Little Britain is a 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 ...

running from St. Martin's Le Grand in the east to West Smithfield in the west. It is situated in the

Aldersgate Aldersgate is a Wards of the City of London, Ward of the City of London, England, named after one of the northern City gate, gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersga ...

and

Farringdon Within Farringdon Within is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, England. It was formed in the 14th century from the sub-division of the pre-existing Farringdon Ward into ''Farringdon Within'' (inside ...

wards. Postman's Park is also bounded by Little Britain. Historically, Little Britain referred to a small district in the City just north of

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

, including this street.

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

described this district in ''

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'', commonly referred to as ''The Sketch Book'', is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by the American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The ...

'', published in 1820. The opening paragraph reads: According to Irving, its name is derived from "having been, in ancient times, the residence of the Dukes of Brittany" but this is disputed (see below). Irving also called it "the stronghold of true

John Bullism John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

.. with its antiquated folks and fashions".

History

It is not correct, as often said, that the name comes from a medieval

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

enclave, or a possession of the Dukes of Brittany. It in fact refers to one Robert le Bretoun, who owned houses and tenements here in the 13th century. The street is recorded as ''Brettonestrete'' in 1329, as ''Britten Strete'' in 1547, and as ''Lyttell Bretton'' in 1602. Booksellers dominated the street from the mid-16th century, followed by goldsmiths and clothing trades from the mid-18th to the 20th centuries. The offices of the '' Daily Courant'', the first British daily newspaper, in the 1700s were in Little Britain. Benjamin Franklin lived in Little Britain while working at Palmers printers. The conversions of John and

Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It ...

in 1738 are recorded as happening at the house of John Bray at number 12. An article the previous year by Mansfield discussed the exact geography.

Cultural references

Little Britain is mentioned in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' novel ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' as the location of Jaggers' office. It is also mentioned in Waverley by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

in connection with the publication of a manuscript.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

mentions in his autobiography that he stayed there on his first visit to London.

Transport

The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

stations are

St Paul's St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

( Central line) and

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

(

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

, Hammersmith & City and

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

s) and the closest mainline railway stations are City Thameslink and

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, but ...

References

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History

Cultural references

Transport

References

Further reading