St John’s Lane was connected to the Priory of St John of Jerusalem, which owned a lot of the land in Clerkenwell, particularly around St John’s Square. St John’s Gate at the top of St John’s Lane was the entrance to the Priory. There was another gate – now lost – at the bottom of St John’s Lane. So, although it wasn’t part of the Priory, it was a private road.
When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the assets of the Priory were seized by the Crown and eventually the Priory lands were all sold off. St John’s Lane still remained an exclusive area but now with houses for the generally well-to-do.
In the 17th century the large properties were replaced by side streets with small houses. The area also became a centre for printing. Various other trades such as watch and jewellery making, and brewing also moved into the area.
The backstreets became increasingly run down in the 19th century. One writer described the ‘fearful stench’ from a Gorgonzola factory. I can imagine.
During the Second World War, most of the buildings in St John’s Lane were destroyed by bombing. In the post-war period, it became an industrial district, mainly for warehousing and cold storage.
Since the 1980s, new office developments have been built along the west side of the street and the surviving buildings on the east side been converted into offices and flats.
On the west side of St John’s Lane, land which had previously been occupied by the Danish Bacon Co was redeveloped. (Bacon curing was the major industry in this part of Smithfield in the early part of the century.) BeeBee Developments Ltd built Exchange Place at No. 1 St John St in 2001. This is a substantial office building with a public courtyard in front of it.
No. 5 St John’s Lane is a 1970s office building in dark brick with tinted glass windows. Nos. 6-7 is a postmodern office building from the early 1990s. No. 8 St John’s Lane is a 1960s warehouse which was converted into offices in the early 1990s.
No. 13 St John’s Lane, known as Knight’s Quarter – harking back to the Knights Hospitallers who were members of the Order of St John of Jerusalem – was constructed in the late 1980s between Albion Place and Biset Street. No. 16 St John’s Lane was built at around the same time. Those office developments were set back from the building line to allow for any future widening of the street.
Nearest St John’s Gate is Priory House, which is Nos. 22-24 St John’s Lane and also Nos. 18-26 St John’s Square. This office building was designed by Alec Shickle of Campbell-Jones & Sons, and there was quite a planning battle over this development. Before the War the land had been cleared by the Order of St John so that they could build new headquarters on it. But they abandoned the scheme after the War and sold the site. They still had a say in how any new buildings would look, in order to protect the character of St John’s Gate. Compromises had to be made when objections were raised about both the scale of the building and the materials to be used. The compromise building, Priory House, was completed in 1962. It’s a very modern – well, at least, very 1960s – office building. You could hardly say it is sensitive to its historic surroundings. The only feature which specifically acknowledged St John’s Gate and the historic surroundings was the use of flint panels on the end walls. Ironically, the flint was deliberately chosen for its dark colour which matched the sooty stone (not flint anyway) of the Gate – but since that has since been cleaned, even that attempt at showing respect for the historic nature and appearance of the Gate failed!
On the east side of St John’s Lane, some Georgian buildings survive at No. 35 St John’s Lane and Nos. 36 – 37 St John’s Lane.
No. 27 St John’s Lane, which is also Nos. 89 – 97 St John St, is a Victorian building built in 1889. Originally it was stables for 60 to 70 horses. Part of the site (previously No. 26 St John’s Lane) was a smithy and shoe forge for the horses. Later, it all became garage space for St John Ambulances. The site was redeveloped in 2001. The façades of the buildings were retained but the area in between the streets is a completely new structure. It’s now offices for St John Ambulance Association, maintaining its ancient connection to its former headquarters at St John’s Gate.
Nos. 28 – 29 St John’s Lane (which are also Nos. 75 – 77 St John Street) were originally warehouses. They were bombed by a German air raid in the First World War, and then rebuilt in about 1919. In 2000 the buildings were converted to offices and flats.
No. 30 St John’s Lane, which is now offices, was the Baptist’s Head public house from the 1890s, and a warehouse from the early 1960s.
Watchmaker Court (No. 33 St John’s Lane) occupies the site of the Peel Court Meeting House, which was used by a congregation of Quakers from 1655 until 1926. The meeting house building was destroyed by bombing in 1940.