Is This The Oldest House In The City Of London?

Tucked amongst the alleyways and winding lanes of Smithfield you will find a number of historic survivors.

One of the buildings that has survived fire, bombs and development is 41-42 Cloth Fair, a house that is often said to be the oldest house in the City of London. Read on for its story and why the title of ‘oldest house’ in the City might be misattributed… 

An Atmospheric Enclave

41-42 Cloth Fair can be found right by St Bartholomew the Great church, London’s oldest parish church, established in 1123. It was established as the Priory of St Bartholomew and, before the Reformation and Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the building was roughly double the size that it is now. 

Half of the church was demolished, including three sides of the monastic cloister, in 1539. What was once the nave became the churchyard.

I have written a full blog post about St Bartholomew the Great church here. 

The street called Cloth Fair runs alongside the churchyard and down past the side of the church itself. The name Cloth Fair relates to the annual cloth fair that was held in the grounds of the priory from 1133. Cloth merchants from across the country sell their goods, from the eve of St Bartholomew’s Day (24th August).

Over the centuries, side entertainments started to be added such as circus acts, puppet shows and dancing bears. It became known as the Bartholomew Fair and ran until 1855 when it was banned by the City authorities for encouraging public disorder and debauchery. 

41-42 Cloth Fair Constructed

After the Dissolution, the priory was acquired by Sir Richard Rich. He was Thomas Cromwell’s right hand man and the Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, i.e. the position in charge of overseeing the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is unsurprising then that he gained rather substantially from the process and he started living in the old prior’s quarters of the church.

His grandson, Robert, 3rd Baron Rich, and then his son Henry, began to build extensively on the priory grounds later in the 16th century.

From 1597-1614 a block of 11 houses was constructed by the church, around a small courtyard. 41-42 Cloth Fair is the only one surviving of these properties. The square was known as ‘the Square in Launders Green’, the name a nod to the fact that this used to be the site of the priory’s laundry. 

Certain architectural details, such as the timber-framed windows are indicators of its 17th century origins. It also has lots of original 17th century details on the interior, such as the staircase from the 2nd floor to the attic and a fine-panelled room on the second floor. Today it is Grade II* listed, you read its Historic England listing here.

The House Through The Centuries

Anything in London prior to 1666 is, of course, very rare. From the 2nd-6th September 1666 roughly four fifths of the old medieval city went up in flames when the Great Fire of London struck.

The fire stopped not far away at a spot then called Pye Corner, today the corner of Giltspur and Cock Lane, marked by a sculpture called The Golden Boy of Pye Corner. The houses on Cloth Fair therefore remained safe. There seems to be a theory that the high walls of the priory saved them from the fire, but it does not seem to have actually got near enough for that to be the case. 

41-42 Cloth Fair went through various purposes over the centuries. After its construction, for example, the building was leased from Rich by a business called William Chapman. He turned the ground floor and cellar into an alehouse called The Eagle and Child.

In the 18th century it was a wool drapers for a period and then a tobacconists from 1829, run by a Mrs Corram. From the early 20th century until 1927, Markham & Co wholesale cutlers and electro-platers were based here. 

Another Fortunate Escape

In 1929 the City of London carried out a ‘slum clearance’ programme in the area.

41-42 Cloth Fair was due to be demolished in that scheme, but thankfully it was saved by two architects called Paul Paget (1901-1985) and John Seely (1899-1963). The pair met at university and in their 20s became business partners, but also life partners. They apparently referred to each other simply as ‘the partner’. 

The pair bought the Cloth Fair house for £3,000 in 1930 and it became their office and home. They also ended up buying and looking after lots of the other buildings on Cloth Fair. Theirs was one of the main architectural firms of the Interwar period and they are probably best known for transforming Eltham Palace into the Art Deco masterpiece that it is today. You can read more about them and see some photographs here. They had twin baths in the bathroom, so that they could chat with each other whilst bathing.

John Seely was appointed as surveyor of St Paul’s Cathedral, a position Paget took on when Seely died in 1963. Seely and Paget were also very involved in restoring buildings after World War Two. They, for example, restored the Westminster Abbey precinct and the Charterhouse. 

Various famous faces called in over the years and they would encourage visitors to etch their names into the upper storey windows, into the glass, with a diamond pen. So, still today, if you look up at the first floor windows you can see a series of little etchings. Famous visitors have included the Queen Mother and Winston Churchill. 

The House Today

Paget continued to live and work from the house until 1978. In 1979 it became an estate agents, but in 1995 it was bought, restored and turned back into a home. 

The neighbouring 18th century 43-45 Cloth Fair, that had also been acquired by Paget and Seely, were sold to the Landmark Trust. The Landmark Trust are a conservation charity that rescues historic buildings and rents them out as holiday lets. Find out more here.

43 Cloth Fair was, from 1954 until the 1970s, the home of Sir John Betjeman, poet but also great heritage campaigner. 

John Betjeman was a close friend of Seely and Paget and they campaigned together to save historic buildings. Apparently after Seely died Betjeman stepped in to use the second of the twin baths.

In the window of 43 Cloth Fair, the window looking out onto Cloth Court, you can see a painting. It is called The Sailors’ Homecoming by Brian Thomas. It was commissioned by Seely and Paget to maintain a bit of privacy between the two properties as they had previously been able to see straight into each others living quarters. They bricked it up initially but found this to be a bit dull, so commissioned the mural.

Today 41-42 Cloth Fair is lived in by Matthew Bell, a psychotherapist and City councillor. 

Is it the oldest house in the City of London?

Whether it is the oldest house in the City of London depends, I think, on your definition. It is not the oldest house in the whole of London, that probably goes to the Ancient House in Walthamstow.

The City of London is, as many of you will know, a specific area within Greater London, only just over a square mile in size. It is the oldest part of London, where the Romans originally established the city. The only other contender in this specific area would be St Bartholomew’s Gatehouse around the corner.

This was constructed in 1595 over the old 13th century entrance to St Bartholomew the Great church. This was the Southern entranceway before much of the church was demolished in 1539. 

This, as far as I am aware, is not a permanent residence today, but certainly was built as, and has been used as, a home. Either way, both are within spitting distance of each other and can be seen on the same visit, should you want to.

Thank you for reading, more of London’s hidden historical gems below…