Fetter Lane | |
---|---|
New Fetter Lane, the northern extension of Fetter Lane towards Holborn Circus | |
Location within Greater London | |
Sui generis | |
Administrative area | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | EC4A |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | City of London |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London, England. It forms part of the A4 road and runs between Fleet Street at its southern end and Holborn.
The street was originally called Faytor or Faiter Lane, then Fewteres Lane. This is believed to come from the Old French "faitor" meaning lawyer, though by the 14th century this had become synonymous with an idle person. Geoffrey Chaucer used the word to refer to the beggars and vagrants who were seen around the lane. An alternative origin of the name is the fetter (lance vest) made by armourers working for the nearby Knights Templar. [1]
In the 1590s there was a gibbet at the junction of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane. The Catholic martyr Christopher Bales was among those hanged there. [2] In 1643, the Member of Parliament Nathaniel Tomkins was arrested for conspiracy against the government by withholding taxes, and hanged outside his front door in Fetter Lane. [1] [3]
It is sometimes said that John Dryden lived at No. 16, but there is no evidence for this. In 1604, John Dowland published "Lachrimae". The preface states "to be solde at the authors House in Fetter-lane neare Fleet-streete". [4] In 1651 Thomas Hobbes lived in Fetter Lane. In the opening paragraphs of Gulliver's Travels the central character states that he lived briefly at Fetter Lane. From 1660 to 1680 Thomas Goodwin preached at the Fetter Lane Independent Church. [5]
The Socialist Party of Great Britain was founded in Bartlett's Passage, off Fetter Lane, in 1904. [6] From 1920 to 1961 the Daily Mirror newspaper was initially located in Geraldine House, then moved to the north end of Fetter Lane, at Holborn Circus, and remained there until 1990, when it moved to the Isle of Dogs. The original site, between Rolls Buildings (a street) and Bream's Buildings (another street to the north) was called Rolls House from 1961 until its demolition in 2007. The new site, sometimes called 110 Fetter Lane rather than Rolls House, is the site of an 11-storey building containing 29 courtrooms and other judicial accommodation. [7] 43 Fetter Lane was the longtime headquarters of printing company Monotype until its destruction by bombing in 1941. [8]
At the southern end, towards Fleet Street, is situated Clifford's Inn, established in 1344 and named after the Barons de Clifford. [9] Towards the northern end, near Holborn, is Barnard's Inn. They were both Inns of Chancery. The official address of the old Public Record Office (1856–1997) was on Chancery Lane, but the back of this building dominates the southern stretch of Fetter Lane. It is now the Maughan Library belonging to King's College London.
On Fleet Street is St. Dunstan-in-the-West, and next to it, at 133–137 Fetter Lane, is St. Dunstan's House. In Victorian times the publishing house Sampson Low was located at St. Dunstan's House. Two plaster reliefs (1886) by Walter Crane were salvaged from the building when it was destroyed in 1905. They now stand next-door in the King's College library. [10] The site then became the main London warehouse of the Cambridge University Press. It is now the Technology and Construction Court hearing litigation related to science and engineering. The Admiralty Court is also at St. Dunstan's House.
At No. 33, the Moravian Chapel (Fetter Lane Society) was founded in 1738. The Trust Society for the Furtherence of the Gospel was founded by the Moravian Church in 1741. They undertook missionary work and were based at Fetter Lane. The composer Christian Ignatius Latrobe did missionary work for them in South Africa. The organisation still exists, but is now based in Muswell Hill. [11] For 67 years, Birkbeck, University of London, was located at Bream's Buildings on Fetter Lane. The writers Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb attended William Bird's Academy in Fetter Lane.
Peter Böhler, the London Moravian leader of the Fetter Lane Society, and his followers established it for the purpose of discipleship and accountability. They began with the purpose of meeting once a week for prayer and fellowship. Most of their members consisted of Anglicans, most prominently John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield. John Wesley records in his journal for 1 January 1739: "Mr. Hall, Hinching, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutching, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, 'We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.'"
A statue of John Wilkes was erected in 1988 at the location where Fetter Lane joins New Fetter Lane.
On 7 December 2011 the Rolls Building, a new court of the High Court of Justice principally for commercial and property cases, was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. [12]
Holborn, an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary of the Cities of London and Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was named.
