Cordwainers and a Mincing Lane update

April 15, 2014

Cordwainers and a Mincing Lane update

Update to Mincing Lane, where the Cordwainers (one of whom is Jimmy Choo), make their home in the Clothworkers’ Hall. For shame that I should have left out the Cordwainers, shoemakers who make “fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles”. That makes a cordwainer one of a girl’s best friends.

Cordwainers Crest — The Company’s Coat of Arms, confirmed in 1579.

To use the full and lovely name, the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers dates back to at least 1272, making it one of the oldest Liveries in the City. It was granted its Royal Charter in 1439.

The company takes its name from the soft leather, or cordwain, that its members used; this originated from Cordoba in Spain. The leather makers eventually formed their own guilds, but the shoemakers retained the cordwainer name.

Street name

City livery companies, Cordwainers

Posted by:

thestreetnames

Exploring and sharing the weird and wonderful stories behind London streets, their names, their history, and their famous (and infamous) residents, visitors, and buildings. Tangents and coincidences a speciality.

One response to “Cordwainers and a Mincing Lane update”

Weird and wonderful street names of London | thestreetnames

December 17, 2014 at 5:52 pm

[…] Lane: This Lane, with connections to Jimmy Choo and Cruella de Ville, takes its name from nothing to do with funny walks. The word derives from the […]

WHAT’S SO FUNNY ABOUT
HA HA ROAD?

What is so funny about Ha Ha Road, and whose heart bled in Bleeding Heart Yard? Why did Broken Wharf break? Who was unfortunate enough to head off down Wild Goose Drive?

Beware: you wouldn’t make wine from the grapes of Grape Street, put the stew of Stew Lane on a menu, or finish off with the pudding from Pudding Lane.

Nothing is what it seems: London streets and their names provide an endless source of entertainment and information mixed in with political intrigue, bloody murder and celebrity scandals.

Come in and sample the wonders of the city’s A-Z: the legends, the history – and the theories – behind the streets, their names, and their residents.

About Me (and my Obsession)

My obsession with London street names began in the early 90s when I worked in the Smithfield area and happened upon Bleeding Heart Yard. In my wanderings around London, I kept adding to my store of weird and wonderful street names. Eventually it was time to share – hence my blog. I hope you enjoy these names as much as I do.
– Elizabeth