Cordwainer recovered from discarded or repaired shoes. Today, many makers of bespoke shoes will also repair their own work, but shoe repairers are not normally in a position to manufacture new footwear. In London, the occupation of cordwainer was historically controlled by the guild of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers. They were granted a royal charter of incorporation in 1439, but had received their first ordinance in 1272. The ward of the City of London named Cordwainer is historically where most cordwainers lived and worked. Until 2000, a Cordwainers' Technical College existed in London. For over a hundred years, the College
Cordwainer (ward) to the east by Walbrook ward and a street of the same name. Streets within Cordwainer's boundaries are, amongst others, Bow Lane, Pancras Lane and part of Watling Street. Queen Street runs north-south through the centre of the ward. In mediaeval times and long before the most recent boundary changes in 2003, Cordwainer was divided into eight precincts: The contemporary ward is home to many large businesses and new initiatives such as Bow Bells House, named after the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church—and not as sometimes thought the area of Bow. Cordwainer contains one other church, St Mary Aldermary, and