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Chancery Lane

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Chancery Lane was built sometime around 1160 by the Knights Templar on land they owned. It ran north-south between Fleet Street at the south end to Holborn in the North, and was originally called New Street. The current name dates from the time of Ralph Neville, who was Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor of England (Bebbington 78). The area around the street came into his possession when in 1227 Henry III gave him land for a palace in this lane: hence Bishop’s Court and Chichester Rents, small turnings out of Chancery Lane (Bebbington 78). Thus, Chancery Lane is a variation of Chancellor Lane—Stow calls it Chancelar Lane in several places—and refers to the Chancellor’s palace, located there.
Chancery Lane was also the location of one of the Inns of Court, Sergeants Inn, which was for Judges and Sergeants only (Stow 1:77). Stow also mentions that there was a house for converted Jews located there: and then nexte was sometime the house of the converted Jewes, founded by King Henry the third, in place of a Jewes house to him forfeited, in the yeare 1233 (Stow 2:42). In the seventeenth year of his reign Henry III also had built for them a faire church now used, and called the Chappell for the custodie of Rolles and Records of Chancerie (Stow 2:42).
According to Stow, the converted Jews and Infidels were baptized, taught the ways of Christ, and then lived in the house - by law it would seem - under the guidance of one ordained to govern them. The duration of their required stay at the house for converts is unclear. In 1290 all Jews were banished from England, and as a result the house had many less converts. In 1377, the house was annexed to the keeper of the Rolls of Chancery, and became the office of the Master of the Rolls, which was created by royal authority (Stow 2:42–43). Once the house became part of the chancery, it was commonly called the Rolles in Chancery lane (Stow 2:43).
There was also an inn and brewhouse located on the street, which by Stow’s time had also been faire builded for the sixe Clearkes of the Rolles (Stow 2:43). By Elizabeth I’s time, the street had become a centre of administrative activity, something that would have likely delighted the monarchy, since the street was outside the walls, closer to Westminster, where it was easier for the queen to keep an eye on government.
Today the chancery buildings and the rolls have been replaced by the Office of Public Records (Weinreb and Hibbert 136–37).

References

Cite this page

MLA citation

Campbell, James. Chancery Lane. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 30 Jun. 2021, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CHAN1.htm.

Chicago citation

Campbell, James. Chancery Lane. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed June 30, 2021. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CHAN1.htm.

APA citation

Campbell, J. 2021. Chancery Lane. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 6.6). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/6.6/CHAN1.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

TY  - ELEC
A1  - Campbell, James
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Chancery Lane
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 6.6
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/06/30
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CHAN1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/CHAN1.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#CAMP1"><surname>Campbell</surname>, <forename>James</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">Chancery Lane</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>6.6</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2021-06-30">30 Jun. 2021</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CHAN1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/CHAN1.htm</ref>.</bibl>

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