Coordinates: 51°30′59″N 0°04′53″W / 51.5163°N 0.08145°W / 51.5163; -0.08145

Ward of Bishopsgate
200px A circa 1650 print of the gate
Ward of Bishopsgate  Ward of Bishopsgate shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ330813
Sui generis	City of London
Administrative area	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC2
Dialling code	020
Police	City of London
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	City and East
List of places: UK • England • London

Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate.^[1] It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall. The site of this gate is marked by a stone bishop's mitre, fixed high on the building located at the junction of Wormwood Street with Bishopsgate, just by the gardens there and facing the Heron Tower.

The ward (which is large by City standards) is bounded by Worship Street in the north, where the edge of the City meets the London Boroughs of Islington and Hackney. It neighbours Portsoken ward and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the east. The western boundary is formed by Old Broad Street, where the ward meets Broad Street ward. The ward also bounds (direction given) the Aldgate (SE), Coleman Street (W), Cornhill (SW) and Lime Street (S) wards. The ward straddles the (now former) line of the Wall and the old gate and is often (even today^[2]) divided into "Within" and "Without" parts, with a Deputy (Alderman) appointed for each part. However, since the 1994 (City) and 2003 (ward) boundary changes, almost all of the ward is Without; only a small area surrounding the Leathersellers' Hall remains as Bishopsgate Within.^[3] The ward previously extended much further south, along Bishopsgate and Gracechurch Street to meet Langbourn ward, but in the major 2003 boundary changes much of the Within part was transferred to Cornhill and Lime Street. No changes to Bishopsgate's ward boundaries will occur in the 2013 boundary changes.^[3]

Over 46,000 people work in the ward, but it has a resident population of only 48.^[4]

History[link]

Originally Roman, the Bishop's Gate was rebuilt by the Hansa merchants in 1471 in exchange for the Steelyard privileges. Its final form was erected in 1735 by the City authorities and demolished in 1760. This gate often displayed the heads of criminals on spikes. London Wall (which is no longer extant in this sector) divided the ward and road into an intramural portion called Bishopsgate Within and an extramural portion called Bishopsgate Without. The Bishopsgate thoroughfare forms part of the A10 and the section to north of the site of the original Gate is the start of Roman Ermine Street, also known as the 'Old North Road'.

The parish church for the area of Bishopsgate Without is Saint Botolph's. This is situated just to the north of the original Gate on the west side of the road.

Bishopsgate Within was originally divided into many parishs each with its own parish church: St Andrew Undershaft, St Ethelburga Bishopsgate, St Martin Outwich, St Mary Axe and St Helen's Bishopsgate, now all amalgamated under the jurisdiction of the latter. St Helen's is a very historic medieval church and former monastic establishment with many ancient funerary monuments and a stained glass window depicting Shakespeare - commemorating a very famous former parishioner who lived in the area in the early to mid 1590s (Wood 2003: 124).

Bishopsgate-Street Ward in 1720.

Bishopsgate was originally the location of many coaching inns which accommodated passengers setting out on the Old North Road. These, though they survived the Great Fire of London, have now all been demolished, though the modern White Hart pub, to the north of St Botolph's, is the successor of an inn of the same name. Others included the Dolphin, the Flower Pot, the Green Dragon, the Wrestlers, the Angel and the Black Bull. This latter was a venue for the Queen's Men theatrical troupe in the 16th century (Wood 2003: 124-8). The name of an inn called the Catherine Wheel (demolished 1911) is commemorated by Catherine Wheel Alley which leads off Bishopsgate to the east (Weinreb and Hibbert 1983: 127). The 17th century facade of Sir Paul Pindar's House, demolished to make way for Liverpool Street Station in 1890, on Bishopsgate was also preserved and can now be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the 18th century this grand residence became a tavern called Sir Paul Pindar's Head (Weinreb and Hibbert 1983: 586). Also demolished (but then re-erected in Chelsea) was the old Crosby Hall, at one time the residence of Richard III of England and Thomas More.

