Fisher's Folly was a large mansion on Bishopsgate Street, in Bishopsgate, London, built by Jasper Fisher in the 16th century.[2] In his 1598 Survey of London, Stow reports that the home was "so large and sumptuosly builded" by a man deeply in debt that it became known as Fisher's Folly.[3]
Despite his own excessive debt, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford bought the mansion in 1580. Oxford's biographer, Alan H. Nelson, quotes Stow's 1598 description of the house as "farre more large and beautifull" than its neighbors "with Gardens of pleasure, bowling Alleys, and such like." The Queen lodged at Fisher's Folly, though it's unclear whether she stayed at the home "before, during, or after Oxford's approximately eight-year-tenure."[3]
William Cornwallis purchased the home from Oxford in 1588.[3][4] Stow reports that a "Roger Manars"—presumably Roger Manners—owned the property by 1603.[5] In the 17th century, the Earls of Devonshire owned it. By 1773, it had been mostly demolished.[2][6] Approximately 45 metres (148 ft) of wall from the building survives behind buildings on Devonshire Row and is Grade II listed.[7]
Today[update] the location is still called Devonshire Square.[6] It and nearby Devonshire Street and Devonshire Place all take their names from the Earls of Devonshire who called the place home more than three centuries ago.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Map showing Silexedra at Fisher's Folly, Bishopsgate" (JPOG). Deveresocietyaustralia.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ a b "A Dictionary of London (1918): Fisher's Folly". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- ^ a b c Nelson, Alan H. (2003), Monstrous Adversary: the life of Edward de Vere,17th Earl of Oxford, Liverpool University Press, ISBN 085323678X, p 231.
- ^ "Sir William Cornwallis of Brome Hall, Knight". Tudorplace.com.ar. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- ^ Stow, John (1908). "Bishopsgate warde". A Survey of London, by John Stow: Reprinted from the text of 1603. Centre for Metropolitan History. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ a b Noorthouck, John (1773). "Bishopsgate Ward". A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark. Centre for Metropolitan History. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1252034)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Elmes, James (1831). A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs. Whittaker, Treacher and Arnot. p. 164. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
