fish, caught in great numbers in the Thames off Horselydown, being cried about the streets, as herrings, mackerel, and sprats now are.
But it is now high time to come to Horselydown itself, which is not so called, according to the vulgar tradition, on account of King John's horse stumbling on the field; but the fact is, that it was a large field or down used by the neighbouring inhabitants for pasturing their horses and cattle, and was called Horsedown or Horseydown.
Horseydown was part of the possessions of the Abbey of Bermondsey and is within the lordship or manor of Southwark, formerly belonging to that abbey, and was surrendered by Abbot Parfew to King Henry VIII., with the other possessions of the abbey, in 1537.
This manor is now called the Great Liberty Manor, and is one of the three manors of Southwark belonging to the corporation of London; King Edward VI. having granted this manor, with the manor or lordship of Southwark (now called the King's Manor, and formerly belonging to the see of Canterbury), to the city of London, by charter (1 Edw. VI.).
Horseydown was probably the common of the Great Liberty Manor: but there were two acres of land, part of "Horseydown Common," which were within the manor of Bermondsey, and which were sold by King Henry VIII., in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, to Walter Hendly, Esq. That piece of land is in the parish of Bermondsey, and lies on the west side of Church Street, and between Artillery Street and Russell Street (formerly called Fivefoot Lane).
After the surrender to King Henry VIII., Horseydown became the property of Sir Roger Copley, of Gatton, Surrey, and the Maze in Southwark; of whom it was purchased by Adam Beston, Henry Goodyere,
