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Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster

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Survey of London (1633): Suburbs
Survey of London (1633): City of Westminster
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Liberties of the Dutchie.
LIBERTIES
OF THE DVTCHIE OF
LANCASTER.
NExt without the Barre
the New Temple,
Liberties of the Dut
chie with
out Temple barre, the bounds thereof.
and
Liberties of the Citie
of London, in the Su
burbs, is a Liberty per
taining to the Dutchie
of Lancaster, which beginneth in the
East, on the South side or left hand
by the River Thames, and stretcheth
West to Ivie-bridge, where it en
deth. And againe, on the North side
or right hand, some small distance with
out Temple-barre in the high street, from
a payre of Stocks there standing, stret
cheth one large middle row or troope
of small Tenements, partly opening to
the South, partly towards the North,
up West to a Stone Crosse, now head
lesse, over-against the Strand, and this is
the bounds of that Libertie; which
sometime belonged to Brian Lisle, since
to Peter of Savoy, and then to the house
of Lancaster,
Strand street.
as shall be shewed.
Henry the third,
Rotum car
tar. Petri Sabaud.
in the 30. yeere of
his raigne, did grant to his Vncle, Peter
of Savoy, all those houses upon the
Thames, which sometimes pertained to
Brain de Insula, or Lisle, without the
Walls of his Citie of London, in the way
or street called the Strand, to hold to
him and to his heires, yeelding yeerely
in the Exchequer, at the feast of Saint
Michael th’ Archangell, three barbed
Arrowes for all services. Dated at Re
ding, &c. This Peter of Savoy, builded
the Savoy.
But first amongst other buildings,
Monu
ments of Strand street.
me
morable for greatnesse on the River of
Thames, Excester house, so called, for that
the same belonged to the Bishops of
Excester, and was their Inne or London
lodging. Who was first builder thereof,
I have not read; but that Walter Staple
ton, was a great builder there, in the
raigne of Edward the second is manifest:
for the Citizens of London, when they
had beheaded him in Cheape, neere unto
the Cathedrall Church of Saint Paul,
they buried him in a heape of Sand or
rubbiso,
Excesser house, since Pa
get house, Lester house and Essex house.
in his owne house without
Temple barre, where hee had made great
building. Edmond Lacy, Bishop of Exce
ster, builded the great Hall in the raigne
of Henry the sixth, &c. The same hath
since been called Paget house, because
William Lord Paget enlarged and posses
sed it. Then Leicester house, because Ro
bert Dudley, Earle of Leicester, of late new
builded there and then Essex house, of
the Earle of Essex lodging there.
Then West,
Chappell of the Ho
ly Ghost.
was a Chappell dedica
ted to the Holy Ghost, called S. Spirit,
upon what occasion founded I have not
read.
Next is Milford lane downe to the
Thames:
Mildford lane.
but why so called, I have not
read as yet.
Then was the Bishop of Bathes Inne,
Bishop of Bathes Inne, or Arundel house.

lately new builded (for a great part
thereof) by the Lord Thomas Seamer,
Admirall, which house came sithence
to be possessed by the Earle of Arundell,1
and thereof called Arundell house.
Next beyond the which, on the street
side, was sometime a faire Cemitorie,
or Church-yard,
Parish Church of S. Mary at the Strand.
and in the same a Pa
rish Church, called of the Nativitie of
our Lady, and the Innocents of the
Strand; and of some, by meane of a Bro
therhood kept there, called of S. Vrsula
at the Strand.
And neere adjoyning to the said
Church,
Chesters Inne, or Strand Inne, an Inne of Chancery.
betwixt it and the River of
Thames, was an Inne of Chancery, com
monly called Chesters Inne, (because it
belonged to the Bishop of Chester,) by
others
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Liberties of the Dutchie.

