Ward of Billingsgate | |
---|---|
Location within the City | |
Location within Greater London | |
OS grid reference | TQ332806 |
Sui generis | |
Administrative area | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | EC3 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | City of London |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Billingsgate is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. This small City Ward is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in the south-east of the Square Mile.
The modern Ward extends south to the Thames, west to Lovat Lane and Rood Lane, north to Fenchurch Street and Dunster Court, and east to Mark Lane and St Dunstan's Hill.
Billingsgate's most ancient historical reference is as a water gate to the city of Trinovantum (the name given to London in medieval British legend), as mentioned in the Historia Regum Britanniae (Eng: History of the Kings of Britain) written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. This work describes how Belinus, a legendary king of Britain said to have held the throne from about 390 BC, erected London's first fortified water gate:
In the town of Trinovantum Belinus caused to be constructed a gateway of extraordinary workmanship, which in his time the citizens called Billingsgate, from his own name. ... Finally, when his last day dawned and carried him away from this life, his body was cremated and the ash enclosed in a golden urn. This urn the citizens placed with extraordinary skill on the very top of the tower in Trinovantum which I have described. [1]
Originally known as Blynesgate and Byllynsgate, [2] its name apparently derives from its origins as a water gate on the Thames, where goods were landed, becoming Billingsgate Wharf, part of London's docks close to Lower Thames Street.
Historian John Stow records that Billingsgate Market was a general market for corn, coal, iron, wine, salt, pottery, fish and miscellaneous goods until the 16th century, when neighbouring streets became a specialist fish market. [3] By the late 16th century, most merchant vessels had become too large to pass under London Bridge, and so Billingsgate, with its deeply recessed harbour, replaced Queenhithe as the most important landing place in the city.
Until boundary changes in 2003, the Ward included Pudding Lane, [4] where in 1666 the Great Fire of London started. [5] A sign was erected over the property where the Great Fire began:
Here, by the permission of Heaven, hell broke loose upon this protestant city, from the malicious hearts of barbarous Papists, by the hand of their agent Hubert, who confessed, and on the ruins of this place declared the fact, for which he was hanged, viz. That here began the dreadful fire, which is described and perpetuated on and by the neighbouring pillar, erected Anno 1680, in the mayoralty of Sir Patience Ward, knight. [5]
After the Great Fire of London, shops and stalls set up trade forming arcades on the harbour's west side, whilst on the main quay, an open market soon developed, called "Roomland".
Billingsgate Fish Market was formally established by an act of Parliament in 1699, the Billingsgate, etc. Act 1698 (10 Will. 3. c. 13), to be "a free and open market for all sorts of fish whatsoever". [6] Oranges, lemons, and Spanish onions were also landed there, alongside the other main commodities, coal and salt. In 1849, the fish market was moved off the streets into its own riverside building, which was subsequently demolished (c. 1873) and replaced by an arcaded-market hall (designed by City architect Horace Jones, built by John Mowlem) in 1875. [3]
In 1982, Billingsgate Fish Market was relocated to its present location close to Canary Wharf in east London. The original riverside market building was then refurbished by the architect Richard Rogers to provide office accommodation and an entertainment venue. [7]
The raucous cries of the fish vendors gave rise to the word Billingsgate as a synonym for profanity or offensive language. [8]
Within the ward are the Custom House and the Watermen's Hall, built in 1780 and the city's only surviving Georgian livery company hall. Centennium House [9] in Lower Thames Street has Roman baths within its basement foundations.
Within the Ward remain two churches: St Mary-at-Hill [10] and St Margaret Pattens, [11] after the demolition of St George Botolph Lane in 1904. [12]
Billingsgate is one of the City's 25 Wards returning an Alderman and two Common Councilmen (the City equivalent of a Councillor) to the City of London Corporation, the elected in March 2022 were Luis Felipe Tilleria and Nighat Qureishi. [13]
Lord Blackadder, the titular hero of Blackadder II , is said to have resided at Billingsgate, and in Thackeray's Vanity Fair (Ch. 3), Mr. Sedley has "brought home the best turbot in Billingsgate".
