Bishopsgate

For other uses, see Bishopsgate (disambiguation).

Ward of Bishopsgate
A circa 1650 print of the gate
Ward of Bishopsgate  Ward of Bishopsgate shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ330813
Sui generis	City of London
Administrative area	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC2
Dialling code	020
Police	City of London
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	City and East
List of places: UK • England • London

Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall. The site of this gate is marked by a stone bishop's mitre, fixed high on the building located at the junction of Wormwood Street with Bishopsgate, just by the gardens there and facing the Heron Tower.

The ward (which is large by City standards) is bounded by Worship Street in the north, where the edge of the City meets the London Boroughs of Islington and Hackney. It neighbours Portsoken ward and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the east. The western boundary is formed by Old Broad Street, where the ward meets Broad Street ward. The ward also bounds (direction given) the Aldgate (SE), Coleman Street (W), Cornhill (SW) and Lime Street (S) wards. The ward straddles the (now former) line of the Wall and the old gate and is often (even today) divided into "Within" and "Without" parts, with a Deputy (Alderman) appointed for each part. However, since the 1994 (City) and 2003 (ward) boundary changes, almost all of the ward is Without; only a small area surrounding the Leathersellers' Hall remains as Bishopsgate Within. The ward previously extended much further south, along Bishopsgate and Gracechurch Street to meet Langbourn ward, but in the major 2003 boundary changes much of the Within part was transferred to Cornhill and Lime Street. No changes to Bishopsgate's ward boundaries will occur in the 2013 boundary changes.

Over 46,000 people work in the ward, but it has a resident population of only 48.

History

Originally Roman, the Bishop's Gate was rebuilt by the Hansa merchants in 1471 in exchange for the Steelyard privileges. Its final form was erected in 1735 by the City authorities and demolished in 1760. This gate often displayed the heads of criminals on spikes. London Wall (which is no longer extant in this sector) divided the ward and road into an intramural portion called Bishopsgate Within and an extramural portion called Bishopsgate Without. The Bishopsgate thoroughfare forms part of the A10 and the section to north of the site of the original Gate is the start of Roman Ermine Street, also known as the 'Old North Road'.

The parish church for the area of Bishopsgate Without is Saint Botolph's. This is situated just to the north of the original Gate on the west side of the road.

Bishopsgate Within was originally divided into many parishs each with its own parish church: St Andrew Undershaft, St Ethelburga Bishopsgate, St Martin Outwich, St Mary Axe and St Helen's Bishopsgate, now all amalgamated under the jurisdiction of the latter. St Helen's is a very historic medieval church and former monastic establishment with many ancient funerary monuments and a stained glass window depicting Shakespeare - commemorating a very famous former parishioner who lived in the area in the early to mid 1590s (Wood 2003: 124).

Bishopsgate-Street Ward in 1720.

Bishopsgate was originally the location of many coaching inns which accommodated passengers setting out on the Old North Road. These, though they survived the Great Fire of London, have now all been demolished, though the modern White Hart pub, to the north of St Botolph's, is the successor of an inn of the same name. Others included the Dolphin, the Flower Pot, the Green Dragon, the Wrestlers, the Angel and the Black Bull. This latter was a venue for the Queen's Men theatrical troupe in the 16th century (Wood 2003: 124-8). The name of an inn called the Catherine Wheel (demolished 1911) is commemorated by Catherine Wheel Alley which leads off Bishopsgate to the east (Weinreb and Hibbert 1983: 127). The 17th century facade of Sir Paul Pindar's House, demolished to make way for Liverpool Street Station in 1890, on Bishopsgate was also preserved and can now be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the 18th century this grand residence became a tavern called Sir Paul Pindar's Head (Weinreb and Hibbert 1983: 586). Also demolished (but then re-erected in Chelsea) was the old Crosby Hall, at one time the residence of Richard III of England and Thomas More.

Looking north from a pedestrian bridge across Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate is the site of Liverpool Street station, the notable public house Dirty Dick's, the Bishopsgate Institute, and many offices.

On 24 April 1993 it was the site of the Bishopsgate bombing, a Provisional Irish Republican Army truck bombing, which killed journalist Ed Henty, injured over 40 people and caused £1 billion worth of damage, including the destruction of St Ethelburga's church, and serious damage to Liverpool St. Tube Station. Police had received a coded warning, but were still evacuating the area at the time of the explosion. The insurance payments required were so enormous, that Lloyd's of London almost went bankrupt under the strain, and there was a crisis in the London insurance market. The area had already suffered damage from the Baltic Exchange bombing the year before.

The street is home to the main London offices of several major banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Within the ward falls the Broadgate Estate.

Skyscrapers

Looking north, Tower 42 rises above Bishopsgate

The following are tall buildings and skyscrapers built, under construction or approved for Bishopsgate (the street), from north to south:

• Broadgate Tower (built)
• Heron Plaza (proposed)
• Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate (built; the City's tallest building)
• 99 Bishopsgate (built)
• Tower 42 (built)
• 100 Bishopsgate (demolition on current building on site underway)
• Bishopsgate Tower (under construction; will be the City's tallest building when topped out in late 2012)

Politics

Bishopsgate is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an Alderman, to the Court of Aldermen and Commoners (the City equivalent of a Councillor) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freemen of the City of London are eligible to stand.

Popular Culture Reference

John Lennon references Bishopsgate in The Beatles song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" off the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song announces a travelling circus appearing at Bishopsgate. Lennon sings, "The celebrated Mr. K performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate/The Hendersons will dance and sing as Mr. Kite flies through the ring, Don't be late!" While the inspiration for the song was a playbill advertising Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal's February 1843 performance in Rochdale (part of Greater Manchester), Lennon changed the site to Bishopsgate in order to rhyme the lyric with "Don't be late!".

See also

• Fortifications of London

References

• Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (1983) The London Encyclopedia.
• Michael Wood (2003) In Search of Shakespeare. London: BBC Worldwide.

Gallery

• 

  Bas relief on the former National Provincial Bank

• 

  From the same building

• 

  Overview of another part of the building

External links

• Ward map from the Corporation of London
• Bishopsgate ward newsletter
• Map of Early Modern London: Bishopsgate Ward - Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)
• Pubs within the City of London