Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of
Farringdon WithoutFarringdon Without is a ward in the City of London, England. The ward covers the area east of Chancery Lane including Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Smithfield market, and is the largest of the 25 City wards.-History:...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It runs from
Fleet StreetFleet Street is a street in London, England named after the River Fleet. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s. Even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005, the street's name continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press.-History and...
in the south to
HolbornHolborn is an area of Central London, England. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running from St Giles's High Street as High Holborn to Gray's Inn Road to Holborn Viaduct, crossing the borders of the City of Westminster, London Borough of Camden and the City of...
in the north.
The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement about the origin of the name "Fetter Lane". Theories include: "Feuterer-lane" (feuterer = a keeper of dogs) and Fewtor/ Faitour (a worthless fellow).
Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of
Farringdon WithoutFarringdon Without is a ward in the City of London, England. The ward covers the area east of Chancery Lane including Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Smithfield market, and is the largest of the 25 City wards.-History:...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It runs from
Fleet StreetFleet Street is a street in London, England named after the River Fleet. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s. Even though the last major British news office, Reuters, left in 2005, the street's name continues to be used as a metonym for the British national press.-History and...
in the south to
HolbornHolborn is an area of Central London, England. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running from St Giles's High Street as High Holborn to Gray's Inn Road to Holborn Viaduct, crossing the borders of the City of Westminster, London Borough of Camden and the City of...
in the north.
The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement about the origin of the name "Fetter Lane". Theories include: "Feuterer-lane" (feuterer = a keeper of dogs) and Fewtor/ Faitour (a worthless fellow). At the southern end, on Fleet Street, is
Clifford's InnClifford's Inn was one of the Inn of Chancery, and formerly stood on Clifford's Inn Passage, off Fleet Street. Founded in 1344 and dissolved in 1903, with its demolition occurring in 1934, it was both the first Inn of Chancery founded and the last to be demolished. In its heyday, Clifford's Inn...
established 1345. Near the northern end, facing onto Holborn, is
Barnard's InnBarnard's Inn is the current home of Gresham College in Holborn, London.-History:Barnard's Inn dates back at least to the mid 13th century — it was recorded as part of the estate of Sir Adam de Basyng, one time Mayor of London. It passed on to John Mackworth, the Dean of Lincoln who in turn passed...
. They are both
Inns of ChanceryThe Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name...
. The official address of the old Public Records Office (1856 - 1997) was Chancery Lane, but the back of this building dominates the south part of Fetter Lane. It is now the Maughan Library belonging to
King's College LondonKing's College London is a British higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the University of London. Founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, its royal charter is predated, in England, only by those of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge...
.
On Fleet street is
St Dunstan-in-the-WestThe church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in London, England. An octagonal structure, it is dedicated to a former bishop of London and archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
, and next to it, at 133-137 Fetter Lane, is St Dunstan's House. In Victorian Times the publishing house
Sampson LowSampson Low, born in London in November 1797, was the son of Sampson Low, printer and publisher, of Berwick Street, Soho. He served a short apprenticeship with Lionel Booth, the proprietor of a circulating library, and, after a few years spent in the house of Longman & Co., began business in 1819...
was located at St Dunstan's House. Two plaster-reliefs (1886) by
Walter CraneWalter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of English children's illustrated literature would exhibit in its developmental stages in the...
were salvaged from the building when it was destroyed in 1905. They now stand next door in King's College Library. The site then became the main London warehouse of the
Cambridge University PressCambridge University Press is a printer and publisher granted a Royal Letters Patent by Henry VIII in 1534. It is the world's oldest continually operating book publisher...
. It is now the "Technology and construction court", for litigation related to science and engineering.
In the 1590s there was a gibbet at the junction of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane.
Christopher BalesThe Venerable Christopher Bales, also spelled Christopher Bayles, alias Christopher Evers , was an English Catholic priest and martyr.-Biography:Christopher was born at Coniscliffe near Darlington, County Durham, England, about 1564...
was hanged there. It is sometimes alleged that Dryden lived at number 16, but there is no evidence for this. In 1604
John DowlandJohn Dowland was an English composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has been a...
published "Lachrimae". The preface states "to be solde at the authors House in Fetter-lane neare Fleet-streete". In 1651
Thomas HobbesThomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, remembered today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory.Hobbes also contributed to a diverse array of fields,...
lived in Fetter Lane. In the opening paragraphs of "Gulliver's Travels" the central character states that lived briefly at Fetter Lane. From 1660 to 1680
Thomas GoodwinThomas Goodwin , known as 'the Elder', was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was imposed by Parliament as President of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1650...
preached at the Fetter Lane Independent church.
At 33, the Moravian Chapel (
Fetter Lane SocietyThe Fetter Lane Society was the first flowering of the Moravian church in the UK, and an important as a precursor to Methodism. A short time before the great Methodist revival of the 18th Century in England, Moravians were avidly ministering throughout London...
) was founded in 1738. The "Trust Society for the Furtherence of the Gospel" was founded by the Moravian Church in 1741. They undertook missionary work and were based at Fetter Lane. The composer
Christian Ignatius LatrobeChristian Ignatius Latrobe , was an English clergyman, musician and composer. During his lifetime he composed a large number of works for the Moravian church, and most famously edited a Selection of Sacred Music in 6 volumes between 1806 and 1826, introducing the sacred music of Haydn, Mozart and...
did missionary work for them in South Africa. The organisation still exists, but is now based in Muswell Hill. For 67 years,
Birkbeck, University of LondonBirkbeck, University of London, sometimes referred to by its former name Birkbeck College or by the abbreviation BBK, is a constituent college of the University of London. At the undergraduate level, it aims at working people who want to study for degrees in the evenings...
, was located at Breams Buildings on Fetter Lane. Both Charles Lamb and
Mary LambMary Anne Lamb , was an English writer, the sister and collaborator of Charles Lamb.In 1796, Mary, who had suffered a breakdown from the strain of caring for her family, killed her mother with a kitchen knife, and from then on had to be kept under constant supervision. When their senile father...
attended William Bird's Academy in Fetter Lane.
The
Socialist Party of Great BritainThe Socialist Party of Great Britain , is a small Marxist political party within the impossibilist tradition. It is best known for its advocacy of using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes; opposition to reformism; and its early adoption of the theory of state capitalism to describe the...
was founded in Bartlett's Passage, off Fetter Lane in 1904. From 1920 to 1961 the Daily Mirror was initially located in Geraldine House, then moved to the north end of Fetter Lane, at Holborn Circus, and remained there until 1990, when it moved to the
Isle of DogsThe Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. To the north are the West India Docks, and the only road access to the island is across the two bridges that cross the eastern and western entrances to...
. The original site, between "Rolls Buildings" (a street) and "Bream's Buildings" (another street to the north) was called "Rolls House" from 1961 to 2007, when it was demolished. The new site, sometimes called "110 Fetter Lane" rather than "Rolls House", is to become the site of an eleven story building. It will contain 29 courtrooms and other judicial accommodiation, due for completion in 2009. A statue of
John WilkesJohn Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives. In 1771 he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish...
was erected at the junction of Fetter Lane and New Fetter Lane in 1988.
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