Cross (Holy), Friars of - Cross Lane

A Dictionary of London. Originally published by H Jenkins LTD, London, 1918.

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'Cross (Holy), Friars of - Cross Lane', in A Dictionary of London, (London, 1918) pp. . British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london/cross-friars-of-cross-lane [accessed 27 April 2024]

In this section

Cross (Holy), Friars of

House of Crouched or Crossed Fryers founded 1298, at the south-east corner of Hart Street (S. 149). In Aldgate Ward.

Church built but not dedicated, and churchyard unconsecrated, 1319 (Guildhall MS. 122, fo. 127, quoted in Vict. Co. Hist. I. p. 514).

Surrendered, 30 H. VIII. (Newcourt), and site granted to Sir Thos. Wyatt (Povah, 291). Hall made a glass house and burnt 1575 (S. 149), and site covered by the Navy Office 1720 (Strype, I. ii. 74). Trinity Bonded Tea Warehouses in Cooper's Row erected on part of the site (Povah, p. 11), and the East and West India Dock Cos. Warehouses (ib. 291). Small portions of the foundations of the Friars' house can be seen in the cellars underneath No. 25 Crutched Friars (ib. 291).

There was a brotherhood of the Holy Blood of Wilsnak in Saxony in the monastery in 1459, and the ordinances of the fraternity are set out in Trans. L. and M. Arch. Soc. IV. p.44. There was also one in Austin Friars.

Another fraternity in the Friars' house was that of St. Katheryn founded and ordeyned by Duchemenne in the 15th century. Ordinances set out in Trans. L. and M. Arch. Soc. IV. 52.

Cross (Holy), West Smithfield

Ecclesia Sanctae Crucis infra Hospitale Sancti Bartholomaei in Westsmythefelde Londoniarum pertinet Magistro et Fratribus ejusdem, 31 Ed. I. (Lib. Cust. I. 238, list of benefices in London, etc.).

This entry was added to the list in a later hand.

Perhaps the chapel of the Hospital, now St. Bartholomew the Less (q.v.).

Cross Alley

North out of George Alley, with a passage west to Shoe Lane at No. 32. In Farringdon Ward Without (Horwood, 1799-Lockie, 1816).

Part of the site is covered by Farringdon Avenue.

Cross Court

Out of London Wall (Strype, ed. 1755-Boyle, 1799).

Not named in the maps.

Cross in Cheapside

See Great Cross in Cheapside.

Cross Key Court

South out of London Wall at No. 44 to Coleman Street Ward (P.O. Directory). In Coleman Street Ward.

First mention : "Cross Keys Court" (O. and M. 1677).

Named after the messuage called the "Cross Keys" temp. Q. Elizabeth mentioned in Proc. in Chancery, I. 18.

Cross Key Court

North out of Little Britain.

See Cross Key Square.

Cross Key Court

South out of Watling Street, west of St. Antholin's Church. In Cordwainer Ward (O. and M. 1677-Boyle, 1799).

The site is now covered by Queen Victoria Street, etc.

Cross Key Square

North out of Little Britain at No. 8 (P.O. Directory). In Aldersgate Ward Without.

First mention : Horwood, 1799.

Former name : "Cross Key Court" (O. and M. 1677). "Cross Keys Court" (Strype, ed. 1720 and 1755-Boyle, 1799).

Cross Keys (The)

Messuages and tenements called the "Cross Keys" and the "Woodwharfe" near Paul's Wharf in parish of St. Benet in Castelbaynard warde, 32 H. VIII. 1540 (L. and P. H. VIII. XVI. 176).

Not further identified.

Cross Keys Alley, Cross Keys Inn, Cross Keys Yard

East out of White Cross Street, in Cripplegate Ward Without (O. and M. 1677-Boyle, 1799).

First mention : "le Crosskeyes," 1601 (Lond. I. p.m. III. 299).

The site has been rebuilt and is now occupied by offices and warehouses, etc.

Name derived from the sign.

Cross Keys Court

North-west out of Chick Lane, in Farringdon Ward Without (O. and M. 1677-Boyle, 1799).

The site is now covered by Charterhouse Street.

Cross Keys Court

West out of Grub Street with a passage to Half Moon Alley, in Cripplegate Ward Without (O. and M. 1677-Strype, 1755).

Chapel Street now occupies the site.

Cross Keys Inn

On the south side of Holborn, in Farringdon Ward Without, east of Fetter Lane (O. and M. 1677).

The site has been rebuilt.

Cross Keys Inn

On the west side of Wood Street, at No. 128 (O. and M. 1677-Lockie 1816). In Cripplegate Ward Within.

Had a good trade in Strype's time (ed. 1720, I. iii. 91).

Cross Keys Alley, Court and Stairs are mentioned in the parish register of St. Peter's Wood Street, probably on or near this site (Trans. L. and M. Arch. Soc. III. 341).

The Crossed Keys are the well-known emblems of St. Peter, and would readily be adopted as a tavern sign especially for a house near to a church.

The site is now occupied by warehouses and offices, etc.

Cross Keys Inn

West out of Gracechurch Street. In Bishopsgate Ward Within (O. and M. 1677-O.S. 1848-51).

The site is now occupied by offices.

Cross Keys Inn

On the north side of Barbican, in Aldersgate Ward Without (Rocque, 1746).

No later reference.

Cross Lane

East out of St. Mary-at-Hill to Harp Lane (P.O. Directory), crossing St. Dunstan's Hill. In Billingsgate and Tower Wards.

First mention : O. and M. 1677.

Former name : "Fowle Lane."

The western end, between St. Mary at Hill and Idol Lane is so named by Stow (S. 126).

Cross Lane

Out of Love Lane, Little Eastcheap (P.C. 1732-Boyle, 1799).

Not named in the maps.

Could this have been the western continuation of Cross Lane, St. Mary at Hill?

Cross Lane

East out of Bush Lane at No. 27 to No. 2 Suffolk Lane (P.O. Directory). In Walbrook and Dowgate Wards.

First mention : Mortgage deed, 1706 (see below) and Strype, 1720 ed.

Former names : "Gopher lane" (Hatton, 1708). "Gofair lane" (14th century) (q.v.).

"Goefair," alias "Cross Lane," is mentioned in an indenture of Mortgage 1706 in Wilson's History of St. Lawrence Pountney, p. 213.

It is interesting to note in connection with the name of this street that there was in the Ropery near to the inn of John de Northampton in Gofair lane and the Ropery, in 1384, a tenement called "le Brewehous de la Crosse." The name suggests that there may have been a wayside cross in this neighbourhood from which the brewhouse derived its appellation. If so, the name may have survived as a street sign, and suggested the change of name from Gofair to Cross lane, which took place in the 17th or 18th century.