others named of the situation, Strand
Inne.
Then was there an house belonging
to the Bishop of Landaffe:
The Bi
shop of Landaffe his Inne.
for I find in
Record, the 4. of Edward the second, that
a vacant place, lying neere the Church
of our Lady at Strand, the said Bishop
procured it of Thomas Earle of Lancaster,
for the enlarging of this house.
Then had yee in the high street a
faire bridge,
Strand bridge.
called Strand Bridge, and
under it a lane or way, downe to the
landing place on the banke of Thames.
Then was the Bishop of Chester
(commonly called of Lichfield and Co
ventrie) his Inne,
Bishop of Chester his Inne.
or London lodging,
this house was first builded by Walter
Langton, Bishop of Chester, Treasurer
of England, in the raigne of Edward the
first.
And next unto it adjoyning, was the
Bishop of VVorcesters Inne: all which, to
wit, the Parish of Saint Mary at Strand,
Strand Inne, Strand Bridge, with the lane
under it, the Bishop of Chesters Inne, the
Bishop of VVorcesters Inne, with all the
Tenements adjoining, were by com
mandement of Edward, Duke of Som
merset, Vncle to Edward the sixth, and
Lord Protector, pulled downe, & made
levell ground, in the yeere 1549. In
place wherof,
Sommer
set house
he builded that large and
goodly house, now called Sommerset
house.
In the high street neere unto the
Strand,
Stone Crosse at Strand.
sometime stood a Crosse of
Stone, against the Bishop of Coventrie
or Chester his house, whereof I read, that
in the yeere 1294. and divers other
times, the Iustices Itinerants sate with
out London, at the Stone Crosse over
against the Bishop of Coventries house,
and sometime they sate in the Bishops
house, which was hard by the Strand, as
is aforesaid.
Then next is the Savoy,
Savoy house, first buil
ded by Peter, Earle of Savoy and Richmond.
so called of
Peter, Earle of Savoy and Richmond, Son
to Thomas Earle of Savoy, Brother to Bo
niface, Archbishop of Canturbury, and
Vncle unto Heleanor, wife to King Henry
the third.
Hee first builded this house, in the
yeere 1245. And heere is occasion offe
red me, for satisfying of some deniers
thereof, to prove that this Peter of Savoy
was also Earle of Savoy. Wherefore, out
of a Booke of the Genealogies of all the
whole house of Savoy, compiled by Phil
lebert Pingonio, Baron of Guzani, remai
ning in the hands of William Smith, alias,
Rouge dragon, Officer of Armes, I have
gathered this.
Thomas,
Thomas Earle of Savoy, his Pedegree by occasiō.
Earle of Savoy, had issue by
Beatrix, daughter to Aimon, Earle of
Geneva, 9. Sonnes, and 3. Daughters:
Amadis his first Sonne, succeeded Earle
of Savoy in the yeere 1253. Peter his se
cond Sonne, Earle of Savoy and of Rich
mond, in 1298. Philip his third Sonne,
Earle of Savoy and Burgundy, 1284. Tho
mas the fourth, Earle of Flaunders, and
Prince of Piemont. Boniface the eighth
Archbishop of Canturbury.
Beatrix, sister to Peter, Earle of Savoy, Mo
ther to five Queenes.
Beatrix his
Daughter, married to Reymond Beringa
rius of Aragon, Earle of Province and
Narbone, had issue, and was Mother to
five Queenes. The first, Margaret, wife
to Lewis King of France; the second,
Eleanor, wife to Henry the third, King of
England; the third, Sanctia, wife to Ri
chard, King of Romans; the fourth, Bea
trix, wife to Charles, King of Naples; the
fift, Iohanna, wife to Philip King of Na
varre.2
To returne againe to the house of Sa
voy:
Fratrèes de Monte Io
vis, or Pri
ory de Cor
nuto by Have ring at the Bowre.
Queene Eleanor, wife to King Hen
ry the third, purchased this place after
wards of the Fraternity or Brethren of
Mountjoy, unto whom Peter of Savoy
(as it seemeth) had given it,
Henry Knighton.
for her
sonne Edmond, Earle of Lancaster, as
Master Camden hath noted out of a Re
gister booke of the Dukes of Lancaster.
Henry Duke of Lancaster repaired, or ra
ther new builded it, with the charges of
52000. Markes, which money he had
gathered together at the Towne of
Bridgerike.
Iohn the French King was lodged
there, in the yeere, 1357. and also, in
the yeere 1363. for it was (at that time)
the fairest Mannor in England.
In the yeere,
Henry Knighton.
1381. the Rebels of Kent
and Essex burnt this house, unto the
which there was none in the Realme to
be compared in beauty and starelinesse,
(saith mine Author.) They set fire on it
round about, and made proclamation,
that none, on paine to lose his head,
should convert to his own use any thing
that there was; but that they should
breake such plate and vessell of Gold &
Silver,
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Liberties of the Dutchie.

