History
The street has been called Bewesmarkes (1407), Bevys Marke (1450), Bevesmarkes (1513), Bevers-market (1630), and Beavis Markes (1677), prior to Bevis Marks (since 1720). The antiquarian John Stow believed the name to derive from the Abbots of Bury (Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk), in whose ownership the area was until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. At that time, their possessions were passed to Sir Thomas Heneage, a friend of Henry VIII and gentleman of the privy chamber. He is commemorated by nearby Heneage Lane.
Bevis Marks is mentioned frequently in Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop as the street where solicitor Sampson Brass has his office.
Read more about this topic: Bevis Marks
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