Billingsgate is also referred to in the song "Sister Suffragette" in the 1964 version of Mary Poppins .
Due to the real and perceived vulgar language used by the fishmongers, which Francis Grose referred to in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue , Billingsgate came to be used as a noun—billingsgate—referring to coarse or foul language.
Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monument Street, the site of Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire.
Billingsgate Fish Market is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was originally established. In its original location in the 19th century, Billingsgate was the largest fish market in the world. The current market is located off Trafalgar Way in Poplar, east London - at the eastern end of the North Dock of the West India Docks.
St Thomas the Apostle was a parish church in St Thomas Apostle Street in the City of London. In existence by the late twelfth century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London, is part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of Fulham. It is a Grade I listed building. The rector uses the title "Cardinal Rector" and, since the abolition of the College of Minor Canons of St Paul's Cathedral in 2016, is the only cleric in the Church of England to use the title cardinal.
St Mary-at-Hill is a Church of England parish church in the Ward of Billingsgate, City of London. It is situated on Lovat Lane, a cobbled street off Eastcheap.
St George Botolph Lane was a church off Eastcheap, in the ward of Billingsgate in the City of London. The rear of the church overlooked Pudding Lane, where the fire of London started. It was first recorded in the twelfth century, and destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. It was one of the 51 churches rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The church was demolished in 1904.
St. Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street was a church in Castle Baynard ward of the City of London, England, located on the corner of Old Fish Street and Old Change, on land now covered by post-War development. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, then rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church suffered damage to its roof from a fire in an adjacent warehouse in 1886. It was not repaired and was finally demolished in 1893.
St Mary Bothaw was a parish church in the Walbrook ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. However, some of its materials were used in the rebuilding of St Swithin, London Stone, with which parish it was merged.
Langbourn is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London. It reputedly is named after a buried stream in the vicinity.
Vintry is one of the 25 wards of the City of London. Located within it is the City end of Southwark Bridge and, adjacent to that, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the City livery company for the wine trade.
St Michael's Wood Street was a church and parish of medieval origin in Cripplegate Ward in the City of London, and is first mentioned in 1225 as St. Michael de Wudestrate. It stood on the west side of Wood Street, initially with a frontage on Huggin Lane but later on Wood Street itself.
St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the City of London destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Botolph's, Billingsgate was a Church of England parish church in London. Of medieval origin, it was located in the Billingsgate ward of the City of London and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.
St Gabriel Fenchurch was a parish church in the Langbourn Ward of the City of London, destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not rebuilt.
St John the Evangelist Friday Street was a church in Bread Street Ward of the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, and not rebuilt, the parish being united with that of All Hallows, Bread Street.
St John the Baptist upon Walbrook was a parish church in the City of London. It stood in Walbrook Ward, with parts of the parish extending into Cordwainer, Dowgate, and Vintry Wards. Of medieval origin, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Peter, Paul's Wharf, was a Church of England parish church in the City of London. It was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666.
St Margaret, New Fish Street, was a parish church in the City of London.
Cox & Hammond's Quay was a wharf located in the City of London, on the north bank of the River Thames a short distance downstream from London Bridge. It was originally two separate quays, Cox's Quay and Hammond's Quay, separated by Gaunt's Quay. On the landward side, the wharf was accessed via Lower Thames Street just behind the site of the church of St Botolph Billingsgate.
Botolph Wharf or St Botolph's Wharf was a wharf located in the City of London, on the north bank of the River Thames a short distance downstream from London Bridge. It was situated between Cox and Hammond's Quay upstream and Nicholson's Wharf downstream. On the landward side, the wharf was accessed via Thames Street. It had a frontage of 78 ft (24 m). The wharf was used for at least a thousand years before being destroyed during the Second World War. A late 1980s office building currently occupies the site.