London (England) -- Antiquities; London (England) -- History
The area enclosed by the city walls was not larger than Hyde Park.
Their course has been already traced, but we can follow them on the
map of London by means of the names of the streets. Thus, beginning
at the Tower, we pass on to Aldgate, and then to Bishopsgate. Outside
was a protecting moat, which survives in the name Houndsditch, wherein
doubtless dead dogs found a resting place. Then we pass on to London
Wall, a street which sufficiently tells its derivation. Outside this
part of the wall there was a fen, or bog, or moor, which survives in
Moorfields, Moorgate Street, and possibly Finsbury; and Artillery
Street shows where the makers of bows and arrows had their shops,
near the artillery ground, where the users of these weapons practised
at the butts. The name of the Barbican tells of a tower that guarded
Aldersgate, and some remains of the wall can still be seen in Castle
Street and in the churchyard of St. Giles', Cripplegate, the derivation
of which has at length been satisfactorily determined by Mr. Loftie in
our first chapter, and has nothing to do with the multitude of cripples
which Stow imagined congregated there. Thence we go to Newgate and the
Old Bailey, names that tell of walls and fortifications. Everyone knows
the name of the Bailey court of a castle, which intervened between the
keep or stronger portion of the defences and the outer walls or gate.
The court of the Old Bailey suggests to modern prisoners other less
pleasing ideas. Now the wall turns southward, in the direction of
Ludgate, where it was protected by a stream called the Fleet, whence
the name Fleet Street is derived. Canon Isaac Taylor suggests that
Fleet Street is really Flood Street, from which Ludgate or Floodgate
takes its name. We prefer the derivation given by Mr. Loftie. On the
south of Ludgate, and on the bank of the Thames, stood a mighty strong
castle, called Baynard Castle, constructed by William the Conqueror to
aid him, with the Tower of London, to keep the citizens in order. It
has entirely disappeared, but if you look closely at the map you will
find a wharf which records its memory, and a ward of the city also is
named after the long vanished stronghold. Now the course of the wall
follows the north bank of the river Thames, and the names Dowgate and
Billingsgate record its memory and of the city gates, which allowed
peaceable citizens to enter, but were strong to resist foes and rebels.
Within these walls craftsmen and traders had their own particular
localities, the members of each trade working together side by side in
their own street or district; and although now some of the trades have
disappeared, and traders are no longer confined to one district, the
street-names record the ancient home of their industries. The two great
markets were the Eastcheap and Westcheap, now Cheapside. The former, in
the days of Lydgate, was the abode of the butchers. Martin Lyckpenny
sings:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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