Gropecunt Lane was a name used in English speaking towns and cities in the Middle Ages for streets where prostitutes conducted their business. In most cases, the name would appear to derive directly from the words grope (sexual touching), and cunt (female genitalia). At one point there were streets of this name in many cities in Britain and Ireland, though in most cases later sensibilities changed the name to some more polite variation.^[1] Abbey Road in London A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... A sign on a station platform in Osaka, Japan, showing the boarding point for a ladies-only car. ... Cunt is an English vulgarism most commonly used in reference to the human vulva or vagina and, more generally, the pubis, from the mons veneris to the perineum. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In London, the street that was Gropecunt Lane was near the present-day site of the Barbican Centre in the City of London. The street was called Grub Street in the 18th century, but renamed Milton Street in 1830. It is possible that the street known as Gropecunte Lane is now known as Threadneedle Street, however.^[2] This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Barbican Arts Centre and lakeside terrace Interior - concert hall foyer; library and gallery above Interior - concert hall with orchestra The Barbican Arts Centre opened in 1982, after a long and at times painful gestation which dated right back to the area having been badly bombed during World War II. Situated... The City of London is a geographically-small city within Greater London, England. ... Grub Street is the former name of the present day Milton Street, London, EC2. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Oxford's Gropecunt Lane became Grope Lane and then Grove Lane. It runs from The High between University and Oriel to Merton Street, and then on between Merton and Corpus down to Christ Church Meadow. The part north of Merton Street is nowadays called Magpie Lane, but the southern part is still called Grove Passage, and the building in the south-western corner of Merton is also called Grove. The presence of a number of trees in this area perhaps suggested the name — until it was leased in 1513 for building, the site of Corpus was planted as an orchard and used as a garden for the junior members of Merton.^{[citation needed]} This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The University Church of St Mary the Virgin on the northern side of the High Street. ... College name University College Collegium Magnae Aulae Universitatis Named after Established 1249 Sister College Trinity Hall Master Lord Butler of Brockwell JCR President Peter Surr Undergraduates 420 MCR President Monte MacDiarmid Graduates 144 Homepage Boatclub Crest of University College, Oxford University College (in full, the The Master and Fellows of... College name Oriel College Named after Blessed Virgin Mary Established 1324 Sister College Clare College, Cambridge Trinity College, Dublin Provost Sir Derek Morris JCR President Frank Hardee Undergraduates 304 Graduates 158 Homepage Boatclub Oriel College (in full: The House of Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford commonly called Oriel College... College name The House of Scholars of Merton Named after Walter de Merton Established 1264 Sister College Peterhouse Warden Prof. ... College name Corpus Christi College Named after Corpus Christi, Body of Christ Established 1517 Sister College Corpus Christi College President Sir Tim Lankester JCR President Binyamin Even Undergraduates 239 Graduates 126 Homepage Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Christ Church Meadow is a famous water meadow, and popular walking and picnic spot in Oxford, England. ... Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled lane in central Oxford, England. ... A view down Magpie Lane towards Merton College Chapel Magpie Lane is a very narrow historic lane in central Oxford, England. ... 1513 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Southampton, Hereford, Reading and Worcester had streets named "Grope Lane" in their town centres; the more explicit "Gropecunt Lane" was located in Bristol, London, York and Newcastle. Other similar names included Love Lane, Fondle Street and Puppekirty Lane (meaning "Poke Skirt Lane"). Southampton is the largest city[1] on the south coast of England. ... Statistics Population: 50,154 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SO515405 Administration District: Herefordshire Region: West Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Herefordshire Historic county: Herefordshire Services Police force: West Mercia Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: West Midlands Post office and telephone Post town: HEREFORD Postal... Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ... Worcester (pronounced ) is a city in the Midlands of England, and the county town of Worcestershire. ... This article is about the English city. ... York is a city in North Yorkshire, England, at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ...

Grope Lane, Shrewsbury

There is still a Grope Lane in Shrewsbury. It runs from where the market was once held, around the churches of St Alkmund's and St Julian's, to the High Street. Many of the rest of the streets called Gropecunt Lane, or similar, were altered to more innocent-sounding variants, most commonly "Grape Lane".^{[citation needed]} ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 168 KB) Grope Lane in Shrewsbury. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 168 KB) Grope Lane in Shrewsbury. ... Shrewsbury (pronounced either or ) is a town of 70,560 inhabitants [1] in Shropshire, England. ...

Dublin's Gropecunt Lane was located near where the Savoy Cinema is now.^{[citation needed]} WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ...

Historian Richard Holt and archaeologist Nigel Baker, of the University of Birmingham, studied sexually suggestive street names around England using the Historic Towns Atlas as a source.^[3] They attempted to show that mediaeval prostitution was a normal aspect of urban life. According to Dr Baker, "Our study is that these lanes seemed to be centres of prostitution and all the ones we can track down are associated with the market place or high street. The news is that prostitution was not banished to the suburbs – it was going on in the town centre as part and parcel of normal marketing activity". Website http://www. ...

The association of all these streets with mediaeval prostitution is, however, disputed. In some cases they may simply have been explicitly named "lovers' lanes". In other cases the words may originally have had different meanings, or referred to non-sexual forms of "groping". The Grope Lane in Shrewsbury is very narrow and dark, bending round in such a way that it is difficult to see ahead, so the name may merely have referred to the need to grope one's way along it. Likewise, another street with a similar history in Southwark is Horselydown Lane. It has been suggested that this derives from "whores lie down"; however it is far more likely to derive, like other instances of Horsely or Horsley, from "horse lea" — a lea (meadow) for grazing horses.^[4] All the same, there is evidence that the Shrewsbury lane was recorded as "Gropecountelane" in 1561 and that the "cunt" part was dropped by the early nineteenth century.^{[citation needed]} The Borough or Southwark is an area of the London Borough of Southwark situated 1. ... Cunt is an English vulgarism most commonly used in reference to the human vulva or vagina and, more generally, the pubis, from the mons veneris to the perineum. ...

A "Gropecunte Lane" is the earliest citation in the entry for the word "cunt" in the Oxford English Dictionary, which dates the reference to about 1230. The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ... Events Kingdom of Leon unites with the Kingdom of Castile. ...

References

August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

1. Partridge, Chris. "A street by any other name... ...might be easier to sell.", The Observer, 2004-04-18. 
2. McCue, Jim. "The meaning of body language", Daily Telegraph, 2005-08-08.  — Gropecunt Lane and the change in language trends
3. Gropecunt lane. boners. Retrieved on August 09, 2005. — a photograph of an Irish newspaper mentioning Gropecunt Lane in Dublin
4. Sewell, Brian. "The pride of London but no gilded cage", London Evening Standard, 2001-05-11.  — Gropecunt Lane in London
5. Barton, Laura. "Sidelines", The Guardian, 2005-04-07.  — campaign to restore the name of Gropecunt Lane

shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year (109th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ...

External links

• Shuts of Shrewsbury — article and photographs of Grope Lane, Shrewsbury, can be found here
• Virtual Shropshire — photograph of Grope Lane, Shrewsbury