Social and Economic Study of Medieval London: The Walbrook Study A Summary Report with Appendix (containing property histories and indexes)

Summary report on a project studying, principally from the records of property holding, the history of the Walbrook area of the City of London up to the Great Fire of 1666.

The Walbrook study area, comprising the ancient parishes of St Benet Sherehog, St Mary Woolchurch, St Mildred Poultry and St Stephen Walbrook, lies at the heart of the modern city of London. It includes Mansion House and the headquarters of several important financial institutions. It immediately adjoins the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange.Over virtually the entire period before the Great Fire, the Walbrook area was distinguished by the continuing involvement of its inhabitants in a changing range of specialised commodity trades, by its public market, and by the large houses of a small number of wealthy residents.

This report summarises some of the results of the study based on a reconstruction, primarily from documentary sources, of the history of each house or other property in the area, providing a unique insight into the changing physical conditions of life of the citizens of London, and into their business and social affairs. A small sample of this material is presented in the Appendix, which contains histories of the church of St Mary Woolchurch and of the properties in the block bounded by the streets now known as Poultry and Bucklersbury, an index of property holders and a series of reconstructions maps covering the period from AD 1200 onwards.