Aldgate

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For other uses, see Aldgate (disambiguation).

Ward of Aldgate

Coordinates: 51.51488° N 0.0789° W Image:Greater london outline map bw.png
OS grid reference	TQ334813
Unitary authority	City of London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC3
Dial code	020
Police	City of London
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	City and East
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England

Aldgate was the easternmost gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End. Aldgate is also the name of a street; it runs from Aldgate High Street for about 50 yards before splitting into Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street. There are only two buildings on the street. To the north is Sir John Cass's school, where a plaque records the former course of London Wall. To the south is a branch of the French insurance company AXA.

History

A gate at Aldgate was already thought to be spanning the road to Colchester, in the Roman period, when the City Wall itself was constructed. The gateway stood at the corner of the modern Duke's Place; and was always an obstacle to traffic. It was rebuilt between 1108-47, again in 1215 and reconstructed completely in 1607-9. The gate was finally removed in 1761, being temporarily re-erected at Bethnal Green. The name is derived from Ale-gate, literally open to all, as uniquely, no tolls were exacted at this gate.

While he was a customs official, from 1374 until 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer occupied apartments above the gate. The Augustinian Priory of Holy Trinity Aldgate was founded by Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I, in 1108 on ground just inside the gate.

Within Aldgate Ward, a short distance to the north of the gate. Jews settled from 1181, until the expulsion in 1290 by Edward I. The area became known as Old Jewry. Jews were welcomed back by Oliver Cromwell, and once again settled in the area, building London's oldest synagogue at Bevis Marks in 1698.

At the junction of Aldgate High Street, Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street, stood Aldgate pump. From 1700, it was from this point that distances were measured into the counties of Essex and Middlesex. The original was taken down in 1876, and a 'faux' pump and drinking fountain erected several yards to the west of the original, supplied by the New River. In ancient deeds, Alegate Well is mentioned, adjoining the City Wall, and this may have been the source [of water] for the original pump. A section of London Wall can be seen through a window in a nearby office block, on the north side.

Image:1600 Aldgate.jpg

1600 print of Aldgate

In 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, the first book by an African American was published in Aldgate after her owners could not find a publisher in Boston.

Daniel Mendoza, was born in 1764 to a Jewish family in Aldgate. He was author of The Art of Boxing and became English Boxing Champion from 1792 to 1795.

Aldgate is a ward electing councillors to the Corporation of London. The area around the large traffic roundabout to the East of where the gate stood, is also often referred to as Aldgate (although strictly, this is Aldgate High Street, and extends a short distance into Whitechapel, it is also known occasionally by the epithet 'Gardiners' Corner', in honour of a long disappeared department store).

Aldgate

History

Stations near Aldgate

See also