Bishopsgate The Great Hall is the only surviving part of the
medieval mansion of Crosby Place,
Bishopsgate, in the
City of London. It was built between 1466 and 1475 on the grounds of St Helen's Convent next to
St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate (Coordinates: ) by the wool merchant and alderman,
Sir John Crosby, a warden of the
Worshipful Company of Grocers and auditor of the
City of London. Crosby originally leased the main property before 1466, and in that year renewed his lease, incorporating additional, adjacent properties. Over the following years, he progressively developed the property into a large mansion. However, as
John Stow later reported, "Sir John died in 1475, so short a space enjoyed he that sumptuous building." It was used as one of his London homes during the time of his protection of the
Princes in the Tower, who later disappeared. Upon Richard III's arrival from York in May 1483,
Robert Fabyan in his Chronicle wrote that "the Duke lodged hymself in ''Crosbye's Place, in Bishoppesgate Street"'' where the Mayor and citizens waited upon him with the offer of the Crown.
Holinshed's Chronicles described that "little by little all folke withdrew from the Tower, and drew unto Crosbies in Bishops gates Street, where the Protector kept his household. The Protector had the resort; the King in maner desolate." in which the Plantagenet King refers to Crosby Hall (then Crosby Place): "When you haue done repaire to Crosby place" (Act I, Scene 3), "At Crosby place there shall you finde vs both" (Act III, Scene 1).
Tudor period John Stow in his
Survey of London (1598) described Crosby Hall as being "of stone and timber, very large and beautiful, and [when first built] the highest at that time in London". At the time, Crosby Hall was owned by
Sir Bartholomew Reade, Lord Mayor, who made it his Mansion House and is recorded as throwing extravagant feasts for ambassadors sent by
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. He also owned the riverfront estate in Chelsea on which the building now rests. Bonvisi protected the lease of the mansion in various arrangements following More's execution and throughout the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, which affected freeholds under the "Priory of St. Eleyns" including that of Crosby Place. In 1547, upon the death of Henry VIII, Bonvisi leased the mansion back to Thomas More's nephew,
William Rastell, and Thomas More's son-in-law and biographer,
William Roper.
Shakespeare resided in the parish of
St Helen's Bishopsgate and would have been within daily sight of Crosby Hall, which is referenced several times in
Richard III. He was probably familiar with the reputation of Bonvisi, and Antonio is used frequently as a name in his plays. Following a dinner in the Great Hall, Spencer forgave a youth accused by the visiting French duke of murdering an Englishman that evening outside Crosby Hall, after which "The English began to love, and the French to fear him more." Other residents during the Elizabethan era included the poet Dowager Countess of Pembroke
Mary Sidney, one of the most notable writers of her time, following her time at court within the
Privy Chamber of Elizabeth I. Sidney most likely resided at Crosby Hall from 1609 to 1615, when it was owned by the
Lord Privy Seal,
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton. Sidney's literary circle included Shakespeare and
Ben Jonson, who were guests at Crosby Hall.
English Civil War During the
English Civil War the tenant of Crosby Hall was
Sir John Langham, a City merchant, Sheriff and, at that time, a noted supporter of Parliament. Once again Crosby Hall was used as a temporary prison, for Royalist prisoners.
East India Company Langham considered the house unfit to live in and divided the Hall, making over part to a
Presbyterian congregation for use as a meeting room and part to the
East India Company. From 1621 to 1638 Crosby Hall was the headquarters of the
East India Company. During this time, the building underwent significant wear and repairs to its turret and stone. It was used as the Company merchant meeting place and offices, and the Great Hall was used as a warehouse for the Company's growing number of traded goods from the far East.
Fire Crosby Hall survived the
Great Fire of London of 1666 but in 1672, while under the tenancy of Sir Simon Langham (son of the above John Langham), the property was severely damaged by fire, with only the Great Hall and one wing surviving. The damaged portions were demolished and the land sold for building, forming the site of the present-day Crosby Square.
First preservation campaign From 1835–36, a campaign was launched to save the remainder of the Hall, which had begun to show signs of decay. A Committee chaired by
Alderman W. T. Copeland, M.P., then Lord Mayor of London, met at The City of London Tavern at Bishopsgate Street to support the Hall's repair, eventually raising a small sum. However, the majority of the funds needed were provided through a single lady,
Maria Hackett, who took over the lease at significant personal expense. Hackett assumed all liabilities, oversaw the laying of stones for an adjoining council chamber, and funded the removal of the inserted floors.
