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Cannon Row

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Throughout its history, Cannon Row has been known as Channel Row, Canon Row, Chanen Row, and Chanon Row, and in its earliest incarnation, the street was merely part of St. Stephen’s Alley. On the Agas map, this lane is labelled Chanon Row, and it runs south to north alongside the Thames River from Westminster Hall to a little south of the Privy Stairs.
The street takes its name from St. Stephen’s Collegiate Chapel, which was a chapel in the Palace of Westminster. The Dean and Canons from St. Stephen’s were housed on Cannon Row. John Selden, in Table-talk (1696) writes ’Twas the old way when the King of England had his House, there were Canons to sing Service in his Chappel. The King also had canons sung at Westminster in St. Stephen’s Chappel Gap in transcription. Reason: (CS)[…] from which Canons the Street call’d Canon-row has its Name, because they liv’d there (Selden sig. G2r). In 1657, James Howell, in Londinopolis, notes that the name Canon Row was being corrupted to Channel Row (Howell sig. 2G1v).
When King Henry VIII dissolved the college of St. Stephen’s, the site was occupied by several of the nobility and gentry (Cooke 312). John Stow, in Survey of London (1598), merely mentions the street while describing Westminster and the St. Stephen’s chapel area: On the North side, is the South end of S. Stephens Alley, or Canon Rowe; and also, a way into the olde wooll staple (Stow 1598, sig. 2C5r). However, in later versions of Survey of London, Stow catalogs all of the houses and estates situated on Chanon Row. He lists houses belonging to Edward Hobby; John Thin, Esquire; Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset and mother of the Earl of Hartford;1 and William, Earl of Darby, in addition to a faire House, builded by Henry Clinton, Earle of Lincolne (Stow 1633, sig. 2V2v). In an updated version of Stow’s Survey of London (1735), Robert Seymour (pseudonym of John Mottley) writes about the same estates on Cannon Row, but adds details about Manchester-court, Dorset-court, and a large house belonging to the Montagues.2 He carefully describes the beautiful gardens on the Thames side of the row, as well as all the Freestone pavements in place, running from the homes to the Thames River (Seymour 2.643).
Cannon Row rarely appears in literature from the early modern period, only appearing in The Staple of News, a play by Ben Jonson performed in 1626. In the play, a character named Tattle (or Tat) describes the route he takes to gather gossip, traveling round Wool-staple! with Kings-street, and Chanon-row to boot! (Jonson 3.3). In his Diaries, Samuel Pepys wrote of meeting his mistress on Chanel Row on Saturday, July 23, 1664 (Pepys), and Samuel Harsnett mentions the Earle of Lincolne’s house on Channon Row (Harsnet sig. 2H4r). The street is reference in other early modern English texts, often letters, diareies, and legal records, and these references generally note the lodgings of prominent people on the street. In The Journals of Parliaments during the reight of Queen Elizabeth (1682), Sir Simonds d’Ewes writes that several committers were Ordered to meet at the Earl of Lincolns House in Cannon Row on Thursday next (d’Ewes sig. 3Y3r). Meanwhile, in Gods arke overtopping the worlds waves, John Vicars records that a group of parliamentary worthies where on a commissionary board, and their place of meeting was Derby-house in Chanel-row in Westminster, working on a piece of State-policie which Vicars hoped would produce much good to the whole three Kingdomes (Vicars sig. V3r). In An impeachment of high treason against Oliver Cromwell (1649), John Lilburne reports on a meeting among several other Parliament men, at a private Table, at the George in Channel-Row (Lilburne sig. A4r). Other dubious meetings and acts occurred on Cannon Row. William Prynne, in Brief narrative of the manner how divers Members of the House of Commons were illegally and unjustly imprisoned or secluded by the Armies force (1659), records that by Torch and Candle light Gap in transcription. Reason: (CS)[…] late in the night upon the said 26th. of December, the Speaker, with about forty Members more went from Whitehall Gap in transcription. Reason: (CS)[…] the back way thorough Channel-Row to the House, where they sate a good while, and setled the temporary conduct of the Embrio Army (Prynne sig. A3r). Harsnett mentions Cannon Row several times in A declaration of egregious popish impostures (1603). First, in 1598, one Anne Smith was declared by a priest to be possessed. After a failed exorcism, she grew ill and was sent to a Mistress Mainy in the house of the Earle of Lincoln in Channon Row, with whom shee was to dwell about the beginning of Lent (Harsnet sig. 2H4r). Mistress Mainy apparently took in other possessed girls: the book goes on to remember an Eliza Calthrope who likewise lived with Mistress Mainy before being removed to Ma: Mainyes owne house in Greenes Alley, there she was exorcised, until she died there (Harsnet sig. 2H4r). Another possessed person, Mr. Richard Mainy, who also received care in the home of the Earl of Lincoln on Cannon Row (Harsnet sig. 2H4v). Cannon Row is noted in other state documents with more benign intent. William Pryseley wrote to Lord Lisle3 on March 21, 1536, to assure him that his letters had been delivered to Mr. Treasure of the King’s household in his place in Chanon Row, at Westminster, where all the other Commissioners that were at Calais were also residing (Gairdner). William, Earl of Derby, wrote to his uncle, Sir Robert Cecil, on July 26 of 1600 from Chanon Row, reporting court gossip and proceedings (Roberts). On August 25, 1599, Sir Cecil received a missive from Sir Edward Hobby, staying there as well, again receiving news of friends and rents.
Though there is no record of Cannon Row and the Great Fire of 1666, the street itself certainly survived and became the home to a Freemason’s lodge by 1716. In 1898, ground was broken on Cannon Row Police Station, situated across the street from the New Scotland Yard designed by Norman Shaw (Roberts; Architectural 168). The Cannon Row Police station would become quite famous over the century until it was closed and the force merged into the Bow Street Police Station in 1992 (Alpha). Cannon Row is now home to the Westminster Tube Station, Jubilee Hall Clubs, and St. Stephen’s Tavern and Pub.

