Lant Street
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lant Street is a street south of Marshalsea Road in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, south
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.Lant Street Association
.


Overview

At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road and at the southeast end is
Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues sout ...
. Close by, just to the north in Borough High Street, is the historic St George the Martyr church, where the
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 ...
character
Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...
was married in Dickens' book of the same name. The area around Lant Street has many Dickens associations. The street is also one of main locations of the plot of
Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sara ...
' '' Fingersmith''. The word
Lant Lant is aged urine. The term comes from Old English , which referred to urine. Collected urine was put aside to ferment until used for its chemical content in many pre-industrial processes, such as cleaning and production. History Because of ...
refers to aged urine, used for cleaning, in the manufacture of gunpowder, and ale and pastry making. The road is named, however, in remembrance of the Lant family and Thomas Lant who inherited and owned the nearby land and rented out several hundred homes there from the 18th century. There is a Lant Street Association for people who live and work in Lant Street. Two historic pubs, the ''
Princes of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd who, from the late 12th century, used it (albeit inconsistent ...
'' at No. 23 and '' The Gladstone Arms'' at No. 64 are located in Lant Street.


Notable residents

Charles Dickens is Lant Street's most notable resident. He took lodgings in Lant Street during 1824 while still a child, in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's Church. This was during the period that his father John Dickens was imprisoned in the nearby Marshalsea debtors' prison. Sir Joseph Lyons was born at 50 Lant Street on 29 December 1847. Lyons was a self-made businessman and went on to own the Lyons Cornerhouses, a chain of
tea shop A teahouse or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only serve ...
s run by
J. Lyons and Co. J, or j, is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. J may also refer to: * Palatal approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet * J, Cyrillic letter Je Astronomy * J, a provisional designation prefix for some objects discovered be ...
, established in 1887.


History of the area

The area around Lant Street, mainly to the north, was previously known as The Mint. It was a slum area with privileges for
debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...
s until The Mint in Southwark Act 1722 removed these rights. The area remained a slum until the 19th century. The only reminder of The Mint is Mint Street off Marshalsea Road, where there used to be a
workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
. The Marshalsea prison, associated with the Marshalsea Court, was located a little to the north of the southeast end of Lant Street, just north of St George's Church. The prison was mentioned in the works of Charles Dickens. In 1902, a small public open space, known as Little Dorrit's Playground, after the Charles Dickens character, was opened north of Lant Street. Much of the area became derelict as a result of air raid damage during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Also north of Lant Street is Little Dorrit's Court. In the late 2010s Roman burial sites excavated at 52-56 Lant Street and the nearby 56 Soutwark Bridge Road revealed more than two hundred inhumantions including the remains of a teenage girl known as the "Lant Street Teenager". Of the 18 individuals from the Lant Street cemetery whose DNA was analysed in details, four of them had north African (not sub-Saharan African) ancestry.


Gallery

File:The Gladstone Arms, Lant Street, Southwark (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1750071.jpg, The Gladstone Arms on Lant Street File:Waterloo Wine Company - geograph.org.uk - 1750062.jpg, Lant Street Wine Company on Lant Street File:Lant Street barricaded - geograph.org.uk - 1750078.jpg, Barricade in Lant Street


References


External links


LondonOnline information

Lant Street house prices
{{coord, 51.50119, N, 0.09616, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Streets in the London Borough of Southwark Charles Dickens