Liberty of the Mint
.jpg)
The Mint was a district in
History
In 1550, the
Such anomalous districts attracted particular denizens, and the Mint's primary population was debtors. Those in danger of being thrown into debtors' prison could hide in the Mint. Once there, debtors risked arrest if they were found outside of its boundary. Debt collectors (known as "duns") stood along the main roads out of the Mint to wait for suspected debtors. Sometimes they were bill collectors in the modern sense, and sometimes thugs who beat and seized the debtor. Inside the Mint, life was hard. Since debtors could not leave (except on Sunday, when no debts could be collected), they could not find employment to raise money to pay off their debts. Those who attempted to leave on Sundays to get money from friends or lenders were called "Sunday gentlemen", as they attempted to appear prosperous to hoodwink lenders.
Debtors who went to the Mint frequently died of malnutrition or were murdered before raising enough money to escape. The Mint's geography was a factor in its poor living standard, as it was below the river's level and was a breeding ground for sewage- and water-borne maladies. Daniel Defoe describes life there for his heroine Moll Flanders in the novel of the same name.
In 1723, the Mint lost its protected status as a result of The Mint in Southwark Act 1722 and at the same time, imprisonment for debts of less than £50 was abolished, and many residents left without fear of arrest. The area was a slum into the 19th century. By that time, its reputation as a haunt for the poorest of the poor ensured that it had a lower standard of living than the rest of London. Elsewhere in 19th century London new roads were laid through slum areas to eliminate them, but Southwark Bridge Road, constructed in 1819 to Southwark Bridge, swerved around the western side of the Mint.
In the later 19th century its reputation as one of London's worst rookeries was sustained when conditions there were exposed by the Rev
The Mint is referred to by most 18th-century British satirists, including Alexander Pope in his Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot and, indirectly, by John Gay in Trivia. It is the refuge of the outlaw Jack Sheppard in William Harrison Ainsworth's novel Jack Sheppard (1839) and in the novel The System of the World by Neal Stephenson.
The only remnant of the Mint is a street in the location named Mint Street.
See also
- The Marshalsea, a debtors' prison close to the Mint to the east.
References
External links
History of the formation of the London Borough of Southwark | ||
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan boroughs |  | |
| District boards | ||
| Parishes |
| |
| Liberties | ||