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Ask First, Then Build
Locksmith EC2N: Where A Tudor Minister Moved His Neighbour's House
In the 1530s, Thomas Cromwell had a neighbour's house rolled 22 feet across the ground without asking. Call 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith who always asks who can approve the job.
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- Multi-Let Offices & Suites
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- EC2N Coverage
Covering EC2N from Old Broad Street to Throgmorton Street and Austin Friars. Open in Google Maps
Why EC2N Is Different
A Tudor minister moved a house and asked nobody
EC2N is the Old Broad Street end of the City: Throgmorton Street, Austin Friars, Great Winchester Street and the banking and insurance offices between them. The ground here once belonged to an Augustinian friary.
In the 1520s, Thomas Cromwell rented a house in the friary precinct. He went on to become Henry VIII's chief minister, and his home grew with his power. A 14-room house became a mansion of about fifty rooms on a two-acre site. To make space for the garden, he had his neighbours' fences moved back 22 feet, without permission, warning or payment.
The House That Was Moved On Rollers
The historian John Stow recorded what happened next door, because it was his father's house. Workmen loosed it from the ground and rolled it 22 feet into the garden before his father had heard a word. Nobody explained. The only answer was that Sir Thomas had commanded it, and no one dared argue. Stow's father went on paying the full rent for the half of the plot that was left.
Cromwell was executed in 1540. In 1543 the Drapers' Company bought his mansion from Henry VIII for about £1,200. Drapers' Hall still stands on Throgmorton Street, on the same site, though it has been rebuilt several times. The company still owns what remains of the garden, mulberry trees included.
Cromwell's method was to move the fence first and ask nobody. Ours is the opposite. Before we touch a lock, we confirm who is entitled to approve the work. In a postcode of multi-let offices, that question comes up every day.
Locked out now? Start with lockout help. Planning a fix? Book a repair instead. Awake at 3am? The night line answers.
What EC2N Residents & Businesses Call About
What we get asked to fix around Old Broad Street
Multi-Let Office Buildings
A single building here can house a dozen tenants under one landlord. Whichever door has failed, we confirm whose it is before the work starts, then deliver dependable commercial security.
Book aheadShared Lobbies & Party Doors
Doors on the boundary between two tenancies raise the same question. We won't change a shared door on one party's say-so.
Book aheadBanking & Insurance Suites
Secure suites and file rooms follow their own tenant procedures. A careful lock replacement fits inside those rules.
Book aheadGround-Floor Cafés & Shops
Units serving the lunchtime crowd can't afford a jammed door. A quick lock repair gets them trading again.
Same-day priorityAfter-Hours Lockouts
Once the floors empty, help is harder to find inside the building. Our lockout service covers that gap.
Call nowBroken Or Snapped Keys
A key that shears off in a suite door blocks a whole team. The broken keys page explains how we extract one cleanly.
Call nowFor the record, two jobs we turn down: copying keys, and configuring a building's access cards or intercoms. Those belong with the managing agent's own suppliers.
Locked Out In EC2N
One building, many keyholders
In a multi-let building, a lockout raises a question before it raises a tool: whose door is it? The tenant, the landlord and the managing agent may each hold a key to it.
So we ask early. It costs a minute on the phone and can save an afternoon of confusion.
Once that's settled, gentle entry comes first, and drilling is a last resort.
Snapped key or lost key? The broken keys and lost keys pages show how each is handled.
Around EC2N
The postcodes and streets that border it
All six EC2 postcodes on one page.
Bank and Poultry, just to the south-west.
Liverpool Street and the Bishopsgate offices, just to the north-east.
The long spine road along the eastern edge.
Runs along the northern edge, behind Austin Friars.
The station and its offices, a short walk north-east.
What We Do
Services across EC2N
Ask First
Who can approve a change to a door
In a multi-let building, three parties may have a say over one door: the tenant, the landlord and the managing agent. The lease usually spells out who controls which doors.
We can't read a lease from the pavement, so we ask. A minute on the phone settles who can approve a change, and it protects everyone involved.
Cromwell's story is told in more detail in Vic Keegan's piece on the surviving garden. The hall's own history has an entry on the Map of Early Modern London.
Not sure who holds authority over your door? Give us the address, and we'll help you work out who to ask.
The Process
Booking a locksmith EC2N callout
- Tell us the doorGive the address, the floor and which door has failed.
- We confirm authorityWe check who can approve the work: tenant, landlord or agent.
- Quoted on inspectionYou get a price once the engineer has seen the door.
- Handed back testedWe check the lock and door work properly before we go.
Access & Traffic
Reaching you around Old Broad Street
Old Broad Street is wide by City standards, but its side lanes are not. Austin Friars and the courts off Throgmorton Street are tight, and loading rules apply throughout.
Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations are both a short walk away, and Bank isn't far. So public transport often beats a van for reaching you.
Weekend and evening access varies by building. Some keep a desk staffed around the clock, while others lock up entirely, so we settle the entry route first.
Why People Call Us
What EC2N tenants and agents value
- We ask before we act. Tenant, landlord or agent: we confirm who can approve.
- Party doors get extra care. A shared door is never changed on one side's say-so.
- Multi-let buildings are routine. Several parties and one door don't faze us.
- Offices, suites and the odd flat. Commercial and residential jobs get the same care.
- Upfront about exclusions. Copying keys and card systems aren't part of what we do.
- Open around the clock. Late floors and early starts both get an answer.
Nearby
Areas around EC2N
Common Questions
Cromwell's Neighbour
Did a Tudor minister really move a neighbour's house on rollers?
According to the historian John Stow, yes. Workmen moved his father's house 22 feet across the ground, without warning, to make room for Thomas Cromwell's garden.
What happened to Cromwell's mansion?
After his execution in 1540 it passed to the Crown. The Drapers' Company bought it in 1543 for about £1,200.
Does any of Cromwell's garden survive?
Some of it does. The Drapers' Company still owns what remains of the garden behind its hall.
The Friary Site
Why is the street called Austin Friars?
It's named after the Augustinian friary that once stood on the site.
What happened to the friary church?
In 1550 Edward VI gave its nave to the Dutch Protestant community as their church.
How did Cromwell come to live here?
He rented a house in the friary precinct, then took a long lease on it and kept expanding it.
Booking In EC2N
Who can approve a lock change in a multi-let building?
It depends on the lease. Usually the landlord or managing agent approves shared doors, and the tenant approves their own suite.
Will you change a shared door if one tenant asks?
Not without approval from whoever controls it. We would rather pause than cause a dispute.
Which streets does EC2N include?
Old Broad Street, Throgmorton Street, Austin Friars, Great Winchester Street and the lanes between them.
What if my landlord hasn't replied yet?
Tell us, and we'll explain what we can do meanwhile. A lockout at your own suite door can usually be dealt with straight away.
Can you work outside office hours here?
Yes. Our lines are open at every hour. How we get into the building depends on its own out-of-hours arrangements.
Do you work on anything besides offices?
Yes. Ground-floor shops, cafés and the occasional flat are all part of the patch.
Cromwell never asked. We always do.
Multi-let office, secure suite or ground-floor unit — ring or message us, and we'll send the right engineer once we know who can approve the job.