Liberty of the Mint

The Mint was a district in Southwark, south London, England, on the west side of Borough High Street, around where Marshalsea Road is now located. It was so named because a mint authorised by King Henry VIII was set up in Suffolk Place, a mansion house, in about 1543. The mint ceased to operate in the reign of Mary I and Suffolk Place was demolished in 1557. In the late-17th and early-18th centuries, the area was known for offering protection against prosecution for debtors due to its legal status as a "liberty", or a jurisdictional interzone.

History

In 1550, the City of London acquired two manors from Edward VI's government. They comprised the former holding of Bermondsey Abbey on the west side of Borough High Street (see also King's Manor, Southwark) and that of the Archbishop of Canterbury on the east side . The charter retained the mansion and grounds of the Duke of Suffolk, known as Suffolk Place and Southwark Place that had been assigned to Edward's mother by Henry VIII. On the accession of Mary I she assigned it to the Archbishop of York for his London palace, and that diocese began to lease the estate for development, mainly of the highest density and poorest quality; the area became a rookery of slums. The 1550 charter's exemption from the city's control of the neighbouring manor created a separate jurisdiction, the Liberty of the Mint. "The Mint" therefore, became an Alsatia (so called after the area of Whitefriars), a haunt of criminals and fugitives.

Such anomalous districts attracted particular denizens, and the Mint's primary population was debtors.