Russia Row

[1] The street is thought to have received its name around 1804, shortly before Russia decided to enter the Napoleonic Wars on the same side as Britain.

[3] Archaeological investigations of a site on the corner of the modern Milk Street and Russia Row by the Museum of London in 1976-7 confirmed documentary sources in suggesting that Russia Row had no medieval predecessor, the site being entirely taken up with buildings before the fire.

[10] It is mentioned in The Times in 1804, in pages extracted from The London Gazette, as the address of T. Pierson and W. Samnion, factors paying dividends in that year.

[17] It was paid for with money bequeathed for the purpose by John Carpenter, city clerk in the reign of King Henry V.[7] It grew so rapidly that in 1883 it moved to larger premises at the Victoria Embankment.

[13][19] Russia Row has since been completely rebuilt with office buildings and some retail premises at street level.

Russia Row, looking east, January 2018. 30 Gresham Street on the left.
The vicinity of Russia Row
Seal of the Russia Company, once located in Russia Court.
Russia Row and Russia Court on a 1916 Ordnance Survey map. [ 12 ]
London Blitz bomb damage map, c. 1945 (purple: damaged beyond repair; scarlet: seriously damaged, doubtful if repairable; other colours: lower levels of damage) [ 13 ]