Place    From 1320  To 1853

Steelyard, Stilliarde or Stalhof

Categories: Commerce

Countries: Germany

The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns dominated trade along the coasts of Northern Europe, from the 13th to the 17th century. Their trading posts were known as kontors and could become substantial sites. The London kontor was established in 1320 and grew into a separate walled community with its own warehouses, weighing house, chapel, offices and houses. It became known as the Steelyard or Stahlhof. The chapel was not large so they used nearby All Hallows the Great.

Wikipedia has a 1667 plan clearly showing the extent of the site. Most of the buildings were lost in the Great Fire so perhaps this plan was drawn up as part of the rebuilding exercise.

A steelyard balance was erected here to weigh the goods. We’ve read that the Steelyard acquired its name from this weighing device and also that the device got its name from its use at this site. They can’t both be true. The Hansas imported steel along with everything else so that is an alternative derivation of the name of their London base.

The Hanseatic League lost its power and influence from the late 16th century on but the Steelyard was not sold until 3 years before Cannon Street Station was built on the site in 1866.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Steelyard, Stilliarde or Stalhof

Commemorated ati

Cannon Street Station

The Sir John Hawkshaw Cannon Street Station was officially opened by South Ea...

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Hanseatic merchants and 60 years of peace

Let's cover the easy bit first: The German at the end translates as “The old ...

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Major Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD

Major Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD

Financier and horticulturalist. He was born on 2 January 1916 in Westminster the second of the four children of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942) and Marie Louise Eugénie de Rothschild née B...

Person, Armed Forces, Commerce, Gardens / Agriculture, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Rawthmell's Coffee House

Rawthmell's Coffee House

Braxton's Coffee House (1702) at no.24 Henrietta Street became Rawthmell's Coffee House in 1715 and later moved to no.25, where the (R)SA first met. The image shows the painting by Anna Katrina Zi...

Building, Commerce, Community / Clubs, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Mitre Tavern

Mitre Tavern

Fleet Street. This pub dates from Shakespeare's time. Johnson and Boswell often visited. It was pulled down in 1829 by Hoares to extend their bank.

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Anglo-Texan Society

Anglo-Texan Society

Founded in London by author Graham Greene, its founding president.  The Handbook of Texas gives a good history of the Society.  Our thanks to Lori Grossman for providing information.

Group, Commerce, Community / Clubs, USA

1 memorial
scientific life assurance

scientific life assurance

Equitable Life, the world's oldest mutual insurer, started business in 1762 in the parsonage of St Nicholas Acons in Nicholas Lane. It pioneered scientific life assurance by basing premiums on age ...

Concept, Commerce, Science

1 memorial