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.

[1] 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.

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 Mint's geography was a factor in its poor living standard, as it was below the river's level and was a breeding ground for sewage- and water-borne maladies.

[2] The Mint is referred to by most 18th-century British satirists, including Alexander Pope in his Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot and, indirectly, by John Gay in Trivia.