by Dorothee Schröder
Minories is a street in the far east of the City of London. It runs from Aldgate High Street in the north to Tower Hill in the south and carries two-way traffic. Minories is not only the name of the street but also of a former small administrative district. Both derive their name from the former Abbey of the Minoresses of St Clare without Aldgate, which once stood just beyond the eastern boundary of London’s old city walls.
The abbey was founded in 1294. The nuns, in an expression of humility, adopted the name Minoresses, an anglicised form of the Latin sorores minores (“little sisters”). They belonged to the Order of St Clare of Assisi, the female branch of the Franciscan Order, founded by St Clare, one of the first followers of St Francis of Assisi.
As the boundary between the City of London and Tower Hamlets historically ran irregularly between Minories and Mansell Street to the east, parts of the street belonged both to the City and to the East End, while the administrative district of Minories lay entirely within Tower Hamlets. Boundary changes in 1994 redrew the line along Mansell Street, bringing the entire area of Minories officially within the City of London.
In Roman times, large cemeteries were located outside the defensive walls, as burials were not permitted within the city itself. Owing to its proximity to the former wall, Minories gained attention in 2013 when archaeologists uncovered a well-preserved Roman statue near the junction with Aldgate High Street. The sculpture, showing an eagle grasping a snake in its beak, was probably part of a funerary monument and is regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of Romano-British sculpture.
In 1840, Minories was connected to the London and Blackwall Railway through the opening of Minories Station. The site is now home to Tower Gateway Station, part of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
Situated on the boundary between the City of London and the East End, Minories is a place where the past and present remain deeply connected.
Cover picture: Minories (Source: OpenStreetMap)
