St. Mary Axe Street

roseAgas Map
St. Mary Axe ran north-south from the church of St. Augustine Papey to Leadenhall Street. Stow remarks that the east side of the street belonged to Aldgate Ward, while the west side lay within the boundary of Lime Street Ward (Stow). It was named after the church of St. Mary Axe, located near the northwest corner of the street.
In Stow’s account, he refers to the street as S. Marie streete (Stow). Though Stow does record the road as the boundary between two wards, he restricts his description of the street itself to the religious institutions in it. On the Agas map, the street is easily identified by the label S. Marie axe, though the label may indicate the church as opposed to the street. St. Mary Axe is also recorded in the same position on the Aldgate Ward maps of Richard Blome (1720) and Jacob Ilive (1739) (Blome; Hyde 35).

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