Blossom's Inn was a tavern which stood in Lawrence Lane in the City of London from the 14th century until 1855. [1] It became a substantial coaching inn and was used as a staging post by carriers of goods. In the 19th century, the lease was bought and it became the parcel depot of the Great Eastern Railway. Its name was used for a major property development at the end of the 20th century and the site is now part of the large complex of 30 Gresham Street.
It was named after its inn sign which showed Saint Lawrence and was bordered with the hawthorn blossoms, which were a traditional adornment for such signs. [2] [3] The name was spelt in various other ways such as Bosom's Inn. These names were either a corruption of "blossom" or, perhaps, a fanciful alternative meaning as Deloney's Thomas of Reading says "Our jolly clothiers kept up their courage and went to Bosom's Inn, so called from a greasy old fellow who always went nudging with his head in his bosom..." [4] Ben Jonson used this spelling in Christmas, His Masque with the lines, "But now comes Tom of Bosom's Inn, and he presenteth Misrule". [4]
When the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, visited Henry VIII in 1522, the inn was recorded as having twenty beds and stabling for sixty horses. [4] The inn became a staging post for carriers in the sixteenth century and was, until 1756, the London departure point for James Pickford, of the Pickfords family business. [1] Thomas Nashe's Have with You to Saffron-Walden alludes to this, saying "Yet have I naturally cherisht and hugt it in my bosome, even as a carrier at Bosome's Inn doth a cheese under his arms". [4]
In 1835, an aged porter at the inn, John Neat, had hanged himself for the third time. He was taken to Barts where he seemed to be quite dead. His treatment included a blister, brandy, a draught of ammonia with camphor, friction over the heart, heating of the feet, letting of four pounds of blood and a turpentine enema. After a day of this, he was said to be "much better" but "still somewhat maniacal". [5]
The site became a parcels depot for the Great Eastern Railway in the nineteenth century before being renamed Blossom's Inn again in the twentieth century. [7] Today, the site of Blossom's Inn is entirely covered by an office building of 386,000 square feet (35,900 m2) [8] known as 30 Gresham Street that was developed by Land Securities in 2002–03 and was described at the time as "the biggest speculative office development in the capital". [9]
Barnard's Inn is a former Inn of Chancery in Holborn, London. It is now the home of Gresham College, an institution of higher learning established in 1597 that hosts public lectures.
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the City of London, being an incorporated guild of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the order of precedence of City Livery Companies, thereby making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts over 140 free public lectures every year. Since 2001, all lectures have also been made available online.
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St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the official church of the Lord Mayor of London.
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All Hallows, Honey Lane was a parish church in the City of London, England. Of medieval origin, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt; the site became part of Honey Lane Market, which was in turn partially cleared to make way for the City of London School in the 19th century. Much of the area was destroyed during the bombing in World War II and has been redeveloped. The name Honey Lane is retained in a nearby walkway.
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Lawrence Lane is a street in the City of London that runs from Trump Street in the south to Gresham Street in the north. Its final section in the north is pedestrianised. An alley also joins it to King Street in the north. It once ran south to join Cheapside but that end was blocked following post-Second World War rebuilding. It was known as St Lawrence Lane from the 13th to the 18th centuries due to its proximity to the church of St Lawrence Jewry and until King Street was built was the main route from Cheapside to the London Guildhall.
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Honey Lane Market was an historic market near Cheapside in the City of London.
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Oakley Street is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It runs roughly north to south from King's Road to the crossroads with Cheyne Walk and the River Thames, where it continues as the Albert Bridge and Albert Bridge Road. The street was named after Baron Cadogan of Oakley.
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