Silver, as was found in that house,
(which was in great plenty) into small
peeces, and threw the same into the Ri
ver of Thames. Precious Stones they
should bruise in mortars,
Rebels more mali
cious than covetons, spoyle all before them.
that the same
might be to no use, and so it was done
by them: One of their companions they
burned in the fire, because hee minded
to have reserved one goodly peece of
Plate.
They found there certaine barrels of
Gun-powder,
Liber Ma
nuscript. French.
which they thought had
been Gold or Silver, & throwing them
into the fire, more suddenly than they
thought, the Hall was blowne up, the
houses destroyed, and themselves very
hardly escaped away.
This house being thus defaced, and
almost overthrowne by these Rebels, for
malice they bare to Iohn of Gaunt, Duke
of Lancaster,
Savoy buil
ded for an Hospitall.
of later time came to the
Kings hands, and was againe raised and
beautifully builded, for an Hospital of S.
Iohn Baptist, by King Henry the seventh,
about the yeere 1509. For the which
Hospitall, retaining still the old name
of Savoy,3 he purchased Lands, to be im
ployed upon the releeving of an hun
dred poore people. This Hospitall being
valued to dispend 529. pound, fifteene
shillings, &c. by yeere, was suppressed
the tenth of Iune, the seventh of Edward
the sixt: the beds, bedding, and other
furniture belonging thereunto, with
seven hundred Markes of the said lands
by yeere, he gave to the Citizens of Lon
don, with his house of Bridewell, to the
furnishing thereof, to bee a Worke
house for the poore and idle persons,
Hospitall of Savoy, suppres
sed.
&
towards the furnishing of the Hospitall
of Saint Thomas in Southwarke, lately
suppressed.
This Hospitall of Savoy was againe
new founded,
Hospitall of Savoy, a new foun
dation thereof.
erected, corporated and
endowed with Lands by Queene Mary,
the third of November: In the fourth of
her raigne, one Iackson tooke possession,
and was made Master thereof in the
same Moneth of November. The La
dies of the Court, and Maidens of Ho
nor (a thing not to be forgotten) stored
the same of new with beddes, bedding,
and other furniture, in very ample man
ner, &c. and it was by Patent so confir
med at Westminster, the 9. of May, the
4. and 5. of Philip and Mary.
The Chappell of this Hospitall ser
veth now as a Parish Church to the Te
nements thereof neere adjoyning,
Parish Church of S. Iohn in the Sa
voy.
and
others.
The next was sometime the Bishop
of Carliles Inne, which now belongeth
to the Earle of Bedford, & is called Rus
sell or Bedford house. It stretcheth from
the Hospitall of Savoy,
Bishop of Carlile his Inne, or Bedford house.
West to Ivie
Bridge; where Sir Robert Cecill, princi
pall Secretarie to Queen Elizabeth, did
then raise a large and stately house of
Bricke and Timber, as also levelled and
paved the high-way neere adjoyning, to
the great beautifying of that street, and
commodity of passengers. Richard the
2. in the 8. of his reigne, granted licence
to pave with stone the high-way, called
Strand street, from Temple Barre to the
Savoy, and Tole to bee taken towards
the charges: and againe the like was
granted in the 42. of Henry the 6.
Ivie Bridge in the high street, which
had a way under it, leading downe to
the Thames, the like as sometime had
the Strand bridge, is now taken downe,
but the lane remaineth as afore, or bet
ter, and parteth the Liberty of the Dut
chie, and the Citie of Westminster on that
South side.
Now to begin againe at Temple Barre
over-against it. In the high street, as is
afore shewed, is one large Middle Rowe
of houses and small Tenements builded,
partly opening to the South, partlie to
wards the North. Amongst the which
standeth the Parish Church of S. Cle
ment Danes,
Parish Church of S. Cle
ment Danes.
so called, because Harolde a
Danish King, and other Danes were bu
ried there.
This Harolde, whom King Canutus
had by a concubine, reigned 3. yeeres,
and was buried at Westminster, but after
ward, Hardicanutus, the lawfull sonne
of Canutus, in revenge of a displeasure
done to his mother, by expelling her out
of the Realme, and the murder of his
brother Alured,
Liber Chart
sey.
commanded the body
of Harolde to be digged out of the earth,
and to bee throwne into the Thames,
where it was by a Fisherman taken up
and buried in this Church-yard. But out
of a faire Leager Booke, sometime be
longing to the Abbey of Chartsey, in the
County of Surrey is noted, as in Francis
thin, after this sort:
In
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Liberties of the Dutchie.

