Historical Link — Sale of City of London Street Signs
| Author | Arda Lacey |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9106400405 |
| Published date | 01 October 1991 |
| Date | 01 October 1991 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ARDALACEY
HISTORICAL LINK -
SALE OF CITY OF LONDON
STREET SIGNS
The Square Mile
hadn't
seen such excitement since Jack the Ripper killed
Katherine Eddowes in Mitre Square... The
Ripper's
only murder on the
site. A quiet area and according to the curator of the Wood Street Police
Station Museum, 'there have only been seven murders since 1839, some
not actually in the street. Possibly a few during the War, when not all
bodies could be accounted for...'
The successful sale conducted by
Bonham's
of
some 800 London
Street signs in the vaulted library
of
the Guildhall broke new ground. A
'first' for a public sale in this historic building. It attracted not only
bidders, but lunch time bystanders and the curious.
Mitre Square (1) was not shown, nor were Mitre Court (3) Mitre
Passage (1) and Mitre Street (3). All were reserved for the second
sale-
by Sealed Bid with a July 9deadline. As the City Museum failed to get
even one
of
six signs
of
WoodStreet, EC2 (realizing£700) in the Guildhall
Auction, I hope that Mitre Square will have been secured for its natural
home. (The City appears to be run by accountants,
if!
dare say it - and also
by lawyersl)
We had all come to witness the
kill-
the battle between the giants for
FLEETSTREET. Bonhamssuccessfullyconducted the sale. An advantage,
perhaps, was the rain. Play at Wimbledon had been suspended. In the
adjacent room the papparazzi were snapping with their cameras. Here
familiar names
of
streets, like horses let out to grass, were arranged in lots.
Some healthy. Otherdecidedly jaded. TowerHill, recordedin the Anglo-
Saxon chronicle in 1097 as
'tur'
in the end
didn't
make it. The single
example had been smashed to bits. And the two young porters in striped
shirts and green aprons, who vanished and reappeared with fresh street
signs as smartly as Guardsmen on duty, would have been showered in
glass. To avoid the challenge
of
sex discrimination a young woman with
equallyimmobile expression joined them, as their eyes wandered around
the hall sussing interest.
Iasked one
of
the photographers, aCanadian representing Reuters,
whether he was buying. "Too expensive" he said - probably thinking
of
the £8,000 estimate for Fleet Street which had been bandied about.
"Why
the interest?" Ipersisted. After all, we
weren't
looking at art, but homely
black and white lettering - some faded grey - topped with the City
of
London crest in red, brokenup by the familiar shield with cross and sword
and the E.C. code number below in red.
"It's
bribery."
Bonham's
representativesmannedthe phone bidding at a table on the
October 1991 309
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