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, 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 f ...

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 county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. It was all held by the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the 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 a portfolio of lands, properti ...

, 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 T ...

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 and about three quarters of St Mary le Strand 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, 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, 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 became king, he confirmed the ownership of the Savoy area to Edmund with letters patent.

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 seat 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 Lancash ...

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 History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...

. 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, 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 the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

or John Pearce series by David Donachie.

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 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, B ...

. The Liberty of the Savoy was a franchise coroner'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 River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

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 St Clement Danes (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 St Mary le Strand (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