Dowgate

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Ward of Dowgate
City of London, Ward of Dowgate.svg
Location within the City
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
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Ward of Dowgate
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ319812
Sui generis
Administrative area Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town London
Postcode district EC4
Dialling code 020
Police City of London
Fire London
Ambulance London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°30′40″N0°05′20″W / 51.511°N 0.089°W / 51.511; -0.089

Dowgate, also referred to as Downgate and Downegate, [1] 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.

Contents

A number of City livery companies are quartered in the ward: the Worshipful Company of Dyers, Worshipful Company of Innholders, Worshipful Company of Skinners and Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers. There is one church, St. Michael Paternoster, [lower-alpha 1] where, in addition to its local and congregational causes, the Anglican Mission to Seafarers convenes and fundraises. The ward also contains Cannon Street station, which is on the site of the Steelyard (a mediaeval trading port of the Hanseatic League), and Dowgate Fire Station on Upper Thames Street, the only London Fire Brigade station within the City of London. [2]

Politics

Dowgate is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, each electing an alderman to the Court of Aldermen and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freemen of the City of London are eligible to stand.

Cannon Street station, on the River Thames Cannon Street station seen from The Shard. Evening 2019-09-22.jpg
Cannon Street station, on the River Thames

Notes

  1. Described by John Betjeman as
    A round colonnaded temple with round urns on it, a middle stage with curving corbels, more urns, round turret supporting a vane.

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References

  1. Dowgate Ward, Map of Early Modern London, last updated 5 May 2022, accessed 5 June 2022
  2. London Fire Brigade, The City of London, accessed 5 June 2022

Bibliography

Betjeman, J, The City of London Churches, Andover, Pitkin, 1972 ISBN   0-85372-112-2