Lane, or Grapcunt Lane. Gropecunte Lane in Glastonbury, later known as Grope lane, now St. Benedicts Court, was recorded in 1290 and 1425. A street called Grope Countelane existed in Shrewsbury as recently as 1561, connecting the town's two principal marketplaces. At some date unrecorded the street was renamed Grope Lane, a name it has retained. In Thomas Phillips' History and Antiquities of Shrewsbury (1799) the author is explicit in his understanding of the origin of the name as a place of "scandalous lewdness and venery", but Archdeacon Hugh Owen's Some account of the ancient and present state of Shrewsbury (1808) describes it as "called Grope, or the Dark Lane". As a result of these differing accounts, some local tour guides attribute the name to "feeling one's way along a dark and narrow thoroughfare". See also Place names considered unusual References Notes Citations Bibliography Further reading External links British Historic Towns Atlas Shuts of Shrewsbury—photographs of Grope Lane in Shrewsbury Society in medieval England History of Oxford Red-light districts in England Streets in Oxford Streets in the City of London Street names Naming controversies