The area of the former parish extends north from the City of London boundary to City Road, with a small part, around City Road Basin lying north of City Road. Goswell Road forms the western boundary with Clerkenwell, while the areas northern and eastern boundaries with the Shoreditch area of the London Borough of Hackney area have been adopted by the London Borough of Islington. St Luke's is inside the London Congestion Charging Zone, the Ultra Low Emission Zone, and is located in Zone 1. The nearest tube and railway stations are Barbican, Farringdon and Old Street.
History
The civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Luke's was created on the construction of the church in 1733, from the part of the existing parish of St Giles Cripplegate outside the City of London.[1] The area covered by the parish is the same as that previously occupied by the landholding known as the Manor of Finsbury.[2]
The civil parish became officially known as "St Luke's Middlesex". The parish was historically in the county of Middlesex, and was included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855. Under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Luke was divided into five wards (electing vestrymen): No. 1 (12), No. 2 (6), No. 3 (9), No. 4 (12) and No. 5 (9).[4]
Parishes of Finsbury borough in 1911, showing St. Luke's in the east
St Luke's has no formal boundaries. Those used here form a rough triangle: City Road and Finsbury Pavement/Finsbury Square to the east, the boundary with the City of London to the south, and Goswell Road to the west.
Anchor Yard – after a former inn here of this name[7]
Angel Gate
Baldwin Street – after Richard Baldwin, Treasurer at St Bartholomew's Hospital when the street was built in 1811[8]
Baltic Street East and Baltic Street West – the streets here were built by a timber merchant c. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Baltic refers to the Baltic softwood trade[9][10]
Banner Street – after the Banner family, late 18th-century landowners in the area[11][12]
Bath Street – after the former Peerless Pool here, later turned into a bath; it was formerly Pest House Row, after a plague hospital built here in the Tudor era (demolished 1736)[16][17]
Cahill Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s[20]
Cayton Place and Cayton Street – renamed, after the village in Yorkshire, from New Street in 1805, to avoid confusion with other streets of this name[21]
Central Street – named thus in 1861, for it lay in the centre of St Luke's Parish[22][21]
Chequer Street – after the former Chequers tavern here[23][24]
Cherry Tree Walk
Chiswell Street – old term meaning stony/gravelly earth[25]or a corruption of 'Choice Well', denoting a source of clean water[26]
Dingley Place and Dingley Road – after Charles Dingley, who instigated the construction of City Road in 1756[30][28]
Domingo Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant c. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Domingo is an alternative name for Hispaniola, a source of mahogany[31][10]
Dufferin Avenue and Dufferin Court – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s[20]
Errol Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s[20]
Gard Street – after a member of the nearby Orphan Working School[41]
Garrett Street – after a person of this name who was a member of the local parish vestry Works Committee[42][43]
Gee Street – after its 1784 builder, Osgood Gee[42][44]
George Gillett Court – for George Gillett, local politician in the early 20th century
Golden Lane – formerly Goldynglane, thought to be after a local property owner of the name Golding/Golda[45][46]
Goswell Road – there is dispute over the origins of the name, with some sources claiming the road was named after a nearby garden called 'Goswelle' or 'Goderell' which belonged to Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk,[47] while others state it derives from "God's Well", and the traditional pagan practice of well-worship,[48] or a former 'Gode Well' located here[49]
Hall Street – after James and Joseph Hall, who built the street in 1822[50][51]
Honduras Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant c. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Honduras was a source of mahogany[31][10]
Hull Street – after its 18th-century builder, William Hulls[54][55]
Lamb's Buildings and Lamb's Passage – after its early 19th-century owner William (or Thomas) Lamb; it was formerly known as Great Swordbearers Alley[59][60]
Mallow Street – after the former mallow field located here[66][67]
Martha's Buildings
Masons Place and Masons Yard
Memel Court and Memel Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant c. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Memel was a timber-exporting port in Germany (now Klaipėda in Lithuania)[31][10]
Moreland Street – after the Moreland family, prominent locally in the 19th century[72][73]
Mount Mills – after a former mount here supporting a windmill, later a chapel, and then in the Civil War a raised battery; it was levelled in 1750[74][75]
Nag's Head Court – after a former inn of this name[76]
Pear Tree Street – after the pear trees formerly grown here[83][84]
Peerless Street – site of the Peerless Pool, a bath used in the 18th century, thought to be a corruption of ‘perilous’[85][86]
Pickard Street – after a clergyman of this name who founded the Orphan Working School here in 1754[87][88]
President Street
Radnor Street – after the Earls of Radnor, who governed the French Hospital that was formerly here[39][40]
Red Cow Lane
Ropemaker Street – descriptive, after the rope making trade formerly located here[89][90]
Roscoe Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s[20]
St Agnes Well – after an ancient well thought to have been located about 200 metres to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Remnants of the well can be found within Old Street station.[91]
Whitecross Street Market is a market with stalls arranged in Whitecross Street and the road closed to traffic. There is a small general market every weekday, and a larger food market on Thursdays and Fridays. It has occasional food festivals.[105]
The market dates to the 17th century, and was formerly one of London's great Sunday markets, although today trading is largely limited to lunchtimes.[106] By the end of the 19th century, the area had become a by-word for poverty and alcohol abuse. It became known as Squalors' Market.[107]
St Luke's Parochial Trust
St Luke's Parochial Trust is an historic charity still operating in the St Luke's area, fulfilling its original purpose of improving the lives of local people. It has its origins in the gifts of land and money from benefactors to the ancient parish as far back as the 16th century. The charity owns and manages a busy community centre[108] on Central Street, from which a wide range of community activities and services are delivered and coordinated.
