St Katharine's by the Tower

St Katharine's by the Tower

St Katharine's by the Tower - full name Royal Hospital and Collegiate Church of St. Katharine by the Tower - was a medieval church and hospital next to the Tower of London. The establishment was founded in 1148 and demolished in 1825 to build St Katharine Docks, which takes its name from it.

History

Medieval

It was founded by Matilda in 1148 in memory of her two sons Stephen's and Eustace's deaths in infancy (they were buried in the Priory Church of Holy Trinity at Aldgate) and its endowment was increased by two queen consorts, Eleanor of Castile (who gave a gift of manors) and Philippa of Hainault. It was made up of three brethren, three sisters (unusually, for that time, with equal rights to the brothers), a bedeswoman and six "poor clerks", all under a Master. In the 15th century its musical reputation rivalled that of St Paul's and in 1442 it was granted a Charter of Privileges, which made it and its 23 acre precinct a Liberty with its own prison, officers and court, all outside the City of London's ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction.

Early Modern

Its liberty status and the fact it was personally owned and protected by the Queen Mother, meant that it was not dissolved but re-established in a Protestant form. There were by now 1,000 houses (including a brewery) in its precinct, inhabited by foreigners, vagabonds and prostitutes, crammed along narrow lanes (with names like Dark Entry, Cat’s Hole, Shovel Alley, Rookery and Pillory Lane) and many in poor repair - John Stow's 1598 "Survey of London" called them "small tenements and homely cottages, having as inhabitants, English and strangers [ie foreigners] , more in number than some city in England". Since the City's guilds' restrictions did not apply here, foreign craftsmen were attracted to the Liberty, as were many seamen and rivermen. Despite the high population density, however, in the Great Plague the Liberty's mortality rate was half of the rate in areas to the north and east of the City of London. Its continuing establishment of lay brothers and sisters, however, drew hostile attention from extreme Protestants - for example, it was only saved from being burned down by the mob in the 1780 Gordon Riots by a small group of pro-government inhabitants.

Demolition

The establishment was demolished in 1825 to provide a dock close to the heart of the City (named St Katharine Docks after it). The smallest of London's docks, some opposed the demolition of such an ancient establishment but in large part (in the words of Sir James Broodbank in his "History of the Port of London") it was also praised for demolishing "some of the most insanitary and unsalutary dwellings in London".

External links

* [http://www.royall.co.uk/royall/stkath1.htm Royall Family & East London History]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tower Bridge — Infobox Bridge bridge name= Tower Bridge caption= Tower Bridge from the North Bank at dusk official name= also known as= carries= A100 Tower Bridge Road motor vehicles, pedestrians crosses= Thames locale= London maint= Bridge House Estates id=… …   Wikipedia

  • Tower Millennium Pier — Infobox London River Services title=Tower Millennium Pier image caption = transit type = River bus and tourist/leisure services operator = London River Services owner =London River ServicesTower Millennium Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in… …   Wikipedia

  • Tower Gateway DLR station — London stations name = Tower Gateway manager = Docklands Light Railway zone = 1 locale = Tower Hill borough = City of London start=1987 platforms= 2Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway station near the Tower of London, closed temporarily… …   Wikipedia

  • Tower Hamlets — /tow euhr/ a borough of Greater London, England. 150,000. * * * ▪ borough, London, United Kingdom       inner borough of London extending eastward from the Tower of London (London, Tower of) and including most of the East End of Inner London… …   Universalium

  • The Catholic University of America — infobox University name= The Catholic University of America motto= Deus Lux Mea Est mottoeng= God Is My Light endowment= $193,272,216 president= The Very Rev. David M. O Connell, C.M. chancellor= Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl established= 1887 type …   Wikipedia

  • The Yellow "M" — Graphicnovelbox| englishtitle = The Yellow “M” foreigntitle = La Marque Jaune caption = Cover of the English language (Cinebook) edition publisher = Les Editions Blake et Mortimer (Dargaud Lombard) date = 1956 series = Blake and Mortimer… …   Wikipedia

  • St Katharine Docks — St Katharine Docks, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, were one of the commercial docks serving London, on the north side of the river Thames just east (downstream) of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. They were part of the Port of… …   Wikipedia

  • St. Katharine Docks — …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Highway — The Highway, formerly known as the Ratcliffe Highway, is a mile long road in the East End of London, with several historic landmarks nearby. The route dates back to Roman times. In the 19th century it had a very notorious reputation for vice and… …   Wikipedia

  • Katharine McMahon — is a British writer born in north west London. She is an historical novelist who, since 1990, has published six books. McMahon is the best selling author of The Rose of Sebastopol which was officially announced on December 27, 2007 as one of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”