Petty France

🇫🇷 C'est le 14 juillet, la fête nationale 🇫🇷 So I've been to a central London street named France. Petty France is a short street just south of St James's Park. Its name comes from a small settlement of French traders that grew up on the edge of in Westminster in the 16th century. One end was for woolstaplers (i.e. traders in wool) and called "Petty Calais", and the other end for French merchants who sailed over to buy which became known as "Petty France". Its strategic semi-rural location, roughly halfway between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, would eventually make Petty France an attractive place to live. During the French Revolutionary War residents voted to change the name, aghast at its connections, and in the precise opposite of what might happen today chose to rename it in honour of the Duke of York. The road retained the name York Street until approximately 100 years ago when its original name was restored. The eastern end of Petty France is the mini-roundabout at…