The development of Folgate Street by the St John and Tillard Estate did not involve building a new street but repurposing an existing one – this older street ran from Wheler Street to Norton Folgate and had probably been developed from a yard, perhaps at about the same time that Wheler Street was built. In the late seventeenth century, Folgate Street was known as White Lion Yard.
The western end of the street is shown in the Hollar map dating after the Great Fire. In the 1675 tax returns, sixty houses were listed as being in White Lion Yard. The street was most likely completely rebuilt by the mid-eighteenth century.
One of more building leases were granted in 1697 and in 1704 White Lion Yard was “a certain place – commonly called White Lyon Yard intended to be rebuilt and called White Lyon Street”. On plans of 1711-12, the lower part of Blossom Street, shown as Sote’s Hole, is in existence. Some of the buildings on the north side of White Lion Yard had been demolished and the south side cleared away – this area was proposed as the site for a church.
The later 18th century houses built by the Tillards were similar to those of Spital Square in 1724 but the occupants less prosperous. In 1838 the street was said to be principally composed of small private houses, the residences of (Huguenot) weavers and other mechanics.
The south side of Folgate Street still contains some of the best remaining Georgian houses in the capital. The most notable of these is one which can be visited – Dennis Severs’ House at number 18.
Severs was not an 18th-century resident but a Californian artist who died in 1999. He created a house dedicated to the story of Huguenot weavers – the visual experience of the house is augmented by the sounds of silk weavers going about their routine. After the death of its founder, the museum has remained unchanged in the 21st century.
