Aldersgate

Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after a gate in the ancient London Wall around the City. The gate also gave its name to Aldersgate Street, which runs north from the site of the former gate towards Clerkenwell.ToponymyThe name Aldersgate is first recorded around 1000 in the form Ealdredesgate, i.e. "gate associated with a man named Ealdrād". The gate, constructed by the Romans in the 2nd or 3rd centuries when London Wall was constructed, probably acquired its name in the late Saxon period.HistoryThe ward of Aldersgate straddles the line of London Wall and the old gate and historically was divided into "Within" and "Without" divisions, with a Deputy appointed for each division. It took in the liberty of St. Martin's Le Grand when that was dis-established in the 16th century. However, since ward boundary changes in 2003, almost all of the ward is Without and the former liberty and street of St. Martin's is no longer within the ward's boundaries.In 1554 Aldersgate Street was the scene of a fraud where Elizabeth Crofts was smuggled into a wall to pretend to be a heavenly voice. Reputedly 17,000 people came to listen to her give out anti-catholic propaganda.The old gate was taken down in 1617, and rebuilt in the same year from a design by Gerard Christmas. The gate was damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was repaired and remained until 1761. Aldersgate Street contained the Bishop of London's chapel and his chambers at London House, which was used from the 18th century because it was closer to St. Paul's Cathedral than his official residence in Fulham, west London.