A liberty was an English unit originating in the Middle Ages , traditionally defined as an area in which regalian right was revoked and where the land was held by a mesne lord (i.e., an area in which rights reserved to the king had been devolved into private hands). It later became a unit of local government administration .
30-659: The Liberties of the Tower , or the Tower Liberty , was a liberty in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , Central London, which includes both Tower Hill and the Tower of London . The area was defined sometime after 1200 to provide an open area around the Tower to ensure its defensibility. The liberty was an independent administrative unit from then until it was formally abolished on 25 June 1894. The district maintains
60-575: A county or limited to an area smaller than a single parish : an example of the former is Fordington Liberty , and of the latter, the Liberty of Waybayouse , both in Dorset . In northern England, the liberty of Bowland was one of the larger tenurial configurations covering some ten manors, eight townships and four parishes under the sway of a single feudal lord, the Lord of Bowland , whose customary title
90-475: A ceremonial existence, with its custom of beating the bounds being a particularly well known example of the tradition. The liberty was founded sometime after 1200, from land that had previously part of the City of London . The area originally comprised three small liberties : In everyday speech, the term Great Tower Hill came to apply to Tower Hill inside the city wall , with Little Tower Hill referring to
120-793: A handful remained: Ely , Havering-atte-Bower , St Albans , Peterborough , Ripon and Haverfordwest . St Albans was subsequently joined to the county of Hertfordshire in 1875. The Local Government Act 1888 ( 51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) led to the ending of the special jurisdictions in April 1889: the Isle of Ely and Soke of Peterborough became administrative counties , while the three remaining liberties were united to their surrounding counties. Inner Temple and Middle Temple , which occupy an area in London known as The Temple , describe themselves as liberties based on letters patent from 1608 and retain
150-528: A large Jewish community. Minories Holy Trinity, also known as Minories Holy Trinity , was abolished as a civil parish in 1895 and absorbed into the parish of Whitechapel . The parish took its name from Holy Trinity Minories church, just off St Clare St, which was built 1706 on the site of an earlier church but destroyed during the Blitz in 1940. The modern street named Minories runs north–south with traffic flowing both-ways from Aldgate to Tower Hill ; it
180-506: A large degree of independence to the present day. They are extra-parochial areas , historically not governed by the City of London Corporation , and are today regarded as local authorities for most purposes. They are also outside the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London . They geographically fall within the boundaries of the City of London , but can be thought of as independent enclaves . The local government functions of
210-540: A vacancy arose; when a vacancy occurred on 10 May 1939, an order was made on 30 November 1939 combining it with the east district. This came into effect on 1 January 1940. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London. Following boundary changes around the Minories in 1994, small parts are now in the City of London . The population was 3,995 in 1811 and 4,190 in 1831,
240-629: A well-preserved Roman statue of an eagle with a snake in its mouth, thought to have been part of a funerary monument, was discovered on a building site on the street, close to its junction with Aldgate High Street. Burials were forbidden within the inhabited area in the Roman period, so the City's defensive wall was ringed by many large cemeteries. The statue is considered to be one of the best examples of Romano-British sculpture in existence. The street gave its name to Minories railway station , built in 1840 as
270-672: Is Lord of the Fells . Up until the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 ( 12 Cha. 2 . c. 24), such lords would have been lords paramount . The Liberties Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4 . c. 87) ended the temporal jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ely in several liberties, and the Liberties Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 105) permitted the merging of liberties in their counties. By 1867, only
300-529: Is connected with the Celtic cult of the head . However, a jealous King Arthur dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength, and this mistake led to the success of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The name Brân is Welsh, and translates to English as crow or raven ; leading to comparisons with the ravens of the Tower of London . It is said that if the ravens were to leave,
330-587: Is derived from the former Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate , founded in 1294. The minoresses were nuns, the name being an anglicisation of the latin sorores minores ("little sisters"), a name they took out of humility. The Abbey was also known as the Abbey of St Clare, and by a variety of other variations. The Abbey was a house of the Order of St Clare of Assisi founded by St Clare, one of
SECTION 10
#1732772651406360-552: Is part of the A1211 road between the 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 relocated the present-day border along Mansell Street, so that Minories is now within the City of London. Aldgate Underground station is at the northern end of Minories, on Aldgate High Street. In September 2013,
390-475: Is referred to in the name of 'The Liberty Bounds' public house ( Wetherspoons ) in the former General Steam Navigation Company's headquarters on the corner of Byward Street and Trinity Square. The Tower Beach was established in 1934, on the riverfront between Tower Dock and Tower Bridge, to give local East Enders a recreational resource. Intended to last in perpetuity, the beach closed in 1971 due to pollution concerns. As well as many well-known members of
420-766: The Liberty of the Fleet in the City, and the Rules of the Bench in Southwark. Minories Minories ( / ˈ m ɪ n ər iː z / MIN -ə-reez ) is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in the Aldgate area of the City of London . Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate . Both are positioned just to
450-631: The Tower of London and Old Tower Without became civil parishes in 1858. The Old Artillery Ground became a civil parish in 1866, following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1867 . The liberty had become obsolete by 1889 when it became part of the County of London . It was thought that the Local Government Act 1888 had removed the jurisdiction of the justices. However, the charter was found to be still in operation. The liberty