In the reigne of King Ethelred, the Mo
nasterie of Chartsey was destroyed, 90.
Monks of that house were slaine by the
Danes, whose bodies were buried in a place
neere to the old Monasterie.
W. Malmes-Danes slaine at S. Clement Danes.
William Mal
mesburie saith: They burnt the Church,
together with the Monks and Abbot; but the
Danes continuing in their furie (throughout
the whole lana) desirous, at the length, to
returne home into Denmarke, were (by the
just judgement of God) all slaine at Lon
don, in a place which is called the Church of
the Danes.
This said middle rowe of houses,
stretching West to a Stone Crosse now
headlesse,
Headlesse Crosse by the Strand.
by or against the Strand, in
cluding the said Parish Church of Saint
Clement, is also wholly of the liberty and
Dutchy of Lancaster.
Thus much for the bounds and anti
quities of this libertie, wherein I have
noted Parish Churches twaine, some
time 3. houses of name 6. to wit, the Sa
voy, or Lancaster house, now an Hospitall,
Sommerset house, Essex house, Arundell
house, Bedford or Russell house, and Sir Ro
bert Cecils house; besides of Chesters Inne,
or Strand Inne, sometime an Inne of
Chancery, &c.
This liberty is governed by the Chan
celor of that Dutchy at this present,
Chance
lor of the Dutchie of Lancaster.
Sir
Iohn Deckam, Knight, and one of his Ma
jesties most honorable Privy Councel
lors. There is under him a Steward, that
keepeth Court and Leete for the King,
he giveth the charge, and taketh the
oathes of every under Officer.
Then is there 4. Burgesses, and 4.
Assistants to take up controversies, a
Bayliffe, which hath two or three under-Bailiffes,
that make arrests within that
libertie, foure Constables, foure War
dens, that keepe the lands and Stocke
for the poore, foure Wardens for high
wayes, a Iury or Inquest of 14. or 16.
to present defaults, foure Alecunners,
which looke to the Affise of weights and
measures, &c. foure Scavengers and a
Beadle, and their common Prison is
Newgate.
There is in this liberty 50. men,
which are alwaies to bee at an houres
warning, with all necessarie furniture,
to serve the King, as occasion shall re
quire. Their charge at a Fifteene is
13. s. 4. d. Thus much for the Sub
urbe in the libertie of the Dutchie of
Lancaster.
The
Survey of London (1633): Suburbs
Survey of London (1633): City of Westminster

Notes

  1. I.e., Henry fitz-Alan. (The MoEML Team)↑
  2. Stow is mistaken in his belief that Joan II of Navarre was the daughter of Beatrice of Savoy. (KL)↑
  3. I.e., Savoy Hospital. (The MoEML Team)↑

Cite this page

MLA citation

Stow, John, Anthony Munday, Anthony Munday, and Humphrey Dyson. Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster. 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/stow_1633_liberties.htm. Draft.

Chicago citation

Stow, John, Anthony Munday, Anthony Munday, and Humphrey Dyson. Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster. 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/stow_1633_liberties.htm. Draft.

APA citation

Stow, J., Munday, A., Munday, A., & Dyson, H. 2021. Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster. 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/stow_1633_liberties.htm. Draft.

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  - Stow, John
A1  - Munday, Anthony
A1  - Munday, Anthony
A1  - Dyson, Humphrey
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster
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/stow_1633_liberties.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/stow_1633_liberties.xml
TY  - UNP
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#STOW6"><surname>Stow</surname>, <forename>John</forename></name></author>, <author><name ref="#MUND1"><forename>Anthony</forename> <surname>Munday</surname></name></author>, <author><name ref="#MUND1"><forename>Anthony</forename> <surname>Munday</surname></name></author>, and <author><name ref="#DYSO1"><forename>Humphrey</forename> <surname>Dyson</surname></name></author>. <title level="a">Survey of London (1633): Liberties of the Dutchie of Lancaster</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/stow_1633_liberties.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/stow_1633_liberties.htm</ref>. Draft.</bibl>

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