Blomfield Street is a road in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, close to Liverpool Street railway station. It was known as Broker Row, until 1860. Bloomfield Street, EC2 (2) - geograph

Setting

The street extends in a SSW-NNE direction from its junction with the road ''London Wall'' in the south to ''Broad Street Place'' in the north. The side streets are Liverpool Street and New Broad Street on the eastern side, and Finsbury Circus to the west. The western side of the street is in the Finsbury Circus Conservation area and includes a number of listed buildings. The street forms the boundary between Bishopsgate and Coleman Street Ward areas of the City of London.

History

The street covers a section of the River Walbrook once know as the Deepditch. The river passed under the City's defensive wall immediately north of the junction with the street ''London Wall'', which ran parallel and just inside the wall which gave it its name. Until the 19th century, the east side was the built-up Bishopsgate Without neighbourhood, while the open

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...

area lay on the west side of the river. This section of the Walbrook was the main focus of the Walbrook Skulls phenomena where very large numbers of skulls were found in the bed of the river over many centuries. Plan of the first Bethlem Hospital

The street was called Broker Row until 1860, but was renamed in honour of the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Charles Blomfield, who had been rector of

St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, and also, by virtue of lying outside the city's (now demolished) eastern walls, part of London's East End. Adjoining the buildi ...

earlier in his career. On the night of 8/9th September 1915, during World War One, German Navy airship L13 (LZ45) carried out what would be the most destructive raids of the war. Twenty-two people were killed, including three at Blomfield Street. A number 35A bus at the junction of Blomfield and Liverpool Streets suffered a direct hit, kiling the conductor and two passengers. The driver was seen wandering the street in shock, staring at his hand which had several fingers missing.London 1914-17, The Zeppelin Menace, Ian Castle, p37 The airship, which was 163 metres long and flying at 2500 metres of altitude, was largely invulnerable to defensive measures at this stage of the war. An eyewitness described catching sight of the airship:

References

{{Reflist Streets in the City of London