City gates…. A Wander

[Wapping]

When the City of London was ringed by a wall, the wall had seven gates that controlled access and egress.

The wall (which remains in parts) enclosed the City’s roughly square mile, a name which lives on today. I have long thought about walking around the sites of the gates, long gone though they are.

Stop one, Aldgate. I wandered up Minories, to Aldgate, the tube station for which carries the City area’s name:



To be continued….

 

[Wapping]

First a little bit of background:

The city wall and gates of London | The History of London

For around 1,700 years the City of London was surrounded by a defensive wall. It contained gates at important points through which pedestrians and traffic could pass.

www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk

Here’s a map of near enough where we’ll be walking. I should perhaps of have started at the Tower of London, but this stood (and still stands) outside of the City of London and the wall itself. We’ll be walking pretty much along the blue line, anticlockwise:





Gate 1 - Aldgate

Aldgate | The History of London

Aldgate was the original London gate on the road towards Essex.

www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk

Turning right on the eastern end of Fenchurch Street (which will become Aldgate High Street at the City’s eastern boundary) to wander just a few yards eastwards:



Past Aldgate tube station:



To arrive at near enough the most easterly point of the ancient city wall. You can tell that we are right on the boundary, as there is the heraldic beast of the City of London, marking the City's edge. The beasts always face outwards, away from the City itself:



As all the ancient gates are long gone and likewisethe majority of the wall itself (though we will see some later) we have to be satisfied with standing on near enough the spot. As luck would have it, there’s a not too bad pub nearby, so it’s time to start the Wander with a pint:

 

[Wapping]

Pint and scratchings done, let’s get on.

 

[ChasMill]

The Hoop and Grapes - reputedly the oldest pub in London.

 

[Gavla04GS]

Do like a TT Landlord and nice to see an Adnams available in the big smoke, Broadside does make me fall over and talk gibberish (more than normal) though.

 

[Wapping]

Leaving Aldgate, turn westwards, back towards and into the City of London. You are now walking and will (near enough) stay walking inside the wall and not leave the Square Mile. In other words, we’ll be staying within the boundary and living area dating back to Roman times.

The view westwards into the City of London. London, as I think I have remarked before, is a jumble of old and new, the city as a whole almost continuously renewing itself. But, for this part, the City of London, though destroyed by fire in 1666 (it burnt to just about where we are standing now, right across to past where St Paul’s now stands, where we’ll finish up) and again in 1940 in the Blitz, retains a lot of its old layout of streets, yards, lanes, alleys, courts and yards, many of which are medieval in age or earlier:



The redeveloped pedestrian area at the bottom of Houndsditch, which was finished not so long ago. It is, I think a good success:



The old drinking fountain:



The police call box:



The quite good new information boards, giving a potted history (pun / dad joke intended):



Aldgate’s old pump, from a time when a well stood on the spot:

 

[Wapping]

I’ll pause now, simply because I’m going to our excellent local butcher’s BBQ on Wapping Green, to watch the World Cup final. Drink will, no doubt, be taken.

 

[Wapping]

Not the most thrilling of matches and, dear God, what was the garbage the Americans dished up at halftime. But, I did learn that Argentina is not highly regarded in London E1. My snaps have now come across, so we can press on.

 

[Wapping]

With Aldgate behind us, we can wander along, just looking at the buildings:



All over City there are blue plaques, recording what used to stand on the site. It’s got me wondering whether there is a list of them? If so, I’ll get it and try to see them all.



If nothing else, a little Google tells you about the livery company that occupied the site:

Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers

The guild was first chartered in 1568. For Tyler, read Tiler not Taylor, and the connection makes sense. The 1666 Great Fire of London initially appeared to be good for the Company due to a Royal Proclamation regarding rebuilding work and requiring the use of bricks and tiles instead of timber...

www.londonremembers.com

Of course buildings today are much less reliant on tylers and bricklayers. This is the redevelopment of the site of the former Commercial Union building. The building encased in white will, when finished, be enormous at 310 metres tall (the same height as The Shard) and - along with The Shard - be the joint tallest building in Western Europe:



They were busy testing the driverless cars:



On past the Gherhkin, which now looks small compared with its neighbours:



I have worked in the City for over half my life. I can remember the Nat West tower being topped off. It used to dominate the City but now, like the Gherkin, it is dwarfed by the new structures:



But, as it’s the City (and London) the old continues to meet the new. This is St Helen’s church, the site being a church from around the year 1210:



It also serves as a church for the new influx of Chinese residents:

St Helen's Bishopsgate

Building, history, VR, 3D

www.st-helens.org.uk

Gate 2 - Bishopsgate

We are now getting close to the site of the Bishops Gate and can stand near enough where it stood:

Bishopsgate | The History of London

Bishopsgate was the original gate of London on the road heading in the direction of Lincoln and the north-east of England.

www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk

Then turn westwards to follow the line of the wall, along the modern road (London Wall):

 

[Wapping]

Wandering along London Wall, we can pass by a livery company’s hall. This time it’s the Carpenters’ Company, whose dividers are shown on the wall before the hall’s entry gates:

Carpenters' Company

Then cross London Wall to look at Finsbury Circus, another of London’s ‘green lungs’. It is said to be London’s oldest public park, dating back to the early 1600’s, so predating the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666:

 

[Wapping]

We are now at Moorgate.

