III The Wealth And Trades of The Wards
Tax-rolls are frequently described as directories of the
districts which returned them It is fortunate that there is one
of these directories for mediæval London, which makes it possible to reconstruct the city as it was six hundred years ago
Such a reconstruction is particularly interesting after a
study of the crafts, since it shews where they were located
As in other mediæval cities, the members of the same trade
were gathered together in one district, probably to simplify
the enforcement of the regulations, and the toll-taking which
were prominent features of the gilds (fn. 1)
Some crafts however, especially the victuallers who were
indispensable in all quarters of the city, were not confined to
one district But many trades were particularly associated
with one ward
In the river-side wards it was naturally the mercantile element which predominated From Vintry to Tower stretched
a line of wealthy wards, through which the imports and
exports of the city passed
These wards resemble each other in the numbers who paid
the taxation, about seventy-five in each, and the average
amount paid, about ten shillings a head, except Vintry, the
second richest ward in London, which, with only forty assessed, contributed £37
The trade which employed the greatest number of people
in these wards was fishmongering It occupied the inhabitants of Bridge, rich and poor, almost exclusively In
Billingsgate and Queenhithe also the majority of the people
appear to have been fishmongers, and in the other three wards
a minority The fishmongers of Billingsgate were doubtless
conterminous with those of Bridge, several of them had shops
in Bridge Street (fn. 2)
Even more important to England than the import of
fish was the export of her wool Tower and Billingsgate were
the wards through which large quantities of it passed It
was evidently a profitable trade, as the three richest men of
Tower ward, all of them aldermen, were wool-mongers (fn. 1)
Vintry, as its name suggests, had the wine trade of the
city, which was then passing into English hands One of
the richest men in London, John de Oxenford, was a vintner
The four other aldermen in this ward had other occupations (fn. 2)
The distinctive trade in Dowgate appears to have been
that of a corder There were doubtless many corn and woodmongers in these river-side wards, but few have been discovered Shipbuilding would also be carried on along the
banks of the river, but apparently by men not important
enough to find their way into the city records Only one
shipwright has been found in the roll, Alan le Palmere, who
lived in Petty Wales near the Tower (fn. 3)
All the occupations that have been mentioned, from their
nature had their headquarters in these wards But there were
also, along the river-side, wealthy members of misteries
which centred in other parts of London These, like
Benedict de Fulsham, (fn. 4) the pepperer, and Robert le Callere, (fn. 5)
the mercer in Vintry, and John de Caustone (fn. 6) in Billingsgate,
doubtless imported ware for their own shops, and for the
purely shop-keeping members of their misteries
Of the other rich wards of London, which clustered together
behind Vintry and Dowgate, Cordwainer was by far the
wealthiest Cheap, a thickly-peopled ward, with about twice
the number assessed, contributed only about the same amount
In Cripplegate Within and Bread Street both population and
assessment were about one-half those of Cheap
It is more helpful in explaining these facts, not to confine
the attention too strictly to the wards The wards had no
bounding walls restricting men within their limits Many of
the great highways of London, running from East to West,
retained the same name in different wards Thus it was with
West Cheap, and round it the richest shop-keeping district of
London centred This wealthy area apparently widened in
the East, including all Cordwainer, and South Cheap, while
it probably comprised those parts of Cripplegate, Bread
Street and Farringdon Within, which bordered more nearly
on West Cheap In this district were pepperers, mercers,
drapers, and hosiers
The pepperers were specially connected with one street
which ran at right angles to West Cheap John de Grantham
of Cordwainer Ward was one of the "good folk of Sopereslane of the trade of pepperer" (fn. 1) They were settled here till
the reign of Henry VI, when they removed to Bucklersbury (fn. 2)
The Mercery of London was on West Cheap, (fn. 3) round the
great shed which it came to include in Henry VI's reign,
which Edward III built by the church of St Mary le Bow,
in order to "behold the justings and other shewes" (fn. 4) Not
far away was the great seld which had belonged to Roesia of
Coventry, near to which William de Causton, one of the
richest men in London, had his houses and shops (fn. 5)
The mercers were also found as far north in Cheap as
