Ludgate was the westernmost gate in

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 ...

. Of Roman origin, it was rebuilt several times and finally demolished on 30th July 1760. The name survives in

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London, England. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. Th ...

, an eastward continuation of

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, Ludgate Circus and Ludgate Square. The gates' materials were sold for £148.

Etymology

According to legend, recorded by the Norman-Welsh cleric

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...

, Ludgate was named after the ancient British king Lud. Lud was said to be the brother of King Cassivelaunus but some folklorists think he is a manifestation of the god Nodens. There are other suggestions for the origins of the name, although none has been universally accepted. Later writers said it was derived from "flood gate" or "Fleet gate", from "ludgeat", meaning "back gate" or " postern", or from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

term ''"hlid-geat"''''Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Volume 2'', Susan E. Kelly, Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2001, , pp.623-266''Geographical Etymology'', Christina Blackie, pp.88English Place-Name society, Volume 36, The University Press, 1962, pp.205Middle English Dictionary, University of Michigan Press, 1998, pp. 972''An encyclopaedia of London'', William Kent, Dent, 1951, pp.402 a common Old English compound meaning "postern" or "swing gate".

History

Ludgate is believed to have been one of four original gates in the Roman

, work on which started in 190 AD. Anti-royalist forces rebuilt the gate during the

First Barons' War The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as English feudal barony, barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against John of England, K ...

(121517) using materials recovered from the destroyed houses of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. The gate was rebuilt about 1450 by a man called Foster who at one time was lodged in the

debtor's prison A debtors' prison is a prison for Natural person, people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, L ...

over the gate. He eventually became Sir Stephen Foster,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

. His widow, Agnes, renovated and extended Ludgate and the debtor's prison; the practice of making the debtors pay for their own food and lodging was also abolished. Her gift was commemorated by a brass wall plaque,Caroline M. Barron, 'Forster, Agnes (d. 1484)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 22 May 2017
/ref> which read:

''Devout souls that pass this way,''
''For Stephen Foster, late mayor, heartily pray;''
''And Dame Agnes, his spouse, to God consecrate,''
''That of pity this house made, for Londoners in Ludgate;''
''So that for lodging and water prisoners here nought pay,''
''As their keepers shall answer at dreadful doomsday!''

In February 1554, Ludgate was the final setting of

Wyatt's rebellion Wyatt's Rebellion was a limited and unsuccessful uprising in England in early 1554 led by four men, one of whom was Sir Thomas Wyatt. It was given its name by the lawyer at Wyatt's arraignment, who stated for the record that "this shall be eve ...

, when Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger arrived at the gate with part of his army numbering three or four hundred men. The gate was defended by Lord William Howard with the local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, who refused entry to the rebels, causing them to retreat and later surrender. Ludgate was rebuilt in 1586 to the design of William Kerwin; niches in the facade were furnished with statues of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

and King Lud with his two sons; these statues replaced medieval ones that had been defaced by Protestant

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

s during the reign of King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

. The gateway was finally demolished in 1760 at the request of the local citizens. It was still in use as a debtor's prison, so the inmates were transferred to the City

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate's name is traditionally attributed to Earconwald, who was Bishop of London in the 7th century. It was first built in Roman times and marked the beginning o ...

. The statues from the facade were preserved at the Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West in

. When the church was rebuilt in 1831, they were sold and taken to Hertford Villa in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, but were returned to the church in 1935. Elizabeth's statue now stands in a niche over the vestry door, while the others are inside the porch. Ludgate plaque London

In literature

* Ludd's Gate is mentioned in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

's novel ''Sword Song'', set during the reign of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

. * Ludgate is mentioned in

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the List of legendary kings o ...

'', written around 1136. According to the pseudohistorical work the name comes from the Welsh King King Lud, who he claims also gave his name to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. * Ludgate is mentioned in Maria McCann's novel ''As Meat Loves Salt,'' set during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. * Ludgate appears in

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fi ...

's poem "Up and Down", from ''Collected Poems 1901–1918'', Vol. II: Songs of Childhood, Peacock Pie, 1920. * Ludgate appears in part III of Burnt Norton, the first of T. S. Eliot's ''

Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a fe ...

''. It is the last named of the seven "gloomy hills of London".

Etymology

History

In literature

References

See also