Gate 3 - Moorgate

Moorgate | The History of London

Moorgate was a gate on the north side of London’s city wall. It was not one of the original Roman gates but was created in the 15th century.

www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk

As with the other gates, nothing remains of Moorgate, but we can stand near enough where it stood:



In the white building in the photo, there is what was for years, a shop selling one of Britain’s finest products, a Fox umbrella. Sadly, it’s now gone and is, I think a wine bar.

www.foxumbrellas.com - MAKERS OF THE WORLD'S FINEST UMBRELLAS

Fox Umbrellas Ltd, Keeping you dry since 1868 Umbrellas, Fox Umbrellas, Gents Umbrellas, Ladies Umbrellas, Raincoats, Walking Sticks, Hand made, Automatic, Private Label, Retail, Wholesale, Umbrella Manufacturers, Fox Frames, Top Quality, Exclusive, Bespoke, Individual, made in england...

www.foxumbrellas.com

 

[Wapping]

Next stop Cripplegate, the most northwesterly point of the wall and, perhaps the most interesting point. But we’ve got something to see before we get there.

To be continued…..

 

[Kitsilano]

Richard, referencing the memorial plaque on the drinking fountain sited in the now-pedestrianised portion of Houndsditch:

Frederick David Mocatta - Wikipedia https://share.google/wC6i9YhTQ9LvRT5yx

Mocatta's book is still available (for example, on Amazon).

 

[Wapping]

Thank you.

I knew the Mocatta name rang a vague bell, your post has prompted me to look the family up:

Mocatta - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I had associated the name as something to do with Lloyd’s. Beresford Mocatta or something like that, though I might be wrong and the spelling might well be different.

Reading the Wiki entry, I realise that I have seen and / or visited several of the other sites the family is associated with. Anyway, a nice post as it fills in a bit more of the ‘hidden history’ that sits behind something on the Wander; thanks again.



PS As a strange link, I came across a Jewish tour group, being taken around. They were up at Cripplegate, the tour host linking Roman London, to events at the same time in history in what became Israel and the Jewish Diaspora, of which east London is a significant part.

 

[Wapping]

As we Wander on, we can take a little detour south from London Wall and pass by some of the little passages that have been in place (one way or another) since medieval times or earlier. It’s fun sometimes just to turn down them, if only to see where they lead:



Past a fine City pub, sadly closed on Sunday, the ‘Old Dr Butler’s Head’:



And a sign that the pub is a part of the City’s ‘Loo initiative’:



Mason’s Avenue (it’s not very wide) brings us to our next thing to see along the way:



The history of toilets in at least City pubs, is vaguely interesting. For years, there were no toilets (and certainly nothing for females) in City pubs, the often magnificent Victorian public conveniences (now largely gone) serving the purpose. Gents started to appear in City pubs quite late, put down in the cellar, often down very steep wooden stairs. There was no need for ladies’ loos, as they ‘Didn’t do pubs’. When they did appear, the loos for ladies often had to be right upstairs. You can see an example of both in the Swan pub in Leadenhall Market.

 

[Wapping]

The Guildhall is magnificent and, in part at least, very old and having its own police station:

Guildhall - City of London

Guildhall invites guests on a journey spanning more than 800 years, from the grandeur of the Great Hall to the largest surviving medieval crypts in London

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

The church to the left of the picture is St Lawrence Jewry:

St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall

Another preserved police telephone box:



And a reminder that the City of London is still subdivided into Wards:



There is also a reminder that we are still very much in the City of London (ie. within the old city wall) as the street signs all carry the City’s crest:

 

[Wapping]

A bit about the City of London’s coat of arms:

Coat of arms of the City of London - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Heraldry in itself is interesting, at least to me. I have always wanted to visit the College of Arms, just south of St Paul’s cathederal.I should make the effort to go:

The College of Arms | The Heraldry Society

www.theheraldrysociety.com

And on the ancient 25 Wards that make up the City’s square mile:

Ward elections and ward lists - City of London

An overview of the Ward voting system

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

 

[Wapping]

We’ll Wander on later…..

 

[oblertone]

Excellent as usual, shame the pubs are shut

ps - The City was always a bit of a mystery despite working so close, and regularly passing underneath. I wonder if my Box Key would fit those city posts ?

 

[AccyStan1200]

Enjoyed this, thank you.