References

  • Citation

    ALPHA DELTA PLUS: For officers who served at Cannon Row Police Station, A or Whitehall Division, London S.W.1. http://www.alphadeltaplus.20m.com/.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    D’Ewes, Simonds, Sir. The journals of all the Parliaments during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. London: John Starkey, 1682. Wing D1250.

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  • Citation

    Harsnett, Samuel. A declaration of egregious popish impostures. London: James Roberts, 1603. STC 12880.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Howell, James. Londinopolis, an historicall discourse or perlustration of the city of London, the imperial chamber, and chief emporium of Great Britain whereunto is added another of the city of Westminster, with the courts of justice, antiquities, and new buildings thereunto belonging. London, 1657. Wing H3090.

  • Citation

    Jonson, Ben. The Staple of Newes. The Works. Vol. 2. London: Printed by I.B. for Robert Allot, 1631. Sig. 2A1r-2J2v.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 10, January-June 1536. Ed. James Gairdner. Vol. 10. London, 1887. 205-217. Remediated by British History Online.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Lilburne, John. An impeachment of high treason against Oliver Cromwel. London, 1649. Wing L2116.

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    Pepys, Samuel. Diary of Samuel Pepys. Remediated by Project Gutenberg.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Prynne, William. A brief narrative of the manner how divers Members of the House of Commons, that were illegally and unjustly imprisoned or secluded by the Armies force, in December, 1648. London: Printed for Edward Thomas, 1660. Wing P3912.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Roberts, R.A., ed. Cecil Papers: July 1600, 16-31. Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House. Vol. 10. 1904. 235-257. Remediated by British History Online.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Roberts, R.A., ed. Cecil Papers: August 1599, 21-31. Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House. Vol. 9. 1904. 315-343. Remediated by British History Online.

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  • Citation

    Selden, John. Table-talk. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1696. Wing S2438.

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  • Citation

    Seymour, Robert [pseudonym of John Mottley.] A SURVEY OF THE CITIES OF London and Westminster, Borough of SOUTHWARK, and PARTS Adjacent. CONTAINING, I. The Original Foundation, and the Antient and Modern State thereof. II. An exact Description of all Wards and Parishes; Parish-Churches, Palaces, Halls, Hospitals, Public Offices, Edifices, and Monuments, of any Account, throughout the said Cities, Borough, &c. III. A particular Account of the Government of LONDON, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Military; of all Charters, Liberties, Privileges and Customs; and of all Livery and other Companies, with their Coats of Arms. IV. Lists of all the Officers of His Majesty’s Revenues, and Houshold; and those of the rest of the Royal Family; together with the Salaries thereunto belonging. By Robert Seymour, Esq; The Whole being an Improvement of Mr. STOW’s, and other SURVEYS, by adding whatever Alterations have happened in the said CITIES, &c. to the present Year; and retrenching many Superfluities, and correcting many ERRORS in the former WRITERS. Illustrated with several COPPER PLATES. 2 vols. London: Printed for J. Read, 1733–1735. ESTC T150144. British Library copy. Remediated by Eighteenth Century Collections Online.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Vicars, John. Gods arke overtopping the worlds waves. London: M. Simmons and J. Macock, 1645. Wing V309.

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  • Citation

    Cooke, George Alexander. Walks Through London; or, A Picture of the British Metropolis Containing Architectural Descriptions of the Buildings of the Cities of London and Westminster, The Borough of Southwark, and Their Environs; Full Information Concerning The Public, The Trading, The Charitable, The Literary Institutions; Places of Worship and of Entertainment; Being a Complete Guide to the Casual Visitor or Constant Resident. London, 1833. Remediated by Google Books.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

Cite this page

MLA citation

Smith, Caitlin. Cannon Row. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/CANN1.htm.

Chicago citation

Smith, Caitlin. Cannon Row. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/CANN1.htm.

APA citation

Smith, C. 2022. Cannon Row. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/CANN1.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"

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A1  - Smith, Caitlin
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Cannon Row
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 7.0
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/05/05
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/CANN1.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/CANN1.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#SMIT18"><surname>Smith</surname>, <forename>Caitlin</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">Cannon Row</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>7.0</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2022-05-05">05 May 2022</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/CANN1.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/CANN1.htm</ref>.</bibl>

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