Poultry (formerly also Poultrey) is a short street in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, which is the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. It is an eastern continuation of
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...
, between
Old Jewry and Mansion House Street, towards
Bank Junction.
Etymology
Poultry takes its name, like other roads nearby such as Milk Street and
Bread Street, from the various produce once sold at Cheapside (meaning "market-place" in
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
).
John Stow, writing at the end of the 16th century, noted that "the
poulterers are but lately departed from thence into other streets".
History
The thoroughfare was also known for some time as Conningshop Lane/Coneys shop lane due to the brace of three stuffed
coney skins over a notable poulterer's stall, thus who also served game. From the 15th to early 17th century, the lane had several taverns, but few were rebuilt after the
Great Fire of 1666.
[
Part of north side hosted the church of Saint Mildred. Rebuilt after the Great Fire to the designs of Sir ]Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...
, it was demolished in 1872 and its site used to build the Gresham Life Assurance office.[Wheatley 1891, Volume 3,p.116] In 1891, Henry B. Wheatley wrote that, with the removal of the church, "the clearing away of the old houses on both sides of the way, and the erection in their place of large blocks of offices and shops of considerable architectural pretensions, and the general widening of the thoroughfare, the Poultry has since 1850 been entirely changed in character and aspect."[Wheatley 1891, Volume 3, p.117]
The street gave its name to a prison, Poultry Compter. It was a brick building in its heyday having fifteen wards, of which one for Jews. It was closed in the early 19th century and its prisoners transferred to the new White Cross/Whitecross Street Compter/Prison.
Notable buildings
Although short it is lined by notable buildings. No 1 Poultry is a postmodern office and retail building which is home to the Coq d'Argent restaurant, which includes a rooftop terrace and formal garden, and takes up what were numbers 1 to 17. Opposite, a wide alley, Grocers' Hall Court, leads to the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, one of the City's original twelve great livery companies that ranks second in their order of precedence
An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of importance applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. For individuals, it is most often used for diplomats in attendance at very formal occasions. It can also be used in the context of ...
. Its main entrance is on Princes Street.
The bulk of the north side 27–35 Poultry was the London headquarters of Midland Bank, a Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
References
Sources
*{{cite book, title=London Past and Present: Its History, Associations and Traditions, last=Wheatley, first=Henry B., year=1891, publisher=John Murray, location=London, volume=3
Google Maps
Streets in the City of London