Victorian London - Buildings, Monuments and Museums - Crosby Place

Crosby House, in Crosby Square, Bishopsgate Street, is a venerable relic of antiquity, named after its founder, Sir John Crosby, who was sheriff of London in 1470, and erected this building in 1472. It consists of many apartments. the principal of which are occupied by the Crosby Hall Literary and Scientific Institution; and thus an edifice that, long neglected, remained for years a reproach to the neighbourhood, and even to the metropolis itself, from the combined efforts of a few spirited individuals has again become an object of interest from its association, and a theatre of usefulness from its application. Its noble hall, now converted into a lecture and concert room formed with great elegance, has a beautiful roof, divided by three rows of pendants ranging along, and, connected by pointed arches, is highly ornamented; its windows of stained glass have been repaired; it is furnished with a handsome organ, and, completely renovated, presents a beautiful appearance. In this house Richard Duke of Gloucester lodged after he had conveyed his innocent nephews to the Tower, and here meditated on their murder.

source: Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844

CROSBY PLACE or HALL, BISHOPSGATE STREET, now a Literary Institution.  Built by Sir John Crosby, who obtained a lease of the ground in 1466, and died in 1475. ... In 1672 it was converted into a Presbyterian Meeting-house, and in 1677 the present houses in Crosby-square were erected on a portion of the offices attached to the mansion. The lease expiring in 1831, a subscription was raised to restore the Hall to its original state. The first stone of the new works was laid June 27th, 1836, and the Hall re-opened July 27th, 1842.

source: Peter Cunningham, Hand-Book of London, 1850

CROSBY HALL, Bishopsgate-st, E.C., an old specimen of Gothic domestic architecture, once the residence of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas More; and after many changes, a restaurant has just been pulled down to make way for large banking premises. As all the old parts of the building have been preserved and stored, it is expected it will be rebuilt on some other spot.

source: Charles Dickens Jr. et al, Dickens Dictionary of London, c.1908 edition<.div>
(no date; based on internal evidence)