Place Name
Originally called East Street, after a branch of the local landowning Clayton family. The current name commemorates the persecution of the Lollards in the 14thCentury by William Courtenay, archbishop of Canterbury. The Lollards were followers of John Wycliffe an Oxford radical who was centuries ahead of the protestant movement. Not only did he translate the Bible into English and dismiss the Roman Catholic belief of transubstansiation he also accused the Pope of being like the Antichrist. His views, while gaining some popularity were swiftly dealt with by the authorities and between 1382 and 1388 Courtenay forced some of the Oxford Lollards to renounce their views and conform to Roman Catholic doctrine. Many were imprisoned in a tower – later Lollards Tower – at Lambeth Palace which has been the London residence to the archbishops of Canterbury since 1197. The name Lollard was actually an insult it comes from a Middle Dutch word lollaert meaning mumbler or one who talks nonsense.
