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Aldersgate

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Location

Aldersgate was one of London’s four original gates (Stow 1598, sig. C7r), labelled Alders gate on the Agas map. The gate was likely built into the Wall of London during the Roman Conquest, marking the northern entrance into the city. Situated between Cripplegate and Newgate and south of St. Botolph Church, it divided Aldersgate Ward in two, placing half of the ward within the boundaries of the Wall and the other half without. Londoners and visitors alike would use Aldersgate street to access the gate and enter the city, after which the street split into St. Anne’s Lane and St. Martin’s le Grand, Aldersgate Ward’s primary throughway.

Name and Etymology

Aldersgate’s earliest recorded mention is a reference to Ealdredesgate in Ethelred’s Institutes (Harben). According to Stow, common belief held that the name derived either from the alder trees which grew around Aldersgate or the aldermen who built it; he dismisses these claims entirely, instead linking Aldersgate’s etymology to the very antiquitie of the gate it selfe and its status as an elder gate of London (Stow 1598, sig. C7r). Harben, however, opposes Stow’s hypothesis, asserting that The name is almost certainly derived from the personal name ‘Ealdred’ or ‘Aidred’.
Harben lists the following spelling variants:
Aldredesgate | Aldredesgat | Aldridesgate | Aldretheggate | Aldrethesgate | Alresgate | Aldresgate | Aldreidesgate | Allereddesgate | Aldrichesgate | Aldersgate | Alcheresgate | Aldrichgate | Aldrisgate | Aldrichegate | Alderichesgate | Aldrechegate | Alderychgate | Alderichgate | Alderichegate | Alderesgate | Aldrychegate | Aldrychgate | Aldrychesgate | Aldrisshgate | Althergate | Altergate (BHO)

History

Aldersgate’s exact year of construction is unknown. Thornbury asserts that its Roman origins can be proven by the considerable Roman remains that have come to light in the neighbourhood from time to time (Thornbury), and Harben notes that a Roman ditch Gap in transcription. Reason: Editorial omission for reasons of length or relevance. Use only in quotations in born-digital documents.[…] [found] on the site of the General Post Office Gap in transcription. Reason: Editorial omission for reasons of length or relevance. Use only in quotations in born-digital documents.[…] may have been part of a later scheme for strengthening the defences of the City (Harben).
The first post-Roman additions to the gate were a lead covering and the incorporation of a small house for the gatekeeper in 1335 (Harben). In 1617, the gate was pulled down due to its increasing disrepair. The ensuing reconstruction project was completed in 1618 at the expense of a legacy left by William Parker for the express purpose of rebuilding Aldersgate (Thornbury).
Forty-eight years later, the gate was damaged in the Great Fire of 1666; in 1670 it was repaired once again, and in 1793 Mayor John Salter facilitated the third and final restoration of Aldersgate. The gate’s materials were sold in April 1761 and it was demolished soon after (Harben).

Architecture

The facade of gate’s north side featured a central stone bas relief of James VI and I on horseback, placed beneath a rendering of the royal crest and flanked by elaborate niches dedicated to biblical prophets. Surviving images indicate that the south face was dominated by apartment windows, but another depiction of James was likely featured there at some point (Thornbury). The gate’s central arch was large enough to accommodate general street traffic, with the smaller side entrances reserved for foot pedestrians.
B. Cole, London Gates, 18th century. Folger ART File L847m1 no.1 (size M). Used by kind permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
B. Cole, London Gates, 18th century. Folger ART File L847m1 no.1 (size M). Used by kind permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Over time, additions to the gate—including a timber frame and newer buildings with tile and stone flooring (Stow 1598, sig. C7r)—accompanied the growth of its cultural significance, though Thornbury describes its architecture as heavy and inelegant (Thornbury). Stow describes a two-story well located inside the gate, and notes that it was uncommon for gates to have a well, especially one of that size (Stow 1598, sig. C7r).
Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century images of Aldersgate survive in numerous sources.
Date Source Digital Repository plus link
1681 De Laune’s Present State of London London Picture Archive
1740 A Plan of the Ward of Aldersgate London Picture Archive
1800 Aldersgate in the Wall of London London Picture Archive
1800? Aldersgate London Picture Archive

Significance

Aldersgate was a major route into London. The generous apartment space within the gate made it a hub for commercial and social activity. Printer John Day, renowned for his publication of John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, lived in Aldersgate. In 1551 he re-printed Edmund Becke’s edition of the Byble under his sole imprint (25). Thomas Harper, another printer, kept shop by Aldersgate into the mid 1600s (Sugden). In Thomas Dekker’s The Seven Deadly Sins of London, Candlelight makes his entrance therefore at Aldersgate of set purpose, for though the streete be faire and spatious, yet few lightes in mistie euenings (Dekker).
John Foxe, Actes and Monuments title page, 1570. Folger STC 11223.2 Vol. 1. Used by kind permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
John Foxe, Actes and Monuments title page, 1570. Folger STC 11223.2 Vol. 1. Used by kind permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
James VI and I supposedly entered London through Aldersgate when he journeyed from Scotland to claim England’s throne in 1603, following the death of Elizabeth I. The two stone reliefs over the central arch were constructed to commemorate his succession; the northern face’s equestrian bas relief was meant to symbolize his arrival in London, while a depiction of James in robes on the south side honoured his reign (Thornbury).

Aldersgate Today

Over time, the gate’s literary, political, and religious associations secured it a permanent spot in London’s cultural memory. In 1738 it would become the alleged site of John Wesley’s spiritual awakening and resultant pioneering of Methodism (see UCM). Its legacy lives on in modern-day Aldersgate Street and the Methodist commemoration of Aldersgate Day, or Wesley Day, celebrated annually in May.

References

Cite this page

MLA citation

Linsley, Maya. Aldersgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/ALDE3.htm.

Chicago citation

Linsley, Maya. Aldersgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/ALDE3.htm.

APA citation

Linsley, M. 2022. Aldersgate. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/ALDE3.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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A1  - Linsley, Maya
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Aldersgate
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 7.0
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/05/05
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/ALDE3.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/ALDE3.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#LINS3"><surname>Linsley</surname>, <forename>Maya</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">Aldersgate</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>7.0</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2022-05-05">05 May 2022</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/ALDE3.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/ALDE3.htm</ref>.</bibl>

Documents relating to Aldersgate Ward

Aldersgate Ward contained Aldersgate Street and Aldersgate.

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