The New Murrey and Blue blog

Isn’t it always the case that while you’re looking for one thing, another pops up to seize your attention? This time I was poking around for information about a portion of the Thames waterfront on the city side below London Bridge, and it turns out that the site I was seeking had become the site of the numerous incarnations of the Custom House.

I was researching the reigns of Edward III and Richard II, and found this very interesting and superbly illustrated site https://www.thames.me.uk/s00048.htm. But then, in a section called Thames Events, Pageants and Races, I happened upon a different king entirely:

“….1483: Coronation of King Richard III….The royal barges destined to convey the king and queen, and the other great personages of the party, were covered with canopies of silk, and were otherwise magnificently adorned.
Great crowds of spectators assembled to witness the scene. Some came in boats upon the water, others took their stations on the shores, where every prominent and commanding point was covered with its own special crowd, and others still occupied the windows of the buildings that looked out upon the river….Through the midst of this scene the royal barges passed down the river to the Tower. As they moved along, the air was filled with prolonged and continual shouts of ‘Long live King Richard!’ ‘Long live the noble Queen Anne!’….”

Oh, if only those cheers had come to fruition! But two years later, as we all know, we had lost Richard and Anne, and were inflicted with the first Tudor instead. But oh, the above description gives the lie to the Tudor claim that he was an unpopular king from the outset. Was he, heck!

However, my Ricardian wailing aside, I can recommend the above site, which is truly extensive and covers much more than the Custom House. You are taken upstream and downstream of London Bridge, and it’s all handsomely illustrated.

https://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/custom-house/ is another site containing a section about the Custom House. It too covers a lot more of London that just this one spot. Concerning the Custom House, it says “….London’s first recorded Custom House building was constructed at Wool Quay by the Sheriff of London in 1382 during the reign of Richard II. The poet and author Geoffrey Chaucer was Comptroller of the Customs of Wools, Skins and Tanned Hides from 1374 until 1386, and based there for his work as manager of tax collectors….” As my interest in the site dates from 1375, well, Master Chaucer cannot help but make an appearance!

A third site, the always reliable British History online (https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol15/pt2/pp31-43), cannot be left unmentioned. Please investigate all three sites; there’s a lot to enjoy! I recommend them.