A street called "Cock Lane"

Cock Lane, located near to Smithfield may have received its name from either being the location where chickens (mainly males ones) were reared, cock fighting or the site of legal brothels during the Medieval period. It may well be all three.

It was also the site of one of the most infamous ‘hauntings’ of the 1700s. This is the story of Scratching Fanny. Norfolk resident William Kent had been married to Elizabeth Lynes but after she had died in childbirth, Kent began a romantic relationship with Frances (or Fanny), Elizabeth’s sister. The couple could not legally marry so they moved to London & lodgings on Cock Lane. The landlord was Richard Parsons who was a bit of a rogue & borrowed money from Kent.

Not long aftert hey moved in, weird noises & a ghostly figure was seen in the property which some believed to be Elizabeth. Fanny was soon to die herself of smallpox, leaving most of her estate to Kent. The hauntings also stopped when Kent moved out.

Kent moved on with his life but did not forget the debt owed him by Parsons. This was recovered by legal means but not long after, the scratching noises on Cock Lane started once more. Parsons claimed that Fanny had been poisoned by Kent. He also claimed his daughter had spoken to the ghost who, conveniently would only appear to her. Everyone else had to be do with knocking noises.

The ghost became notorious with crowds of people hoping to enter the house, for a smallfee (of course). The whole charade came crashing down around the Parsons’ which had notonly damaged Kents reputation but lead to Richard to be sentenced to two years in prison.

📍Location: Cock Lane, London EC1A 9BU

Nearest public transport is St Paul’s (Central), Farringdon (Circle, Elizabeth Line, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Thameslink) and Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith & City,Metropolitan).

Why not learn about more about the dark side of London with one of theGuidesofLondon tours?