Undergraduate student contribution

Home > Encyclopedia > Placeography > Streets

Leadenhall Street

roseAgas Map
roseList documents mentioning Leadenhall Street
roseList variant names and spellings
Leadenhall Street ran east-west from Cornhill Street to Aldgate Street. All three form part of the same road from Aldgate to Cheapside Street (Weinreb and Hibbert 462). The street acquired its name from Leadenhall, a onetime house and later a market. The building was reportedly famous for having a leaden roof (Bebbington 197).
The name Leadenhall Street first appeared in the seventeenth century. Before this time, it was considered to be a part of Cornhill Street (Weinreb and Hibbert 462). The street had existed for a long time in one form or another, for in it have been found parts of nine tessellated Roman pavements including, in 1803, a particularly fine example at a depth of 9ft 6ins (Weinreb and Hibbert 462). The church of St. Katharine Cree stood at the corner of Leadenhall and Gracechurch.
Leadenhall was destroyed, rebuilt, and renovated through centuries, but both the market and the street still exist today (Bebbington 197; Weinreb and Hibbert 462).