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| Former name(s) | Gray's Inn Lane Graysynlane Pourtepol Street |
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| Namesake | The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn |
| Maintained by | Transport for London |
| Location | London Borough of Camden,Central London |
| Postal code | WC1 |
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Gray's Inn Road (orGrays Inn Road) is an important road inCentral London, located in theLondon Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at theCity of London boundary, passes north through theHolborn andKing's Cross districts and terminates atKing's Cross railway station. It is designated as part of theA5200 road.
As the home of theHonourable Society of Gray's Inn, one ofEngland's fourInns of Court, Gray's Inn Road is known as a hub forlaw andlegal professions inLondon. Gray's Inn Road is home to multiple scholarly institutes, includingUniversity College London'sEastman Dental Institute, a world-leadingoral health institution,Westminster Kingsway College, and theCity University of London'sInns of Court School of Law.
The thoroughfare is first recorded asPurtepol Street in the 13th century, when the area formed part ofPortpool Manor. AfterReginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton purchased the area, his name soon came to be lent toGray's Inn, which was founded on the street. By 1468, the road was known asGrays Inn Lane, orGraysynlane.[1]
Richard Horwood's map (updated byWilliam Faden in 1813) calls the whole stretch fromHolborn to modernKing's Cross "Grays Inn Lane", but by the mid-19th century it was solidified asGray's Inn Road.
Throughout its route the road keeps to the higher ground, above the valley of theRiver Fleet to the east. In earlier times it was the principal route from London toHampstead.
The area of Gray's Inn Road was clearly populated from palaeolithic times.[2] Given the road's height above the Fleet valley, it may have formed part of an ancient trackway.[citation needed] Agravel bed off Gray's Inn Lane (see below) was the find spot for the c. 350,000-year-oldGray's Inn Lane Hand Axe in 1679. It was acquired byHans Sloane and later donated to theBritish Museum, where it remains.[3] Hand Axe Yard, a residential development adjoining Gray's Inn Road, takes its name from the object.[3]
The manor ofPortpool formerly existed in the same area asGray's Inn, and although the manor is not mentioned in theDomesday Book it came into possession of the Dean and Chapter ofSt Paul's Cathedral and may have formed a separate estate of one of the Canons.[4] From at least the 13th century onwards it was in the possession of theGrey family, after whomGray's Inn is named.
The name "Purtepol Street" is recorded in the time ofHenry III and this may be the first reference to the current Gray's Inn Road. In a document of 1299 it is called "Street of Pourtepol without London", which is appropriate as it lies only just outside the boundary of theCity. In a document of 1468 the road is called "Graysynlane, otherwise Portpole Lane".[1] Today's Portpool Lane, which leads off Gray's Inn Road to the east, is a separate road which is not mentioned before 1641.[5]
On the"Woodcut" map of c.1561, "Greys ynne la." is shown leading fromHolborn Bars toGray's Inn, from where it becomes an unnamed track leading into the country.John Ogilby andWilliam Morgan's map of 1676 shows "Grayes-Inn Lane" which is clearly built up as far as Elm Street, although that is the limit of the map.John Rocque's map of 1738 depicts "Grays Inn Lane" which clearly applies to the stretch from Holborn to the edge of the built up area (somewhat south of the present Calthorpe Street), but where it passes into the country it is called "Road toHampstead andHighgate".
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51°31′26″N0°06′56″W / 51.52376°N 0.11545°W /51.52376; -0.11545
