Place Name
Named after the adjacent hall of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. In 1554 it bought Peter’s College, a former monastic property, to the east of St Paul’s Deanery. In 1606 the Stationers expanded to new premises at Abergavenny House on the site of the present Hall. Sixty years later it was destroyed – along with much else – by the Great Fire. Work on the new Hall began in 1670 and was completed within three years. The total cost of construction was £3,000. The Stationers’ Company held a monopoly on printing with every new publication having to be approved and entered into the Stationers’ Register. Authors and printers that did not comply could be hauled before the Bishop of London and face a heavy fine.
