Place Name
Writing his Survey of London in 1598, William Stow came up with this explanation as to how Lothbury got its name: “The Street of Lothberie, Lathberie, or Loadberie (for by all those names have I read it), took the name as it seemeth of berie, or court, of old time there kept, but by whom is grown out of memory. This street is possessed for the most part by founders that cast candlesticks, chafing dishes, spice mortars, and such-like copper or laton works, and do afterwards turn them with the foot and not with the wheel, to make them smooth and bright with turning and scratching (as some do term it), making a loathsome noise to the by-passers that have not been used to the like, and therefore by them disdainfully called Lothberie.” It was not however correct. The name was first recorded sometime around 1190 as Lodebure becoming Lothbiri by 1232, and Lothebury in 1234. While the second part of the name bury comes from the Old English meaning a manor, there is debate about who owned it. While some suggest it is the burgh of a 7thCentury Saxon named Lotha or Hlothere, others believe it may be after a Lotharingian, someone from the medieval Continental kingdom that covered a large part of modern day Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France in the 9thCentury.