480-496: The Chaplain exclaims “Cursed is he who removeth his neighbours landmark”. The chief warder then says “Whack it boys, whack it” and the children beat the marker bounds with their willow wands. Children take part in such ceremonies because they will have the longest recollections of them, carrying the detailed knowledge of their neighbourhood throughout their lifetime. The boundary includes the inlet known as Tower Dock . The ceremony
510-912: The Inner and Middle Temples are allocated by the Temples Order 1971 ( SI 1971 /1732) which provides that the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple may exercise any function of an Inner London borough defined in either of ss.1(4) or 6 London Government Act 1963 which is not expressly excepted by an act or order. Exceptions in the Temples Order 1971 include various matters associated with housing, planning, public welfare and health;
540-486: The Tower of London community, the Liberties have also been home to: Liberty (division) Liberties were areas of widely variable extent which were independent of the usual system of hundreds and boroughs for a number of different reasons, usually to do with peculiarities of tenure . Because of their tenurial rather than geographical origin, the areas covered by liberties could either be widely scattered across
570-537: The Tower, the Crown and Britain itself would fall. The history of the liberty is still recognised in a triennial ceremony of beating the bounds organised jointly by The Tower authorities and the local parish of All Hallows by the Tower every third Ascension Day . Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday , is a feast which falls 39 days after Easter Sunday . The party moves along the Liberty's 31 boundary stones; at each one
600-483: The area outside the wall. The presence of a unit called Great Tower Hill which covered only part of the area inside the city wall would later cause legal confusion. The liberties had an administration separate from the neighbouring county and city, headed by the Constable of the Tower of London , appointed their own coroner, and had their own courthouse with general and quarter sessions and gaol. A force of constables
630-515: The county of Middlesex , carrying out Hundred and County responsibilities locally. The area of the liberty expanded in 1686, when letters patent granted by James II added three small exclaves ; the Old Artillery Ground , Little Minories and the Liberty of Wellclose . These areas had come into the possession of the Crown when the religious houses that formerly administered them were dissolved . They were subsequently used for
SECTION 20
#1732772651406660-516: The east of, and outside, the line of London's former defensive walls , in London's East End . The area of the former administrative unit was outside the City of London (most recently in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets ), with the street partially in the City and partly in Tower Hamlets. Boundary changes in 1994 mean the area of both is now wholly within the City of London. Minories' name
690-743: The effect is usually to direct such excepted powers or responsibilities to the Common Council of the City of London. The City of London Police have policed the Temples since 1857 by consent rather than by imposition. The term "liberty" was used in Ireland after the Norman conquest. The term "liberty" was also used in England for a demarcated area in the vicinity of a prison in which convicts could live upon regular payment of fees. Examples include
720-623: The first followers of St Francis of Assisi . The order was and is the female branch of the Order of St Francis or Order of Friars Minor known as Franciscans . As an expression of humility, the male Franciscans had adopted for themselves the Latin term fratres minores ("lesser or little brothers"), rendered in English as "friars minor" or just "minors". In a similar way, the female Franciscans were known in Latin as sorores minores ("lesser or little sisters"), anglicised to "minoresses". Members of
750-723: The large majority of these people living in the former exclaves. The importance of the Tower has given its locality an important place in the wider national consciousness. The head of Brân the Blessed , a legendary giant, and King of Britain was said to have been buried on the White Hill , identified with either Tower Hill or the spot where the White Tower now stands, facing France, in order that its power would ward of invasion, particularly from that direction. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. This myth
780-470: The order were also known as Poor Clares or Clarisses, and the name St. Clare Street, just off the Minories reflects that. The name Minories can be found in other English towns, including Birmingham , Colchester , Newcastle upon Tyne and Stratford-upon-Avon . {{{annotations}}} Minories was in the ancient parish of St Botolph without Aldgate until 1557, when it became extra-parochial . The area
810-631: The storing of ordnance. From 1837, the liberty formed part of the Whitechapel Poor Law Union, a grouping of administrative areas that combined for the purposes of administering poor relief. From 1855, the area became part of the Whitechapel District for certain local government purposes. Extra-parochial places were progressively eliminated and following the Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 ,
840-508: 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 became the Church of Holy Trinity, Minories , and other buildings were used as an armoury and later as a workhouse. In 1686, the area became part of the Liberties of the Tower of London . The Minories area historically hosted
870-538: Was abolished on 25 June 1894, following a petition by the justices of the peace of the County of London under the Liberties Act 1850 . The Whitechapel District was dissolved in 1900 and local government functions passed to the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney . The liberty continued as a franchise coroner's district . The Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926 provided that the district could be dissolved when
900-477: Was appointed for the area. The inhabitants had certain other privileges such as being able to claim any beast that fell from, and any swans under, London Bridge . The boundaries were presented by a Leet Jury in 1525, and again as surveyed by Haiward and Gascoyne in 1597. From the mid-seventeenth century, the liberty was part of a larger liberty, the Tower Division or Tower Hamlets which was independent of
#405594