Water Lane
Names
- Water Lane
- Waterlane
- Sporiereslane
- Sporyerslane
- Waterlane
- Water Gate
- Spurrier Lane
- Sporiar Lane
Street/Area/District
- Water Lane
Maps & Views
- 1553-59 London (Strype, 1720): Water Lane
- 1553-9 Londinum (Braun & Hogenberg, 1572): Water Lane, Tower Street
- 1553-9 London ("Agas Map" ca. 1633): Water Lane
- 1560 London (Jansson, 1657): Water Lane
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - British Library): Water Lane
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - Folger): Water Lane
- 1666 London after the fire (Bowen, 1772): Water L.
- 1720 London (Strype): Water Lane
- 1736 London (Moll & Bowles): Water Lane
- 1761 London (Dodsley): Water Lane
Descriptions
from A Dictionary of London, by Henry Harben (1918)
Water Lane
South out of Great Tower Street, at No. 27, to Lower Thames Street at No. 61. In Tower Ward (P.O. Directory).
Earliest mention: "Waterlane," 1461 (Ct. H.W. II. 547).
Former names: "Sporiereslane," 1295 (ib. I. 122). "Sporyerslane," 1461 (ib. II. 547). "Waterlane" sometime called "Sporyerslane" (Ct. H.W. II. 547). "Water gate," 6 Rich. II. (Cal. P.R. 1381–5, p. 149). "Spurrier lane, now Water Lane" (Howel 1657, p. 49). "Sporiar lane" (S. 135).
Derivation of name: "Water lane because it runneth down to the Water gate" (S. 135). "Sporiereslane," from the Spurriers or Spurmakers.
Remains of pottery have been found here, Gaulish ware of the 1st century, etc.
from Lockie's Topography of London, by John Lockie (1810)
Water-Lane, Great Tower-Street,—at 28, op. Mark-lane, extending to 61, Lower Thames-st.
from A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs, by James Elmes (1831)
Water-Lane,—is in Great Tower-street, opposite Mark-lane.
from London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, by Henry Benjamin Wheatley and Peter Cunningham (1891)
Water Lane, Great Tower Street, formerly called Spurrier Lane.
The next is Sporiar Lane, of old time so called, but since and later time named Water Lane, because it runneth down to the water-gate by the Custom House in Thames Street.—Stow, p. 51.
Here was the house of Sir Marmaduke Rawdon, a great merchant of the time of James I. and Charles I.; and uncle of the M. Rawdon whose life has been published by the Camden Society (1863). In this lane was the Old Trinity House, burned down in the Great Fire, and again in 1718, and each time rebuilt. The site is marked by the site of merchants' offices (No. 5), called "The Old Trinity House."