King Edward VII himself caused a letter to be issued by his Private Secretary
Francis Knollys, 1st Vicount Knollys to Sir Laurence Gomme, Clerk of the
London County Council:
Chelsea from the south. The white stone
gable visible in the background to the right belongs to the original medieval Great Hall, whilst the riverside frontage dates from the 1990s and the higher northern wing behind it from the 1920s. In 1910, the medieval structure was once again reprieved from threatened demolition and moved stone by stone from Bishopsgate to its present site in Chelsea. The relocation required at least 1500 separate inventoried pieces to be moved five miles and reassembled with extreme care. The
Duchess of York (afterwards Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) formally opened Crosby Hall on its Chelsea site in 1926. Architectural historian
Simon Thurley, while acknowledging that "little of the original building, […] largely hidden by the accretions of nineteenth and twentieth-century restorations, […] has been left intact", assesses the remaining elements as "the most important surviving secular domestic medieval building in London".
World War I During
World War I, Crosby Hall was a refuge for
Belgian refugees who fled to Britain and were aided by the Chelsea War Refugee Committee.
Henry James wrote that Crosby Hall's "almost incomparable roof has arched all this winter and spring [1914–1915] over a scene ... more pathetic than any that have ever drawn down its ancient far-off blessing". Crosby Hall was also the site of concerts held by the War Refugee Committee in aid of the exiles. A war memorial in Crosby Hall reads as follows and includes a poem by Belgian poet
Émile Cammaerts:
British Federation of University Women The
British Federation of University Women (BFUW) took a long lease on Crosby Hall and employed Godfrey to build a tall
Arts and Crafts residential block at right angles to the great hall in 1925–1927. The federation raised money for the work through a major campaign reaching out to individual women, industrialists, philanthropists, and Chelsea residents. Two years into the campaign, £17,000 of their initial £25,000 target had been raised. The expanded Crosby Hall included offices for both the British and
International Federation of University Women (IFUW).
Theodora Bosanquet was executive secretary to the IFUW from 1920 to 1935, developing its library to a high standard and promoting intellectual activity and exchange across nations. Following the death of her life partner
Margaret Rhondda in 1958,
Bosanquet moved to a single room at Crosby Hall. The residential block was used as a
hall of residence for visiting university women, some of whom received IFUW scholarships to travel and study.
World War II With the rise of
National Socialism (Nazism) in Germany and the passage of the anti-Jewish
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on 7 April 1933, Crosby Hall provided an important source of support for women academics who were being forced out of Germany. The BFUW undertook an additional fund-raising appeal on their behalf, which met with an enthusiastic response. As a result, the BFUW was able to provide 3 new 12-month residential fellowships (in addition to 7 existing ones) as well as smaller awards. In 1934 the new fellowship recipients were
Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel,
Betty Heimann, and
Helen Rosenau. Among many other women who received funding and support were
Adelheid Heimann (no relation to Betty),
Gertrud Kornfeld,
Dora Ilse, and . Crosby Hall was requisitioned by the war effort, but reopened in 1946.
Greater London Council After the
London County Council (LCC) was abolished in 1965, the site passed to the
Greater London Council (GLC), who maintained it until 1986, when the GLC was abolished. The
London Residuary Body, charged with disposing of the GLC's assets, put Crosby Hall up for sale.
Christopher Moran Crosby Hall was bought in 1988 by
Christopher Moran, a businessman and philanthropist who is the Chairman of
Co-operation Ireland. Until then the site's frontage had been open to Cheyne Walk and the
River Thames and its central garden was open to the public. Moran commissioned a scheme to close the frontage with a new building and convert the complex to a luxury mansion. The scheme caused considerable controversy, but was given eventually permission after a
Public Inquiry in December 1996, following two previous refusals by
Kensington and Chelsea Council. Moran paid for the building's restoration, including initial stabilization of the Great Hall's 15th-century
Reigate Stone. The garden was restored by
Marjorie Wyndham-Quin, and only plants found in Tudor England were used. The craftsmen were selected by David Honour, former head of design at
Historic Royal Palaces. Stone carving of
heraldic beasts, including the lions on the building's front gates, was completed by Dick Reid OBE to display the heraldry of Moran and residents dating from 1466 according to Tudor, Elizabethan, or early Stuart historical precedent. The completed complex was renamed Crosby Moran Hall at the beginning of 2021. ==Notable residents at the original site==