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Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
TY - ELEC
A1 - Scott, Kevin
ED - Jenstad, Janelle
T1 - Soper 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/SOPE1.htm
UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/SOPE1.xml
ER -
Cordwainer Street Ward is east of Bread Street Ward. The ward takes its name from its main street, Cordwainer Street, so named of
Cheapside Street, one of the most important streets in early modern London, ran east-west between the Great Conduit at the foot of Old Jewry to the Little Conduit by St. Paul’s churchyard. The terminus of all the northbound streets from the river, the broad expanse of Cheapside Street separated the northern wards from the southern wards. It was lined with buildings three, four, and even five stories tall, whose shopfronts were open to the light and set out with attractive displays of luxury commodities (Weinreb and Hibbert 148). Cheapside Street was the centre of London’s wealth, with many
Surrounding St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Churchyard has had a multi-faceted history in use and function, being the location of burial, crime, public gathering, and celebration. Before its destruction during the civil war, St. Paul’s Cross was located in the middle of the churchyard, providing a place for preaching and the delivery of Papal edicts (Thornbury).
Tower Street ran east-west from Tower Hill in the east to St. Andrew Hubbard. It was the principal street of Tower Street Ward. That the ward is named after the street indicates the cultural significance of Tower Street, which was a key part of the processional route through London and home to many wealthy merchants who traded in the goods that were unloaded at the docks and quays immediately south of Tower Street (for example, Billingsgate, Wool Key, and Galley Key).
Mark Lane ran north-south from Fenchurch Street to Tower
Street. It was for the most parte of this Towerstreet warde
(Stow). The north end of the street, from Fenchurch Street to Hart
Street was divided between Aldgate Ward
and Landbourn Ward. so called of a Priuiledge sometime
enjoyed to keepe a mart there, long since discontinued, and therefore forgotten,
so as nothing remaineth for memorie
(Stow). Modern scholars have suggested that it was
instead named after the mart, where oxen were fattened for slaughter (Harben).
Fenchurch Street (often called pork and peas
after her sister,
Gracechurch Street ran north-south from Cornhill Street near Leadenhall Market to the bridge. At the southern end, it was called
New Fish Street
. North of Cornhill, Gracechurch
continued as Bishopsgate Street, leading through
Bishop’s Gate out of the walled city into the
suburb of Shoreditch.
Located in Farringdon Within Ward, Ludgate was a gate built by the Romans (Carlin and Belcher 80). for his owne honor
(Stow 1:1).
Fleet Street runs east-west from Temple Bar to Fleet Hill or Ludgate Hill, and is named for the Fleet River. The road has existed since at least the
Dowgate was a watergate opening to the Thames in Dowgate Ward, near Walbrook (Harben). According to Carlin and Belcher, Dowgate was a place where ships unloaded (Carlin and Belcher 72). According to Harben, Dowgate was called Duuegate
, Douuegate
, or Douegate
, in the 12th and 13th centuries but because u
for an n
, the gate also became known as Downgate (Harben). According to Harben, the site is now occupied by Dowgate Dock (Harben).
The Little Conduit (Cheapside), also known as the Pissing Conduit, stood at the western end of Cheapside Street outside the north corner of Paul’s Churchyard. On the Agas map, one can see two water cans on the ground just to the right of the conduit.
St. Paul’s Cathedral was—and remains—an important church in London. In
Aldgate was the easternmost gate into the walled
city. The name Aldgate
is thought to come from one of four sources:
Eastern gate
(Ekwall 36), ale
, public gate
or open to all
, or old gate
(Bebbington
20–21).
Named for its location on the bank of the Thames, the Strand leads outside the City of London from Temple Bar through what was formerly the Duchy of Lancaster to Charing Cross in what was once the city of Westminster. There were three main phases in the evolution of the Strand in early modern times: occupation by the bishops, occupation by the nobility, and commercial development.
