abigail, with her new husband, Edward Leigh of Walthamstow (Essex), leased this messuage (probably 24A and B) to William Taylor, citizen and haberdasher, for a term of 40 years, should Abigail live so long, after the end of the 5 years granted to Edmund Wilson, who had died earlier in 1633. Taylor made a down payment of £78 and was to pay a rent of £5. The inhabitants of 24A-B may tentatively be identified in the tithe assessment of 1638 as Mr. Batley and Mr. Hawker, whose houses were valued at £16 and £6, respectively. (fn. 27)

The N. Part of 24 (24C-E)

In the first half of the 16th century this part of the property was let in two parts, the relative positions of which are not recorded.

In 1531-2 Thomas Paris held two tenements from the Minoresses for a total of £5 rent. They may have occupied the middle part of 24 on the Bow Lane frontage (perhaps 24C-D). In 1539-40 Paris was said to hold the property, now a tenement with shops, cellars, and solars, under a lease for a term of 31 years granted to Thomas Alborough. William Lock acquired the freehold from the Crown in 1540. Paris was dwelling in the house in 1550 when William Lock bequeathed the property to his son John Lock, probably for the term of his life. William died in 1550. The property then passed to William's son Thomas Lock, who in 1554, the year of his death, granted it to feoffees to hold to his use and that of his wife Mary and then to the use of his son William Lock, who died in 1558. In 1561, when Mary was still alive and Matthew Lock had the reversionary interest as the heir of Thomas Lock, the property was worth £4 a year clear and was held by Simon Croxton. This tenant was presumably the Simon Cruxson, citizen and mercer of this parish, who died in 1584 leaving his interest in his leases to his widow Katharine, who herself died in 1586. (fn. 28)

In 1529 the Minoresses let to Roger Monyngton, citizen and mercer, a tenement with shops, cellars, solars, warehouses, and yards for a term of 30 years at £4. 6d. 8d. rent, the landlord to repair. This may have represented the northernmost part of the property, perhaps that earlier identifiable as E. Monyngton still held in 1532, and was a resident of the parish in 1533 when he drew up his will. He died at sea in 1535 and by 1539 had been succeeded as tenant of this house by Nicholas Chowne, citizen and haberdasher, who was still living there in 1544. William Lock acquired the freehold from the Crown in 1540. In 1550 this was probably the tenement held by John Kelk which Lock left to his son Henry Lock for life, with remainder to his other son Thomas Lock. In 1561, when Henry was still alive and the heir to the reversionary interest was Matthew Lock, Kelk's former tenement was occupied by William Lovyse and Lewis Lovyse. (fn. 29)

From the later 16th century onwards there appear to have been 3 messuages in the northern part of 24, perhaps occupying the same sites as C, D, and E at an earlier date.

24C and D may have been represented by the two messuages which in 1598 Matthew Lock of Merton (Surrey), esquire, and his wife Margaret leased to William Howlande, citizen and haberdasher, for a term of 21 years at £13. 13s. 4d. rent. One of the messuages, which on later evidence was the more northerly one (24D), was occupied by Howlande's tenant, William Parnell, and the other (24C?) was Howlande's dwelling house. The property included shops, cellars, solars, chambers, warehouses, and rooms, and the following parts are described in a schedule of fittings: a great parlour with a bay window containing 21 panes of glass; a hall with one window towards Robert Bankworth (the S. part of 24) and another window towards William Bonner (24E or possibly 30); a little parlour with a bay window containing 12 panes of glass; a counting house; a chamber over the little parlour with a bay window containing 5 panes; a great chamber over the great parlour with a bay window containing 12 panes; a gallery (possibly looking into the hall); the maids' chamber with a window towards Robert Bankworth; the buttery; the kitchen; a yard, where there was a street door and a lead trough to piss in; a counting house in the yard; a warehouse, where there was a door into the back yard. (fn. 30) As seems frequently to have been the case, the schedule does not describe the shop(s), which may have been next to the street on the ground floor beneath the 2 parlours. If so, the house would have been of 3 1/2 storeys above ground (excluding the cellar, but counting garrets, which are not mentioned in the schedule, as half a storey) next to the street, the hall may have occupied the first and second storeys, the kitchen may have been at first floor level, and the warehouse may have been below the hall and/or kitchen. It is not easy to see how the property described in the schedule was occupied as 2 messuages, and it is possible that the division was recent and that the schedule had been copied from an earlier lease.

