Petticoat Lane Hasn't Existed For 200 Years... But We Still Call It That

M@
By M@

Last Updated 22 January 2025

Petticoat Lane Hasn't Existed For 200 Years... But We Still Call It That
Petticoat Lane market
Petticoat Lane on a quieter day. Image: Matt Brown

Petticoat Lane changed its name over 200 years ago.

Where would you find Petticoat Lane market? If you said, "Why, Petticoat Lane, of course," then you are technically incorrect. The famous clothes market near Spitalfields spills out across a number of roads, none of them marked "Petticoat Lane" on the map.

It did once. Look at old chart such as that of John Rocque (1746) or Richard Horwood (1799) and the long street connecting Bishopsgate and Whitechapel is clearly labelled as Petticoat Lane. The name had been in use since the early 17th century, before which it was known as Hog Lane.

Petticoat Lane
Petticoat Lane is the prominent road running NW to SE to the left of the map. (John Rocque, 1746)

As you can see, a boundary line runs along the centre of Petticoat Lane. This marks the division between the City of London and Middlesex. According to every source online, including Wikipedia, the name was changed in the 1830s to Middlesex Street, to shy away from undergarments and instead acknowledge the boundary.  

Yet the name Petticoat Lane has endured down the decades. Both the market and Middlesex Street itself are still commonly referred to as Petticoat Lane, even though you won't find that name on a modern street map.

Petticoat Lane, bustling in the 1920s. Image: Public domain

Earlier than thought

It's quite a thought, isn't it? That a name change 190 years ago *still* hasn't caught on. But we've now found evidence to suggest an even earlier date for the switch. The following cutting is taken from the Morning Herald of 11 December 1822:

A press cutting from 1822
Found in the British Newspaper Archive (£)

This is the first mention we've found to Petticoat Lane also going by the name of Middlesex Street... eight years before the usually cited date of the 1830s. It is not clear from this cutting, however, that the street has been officially renamed. For that, we found evidence in the New Times of 29 July 1824:

Screenshot of a news article about a vicious dog from 1824
Found in the British Newspaper Archive (£).

Here the article is clear that Petticoat Lane has a new name of Middlesex Street. This would place the origins of the name change at least six years earlier than is commonly supposed. The report covers a hearing inside the Mansion House in the presence of the Lord Mayor, so the reference to Middlesex Street in this context appears to show official sanction.

Now, according to Wikipedia:

"There is a popular canard that the name change was to protect Victorian sensibilities about undergarments, but the change occurred during the reign of William IV, not Queen Victoria."

Our clipping allows us to counter-nitpick this bit of nitpicking. The 1824 reference to "the new name" places the change well within the reign of George IV, not his successor William IV. It also gives some weight to the idea that the locals really were a bit embarrassed by the old name.

Even so, Petticoat Lane is a far more evocative and memorable handle than boring old Middlesex Street. The new name never caught on. Even in 1845, an anonymous journalist felt moved to write: "It is the same filthy, badly-paved street as it ever was. Petticoat-lane it is still called and is likely ever to be so.” That prediction has borne out admirably.

Incidentally, the second newspaper clipping goes on to give more information about the dangerous dog. Complainant Mrs Alexander, giving evidence before the Lord Mayor: "...produced her clothes, amongst which were two thick flannel petticoats, which the dog's teeth had rent".

How appropriate that one of the first press mentions of the name-change should include the ripping up of petticoats.