The city of London, not to be confused with the allegorical character (
Soper Lane was located in the Cordwainers Street Ward just west of Walbrook Street and south of Cheapside Street. Soper Lane was home to many of the soap makers and shoemakers of the city (Stow 1:251). Soper Lane was on the processional route for the lord mayor’s shows.
The Julian calendar, in use in the British Empire until September 1752. This calendar is used for dates where the date of the beginning of the year is ambigious.
The Julian calendar with the calendar year regularized to beginning on 1 January.
The Julian calendar with the calendar year beginning on 25 March. This was the calendar used in the British Empire until September 1752.
The Gregorian calendar, used in the British Empire from September 1752. Sometimes
referred to as
The Anno Mundi (year of the world
) calendar is based on the supposed date of the
creation of the world, which is calculated from Biblical sources. At least two different
creation dates are in common use. See Anno Mundi (Wikipedia).
Regnal dates are given as the number of years into the reign of a particular monarch.
Our practice is to tag such dates with
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Soper Lane was located in the Cordwainers Street Ward just west of Walbrook Street and south of Cheapside Street. Soper Lane was home to many of the soap makers and shoemakers of the city (Stow 1:251). The housing in Soper Lane was poor, made up predominantly of dive sheds. Local merchants brought moveable stalls to this area to sell their goods near the largest market in the city, St. Paul’s Churchyard. The market opened at dawn in the winter and six in the morning during the summer, with store owners usually sleeping under their counters to prevent theft (Barker 232). Soper Lane was not a major road in the city in the medieval period. During the early modern period the housing on Soper Lane was eventually built up five stories high. This increase in the wealth and prestige of Soper Lane was due to its location in the city and the role this street played in the processional route. Prior to the development of the mayoral processional route, Soper Lane had very little significance in the make-up of the city.
Soper Lane became a major processional route through the city for both the Lord Mayor and the monarch during the time of coronation. Soper Lane was located between the two main hilltops of London. During the coronation of the monarch, the king or queen would spend the previous night sleeping in the Tower. The monarch would begin the processional route at the east end of the city (Tower Street), continue along Mark Lane and then travel west along Fenchurch Street. The monarch would head north along Gracechurch Street and then west along Cheapside Street until he or she reached St. Paul’s Churchyard. The monarch would continue to head north along Ludgate and proceed along Fleet Street until he or she reached the west end of the city. The monarch would eventually be crowned at Westminster the following day (Manley 223). Every October 29th, the Lord Mayor would make his traditional walk from the Guildhall (place of civic government) to Westminster to be sworn in as the new mayor of the city (Manley 219). The Lord Mayor would leave the Guildhall along Ironmonger Lane and cross Cheapside Street along Soper Lane. The Lord Mayor would proceed to Downgate where he would sail down to Westminster to participate in his coronation. The Lord Mayor would return to the city at Paul’s Stairs and head north towards St. Paul’s Churchyard. The Lord Mayor would continue to the Little Conduit and return to St. Paul’s where he would hear a sermon. The Lord Mayor would leave St. Paul’s and return along Cheapside Street to the Guildhall. From the Guildhall the Lord Mayor would travel along Cheapside Street towards the east end of the city, following Gracechurch Street and Fenchurch Street to Aldgate. From Aldgate, the Lord Mayor would head west across the Strand and along Cheapside Street back to the Guildhall. Soper Lane is the north/south, east/west location where the Lord Mayor’s and the monarch’s processional routes crossed (Manley 226).
During both processions, street pageantry was performed. The street pageants may
not necessarily have been heard by the parties they were intended for due to the
loud and festive atmosphere created by the processions. The performance at Soper Lane during the monarchical ceremonies may
have been the most significant. Here the monarch would pass a sword to the Lord
Mayor, who would carry the sword ahead of the procession for the remainder of
the ceremony to show the union between the monarch and the people (Manley 220). The pageant at Soper Lane acted out the ceremony of the monarch
being crowned and reiterated the importance that the city of London played the
greatest significance to the monarach’s success. A section of