Mincing Lane
Looking north up Mincing Lane, with Minster Court on the right and 30 St Mary Axe in the background
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| Length | 0.1 mi (0.2 km) |
|---|---|
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Postal code | EC3 |
| Nearest Tube station |
 Monument
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| North end | Fenchurch Street |
| To | Great Tower Street |
Mincing Lane is a short one-way street in the City of London linking Fenchurch Street to Great Tower Street. In the late 19th century it was the world's leading centre for tea and spice trading.
Its name is a corruption of Mynchen Lane — so-called from the tenements held there by the Benedictine 'mynchens' or nuns of the nearby St Helen's Bishopsgate church (from Minicen, Anglo-Saxon for a nun; minchery, a nunnery).
A Dictionary of London by Henry A. Harben (1918) describes it as follows:
Mincing Lane
In addition, the entry "Mngenelane" in Harben's Dictionary suggests "Mngenelane = Mengenelane".
It was for some years the world's leading centre for tea and spice trading after the British East India Company successfully took over all trading ports from the Dutch East India Company in 1799. It was the centre of the British opium business (comprising 90% of all transactions), as well as other drugs in the 18th century. Businesses in the British slave trade, such as Hibbert, Purrier and Horton (founded 1770), were also based in Mincing Lane.
It is mentioned in chapter 16 of Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, where it is briefly described:
In 1834, when the East India Company ceased to be a commercial enterprise, and tea became a 'free trade' commodity, tea auctions were held in the London Commercial Salerooms on Mincing Lane. Tea merchants established offices in and around the street, earning it the nickname 'Street of Tea'.
A notable building is the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. The current building, opened in 1958, is the sixth to stand on the site; the fourth was burnt down in the Great Fire of London and the fifth was destroyed during the Blitz of World War II.
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