Fore Street is a street in the City of London, England, near the Barbican Centre. It runs from Wood Street to Fore Street Avenue and is joined by Moor Lane on its north side. The street was extensively damaged by Nazi bombing during World War II and, following later development, nothing now remains of its original buildings other than St Giles-without-Cripplegate, which is a short distance away from the modern street.
Fore Street was created outside (before) the London city walls, and thereby got its name. [1] In 1654, a postern gate was built at the northern end of Aldermanbury or the larger Cripplegate [2] and Fore Street soon became an important shopping street until the middle of the nineteenth century. [3]
In the nineteenth century Joseph Todd established his drapery business in Fore Street. James Morrison, who subsequently became a millionaire and MP started work for Todd and married his daughter. The firm became known as Morrison, Dillon & Co, and later was converted into the Fore Street Limited Liability Company. [4]
Before bombing during the Second World War, the street extended from Redcross Street to Finsbury Pavement. [3]
Fore Street, on 25 August 1940, was the first place in the City of London to be hit by a German bomb during the Second World War, just before the start of the London Blitz proper. A plaque in the wall of Roman House, on the corner with Wood Street, marks the spot. [3]
Up to the 1970s a Post Office telephone exchange stood between Moor Lane and Fore Street Avenue with a Post Office on the corner between Fore Street and Fore Street Avenue. [5]
St Giles-without-Cripplegate, a Church of England church, is located in Fore Street. [6] When built in the 11th century it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples. It is one of the few medieval churches left in the City of London, having survived the Great Fire of 1666, but it has been extensively altered and rebuilt over the years and was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War. Oliver Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier there in 1620. Martin Frobisher, John Speed and John Milton were all buried there. [7]
Salters' Hall, home of the Worshipful Company of Salters, is at 4 Fore Street. [8] The present building, opened in 1976, was originally designed by architect Basil Spence.
Novelist Daniel Defoe was probably born in Fore Street in around 1660. [3] The exact date and house are not known. [9] His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow chandler and a member of the Butchers' Company.
In 1850, Ebenezer Howard, originator of the garden city movement and the son of a confectioner, was born in the street. [3]
Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.
Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London, England.
Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting as a dam, impeding the flow of the River Walbrook and its tributaries.
St Olave's Church, Hart Street, is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on the corner of Hart Street and Seething Lane near Fenchurch Street railway station.
All Hallows Staining was a Church of England church located at the junction of Mark Lane and Dunster Court in the north-eastern corner of Langbourn ward in the City of London, England, close to Fenchurch Street railway station. All that remains of the church is the tower, built around AD 1320 as part of the second church on the site. Use of the grounds around the church is the subject of the Allhallows Staining Church Act 2010.
St Dunstan-in-the-East was a Church of England parish church on St Dunstan's Hill, halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London in the City of London. The church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and the ruins are now a public garden.
St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of handicapped and infirm people of many different kinds. It is one of the few medieval churches left in the City of London, having survived the Great Fire of 1666.
St Mary Aldermanbury was a parish church in the City of London first mentioned in 1181 and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt in Portland stone by Christopher Wren, it was again gutted by the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the walls standing. These stones were transported to Fulton, Missouri in 1966, by the residents of that town, and rebuilt in the grounds of Westminster College as a memorial to Winston Churchill. Churchill had made his Sinews of Peace, "Iron Curtain" speech in the Westminster College Gymnasium in 1946.
Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west.
St Alban's was a church in Wood Street, City of London. It was dedicated to Saint Alban. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt in 1634, destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt, this time to a Gothic design by Sir Christopher Wren. It was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War and the ruins cleared, leaving only the tower.
St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was a church and parish in the City of London located on Bartholomew Lane, off Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, then rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church was demolished in 1840.
St. Mary Staining was a parish church in Oat Lane, northeast of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the City of London. First recorded in the 12th century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Olave's Church, Silver Street was a church on the south side of Silver Street, off Wood Street in the Aldersgate ward of the City of London. It was dedicated to St Olaf, a Norwegian Christian ally of the English king Ethelred II. The church was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Alphege or St Alphage London Wall was a church in Bassishaw Ward in the City of London, built directly upon London Wall. It was also known as St Alphege Cripplegate, from its proximity to Cripplegate. It is now operated as St Alphege Gardens.
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.
Wood Street is a street in the City of London, the historic centre and primary financial district of London. It originates in the south at a junction with Cheapside; heading north it crosses Gresham Street and London Wall. The northernmost end runs alongside The Postern, part of the Barbican estate, stopping at Andrewes House. Today Wood Street lies within the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap.
Whitecross Street is a short street in Islington, in Inner London. It features an eponymous street market and a large housing estate.
Russia Row is a street in the City of London that runs between Milk Street and Trump Street on the northern side of the former Honey Lane Market. Russia Court, formerly Robin Hood Court, the home of the Russia Company, was once located on the northern side of the street and the City of London School on the south side. The street is thought to have received its name around 1804, shortly before Russia decided to enter the Napoleonic Wars on the same side as Britain. It was damaged by German bombing during the Second World War and has since been completely rebuilt.
Milk Street in the City of London, England, was the site of London's medieval milk market. It was the location of the parish church of St Mary Magdalen which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and then of Honey Lane Market and the City of London School. The street was seriously damaged by German bombing during the Second World War and has since been completely rebuilt. Nothing remains of its former buildings.
Honey Lane Market was an historic market near Cheapside in the City of London.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Goodwin, Gordon (1894). "Morrison, James". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.