Bread Street

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Ward of Bread Street
Paternoster Square.jpg
Paternoster Square is located
within Bread Street Ward.
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Location within the City
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Ward of Bread Street
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ319812
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Administrative area Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district EC4
Dialling code 020
Police City of London
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UK Parliament
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51°30′52″N0°05′48″W / 51.5144°N 0.0966°W / 51.5144; -0.0966

Bread Street is one of the 26 wards of the City of London, the name deriving from its principal street, which was anciently the city's bread market; already named Bredstrate (to at least 1180) [1] for by the records it appears as that in 1302, [2] Edward I announced that "the bakers of Bromley and Stratford-le-Bow [London], and ones already living on the street, were forbidden from selling bread from their own homes or bakeries, and could only do so from Bread Street." [1] [3] The street itself is just under 500 ft (153 m) in length and now forms the eastern boundary of the ward after the 2003 boundary changes.

Contents

The modern ward extends much further west from Bread Street itself and includes Paternoster Square, a modern development to the north of St Paul's Cathedral and home of the London Stock Exchange since 2004. [4] The city's major shopping centre which opened in 2010 is at One New Change within Bread Street Ward.

Boundaries

Southern end of Bread Street Southern end of Bread Street - geograph.org.uk - 764304.jpg
Southern end of Bread Street

As with most of the city's 25 wards, the boundaries of Bread Street were altered quite considerably in 2003, having remained almost unchanged for centuries. The ward is now bounded on its north by Cheap Ward; to the east by Cordwainer Ward; to the south by Queenhithe and Vintry Wards; and to the west by Castle Baynard and Farringdon Within Wards. [3] Its geographical boundaries are Bread Street in the east; Newgate Street and Cheapside in the north; Warwick Lane and Ave Maria Lane in the west; and Queen Victoria Street to the south.

St Paul's Cathedral is outside the ward boundaries, being in Castle Baynard Ward, but St Paul's Cathedral School, situated between the cathedral and New Change is within the ward.

Livery companies and parish churches

Five successive Livery Halls of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers (workers in fine leather) stood in the ward. They are commemorated by a blue plaque in the gardens of St Paul's facing Cannon Street. The fifth and last hall was built between 1909 and 1910, but on the night of 10 May 1941 was gutted during the Blitz. [5]

There were once two churches in the ward, All Hallows Bread Street and St Mildred, Bread Street, both to the design of Christopher Wren. Today their former parishes comprise part of St Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside. All Hallows was demolished in 1876 to make way for warehouses, and St Mildred was destroyed during The Blitz in April and May 1941. [6]

Politics

Bread Street is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing one Alderman and a number of Common Councillors (equivalent to Councillor) on the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only Freemen of the City are eligible to stand for election to the Court of Aldermen, and for the Common Council a candidate must be a Freeman and also an elector, a resident, or an owner of freehold or leasehold land within the City of London.

As of May 2024, the elected members for Bread Street include Alderman Sir William Russell, [7] Deputy Dr Giles Shilson and the Hon Emily Benn. [8]

John Milton's blue plaque. John Milton plaque Bread Street London.jpg
John Milton's blue plaque.

Notable residents

Admiral Arthur Phillip, Commander of the First Fleet and first Governor of New South Wales, was baptised at All Hallows' Bread Street in 1738; he joined the Royal Navy in 1755 and died on 31 August 1814 and is remembered on Australia Day. A bust of Admiral Phillip can be seen in the church gardens on Watling Street.

John Donne Memorial John Donne by Nigel Boonham, 2012, St Paul's Cathedral Garden.jpg
John Donne Memorial

Lord Mayor John Ansley was elected Alderman for Bread Street in 1800. [9]

Bread Street is the birthplace of the poets John Donne and John Milton, both of whom are commemorated within Bread Street Ward.

Related Research Articles

Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, England, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City.

Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheapside</span> Street in the City of London

Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where it becomes Poultry, is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and Bank station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St Paul's tube station and square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassishaw</span> Ward of the City of London

Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Hallows, Bread Street</span> Church in London, England

All Hallows Bread Street was a parish church in the Bread Street ward of the City of London, England. It stood on the east side of Bread Street, on the corner with Watling Street. First mentioned in the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren and demolished in 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cordwainer (ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Cordwainer is a small, almost rectangular-shaped ward in the City of London, England. It is named after the cordwainers, the professional shoemakers who historically lived and worked in this particular area of London; there is a Livery Company for the trade — the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers. The ward is sometimes referred to as the "Cordwainers' ward".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Street (ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Broad Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheap (ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Cheap is a small ward in the City of London, England. It stretches west to east from King Edward Street, the border with Farringdon Within ward, to Old Jewry, which adjoins Walbrook; and north to south from Gresham Street, the border with Aldersgate and Bassishaw wards, to Cheapside, the boundary with Cordwainer and Bread Street wards. The name Cheap derives from the Old English word "chep" for "market".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langbourn</span> Ward of the City of London

Langbourn is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London. It reputedly is named after a buried stream in the vicinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candlewick (ward)</span> Ward in the City of London

Candlewick is a small ward, one of the 25 ancient wards in the City of London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lime Street (ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Lime Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London.

It is divided into four precincts; and it is worthy a remark that, though the ward includes parts of several parishes, there is not even a whole street in it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleman Street Ward</span> Ward of the City of London

Coleman Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London, England, and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Baynard</span> Ward of the City of London

Castle Baynard is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge (City of London ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Bridge and Bridge Without is a small ward in the City of London and is named from its closeness to London Bridge. Since boundary changes in 2003, Bridge is bounded by the River Thames to the south, Swan Lane and Gracechurch Street to the west, Fenchurch Street to the north, and Rood Lane and Lovat Lane to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dowgate</span> Ward of the city of London

Dowgate, also referred to as Downgate and Downegate, is a small ward in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, England. The ward is bounded to the east by Swan Lane and Laurence Poutney Lane, to the south by the River Thames, to the west by Cousin Lane and College Hill, and to the north by Cannon Street. It is where the "lost" Walbrook watercourse emptied into the Thames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queenhithe</span> Ward of the City of London

Queenhithe is a small and ancient ward of the City of London, situated by the River Thames and to the south of St. Paul's Cathedral. The Millennium Bridge crosses into the City at Queenhithe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower (ward)</span> Ward of the City of London

Tower is one of the 25 wards of the City of London and takes its name from its proximity to the Tower of London. The ward covers the area of the City that is closest to the Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintry</span> Ward of the City of London

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Victoria Street, London</span> Street in the City of London

Queen Victoria Street, named after the British monarch who reigned from 1837 to 1901, is a street in London which runs east by north from its junction with New Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment in the Castle Baynard ward of the City of London, along a section that divides the wards of Queenhithe and Bread Street, then lastly through the middle of Cordwainer ward, until it reaches Mansion House Street at Bank junction. Beyond Bank junction, the street continues north-east as Threadneedle Street which joins Bishopsgate. Other streets linked to Queen Victoria Street include Puddle Dock, Cannon Street, Walbrook and Poultry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wards of the City of London</span> Special form of ward in the City of London

The City of London 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 local government reforms elsewhere in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike other modern English local authorities, the City of London Corporation has two council bodies: the now largely ceremonial Court of Aldermen, and the Court of Common Council.

References

  1. 1 2 Sukhadwala, Sejal (21 June 2016). "How London's Food And Drink Streets Got Their Names". Londonist. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  2. ↑ 30 Edw. I. Court Rolls
  3. 1 2 Book 2, Ch. 9: Bread Street Ward, A New History of London: including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 558-60
  4. ↑ City of London Police - Ward Profile Archived 2 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Cordwainers' Later History
  6. ↑ London Parishes www.stmarylebow.co.uk
  7. ↑ www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
  8. ↑ 2022 City of London Election results
  9. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine. W. Pickering. 1845.
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