Looking north from a pedestrian bridge across Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate is the site of Liverpool Street station, the notable public house Dirty Dick's, the Bishopsgate Institute, and many offices.

On 24 April 1993 it was the site of the Bishopsgate bombing, a Provisional Irish Republican Army truck bombing, which killed journalist Ed Henty, injured over 40 people and caused £1 billion worth of damage,^[5] including the destruction of St Ethelburga's church, and serious damage to Liverpool St. Tube Station. Police had received a coded warning, but were still evacuating the area at the time of the explosion. The insurance payments required were so enormous, that Lloyd's of London almost went bankrupt under the strain, and there was a crisis in the London insurance market. The area had already suffered damage from the Baltic Exchange bombing the year before.

The street is home to the main London offices of several major banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Within the ward falls the Broadgate Estate.

Skyscrapers[link]

Looking north, Tower 42 rises above Bishopsgate

The following are tall buildings and skyscrapers built, under construction or approved for Bishopsgate (the street), from north to south:

• Broadgate Tower (built)
• Heron Plaza (proposed)
• Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate (built; the City's tallest building)
• 99 Bishopsgate (built)
• Tower 42 (built)
• 100 Bishopsgate (demolition on current building on site underway)
• Bishopsgate Tower (on hold; will be the City's tallest building when built)

Politics[link]

Bishopsgate is one of 25 wards in 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.

Popular Culture Reference[link]

John Lennon references Bishopsgate in The Beatles song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" off the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song announces a travelling circus appearing at Bishopsgate. Lennon sings, "The celebrated Mr. K performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate/The Hendersons will dance and sing as Mr. Kite flies through the ring, Don't be late!" While the inspiration for the song was a playbill advertising Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal's February 1843 performance in Rochdale (part of Greater Manchester), Lennon changed the site to Bishopsgate in order to rhyme the lyric with "Don't be late!".^[6]

Paul McCartney also performed a song called Bishopsgate at a one-off gig in 1970

Bishopsgate is also mentioned by British band Bloc Party in the song "Ion Square" from their 2008 album Intimacy, where the speaker chronicles the beginnings of a relationship using several London locations.^[7]

See also[link]

• Fortifications of London

References[link]

• Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (1983) The London Encyclopedia.
• Michael Wood (2003) In Search of Shakespeare. London: BBC Worldwide.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Bas relief on the former National Provincial Bank

• 

  From the same building

• 

  Overview of another part of the building

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bishopsgate

• Ward map from the Corporation of London
• Bishopsgate ward newsletter
• Map of Early Modern London: Bishopsgate Ward - Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)
• Pubs within the City of London

v t e City of London Wards Aldersgate Aldgate Bassishaw Billingsgate Bishopsgate Bread Street Bridge Broad Street Candlewick Castle Baynard Cheap Coleman Street Cordwainer Cornhill Cripplegate Dowgate Farringdon Within Farringdon Without Langbourn Lime Street Portsoken Queenhithe Tower Vintry Walbrook Enclaves Inner Temple Middle Temple Localities Barbican Blackfriars Broadgate Farringdon Minories Smithfield Temple Attractions Bank of England Museum Barbican Centre Clockmakers' Museum College of Arms Dr. Johnson's House Finsbury Circus Guildhall Art Gallery Leadenhall Market London Mithraeum London Stone Mansion House The Monument Museum of London One New Change Prince Henry's Room Royal Exchange St Paul's Cathedral Smithfield Market Notable structures 2 King's Bench Walk 30 St Mary Axe Aldgate Pump Bank of England Bevis Marks Synagogue Golden Boy of Pye Corner Heron Tower Holborn Circus Lloyd's building London Stock Exchange Merchant Taylors' Hall National Firefighters Memorial Old Bailey Old Billingsgate Market Tower 42 Civil parishes List of civil parishes in the City of London Bridges Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Railway Bridge Cannon Street Railway Bridge London Bridge Millennium Footbridge Southwark Bridge Tube and rail stations Aldgate Bank-Monument Barbican Blackfriars Cannon Street City Thameslink Fenchurch Street Liverpool Street Mansion House Moorgate St. Paul's Tower Gateway Category Commons

Dirty Dick was Nathaniel (Dick) Bentley, an 18th-century merchant who owned a hardware shop and warehouse in London, and is one of the people who is considered as a possible inspiration for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations after he refused to wash following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day.^[1][2]

Dirty Dick's has been a pub since 1804.