The community centre was originally the Central Street Board School, one of many Victorian era schools built and managed by the London School Board. The school closed during the Second World War whilst local school children were evacuated to the countryside to avoid the Blitz. The school reopened and operated after the war as the Frank Barnes School for the Deaf until the mid-1970s. St Luke's Parochial Trust purchased the building in 1979, and converted it to a community centre which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
↑ London Sunday Trading in Social Investigation/Journalism - Curiosities of London Life, or Phases, Physiological and Social of the Great Metropolis, Charles Manby Smith (1853); accessed 13 April 2009
↑ [Squalors' Market] in Social Investigation/Journalism - Unsentimental Journeys; or Byways of the Modern Babylon, James Greenwood (1867); accessed 13 April 2009
Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.
Farringdon is an area in London and is located in the London Borough of Islington. It lies just north of the border with the City of London in Central London and close to Holborn. The term is used to describe the area around Farringdon station.
St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace. During the Restoration in the 17th century, the area was developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the development of their gentlemen's clubs. Once part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields, much of it formed the parish of St James from 1685 to 1922. Since the Second World War the area has transitioned from residential to commercial use.
The Angel is an area on the northern fringes of Central London within the London Borough of Islington. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross on the Inner Ring Road at a busy transport intersection. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London. It is a significant commercial and retail centre, and a business improvement district. The Angel straddles the ancient boundary of the parishes of Clerkenwell and Islington that later became the metropolitan boroughs of Finsbury and Islington. It is named from the former Angel Inn which stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road. Since 1965 the whole area has formed part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Mayfair, in the City of Westminster. It utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Mayfair viz. Marble Arch/Cumberland Gate and Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the east, Piccadilly to the south and Park Lane to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Soho, in the City of Westminster. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Soho viz. Oxford Street to the north, Charing Cross Road to the east, Shaftesbury Avenue to the south and Regent Street to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Covent Garden. Covent Garden has no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are: Shaftesbury Avenue to the north-west, New Oxford Street and High Holborn to the north, Kingsway and the western half of the Aldwych semi-circle to the east, Strand to the south and Charing Cross Road to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Fitzrovia. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Fitzrovia viz. Euston Road to the north, Tottenham Court Road to the east, Oxford Street to the south and Great Portland Street to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Marylebone. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Marylebone viz. Marylebone Road to the north, Great Portland Street to the east, Marble Arch and Oxford Street to the south and Edgware Road to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Bloomsbury. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Bloomsbury viz. Euston Road to the north, Gray's Inn Road to the east, New Oxford Street, High Holborn, Southampton Row and Theobald's Road to the south and Tottenham Court Road to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names and principal buildings in the London districts of Clerkenwell and Finsbury, in the London Borough of Islington. The Clerkenwell/Finsbury area has no formally defined boundaries - those used here are: Pentonville Road to the north, Goswell Road to the east, Clerkenwell Road to the south and Gray's Inn Road to the west. Finsbury was traditionally roughly the northern part of the area covered here, however in practice the name is rarely used these days.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Westminster. The Westminster area has no formally defined boundaries - those utilised here are the generally accepted boundaries of: The Mall and Northumberland Avenue to the north, the river Thames and Victoria Embankment/Millbank to the east, Vauxhall Bridge Road to the south and Buckingham Gate, Buckingham Palace Road and Bressenden Place to the west. For convenience Constitution Hill and Spur Road in the Royal Parks, and the area around the Wellington Arch, are included here, as are the streets in the Leicester Square area.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the City of London.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London districts of Pimlico and Victoria. The area has no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are the generally accepted ones of: Vauxhall Bridge Road to the north-east, the river Thames to the south, the Victoria railway line, Buckingham Palace Road/Buckingham Gate/Grosvenor Gardens to the west and Lower Grosvenor Place/Bressenden Place to the north. Victoria is a vaguely defined area, but is generally used to refer to streets immediately around the station of that name.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the area of Regent's Park in London ; the area has no formal boundaries, though it generally thought to be delimited by Prince Albert Road to the north, Park Village East and Hampstead Road/the Euston railway line/Eversholt Street to the east, Euston Road and Marylebone Road to the south and Park Road and Baker Street to the west.
This is a list of the toponymy of street names in the London district of Vauxhall. The area has no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are Black Prince Road to the north, Kennington Road to the north-east, Kennington Park Road/Clapham Road to the south-east, Miles Street/Fentiman Road to the south, and Wandsworth Road/Nine Elms Lane/river Thames to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Waterloo. The area has no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are the river Thames to the north and west, Blackfriars Road to the east, and Westminster Bridge Road to the south.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London districts of Kennington and Lambeth. The areas have no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are Westminster Bridge Road/St George's Circus/London Road to the north, Newington Butts/Kennington Park Road to the east, Kennington Road and Black Prince Road to the south and the river Thames to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Southwark. The area has no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are: the river Thames to the north, Tower Bridge Road to the east, Bricklayers Arms/New Kent Road/Elephant and Castle to the south, and London Road/St George's Circus/Blackfriars Road to the west.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Belgravia. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of the area viz. South Carriage Drive to the north, Grosvenor Gardens/Place/Square to the east, Buckingham Palace Road/Victoria railway line to the south-east and Chelsea Bridge Road, Lower Sloane Street/Sloane Square/Sloane Street to the west.
References
Bebbington, G. (1972). London Street Names.
Ekwall, Eilert (1954). Street-Names of the City of London. Clarendon Press.
Fairfield, S. (1983). The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
