Minories

For other uses, see Minories (disambiguation).

Minories (/ˈmɪnəriːz/, not /ˈmaɪnəriːz/) is the name of both a former civil parish, also known as Minories Holy Trinity, and a street in the City of London, close to the Tower of London.

Minories, the street, pictured in 2010.

History

Toponymy

The name is derived from the abbey of the Minoresses of St. Mary of the Order of St. Clare, founded in 1294, which stood on such sites; a "minoress" was a nun in the Second Order of the Order of Friars Minor (or Franciscans). (A small side-road off Minories is named St. Clare Street.) The name can also be found in other English towns including Birmingham, Colchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Romans

In September 2013, an extremely well preserved Roman statue of an eagle (thought to have been part of a funerary monument), was discovered on a building site on the street. The statue is considered to be one of the best examples of Romano-British sculpture in existence.^[1]

Governance

A map showing the civil parish boundaries in 1870.

Minories was part of the ancient parish of St Botolph without Aldgate until 1557, when it became extra-parochial.^[2]

The area was a papal peculiar outside the jurisdiction of the English bishops. The abbey was dissolved in 1539, the property passing to the Crown. The chapel of the former abbey was used as the Church of Holy Trinity, Minories, and other buildings became an armoury and later workhouse. In 1686, the area became part of the Liberties of the Tower of London. The Minories area also historically hosted a large Jewish community.^[3]

Minories Holy Trinity was abolished as a civil parish in 1895 and absorbed by the parish of Whitechapel.

Minories railway station

It gave its name to Minories railway station, built in 1840 as a part of the London and Blackwall Railway – a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) cable railway. The site is now occupied by a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station called Tower Gateway, opened in 1989 as the western terminus of that system. The DLR was extended westward in 1991 to Bank leaving this as an 'alternate terminus'; it is now open again following platform extension works in 2009.

Geography

The modern street named Minories runs north-south with traffic flowing both-ways from Aldgate to Tower Hill; ^[4] it forms part of the A1211 road between Barbican and Whitechapel. The border between the City and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets ran haphazardly between Minories and nearby Mansell Street until boundary changes in 1994 which resulted in the present-day border along Mansell Street, resulting in Minories falling entirely within the City of London. Aldgate Underground station is located at the northern end of Minories, on Aldgate High Street.

References

Sources

Pennant, Thomas (1816). Some Account of London. London: J Faulder (digital edition from New York Public Library, 2007). p. 372.
Thornbury, Walter (1878). Old and New London: Volume 2. London: Cassel (digital edition from University of London & History of Parliament Trust, 2007). pp. 245–250.

City of London

City of London Corporation Parks and open spaces

Wards	Aldersgate Aldgate Bassishaw Billingsgate Bishopsgate Bread Street Bridge Broad Street Candlewick Castle Baynard Cheap Coleman Street Cordwainer Cornhill Cripplegate Dowgate Farringdon Within Farringdon Without Langbourn Lime Street Portsoken Queenhithe Tower Vintry Walbrook

Enclaves	Inner Temple Middle Temple

Localities	Barbican Bishops Square Blackfriars Broadgate Farringdon Minories Smithfield Temple

Attractions	20 Fenchurch Street Bank of England Museum Barbican Centre Clockmakers' Museum College of Arms Dr Johnson's House Finsbury Circus Guildhall Art Gallery Leadenhall Market London Mithraeum London Stone Mansion House The Monument Museum of London One New Change Prince Henry's Room Royal Exchange St Paul's Cathedral Smithfield Market

Notable structures	2 King's Bench Walk 30 St Mary Axe Aldgate Pump Bank of England Bevis Marks Synagogue Golden Boy of Pye Corner Guildhall Heron Tower Holborn Circus Lloyd's building London Stock Exchange Merchant Taylors' Hall National Firefighters Memorial Old Bailey Old Billingsgate Market Tower 42

Civil parishes	List of civil parishes in the City of London

Bridges	Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Railway Bridge Cannon Street Railway Bridge Holborn Viaduct London Bridge Millennium Footbridge Southwark Bridge

Rail and tube stations	Aldgate Bank–Monument Barbican Blackfriars Cannon Street City Thameslink Fenchurch Street Liverpool Street Mansion House Moorgate St. Paul's Tower Hill (in LB of Tower Hamlets) Tower Gateway

Topics	Coat of arms Flag History Listed buildings Grade I Grade II* Livery companies Lord Lieutenants Lord Mayors Lord Mayor's Show Public art and memorials Sheriffs

Category Commons

Coordinates: 51°30′39″N 0°04′30″W / 51.5108°N 0.0751°W / 51.5108; -0.0751

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