Social and Economic Study of Medieval London: Interim Report on the Study of the Bank of England Area (July 1988)

The original objective was to map and reconstruct the histories, up to the Great Fire of 1666, of all the properties in the three parish where the Bank of England now lies: St Bartholomew the Less, St Christopher le Stocks, and St Margaret Lothbury. It has not been possible to achieve this objective in its entirety, but a coherent and valuable study has been undertaken with the resources available. This has been based on the collection of all printed sources up to 1550, all the deeds and wills for the area enrolled in the city's court of Husting up to 1440, on the major groups of original title deeds up to 1550 on the records associated with the rebuilding immediately after the Great Fire, and on the Bank's own title deeds up to c. 1800. This report: outlines the results so far; describes the early layout and development of the area; looks at the Jewry, the Friars of the Sac, and their successors; the social and occupational character of the area, c.1250-1350; and the soke of the king of Scotland.