Cloth Fair is a street in the City of London where, in medieval times, merchants gathered to buy and sell fabric during the Bartholomew Fair. Today, it is a short residential street to the east of Smithfield in the north-western part of the city and is located in the ward of Farringdon Within.
 The oldest residential dwelling in London (numbers 41 and 42) | |
| Type | Residential street |
|---|---|
| Length | 150 yards |
| Postal code | EC1 |
| Nearest Tube station |  Barbican |
| Coordinates | 51°31′7.92″N 0°05′58.77″W / 51.5188667°N 0.0996583°W |
| Southwest end | Little Britain |
| Northeast end | Middle Street |
| Other | |
| Known for | Medieval cloth market |
The street runs southwest to northeast from Little Britain, parallel to Long Lane to the north and bordered by the Anglican church[1] of St. Bartholomew-the-Great[2] to the south, until it merges with Middle Street some 150 yards later.[3]
The street was originally within the precincts of the Priory of St. Bartholomew's, and until 1910 formed a separate liberty, with gates that were shut at night. Such a small area could not meet the demands of installing street lighting and sewers, and rejoined the city. The area has a long history,[4] a varied past[5] and strong literary tradition.[6]
It contains within its boundaries the oldest residential dwelling in London (numbers 41 and 42),[7] and a pair of properties administered by the Landmark Trust.[8][9] One of them (number 43) is the former home of English poet John Betjeman; its door is in Cloth Court off Cloth Fair.[10] A restaurant on the ground floor on Cloth Fair for a time took his name.[11]
The City Music Foundation is based in Church House in Cloth Fair.[12]
The nearest London Underground station is Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines) and the closest mainline railway station is Farringdon.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Parish website
- ^ "18 views of the Ancient Priory Church of St Bartholemew the Great" (15th Edition, rev) Webb, E.A. (Freeman Dovaston London, 1922)
- ^ Based on measurement using Ordnance Survey (1:2500) 1940 L.C.C revision Sheet 62
- ^ History of Smithfields Archived 21 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 18th Century Crime Scene Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ It was immortalised in a story in The Gentleman's Magazine(Details of Publication[permanent dead link]) illustrated by Phiz
- ^ "City of London: A History" Borer, M.A. (Constable & Co Ltd, London, 1977) ISBN 0-09-461880-1
- ^ 43 Cloth Fair
- ^ 45a Cloth Fair
- ^ "John Betjeman" Hillier, B. (John Murray, London,2007) ISBN 978-0-7195-6444-4
- ^ Betjeman’s Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "About City Music Foundation". City Music Foundation. Retrieved 29 February 2020.