In 1618 Robert Bankworth, scrivener, acquired possession of these two messuages and they subsequently descended in the same ownership as the S. part of 24 (see above). Howland was dead by 1618, when the two messuages were said to be then or late in the tenure or occupation of Bankworth, Otvell Meverell, doctor of physic, Robert Parkhurst, citizen and clothworker, Christopher Hill, citizen and clothworker, Simon Leeson, barber, and Thomas Powell, vintner, or some of them or their assigns. Which of these tenants, if any, inhabited the messuages is uncertain. Bankworth (cf. S. part of 24), Parkhurst (cf. 29), and perhaps Leeson (cf. 24A) owned or held adjacent properties and so perhaps occupied small parts of the two messuages. If this was the case, the occupants of the messuages themselves were probably Meverell and Hill. Hill certainly held the more northerly part of the property (24D), formerly occupied by William Parnell. Parnell, a citizen and waxchandler, died in 1622 and was probably at that time living in the parish. Hill was living in the parish in 1628 and died in 1630. In 1628 the 2 messuages (24C-D) were occupied by Thomas Andrews, citizen and dyer, Thomas Thompson, citizen and salter, and Valentine Bowles, citizen and vintner, or their assigns or undertenants; in 1630 the name of Roger Rowley, citizen, clothworker, and formerly partner of Christopher Hill, was added to this list, perhaps making 4 tenants in all. Thompson was a tithe-payer in this vicinity in 1638, when his house (probably part of 24D) was worth £16 a year; he died in 1639 and was probably succeeded in this house by his widow, Elizabeth Thompson, who died in 1640-1. Bowles died in 1637 and Rowley in 1631. It seems likely that in 1638 the tenants of 24C-D, apart from Thompson, who were listed as tithe payers were Mr. Hasling with a house valued at £16 a year (part of 24C?), Mr. Peasley with a house valued at £14 a year (part of 24C?), and Mr. Mayoe with a house valued at £14 a year (part of 24D). (fn. 31)

References to the northernmost part of the property (probably 24E) are not easy to identify. It is possible that in the mid 16th century this included the messuage of Thomas Lock in Bow Lane in the parish of St. Mary le Bow held by J. Isham, and worth £6 a year clear. In 1554 Lock conveyed the messuage to feoffees to hold to the use of himself and his wife Mary for life with remainder to his son William and heirs and thence to Thomas's other sons. Thomas and then William died and in 1561 Thomas's son Matthew Lock, then aged 9, was heir to the property. Matthew Lock was certainly later in the possession of 24E, and in 1618 Anne Terry, widow, held the messuage there from Matthew's widow Margaret, who was now married to Sir Thomas Muschampe, and from Matthew's son Thomas Lock. Anne Terry was the widow of Richard Terry, citizen and cook, a resident of this parish who had died in 1617. (fn. 32)

In 1639 this messuage (24E) was probably that occupied by Simon Leeson, barber-surgeon, in Bow Lane in St. Mary le Bow parish, in which Thomas Lock, esquire, quitclaimed to Simon Hammond, citizen and cook. This quitclaim, dated 18 June, was in part performance of an agreement dated the previous 23 May. Between 1628 and 1630 Leeson held a house on the S. side of 23D which is probably to be identified as part of 23C (q.v.) Hammond acquired possession of 23B, but there is no evidence that he acquired an interest in 23C; his widow, however, was later in possession of 24E (see below) and from the position of Leeson's name in the list of tithe-payers in the parish in 1638 it seems likely that he inhabited 24E, or more probably a part of that property, than a house farther S. in Bow Lane, although his relative Robert Leeson seems later to have occupied part of 24A-B (see below). There is some support for this identification in a common recovery executed in the court of Husting in June and July 1639 concerning a messuage in St. Mary le Bow parish in Cheap ward. The purpose of the recovery was probably to break the Lock family entail: Lawrence Blomley and Robert Rawlins, gentlemen, recovered the tenement against Simon Hammond, and Thomas Lock was vouched to warrant. This recovery probably concerns 24E and/or 25-6, the only properties once belonging to Lock and later belonging to Hammond in this parish which lay in Cheap Ward. (fn. 33)

Hammond's property towards the N. end of Bow Lane (24E and 25-6) appears to be represented by 2 entries in the list of tithe payers of 1638. These were for the house occupied by one Leeson valued at £8 a year (part of 24E) and a house occupied by Hammond himself (part of 25E and 25-6) valued at £20 a year. By his will, dated 1651 and enrolled in 1653, Hammond left the tenement 'towards the street' held by Simon Leeson, the tenement where he himself dwelled, and the shop held by Richard Russell (probably part of 24E and 25-6) to 5 of his children (for details, see 23B which was left on the same terms). (fn. 34)

Mid and later seventeenth century

The site of 23D and 24A-E is covered by a group of surveys of foundations laid out in the years immediately following the Great Fire, from which the plan of these properties can be established in outline. In 1667 a case was heard in the Fire Court concerning 5 messuages in Bow Lane which had belonged to Robert Bankworth and which probably represented 24A-D. The details rehearsed on this occasion, together with a ward assessment list of 1661, the Hearth Tax of March 1666, and the list of houses destroyed in the Fire, enables the inhabitants of 24A-E on the eve of the Fire to be established.

