DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13856#0060
National Safe Deposit Company's premises.
51
at the expense of, the neighbouring wards. It does not display on any side a
straight boundary, or one which has the stamp of antiquity about it, whereas it
everywhere disturbs the apparent old and direct limits of other wards. But
perhaps the strongest evidence is the absence of Cheap Ward in the earliest list
of these divisions of the city, made in the middle of the thirteenth century, and
preserved among the archives of the City of London at Guildhall. It will be
found in "Letter Book A. fol. 117, 13 Edw. I., 1284-5." In this list we have
twenty-four wards enumerated, mostly recognized by names closely resembling
. ward-names still in use. A few bear latinized names, all of which are easily
referred to their proper locality, except the first in the list, which has been taken
by some antiquaries as Cheap Ward, and to be the genitive case of forum, a
market or public place. We, for the following reasons, doubt the correctness of
this view. The list appears to be arranged, to a great extent, with regard to the
geographical distribution of the wards, and seems to begin with the western
wards, progressing pretty regularly, until it ends with the most eastern, or that
of Portsoken; and we should have found Cheap Ward about a third of the way
down it. We must then see if this word fori will apply to the western liberty
of London, or the district which the geographical arrangement suggests, and we
shall find, that the word forum is also applied to " what is out of doors," or to
"an outside space or place." Here we have exactly the terms we require to
describe this western liberty, which lies without the gates, and is an outside space
or place; and it is probable that that which is now Earingdon Without is the
ward here indicated, with perhaps some of the northern liberty included. In
Shrewsbury we have Castle Pore Gate and Abbey Pore Gate, and in Chester
Eoregate Street. We should thus have the two wards of Earingdon separately
mentioned, while they were under one alderman, in which state they continued
until 1393. It must not be supposed that we question the existence of a
locality called West Cheap, to distinguish it from East Cheap, for amongst
the early wills preserved in Guildhall we find that in 1258, 43 Hen. III., Eelica
cle Colvere demised a quit-rent on premises in West Cheap (Hustings Boll
No. 2, mem. 2); and in 1271, 56 Hen. III., William Rychemund bequeaths pro-
perty situate in West Chepe (Hustings Boll No. 4, mem. 2). These two entries
show- clearly that West Cheap did exist, and there can be no doubt that it was one
of the markets of London, certainly twenty-six years before the list of wards was
compiled in 1284. The Ward of Cheap is mentioned in the City Becords in
1314, and in the taxation of 1339, but even then (being assessed at only
5l7£. 10*.) it had not attained anything like the position of its neighbour, Cord-
ff2
51
at the expense of, the neighbouring wards. It does not display on any side a
straight boundary, or one which has the stamp of antiquity about it, whereas it
everywhere disturbs the apparent old and direct limits of other wards. But
perhaps the strongest evidence is the absence of Cheap Ward in the earliest list
of these divisions of the city, made in the middle of the thirteenth century, and
preserved among the archives of the City of London at Guildhall. It will be
found in "Letter Book A. fol. 117, 13 Edw. I., 1284-5." In this list we have
twenty-four wards enumerated, mostly recognized by names closely resembling
. ward-names still in use. A few bear latinized names, all of which are easily
referred to their proper locality, except the first in the list, which has been taken
by some antiquaries as Cheap Ward, and to be the genitive case of forum, a
market or public place. We, for the following reasons, doubt the correctness of
this view. The list appears to be arranged, to a great extent, with regard to the
geographical distribution of the wards, and seems to begin with the western
wards, progressing pretty regularly, until it ends with the most eastern, or that
of Portsoken; and we should have found Cheap Ward about a third of the way
down it. We must then see if this word fori will apply to the western liberty
of London, or the district which the geographical arrangement suggests, and we
shall find, that the word forum is also applied to " what is out of doors," or to
"an outside space or place." Here we have exactly the terms we require to
describe this western liberty, which lies without the gates, and is an outside space
or place; and it is probable that that which is now Earingdon Without is the
ward here indicated, with perhaps some of the northern liberty included. In
Shrewsbury we have Castle Pore Gate and Abbey Pore Gate, and in Chester
Eoregate Street. We should thus have the two wards of Earingdon separately
mentioned, while they were under one alderman, in which state they continued
until 1393. It must not be supposed that we question the existence of a
locality called West Cheap, to distinguish it from East Cheap, for amongst
the early wills preserved in Guildhall we find that in 1258, 43 Hen. III., Eelica
cle Colvere demised a quit-rent on premises in West Cheap (Hustings Boll
No. 2, mem. 2); and in 1271, 56 Hen. III., William Rychemund bequeaths pro-
perty situate in West Chepe (Hustings Boll No. 4, mem. 2). These two entries
show- clearly that West Cheap did exist, and there can be no doubt that it was one
of the markets of London, certainly twenty-six years before the list of wards was
compiled in 1284. The Ward of Cheap is mentioned in the City Becords in
1314, and in the taxation of 1339, but even then (being assessed at only
5l7£. 10*.) it had not attained anything like the position of its neighbour, Cord-
ff2