Fetter Lane
Encyclopedia
Farringdon Without
Farringdon Without is a Ward in the City of London, England. The Ward covers the western fringes of the City, including the Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Smithfield Market and St Bartholomew's Hospital, as well as the area east of Chancery Lane...
in London England. It runs from Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
in the south to Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
in the north.
The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement about the origin of the name. Theories include: "Feuterer-lane" (feuterer = a keeper of dogs) and Fewtor/ Faitour (a worthless fellow). At the southern end, towards Fleet Street, is situated Clifford's Inn
Clifford's Inn
Clifford's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage, leading off Fleet Street, EC4.Founded in 1344 and dissolved in 1903, most of the original structure was demolished in 1934...
, established 1345. Towards the northern end, facing onto Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
, is Barnard's Inn
Barnard's Inn
Barnard's Inn is the current home of Gresham College in Holborn, London.-History:Barnard's Inn dates back at least to the mid 13th century — it was recorded as part of the estate of Sir Adam de Basyng, one time Mayor of London. It passed on to John Mackworth, the Dean of Lincoln who in turn passed...
. They were both Inns of Chancery
Inns of Chancery
The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name...
. The official address of the old Public Records Office (1856–1997) was Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...
, but the back of this building dominates the southern stretch of Fetter Lane. It is now the Maughan Library belonging to King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
.
On Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
is St Dunstan-in-the-West
St Dunstan-in-the-West
The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in London, England. An octagonal-shaped building, it is dedicated to a former bishop of London and archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
, and next to it, at 133-137 Fetter Lane, is St Dunstan's House. In Victorian times the publishing house Sampson Low
Sampson Low
-Life:Born in London in November 1797, he was the son of Sampson Low, printer and publisher, of Berwick Street, Soho. He served a short apprenticeship with Lionel Booth, the proprietor of a circulating library, and, after a few years spent in the house of Longman & Co., began business in 1819 at 42...
was located at St Dunstan's House. Two plaster reliefs (1886) by Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
were salvaged from the building when it was destroyed in 1905. They now stand next door in King's College
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
Library. The site then became the main London warehouse of the Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
. It is now the "Technology and Construction Court", for litigation related to science and engineering. The Admiralty Court
Admiralty court
Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
is also at St Dunstan's House.
In the 1590s there was a gibbet
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
at the junction of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane. Christopher Bales
Christopher Bales
The Venerable Christopher Bales, also spelled Christopher Bayles, alias Christopher Evers , was an English Catholic priest and martyr.-Biography:Christopher was born at Coniscliffe near Darlington, County Durham, England, about 1564...
was hanged there. It is sometimes alleged that Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
lived at number 16, but there is no evidence for this. In 1604 John Dowland
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
published "Lachrimae". The preface states "to be solde at the authors House in Fetter-lane neare Fleet-streete". In 1651 Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
lived in Fetter Lane. In the opening paragraphs of "Gulliver's Travels" the central character states that he lived briefly at Fetter Lane. From 1660 to 1680 Thomas Goodwin
Thomas Goodwin
Thomas Goodwin , known as 'the Elder', was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was imposed by Parliament as President of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1650...
preached at the Fetter Lane Independent Church.
At number 33, the Moravian Chapel (Fetter Lane Society
Fetter Lane Society
The Fetter Lane Society was the first flowering of the Moravian church in the UK, and an important precursor to Methodism. It is part of the British Province of the Moravian Church.-History:...
) was founded in 1738. The "Trust Society for the Furtherence of the Gospel" was founded by the Moravian Church in 1741. They undertook missionary work and were based at Fetter Lane. The composer Christian Ignatius Latrobe
Christian Ignatius Latrobe
Christian Ignatius Latrobe was an English clergyman, artist, musician, and composer. He composed a large number of works for the Moravian Church, and most famously edited a Selection of Sacred Music in six volumes between 1806 and 1826, introducing the sacred music of Haydn, Mozart and...
did missionary work for them in South Africa. The organisation still exists, but is now based in Muswell Hill. For 67 years, Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
, was located at Breams Buildings on Fetter Lane. Both Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb
Mary Lamb
Mary Ann Lamb , was an English writer, the sister and collaborator of Charles Lamb.-Biography:She was born on 3 December 1764. In 1796, Mary, who had suffered a breakdown from the strain of caring for her family, killed her mother with a kitchen knife, and from then on had to be kept under constant...
attended William Bird's Academy in Fetter Lane.
The Socialist Party of Great Britain
Socialist Party of Great Britain
The Socialist Party of Great Britain , is a small Marxist political party within the impossibilist tradition. It is best known for its advocacy of using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes; opposition to reformism; and its early adoption of the theory of state capitalism to describe the...
was founded in Bartlett's Passage, off Fetter Lane in 1904. From 1920 to 1961 the Daily Mirror was initially located in Geraldine House, then moved to the north end of Fetter Lane, at Holborn Circus
Holborn Circus
Holborn Circus is a famous location in London, on the boundary between Holborn and Smithfield. Holborn Circus is a roundabout.On one side lies the Church of St Andrew, Holborn, an ancient Guild Church, that survived the Great Fire of London. However, the parochial authority decided, nevertheless,...
, and remained there until 1990, when it moved to the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
. The original site, between "Rolls Buildings" (a street) and "Bream's Buildings" (another street to the north) was called "Rolls House" from 1961 to 2007, when it was demolished. The new site, sometimes called "110 Fetter Lane" rather than "Rolls House", is to become the site of an eleven story building. It will contain 29 courtrooms and other judicial accommodation, due for completion in 2010. A statue of John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
was erected at the junction of Fetter Lane and New Fetter Lane in 1988.