The Savoy was a manor and

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

sandwiched between the

Liberty of Westminster The City and Liberty of Westminster was a unit of local government in the county of Middlesex, England. It was located immediately to the west of the City of London. Originally under the control of Westminster Abbey, the local authority for the ...

, on two sides, the Inner and Middle Temple corner of

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

and a steep bank of the

Tideway The Tideway is a part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending on ...

. It was in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. It was all held by the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

, and was also known as the Liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster. The duchy (monarch) has kept some reversionary ( underlying freehold) interests and the

Savoy Chapel The King's Chapel of St John the Baptist in the Precinct of the Savoy, also known as the King's Chapel of the Savoy, is a church in the City of Westminster, London. Facing it are 111 Strand, the Savoy Hotel, the Institution of Engineering and Te ...

outright. The manor, enjoying the status of a liberty, comprised the

precinct of the Savoy The Precinct of the Savoy, also known as Savoy St John the Baptist, was a component of the Liberty of the Savoy in the county of Middlesex, England, located between the Strand and the River Thames. Formerly extra-parochial, it was a civil parish ...

, the southern half and detached south-west of the parish of

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

and about three quarters of

St Mary le Strand St Mary le Strand is a Church of England church at the eastern end of the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) within the Diocese of London. The church stands on what was until recen ...

as it only, in a tiny part, extended north of the Strand whereas those parishes straddled this ancient road.

History

Toponymy

Savoy is derived from

Peter II, Count of Savoy Peter II (120315 May 1268), called the Little Charlemagne, held the Honour of Richmond, Yorkshire, England (but not the Earldom), from April 1240 until his death, holder of the Honour of l’Aigle, and was Count of Savoy (now part of France, Swit ...

who was granted land by Henry III in 1246.

Palace and hospital

The land for the palace was granted by Henry III to Peter of Savoy, uncle of his queen,

Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence (c. 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a French noblewoman who became Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served as regent of England during the absence of her spouse in 1253. ...

, and was renamed

Savoy Palace The Savoy Palace, considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London, was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to ...

. Peter in turn gave the palace to the Congregation of Canons of the

Great Saint Bernard it, Colle del Gran San Bernardogerman: Grosser Sankt Bernhard , photo = Great St Bernard Pass.jpg , photo_caption = View of the pass and hospice from Great St Bernard Lake with Mont Vélan in background , elevation_m = 2469 , elevation_ref = ...

, and it became the "Great Hospital of St Bernard de Monte Jovis in Savoy". The hospital was purchased by Queen Eleanor who gave the site to her second son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. When

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

became king, he confirmed the ownership of the Savoy area to Edmund with

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

Duchy liberty

In 1351

Henry of Grosmont Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster (– 23 March 1361) was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling ov ...

, a great-grandson of Henry III, was created the 1st Duke of Lancaster for services in the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of Lancaster in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

was raised to a

county palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating to ...

.Palatine (which has primary syllable stress) is the relevant adjective; Palatinate (which has stress on the second syllable) is the noun, used alone. This meant the area was ruled by hereditary noblemen possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

. Although the noblemen swore allegiance to the king, they had the power to rule the county and its contiguous land largely independently of the king. All other properties attached to the

, including the Savoy became subject to the laws of the duke. As a consequence, someone being pursued for a debt in London could reside in the Savoy without fear of arrest by people acting under the authority of

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. Royal writs were not enforceable within the County of Lancashire until the 19th century. Lancaster had its own Court of Chancery until the 1970s. These circumstances have been used in historical fiction, such as the Aubrey-Maturin novels by

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

or John Pearce series by

David Donachie David Donachie (born 1944) is a Scottish nautical historical novelist. He also writes under the pen-names Tom Connery and Jack Ludlow as well as, from 2019, "Jack Cole". He was elected to the Management Committee of the Society of Authors in 2 ...

Governance

The area was a parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster. It was divided into four wards, Church, Middle, Royal and Savoy. It was governed by a

court leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etym ...

. The liberty of the Savoy was part of

, and those connected with it eligible to vote at parliamentary elections were electors for the seats of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. The Liberty of the Savoy was a franchise

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

's district until 1930, when it became part of the Central district of the County of London. The practice of

beating the bounds Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which traditionally involved swatting local landmarks with branches to maintain a shared ...

was abandoned by the Duchy of Lancaster in 1969 and revived in 2010.

Geography

The Savoy had the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

as its southern limit. It was, as to about 95%, south of the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

. It was made up of parts of two parishes and one extra-parochial place. These were from west to east: *A rectangular parcel of the parish of

(south of the Strand, now hosts the Savoy Hotel and Shell Mex House) *All of the slightly fatter

Precinct of the Savoy The Precinct of the Savoy, also known as Savoy St John the Baptist, was a component of the Liberty of the Savoy in the county of Middlesex, England, located between the Strand and the River Thames. Formerly extra-parochial, it was a civil parish ...

(hosts the Savoy Chapel, Savoy Street and the

IET __NOTOC__ IET can refer to: Organizations * Institute of Educational Technology, part of the Open University * Institution of Engineering and Technology, a UK-based professional engineering institution ** Institute of Engineers and Technicians, wh ...

London) *The projecting parcel of St Clement Danes & St Mary Le Strand (north of the Strand, approximates to Burleigh House/Lyceum Theatre) *The southerly about of the parish of

(now mostly taken up by Somerset House) *About half of the non-exclave (non-detached parts) of the parish of St Clement Danes, namely south of the Strand The limits are shown by a series of markers.

Notes

References

External links

Map of the Savoy Liberty, 1830'The Savoy', Old and New London: Volume 3 (1878)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savoy History of the City of Westminster Liberties of London Duchy of Lancaster