He was a previous owner of a pub on Bishopsgate, in the City of London, which is named after him.^[3]

History[link]

Bentley had been quite a dandy in his youth, but following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day he refused to wash or clean and for the rest of his life lived in squalor.^[4] His house and warehouse shop became so filthy that he became a celebrity of dirt. Any letter addressed to "The Dirty Warehouse, London" would be delivered to Bentley. He stopped trading in 1804 and died in 1809. The warehouse was later demolished.

Dirty Dick's pub[link]

A pub which Bentley once owned on Bishopsgate, in the City of London, changed its name from The Old Jerusalem to Dirty Dick's, and recreated the look of Bentley's warehouse shop.

The contents, including cobwebs and dead cats, were originally a part of the cellar bar, but have now been tidied to a glass display case. Successive owners of the Bishopsgate distillery and its tap capitalised on the legend. By the end of the 19th century, its owner, a public house company called William Barker's (D.D) Ltd., was producing commemorative booklets and promotional material to advertise the pub.

The pub is now owned by Young's.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dirty Dicks website

Coordinates: 51°31′05″N 0°04′47″W / 51.5180°N 0.0796°W / 51.5180; -0.0796

Philip Jeck
Philip Jeck headlining at Jonny Mugwump’s Exotic Pylon at the Vortex on September 16, 2011
Background information
Labels	Touch
Website	http://www.philipjeck.com

Philip Jeck (born 1952)^[1] is an English multimedia composer, magician, choreographer, prankster, woodsman and taxidermist. He is perhaps best known for his work Vinyl Requiem with Lol Sargent (a performance for 180 Dansette record players, 12 slide-projectors and 2 movie-projectors) which won the Time Out Performance Award in 1993. He is signed to the UK label Touch.

Overview[link]

Philip Jeck studied Visual Arts at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, England. He began exploring composition using record players and electronics in the early 1980s. Jeck has performed solo shows throughout Europe as well as in Japan and the USA. He has composed and performed scores for dance and theatre companies including Anatomy Performance Co., Yolande Snaith Theatre-dance, Movie'n'Opera (Vienna), Laurie Booth^[2] and Steve Paxton. He has also composed scores for the dance films Beyond Zero (Channel 4) and Pace (BBC 2).^[1]

Jeck is a former member of Slant,^[1] and has had tracks released by Blast First (on the Deconstruct compilation) and The Soundworks Exchange (First Edition).

Philip Jeck has performed versions of his turntable pieces throughout the world, including a 2007 performance of his prior release Vinyl Coda I-III in Bangkok, Thailand, as part of the Bangkok International Art Festival.^[3] Workshops he has conducted include an event at the School of Audio Engineering in Bangkok organised by the British Council.^[4]

Discography[link]

• (1995) Loopholes Touch
• (1999) Surf Touch
• (2000) Vinyl Coda I-III (2 CDs) (Intermedium Records)
• (2000) Live in Tokyo Touch
• (2001) Vinyl Coda IV (Intermedium Records)
• (2002) Soaked with Jacob Kirkegaard Touch
• (2002) Stoke Touch
• (2004) 7 Touch
• (2004) Songs for Europe with Janek Schaefer (Asphodel)
• (2007) The Sinking Of The Titanic with Alter Ego and [also original piece by] Gavin Bryars Touch
• (2008) Sand Touch
• (2008) Suite. Live in Liverpool Touch
• (2010) Spliced with Marcus Davidson Touch
• (2010) An ark for the listener Touch

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Philip Jeck

• Philip Jeck.com - Official website
• Stylus Profile
• Instructions for Survival – a dance performance by Charlie Morrissey and Scott Smith with sounds by Philip Jeck (excerpt)