Queen Street

Extract from Woods 1833 plan of Castletown

This postcard shows the older property much of which is now demolished.

Originally Queen Hive street - for a social description c. 1870s see Flaxney Stowell's account - however his account of the name as deriving from the landlady of a public house sitting on an upturned bee hive is fanciful - a Queen Hive house is mentioned in 1704 composition book (and a 1757 deed, in 1747 [SSM May 1748 115] Wm Corrin mortgaged a house + garden in Queen hive street known as Queen hive house adjacent Ann Walker's garden and Wm Clague's house) - a hythe is small landing place on a river (see OED hithe/hythe) but here probably refers to the place on the Thames - possibly this was the large house whose site later became used for the alms house which was somewhere near to the top of the street close to the top of the green area on the plan above where today's Farrant's Way branches off along the rear of Arbory St.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor © F.Coakley , 2009