Catte Street-where Henry le Chener (taxed in Cripplegate
Within) had five shops (fn. 6) The drapers probably occupied the
same district, but not stretching so far into Cheap (fn. 7)
Passing further West, goldsmiths were among the wealthy
shop-keepers They also centred round West Cheap John
Makeheved in Bread Street had his shop opposite to the Stone
Cross, (fn. 8) and those in Cripplegate and Farringdon Within had
their shops in the parishes of this neighbourhood-St Peter
de Woodstreet, (fn. 1) St Matthew Fridaystreet, (fn. 2) St Michael
le Quern (fn. 3) and St Vedast (fn. 4)
In the goldsmiths' charter it was stated that "it had been
ordained that all who were of the Goldsmith's trade were to
sit in their shops in the High Street of Cheap, and no silverplate, nor vessel of gold or silver ought to be sold in the city
of London except at our Exchange or in Cheap among the
Goldsmiths" (fn. 5)
The only other rich men in these wards appear to have
been some girdlers in the North part of Cheap (fn. 6)
It has not been possible to discover the occupation of many
of the poorer inhabitants of the wards In Cheap, however,
various trades were practised (fn. 7)
A large number of the men in Farringdon Within were
saddlers and cordwainers The richest members of these
crafts, like Robert de Bristoll (fn. 8) and William de Mymmes, (fn. 9)
were, however, in West Cheap (fn. 10)
Passing out of these wards beyond the walls of London,
the shop-keeping element is left behind Cripplegate Without was a poor ward, paying only £7 with forty-three assessed The trade of nine men only is known They are
all workers in leather, probably dependent on the saddlers to
supply them with work
Farringdon Without, a somewhat richer ward, also contained many leather workers, of a different type however
Tanning was one of the chief industries of the ward It was
carried on in the neighbourhood of the Fleet Ditch (fn. 1) These
tanners carried their hides for sale to the "Tannereselde in
the forum of West Chepe in St Mary le Bow," where many
of them would have a place and table
To this region of the Fleet valley, the Cutlers also, whose
earlier settlements were near the Conduit in Cheap and in St
Magnus' parish near the Bridge, had for some time past been
overflowing (fn. 2)
The cappers appear to have been as closely connected with
Fleet Street as the pepperers were with Sopers Lane (fn. 3)
Walbrook is the only one of the remaining wards, which
is certainly known to have been almost entirely inhabited by
a set of craftsmen peculiar to it In point of numbers it
comes after Farringdon Within and Cheap, and resembles
the former ward in contributing about £20 less than the latter
It was pre-eminently the skinners' ward Twenty-one in
the roll have been found to be skinners, including all classes
from John de Oxenford and Simon de Thorpe paying sixteen
pence each to John de Cotum paying 35s 6¾d
The skinners would no doubt have their works along the
Walbrook, the name Budge Row (fn. 4) suggests that they were
also on the Cordwainer side of the stream, but only one
skinner has been discovered in that ward
In the case of Walbrook and the neighbouring ward of
Candlewick, a street is again the centre of an industry The
cloth of the burlers of Candlewick Street was noted, in 1322
some was purchased for the King from Thomas de Wynchestre among others (fn. 5) There are only two burlers in Candlewick Ward, but five have been found in Walbrook The
majority of them paid small amounts (2s 8d and 16d), and
it is probable that the great number of burlers were too poor
to be assessed
They were doubtless provided with work by the rich
drapers of the district One of these drapers, Richard de
Torinton, was the richest man in the Candlewick Ward, and
John de Somersham in Walbrook lived in Candlewick Street (fn. 1)
Twelve wards still remain, but they must unfortunately,
through lack of information about them, be dismissed in a
few words On the outskirts of the city were the poor, thinlypopulated areas, in the East, of Portsoken, Aldgate and the
diminutive Limestreet, and in the West, of Castle Baynard
and Aldersgate
Slightly richer, and containing more inhabitants, were the
wards of Langbourne, Cornhill, Coleman Street, Bassishawe
and Queenhithe, which bordered on some of the richest wards
of the city
The potters carried on their handicraft in Portsoken, (fn. 2) and
the tapicers were apparently located in Langbourn (fn. 3)
The study of the individual wards suggests to the mind
the main features of mediæval London The impression which
it leaves is of rich mercantile wards on the river bank in the
East which were easily accessible to sea-going ships In
their Western rear was a shop-keeping area which formed a
wealthy centre, from which radiated districts of poorer shops,
and then of workmen, poor in the North, but richer in the
West and East, till the poor, thinly-populated districts of the
East were reached.