Place Name
Recorded as Gyltesporestrete or Gylspurstreate in the mid-16thCentury, this is thought to be the site where spurriers, the makers of spurs, plied their trade. The location is ideal, being so close to West Smithfield, the location of many medieval joust tournaments. Gillian Bebbington in London Street Names writes: “Gilt spurs were a highly coveted luxury; it may be that spurriers in this particular street specialised in gilt spurs, or perhaps one of them hung a prominent sign showing golden spurs above his shop.”
