Milford Lane is a narrow street in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

that runs from

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

in the north to a brief walkway section leading to Temple Place in the south. It is joined by Little Essex Street and

Essex Street Essex Street is a north–south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, ...

on its eastern side. Maltravers Street once joined the lane to

Arundel Street Arundel Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, that runs from Strand, London, Strand in the north to Temple Place in the south. It is on land once occupied by Arundel House and its gardens. Location Arundel street runs from Str ...

, but ceased to exist when building work at 190 Strand was completed.

History

The lane possibly takes its name from the ford that crossed a stream that roughly followed the course of Essex Street. It once marked the boundary between the London estates of Lord Essex, Essex House, and the Earl of Arundel,

Arundel House Arundel House was a London town-house located between the Strand and the River Thames, near the Church of St Clement Danes. History During the Middle Ages, it was the London residence of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, when it was known ...

. Twezers or Tweezers Alley, which in 2016 is blocked due to building works, is the subject of one of the

Quit Rents ceremonies The King's Remembrancer (or Queen's Remembrancer) is an ancient judicial post in the legal system of England and Wales. Since the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge, the Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in continual existence ...

of 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 ...

entered in the

Great Roll of the Exchequer The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rollsBrown ''Governance'' pp. 54–56 or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exchequ ...

since 1235 by which the City must pay the Crown six horseshoes and 61 horseshoe nails for the site of its "Forge". When rendered to the

Queen's Remembrancer The King's Remembrancer (or Queen's Remembrancer) is an ancient judicial post in the legal system of England and Wales. Since the Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge, the Remembrancer is the oldest judicial position in continual existence ...

the items are preserved in his office, and with the permission of the Crown they are loaned to the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's fi ...

to be rendered again the following year. The area was a hiding place for debtors in the 17th century."Milford Lane"
in The lane once contained a cook's shop owned by one Phipps, a black man, whose death in 1722 was sufficiently notable to be mentioned in a work on the parish dated 1876 along with the fact that his coffin had six black pall-bearers and 'sixty or seventy others of the same complexion, and about the same number of "English people" brought up the rear.' Milford Lane area 1870s Ordnance Survey

By the 1870s, there were three printing works in the lane, possibly reflecting its proximity to

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

. The ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' was published from 198 Strand on the corner with Milford Lane and as the paper expanded it acquired Milford House and other buildings in the lane. Greyhound Court was a western siding in the 1870s named after ''The Greyhound'' public house to the south opposite Little Essex Street. An infants school was two buildings south, replacing the house of the rector of

St. Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is now situated near the 19th-century Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in Aldwych. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th centu ...

, A second public house stood at the fork in the street where the lane turns east at Twezers Alley.

Character and current buildings

Milford Lane is mostly lined with the rears of office buildings that front other streets — Essex Street and

. The lane is narrow with vehicular access only to the northern part. The Temple Bar public house, behind a narrow bank building on the north-east corner, states that it was established in 1839.

The Cheshire Cheese The Cheshire Cheese is a public house at 5 Little Essex Street, London WC2, on the corner with Milford Lane. It is a grade II listed building, rebuilt in 1928 by Nowell Parr Thomas Henry Nowell Parr Royal Institute of British Architects ...

larger public house, midway, on the corner with Little Essex Street, stands where there has been a tavern since the 16th century. It was rebuilt in 1928 to a design by

Nowell Parr Thomas Henry Nowell Parr Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1864 – 23 September 1933) was a British architect, best known for designing public houses, pubs in West London (sub-region), west London. Many of these were built while Pa ...

for the Style & Winch Brewery and is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. At the south end of the lane,

Two Temple Place Two Temple Place, known for many years as Astor House, is a Neo-Gothic building situated near Victoria Embankment in central London, England.Moore, Rowan (15 October 2011)"Two Temple Place; University of the Arts London – review Viscount Astor ...

was built in 1895. Around the same time, Bodley and Garner's London School Board Building was erected in Temple Place. It was replaced by Electra House, the headquarters of Cable & Wireless, in 1929. Its eastern side was hit by a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

on 24 July 1944 during the Second World War, demolishing part of it, blocking the lane and trapping people in rubble at 28 Essex Street. Three people died, 17 were injured. The building was repaired but demolished in 1999 and replaced by Globe House, now the headquarters of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

. A large mixed-use development on western side of the street is known as 190 Strand, the construction of which resulted in the demolition of the modern Maltravers Street, and the enhancement of Tweezer's Alley. Three fragments of architectural sculptures by Henry Poole from the demolished United Kingdom Provident Institution offices are now located on the street. The K2 telephone kiosk at the southern end of the lane at the junction with Temple Place is

with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. The street veers to the east before a short walkway leading to Queen Elizabeth Buildings

barristers' chambers In law, a barrister's chambers or barristers' chambers are the rooms used by a barrister or a group of barristers. The singular refers to the use by a sole practitioner whereas the plural refers to a group of barristers who, while acting as s ...

on the top of the bank of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, east and west of which are the lawns of

Temple Gardens The Temple is an area or precinct of the City of London surrounding Temple Church. It is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law, from the Middle Ages to the present day. It consists of the Inner Temple an ...

and trees and flowers of Victoria Embankment Gardens.

Citations in the arts and literature

Milford Lane is the scene of a bawdy poem of 1716 by

Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (24 January 164329 January 1706) was an English politician, courtier and poet. Early life Sackville was born on 24 January 1643, son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (1622–1677). His mother was th ...

, titled ''The Duel of the Crabs'' which recounts a battle between two armies in the pubic hair of a whore residing in Milford Lane, the first lines of which read "In Milford-lane, near to St. Clement's Steeple/There liv'd a Nymph kind to all Christian People".The Duel of the Crabs.
Text Creation Partnership. University of Oxford. Retrieved 23 December 2016.

Notable residents

* Richard Baker, author of the ''Chronicle of the Kings of England''. (1632–39)

Notes and references

;References ;Notes

External links

* {{coords, 51.5124, -0.1133, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster