Cripplegate was a

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...

in the

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

which once enclosed the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, England. The Cripplegate gate lent its name to the Cripplegate

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the City, which encompasses the area where the gate and the former city wall once stood. The ward is divided into two parts: Cripplegate Within and Cripplegate Without, a division that originated from the gate and wall. Each part has a designated

beadle A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational or ceremonial duties on the manor. The term has pre- ...

and a deputy (

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

). Following boundary changes in 1994 (City) and 2003 (ward), the majority of the ward now falls within Cripplegate Without, as the ward of

Bassishaw Bassishaw is a Wards of the City of London, ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap (ward), Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west. It first consisted of Basinghall Street with the cour ...

has expanded significantly into the Cripplegate Within area. Until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area approximating to ''Cripplegate Without'' was commonly known as simply ''Cripplegate''. The area was almost entirely destroyed in

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

, causing the term to fall out of colloquial speech. Cripplegate Without is the site of the

Barbican Estate The Barbican Estate, or Barbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, Apartment#Maisonette, maisonettes and houses in central London, England, within the City of London. It is in an area once devastated by World War II bombings an ...

and

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

, with a small part of these lying in neighbouring Aldersgate Without.

The gate

The origins of the gate's name are unclear. One theory, bolstered by a mentioning of the gate in the fourth law code of

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 � ...

and a charter of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

from 1068 under the name "Crepelgate", is that it takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word ''crepel'', meaning a covered or underground passageway. Another unsubstantiated theory suggests it is named after the

cripple A cripple is a person or animal with a physical disability, particularly one who is unable to walk because of an injury or illness. The word was recorded as early as 950 AD, and derives from the Proto-Germanic ''krupilaz''. The German and Dutc ...

s who used to beg there. The name of the nearby medieval church of

St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Church of England, Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street (London), Fore Street within the modern Barbican Estate, Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the Lond ...

lends credence to this suggestion as

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

is the patron saint of cripples and lepers.

History of the gate

It was initially the northern gate to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

, built around AD 120 or 150, eighty years before the rest of the wall was completed. It appeared to have been used as part of the Roman city walls until at least the 10th-11th centuries. Cripplegate was rebuilt during the 1490s and was unhinged and fortified with a

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

after Charles II became king in 1660. It was eventually demolished in 1760; much of Cripplegate was gone by the 19th century and only small fragments of it survive today.

The ward

Cripplegate is one of the 25 ancient

wards of the City of London The City of London (also known simply as "the City") is divided into 25 wards. The city is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of Greater London, with an ancient and ''sui generis'' form of local government, which avoided the many l ...

, each electing an

to the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior Alderman during his or her year of office). ...

and commoners (the City equivalent of a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

) to the

Court of Common Council The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. City of London Corporation elections , Elections are held at least eve ...

of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...

. Only electors who are Freemen of the City are eligible to stand. In the early 12th century, the area was originally referred to as ''Alwoldii'' which was probably the name of the current alderman. The early records are unreliable as regards who the Aldermen were, but from 1286 there is a more reliable list of Aldermen available. The modern City of London spreads across a square mile of land and remains divided into 25 geographic areas, or 'wards'. Four of these wards (Aldersgate, Portsoken, Queenhithe and Cripplegate), are described as 'residential' as they contain the vast majority of all City residents.

Geography

The Ward of Cripplegate provides part of the Northern edge of the City and stretches from just below

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London, England that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shor ...

, down to London Wall at its southern tip, where it meets the Ward of Bassishaw. To the west is the Ward of

Aldersgate Aldersgate is a Wards of the City of London, Ward of the City of London, England, named after one of the northern City gate, gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersga ...

and on the Eastern edge is

Coleman Street Coleman Street is one of the Wards of the City of London, 25 ancient wards of the City of London, England, and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington. The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the ...

. The 2003 Ward Boundary Review recommended some significant changes for a number of wards and these were eventually implemented in 2013. The Cripplegate Ward boundary used to extend a great deal further south, all the way down to

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...

in fact. The ward was home to the halls of six livery companies and now only one remains (the Barber-Surgeons in Monkwell Square). Each ward is represented by an assembly called the 'Court of Common Council'. This consists of 100 common councilmen and 25 alderman (one for each Ward). The number of councilmen allocated to each particular ward is based on the size of the electorate and where Cripplegate used to warrant twelve members of council it is now reduced to nine. The ward is promoted by the

Cripplegate Ward Club Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London, England. The Cripplegate gate lent its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City, which encompasses the area where the gate and the former city wall once stood. T ...

. Founded in 1878, The Cripplegate Ward Club is a social organisation, encouraging its members to take an interest in the civic affairs of the City, while also supporting appeals and charitable activities. Cripplegate is among the busiest of the 20-plus ward clubs in the City of London, with a varied programme of events throughout the year. Jewin Crescent

The gate's name is preserved in the church of

which is sited immediately outside the site of the former gate. A small road named Cripplegate Street lies slightly to the north of the site of the gate between Viscount Street and Bridgewater Street.

History of the ward

The wards of London appear to have taken shape in the 11th century, before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. Their administrative, judicial and military purpose made them equivalent to Hundreds in the countryside. The primary purpose of wards like Cripplegate, which included a gate, appears to have been the defence of the gate, as gates were the weakest points in any fortification. ''Cripplegate Without'' was, in the 11th, 12th and possibly later centuries, part of an area outside the northern wall called the Soke of Cripplegate, held by the church of

St. Martin's Le Grand St. Martin's Le Grand is a former liberty within the City of London, and is the name of a street north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street. It forms the southernmost section of the A1 road. For many years St. Martin' ...

. In 1068, a burial site, where Jewin Street now stands, was the only place in England where Jews were permitted to be buried. Those living elsewhere in the country were forced, at great expense and inconvenience, to bring their dead there. The philosopher

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

, writer of

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

, was born on Milk Street in 1478. In 1555,

John Gresham Sir John Gresham (1495 – 23 October 1556) was an English merchant, courtier and financier who worked for King Henry VIII of England, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He was Lord Mayor of London and founded Gresham's School. He was the bro ...

endowed the new

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

in Norfolk with three tenements in the parish of St. Giles Without Cripplegate, including 'The White Hind' and 'The Peacock'. During the Second World War, the Cripplegate area, a centre of the rag trade, was virtually destroyed and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at only 5,324, of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate. Discussions began in 1952 about the future of the area, and the decision to build new residential properties was taken by the

on 19 September 1957. The area was reopened as the

in 1969. Tranter's Hotel was located at 6–9 Bridgewater Square, in a Georgian building with 60 rooms available, not far from today's Beech Street, before being destroyed by the

bombs. It was advertised in a number of

periodicals Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

and magazines between 1887 and 1919 as a very centrally located, family and commercial, temperance-friendly hotel, convenient for

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

and Aldersgate station, for business and pleasure.

Politics

Current elected representatives in Cripplegate are David Graves (Alderman), Mark Bostock, David Bradshaw, Mary Durcan, Vivienne Littlechild, Susan Pearson, William Pimlott,

Stephen Quilter Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

and John Tomlinson. In the 2017 City-wide Common Council elections, the Labour Party won two seats in Cripplegate ward with local residents Mary Durcan and William Pimlott making Labour gains. The Labour Party won a record total of five seats on the Common Council in March 2017 winning two seats in

Portsoken Portsoken, traditionally referred to with the definite article as the Portsoken, is one of the City of London, England's 25 ancient wards, which are still used for local elections. Historically an extra-mural ward, lying east of the former Lond ...

, two seats in Cripplegate ward and one seat in

ward. Following a boundary change in 1994, the

Golden Lane Estate The Golden Lane Estate is a 1950s council housing complex in the City of London. It was built on the northern edge of the City, on a site devastated by bombing during the Second World War. Since 1997, the estate has been protected by a grade II ...

was transferred from

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

to the City, and so Cripplegate is today the most populous of the four residential wards of the City, with a population of 2,782 (2011).

Other uses

Cripplegate Foundation

Cripplegate Foundation
is a registered charity and local grant-making foundation supporting residents in the London borough of Islington and a small area of the City of London. The Foundation's vision is of a society where everyone can live a rewarding and fulfilled life, free from poverty and inequality. Cripplegate Foundation works to improve access to opportunities for everyone and to make lasting change. They do this by: * listening to, and learning from, local people and communities, * raising funds and making grants, and * working in partnership with local people and organisations. As a place-based funder, Cripplegate Foundation'
grants and programmes
are available to Islington groups and residents based on their respective criteria. These includ
Islington Council's Community ChestIslington’s Resident Support Scheme (RSS)
th
Catalyst Programme
an
Islington Giving funds
As well as awarding grants, Cripplegate Foundation offers a range of resources to Islington’s residents and voluntary organisations. These include innovative and practica
researchadvice and supportHow Not What
a key outcome of the Development Partner programme, an
office space
available for booking by Islington voluntary groups.

History of Cripplegate Foundation

The Foundation dates its origins to the donation of £40 "to provide trousers for local people" on 2 April 1500. However it was only in 1891 that various local trusts were consolidated into the Cripplegate Foundation by the London Parochial Charities Act. Between 1896 and 1973 the foundation ran the Cripplegate Institute at the southern end of Golden Lane, a handsome 'peoples palace' designed by architect Sidney Smith which contained a theatre and concert hall, a library free to residents and offices for social workers and from which grants to groups and individuals were given. The building was listed in 1987 but was sold by the Foundation and subsequently completely gutted by Swiss Bank

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

for its own offices. From 1 April 2008 the area of benefit was expanded to include

. John Gilbert is the chair of the foundation, having been on the board of governors since 2005.

Cripplegate Bank

The Cripplegate Savings Bank was established in 1819 as a joint stock bank, then re-registered as Cripplegate Bank Ltd in 1879, and finally renamed London, Commercial & Cripplegate Bank Ltd in 1900. In between 1876-1906 the Cripplegate Bank was located at 31 and then 1

Whitecross Street Whitecross Street is a short street in London Borough of Islington, Islington, in Inner London. It features an eponymous street market and a large housing estate. Since 2010, there has been an annual Whitecross Street Party one weekend in the ...

, before been incorporated into the

Union Bank of London National Provincial Bank was a retail bank which operated in England and Wales. It was created in 1833 as National Provincial Bank of England, and expanded largely by taking over a number of other banks. Following the transformative acquisitio ...

, and finally been liquidated.

In popular culture

The second wedding in the film ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of ...

'' takes place in the fictional church of St. Mary of the Fields, Cripplegate, EC2. It was filmed in the chapel of the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

.Four Weddings and a Funeral
at movie-locations.com Cripplegate makes an appearance in the 2020 video game, '' Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' as one of the restricted areas in London.

References

Old and New London
an
A New History of London
— two historical sources on the ward from British History Online

- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London(Scholarly)

External links

Cripplegate Ward Club
- The Social Club and Ward website for the Cripplegate Ward based in the City of London
City of London Corporation
Map of Cripplegate ward (2003 —)
The City of London Corporation
- The Official government website for the City of London. This encompasses all 25 Wards including the Cripplegate Ward {{City of London gates Buildings and structures demolished in 1760 London Wall and its gates Wards of the City of London Streets in the City of London Barbican Estate Former gates