Stephen's Alley
Names
- Stephen's Alley
- Stephen's Lane
- Steven's Alley
- Stevens's Alley
Street/Area/District
- Stephen's Alley
Maps & Views
Descriptions
from A New View of London, by Edward Hatton (1708)
Stephens alley, betn (and near the middle of) King str. Westminster W. and Channel row E. L. 80 yds. The Author of the Map of London calls this Stephens lane; but it is call'd Stephens alley by Stow; and it is so in Deeds of above 100 years old. The Reason of it (says Stow) was because the Dean and Cannons of St. Stephen's chapl resided in what we now call Channel or Cannon row.
from A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, by John Strype (1720)
Stephen's Alley, a pretty handsome Street, it being the Passage for Coaches, &c. into Chanel-Row.
from London and Its Environs Described, by Robert and James Dodsley (1761)
Stevens's alley, King's street, Westminster. †
from London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, by Henry Benjamin Wheatley and Peter Cunningham (1891)
Stephen's Alley, King Street, Westminster, ran between King Street and Canon Row. It was swept away when Parliament Street was formed: Derby Street, then called Derby Court, was a prolongation of it. Here lived and died (1650) Thomas May, the poet, and historian of the Long Parliament.
As one put drunk into the Packet boat,
Tom May was hurried hence and did not know't,
But was amaz'd on the Elysian side,
And with an eye uncertain gazing wide,
Could not determine in what place he was,
For whence in Steven's Alley, trees or grass,
Nor where the Pope's Head or the Mitre lay
Signs by which still he found and lost his way.
Andrew Marvell's lines "On Tom May's Death," Miscellaneous Poems, folio 1681, p. 35.