Chancery Lane is a London Underground station on the Central line between Holborn and The City in Central London, England. It has entrances within both the London Borough of Camden and the City of London. It opened in 1900 and takes its name from the nearby Chancery Lane.
Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it. It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London, England financial district, passing over Farringdon Street and the subterranean River Fleet. The viaduct spans the steep-sided Holborn Hill and the River Fleet valley at a length of 1,400 feet (430 m) and 80 feet (24 m) wide. City surveyor William Haywood was the architect and the engineer was Rowland Mason Ordish.
Farringdon Road is a road in Clerkenwell, London.
Staple Inn is a part-Tudor building on the south side of High Holborn street in the City of London, London, England. Located near Chancery Lane tube station, it is used as the London venue for meetings of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and is the last surviving Inn of Chancery. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1974.
The Fetter Lane Society was the first flowering of the Moravian Church in Britain, and an important precursor to Methodism. It was founded in 1738. Although the original meeting house was destroyed in the mid-20th century, the society still meets in London, and is part of the British Province of the Moravian Church.
Clifford's Inn is the name of both a former Inn of Chancery in London and a present mansion block on the same site. It is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage in the City of London. The Inn was founded in 1344 and refounded 15 June 1668. It was dissolved in 1903, and most of its original structure was demolished in 1934, save for a gateway which survives. It was both the first Inn of Chancery to be founded and the last to be demolished. The mansion block was built in the late 1930s preserving the name.
The Liberty of the Rolls was a liberty, and civil parish, in the metropolitan area of London, England.
The Maughan Library is the main university research library of King's College London, forming part of the Strand Campus. A 19th-century neo-Gothic building located on Chancery Lane in the City of London, it was formerly the home to the headquarters of the Public Record Office, known as the "strong-box of the Empire", and was acquired by the university in 2001. Following a £35m renovation designed by Gaunt Francis Architects, the Maughan is the largest new university library in the United Kingdom since World War II.
Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City, whilst the west side is in the City of Westminster south of Carey Street and the London Borough of Camden north of that street. The route originated as a 'new lane' created by the Knights Templar from their original 'old Temple' on the site of the present Southampton Buildings on Holborn, in order to access to their newly acquired property to the south of Fleet Street sometime before 1161.
Thavie's Inn was a former Inn of Chancery, associated with Lincoln's Inn, established at Holborn, near the site of the present side street and office block still known as Thavies Inn Buildings. Thavie's Inn is one of the earliest Inns of Chancery on record, both by date of establishment and dissolution. It remains a well-known City of London landmark, where Lloyd's Bank is situated, on the opposite side of Holborn Circus from Ely Place.
Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn were constructed from 1774 to 1780. The architect was Sir Robert Taylor. Stone Buildings is a Grade I listed building. Stone Buildings appear in Anthony Trollope's novel The Prime Minister.
The dragon boundary marks are cast iron statues of dragons on metal or stone plinths that mark the boundaries of the City of London. The dragons are painted silver, with details of their wings and tongue picked out in red. The dragon stands on its left rear leg, with the right rear leg lifted forward to support a shield, with the right foreleg raised and the left foreleg holding the top of the shield. The shield bears the City of London's coat of arms painted in red and white: the red cross of Saint George on a white background, with a red sword in the first quarter, an attribute of Saint Paul. Saint George and Saint Paul are respectively the patron saints of England and of London. The dragon's stance is the equivalent of the rampant heraldic attitude of the supporters of the City's arms, which may allude to the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.
Bartlett's Buildings, once known as Bartlett's Court, was the name of a street, off Holborn Circus in the City of London, known for the number of lawyers who had offices there. It was a cul-de-sac but an alley ran from the west side to Fetter Lane that was known as Bartlett's Passage. It was destroyed in 1941 during a Second World War air raid.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Holborn. Holborn has no formally defined boundaries - those utilised here are: Theobald’s Road to the north, Gray's Inn Road and the City of London boundary to the east, Victoria Embankment/the Thames to the south, and Lancaster Place, the north-west curve of the Aldwych semi-circle, Kingsway/Southampton Row to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the City of London.
Hanging Sword Alley is an alley in the Alsatia district of London, running between Whitefriars Street and Salisbury Square, close to Fleet Street.
Nathaniel Tomkins was a British Member of Parliament. He represented Carlisle and Christchurch.
The New Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie. It existed from the late 15th century until 1902 and was located near Aldwych in London.
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