St Katharine

Map

The overlays that highlight 17th century London features are approximate and derived from Wenceslaus Hollar’s maps:

Open location in Google Maps: 51.507140, -0.072248

3 Annotations

First Reading

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

There has been a dock to the east of the Tower of London for about 1,000 years. The area had a strong community, with a church (St. Katharine's By The Tower), a hospital established by Queen Matilda (wife of King Stephen) in 1148, and a school. There was employment connected to river activities, housing was dense and the area thrived through the C17th. Traffic and trade on the river continued to grow, so more people continued to moved into the area.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

St. Katherine’s by the Tower was situated just east of the Tower of London; the Hospital to which it was attached in earlier times having been founded by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen (1135–1154).

On the south wall of the chancel there existed, in 1633, according to Stowe’s Remaines, the following inscription: “The gift of Master John Bourne, being five pounds per annum to be distributed in Bread amongst the poore of the Precinct, beganne the 10 day of May Anno Dom. 1609, to be continued unto them for forty years following.”

St. Katherine’s by the Tower was not a large or important church, but was a memorial of more than local interest as it was the personal property of the Queens of England, and as such escaped the fate of the monastic establishments when Henry VIII carried out his ruthless policy of confiscation.

[The site of the parish of St. Katherine’s, some 23 acres, the church, hospital, and over 1,200 houses were acquired and demolished in 1824 for the construction of St. Katherine’s Dock].

This 1952 paper was presented by Captain William Robert Chaplin, of the Trinity House, London, and has lots of information about the growth of shipbuilding under James I and Charles I, the Civil War years, shipbuilding in Boston, the history of the Seething Lane offices, and the colorful characters "Major" Nehemiah Bourne was related to by marriage ... the entire Trinity House Brotherhood were his Puritan in-laws from Wapping during the Cromwell years.

And yes, Pepys and the Diary get some mentions.
https://www.colonialsociety.org/n…

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

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1663

1664

1665

1669