On the eve of the Great Fire

Bankworth's houses in Bow Lane (24A-D) had been held for life by Abigail, widow of Robert Bankworth the younger and then wife of Edward Leigh. In 1645, when Abigail was presumably dead, Robert Bankworth, gentleman, who was probably heir of Robert Bankworth the younger, leased the messuages to Edward Leigh for 26 years in consideration of rebuilding and a rent of £85. On Leigh's death his executor, Robert Leigh, merchant, assigned the lease to Sir George Ent in return for a mortgage of £200. On the eve of the Fire this property comprised 5 messuages held under leases, the probable order of which from N. to S. is indicated by the Hearth Tax assessment. The most northerly of the messuages (part of 24D?) was probably that occupied in 1661 by Edward Stretchley, who died in 1663; Henry Redmaine occupied a house of 5 hearths there in 1666, under a lease with 2 years to come in 1667 at a rent of £20 plus a sugar loaf or £1. Next south was a messuage (part of 24D?) which was probably occupied in 1661 by Nathaniel Pope; in 1667 this was a messuage leased to James Bridger with 2 years to come at £20 rent; the house was empty at the time of the 1666 Hearth Tax assessment, when it was rated at 5 hearths. Next south was a messuage (part of 24C?) occupied in 1661 by Thomas Walton, who in 1667 held it on lease with about 2 years to come at £28 rent; the house had 6 hearths in 1666. Next south was a messuage (part of 24C?) said in 1667 to be held for £28 rent by Thomas Coleman, who had made a lease to one Joyce; the latter was presumably Thomas Joyce who occupied a house here in 1661; in 1666 this messuage was held by Marmaduke Isles, whose dwelling was rated at 7 hearths and who had let a part of the messuage containing 2 hearths to one Yates. In 1666 there was another house here next to that occupied by Isles and containing 6 hearths; it was occupied by Thomas Watson. The remainder of the Bankworth property (probably 24A-B and probably including 23D) was described in 1667 as a messuage held by Ambrose Nicholas for £20 rent under a lease that had expired; Nicholas occupied a house here in 1661, and in 1666 lived in a house with 8 hearths, which perhaps lay to the rear of the property (24B). The Hearth Tax and other assessments suggest that the Bow Lane frontage of 24A-B and 23D was occupied by 3 houses. From N. to S. they were: a house of 5 hearths empty in 1666, but occupied by Henry Langston in 1661 and after the Fire said to have been occupied by Joseph Merriton (probably 24A on the Bow Lane frontage); Ambrose Nicholas's house (probably 24B); and a house of 4 hearths (perhaps 23D) occupied by Robert Leeson, barber, in 1661 and 1666. Leeson and Merriton were perhaps tenants of Nicholas. In 1667 the Fire Court decreed that the 6 tenants of the Bankworth property (Redmaine, Bridger, Walton, Coleman, Joyce, and Nicholas) should surrender their interests to Sir George Ent, who was to surrender his to Bankworth. The tenants failed to appear when summoned and, as we shall see, the rebuilding of the site appears to have been undertaken by a new group of tenants, who presumably held from Bankworth. (fn. 35)

24E can probably be identified as a house occupied by Luke Leake in 1661 and as a house of 6 hearths occupied by John Maw, cook, in 1666. Both men presumably held ultimately from the widow and children of Simon Hammond (see above), although they would seem to have been undertenants of Robert Leeson (see below).

After the Great Fire

On the N. corner of Bow Lane and the modern Well Court was a foundation surveyed in 1671 for Jeremiah Stratton. It probably occupied the site of 23D and that part of 23C which appears to have been on the N. side of Well Court, the intermixture between the two properties having been eliminated. Below the front part of this foundation was a cellar belonging to Mr. Bankworth, presumably the vaulted cellar which Robert Bankworth had acquired in 1618. (fn. 36)

On the N. side of this foundation was a yard or passage belonging to Bankworth which probably represented the site of the entry to the capital messuage formerly occupied by Robert Bankworth and then by Edmund Wilson, and perhaps later by Ambrose Nicholas. Leading S. from this passage into George Yard was a narrow entry. The site of the capital messuage itself (24A and B) on the Bow Lane frontage was occupied by a foundation surveyed in 1669 for Robert Leeson, who was probably a tenant of the Robert Bankworth named as owner of the property to the N. and S. The rear part of the site of the capital messuage was occupied by a foundation surveyed for Anthony Mason, who was probably also a tenant of Bankworth. This foundation was bounded by 28-31 on the N. and W., by Bankworth's property on the W., and by 32 on the E. (fn. 37)

Next N. along the Bow Lane frontage was a foundation for two houses with a passage between them surveyed for Mrs. Elizabeth Finch, who was probably a tenant of Bankworth. This foundation, which projected in an irregular fashion to the rear, where it adjoined Mr. Mason's property, probably occupied almost the exact site of 24C and D. A strip of ground along the frontage was purchased by the city for £9. 11s. 3d. in order to enlarge Bow Lane. (fn. 38)

The northernmost part of 24 (24E) was represented by a foundation surveyed for Mrs. Martha Hamond in 1669. The corporation paid £32. 10s. for a strip of ground along the front of the house in order to enlarge Bow Lane. Of the 9 houses in Bow Lane in which Mrs. Hamond had a life interest (cf. 23B), this was probably the one which Robert Leeson held for £24 rent under a lease which in 1668 had 14 years to come. It was agreed that in order to rebuild the property Mrs. Hamond should have 40 years added to her life interest at a rent of £20 payable to those who had the interest after her death, and that Leeson should surrender his lease to her. (fn. 39)