Bevis Marks, classified as part of the
A1211, is a short street (about 150 m long) in the ward of
Aldgate 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 ...
. Traffic runs northwest in a
one-way direction into
Camomile Street, and parallel to
Houndsditch which runs southeast one-way.
History
The street name has been recorded as ''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 St Edmunds in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, in whose ownership this part of the city was until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. Evidently the "r" in "Bury" had been misread as a "v" in a mediaeval manuscript; "Marks" comes from ''maerc'' (
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
), the boundary of the abbotts' London estate. Bury Street, adjoining to the south-west, also commemorates the association. At the dissolution, their possessions were passed to
Sir Thomas Heneage, a
gentleman
''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...
of the
Privy chamber in attendance on
King Henry VIII. He is commemorated in the name of nearby Heneage Lane.
Bevis Marks is mentioned several times 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 ...
's ''
The Old Curiosity Shop'' as the street where solicitor Sampson Brass has his offices.
Notable sites
Bevis Marks is home to the
Grade I listed Bevis Marks Synagogue, the
oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom in continual use.
References
Streets in the City of London
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