Gracechurch Street - History

History

The word Gracechurch derives from Garscherchestrete, Gres-cherch and Gras-cherche with Gracechurch not used until after the destruction of the street in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The street is in the heart of Roman Londinium; it runs directly over the site of the basilica and forum.

In medieval times a corn market was held by St. Benet Gracechurch (a church destroyed in the Great Fire) at the junction of Gracechurch Street and Lombard Street, with vendors directed to sell their wares there. The existence of such markets can be seen from the derivation of their names, gaers or gers meaning a blade of grass or herb and faenum meaning hay.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) had a meeting house on Gracechurch Street. William Penn was arrested on 14 August 1670 for delivering a sermon in the street in front of the building after having been forbidden to preach indoors. It was burnt down in 1821 but was rebuilt. Many of its members had already moved to Stoke Newington, a couple of miles north along more or less the same street, though it changes its names. The world's first school bus was set up to run between Newington Academy for Girls, a Quaker school set up there in 1824, and Gracechurch Street Meeting House. For a time it "became one of the most important Quaker Meetings, and the neighbourhood around it became the centre of the Quaker business community in the city. By the eighteenth century 20-25% of the immediate population were Quakers. City Friends mingled piety with prosperity and earned reputations as sober, honest tradesmen."

During its long history, the street was for a period named Gracious Street.