Place Name
Not named after the Dorset market town but a rather more earthy origin. The clue comes in the original name recorded in 1273 as Shitteborwelane and, over the ensuing decades as Schiteburuelane, Shiteburghlane, Shitebournelane and Shireborne lane by the mid-14thCentury. David Mills in A Dictionary of London Place Names explains: “The original name is apparently from Middle English shite-burgh (Old English scite-burh), a jocular term for a privy (no doubt roughly equivalent to ‘shithouse’).”
