Aldgate tube station

Aldgate is a London Underground station located at Aldgate on the eastern edge of the City of London. It is on the Circle line between Tower Hill and Liverpool Street, the eastern terminus of the Metropolitan line and is in Travelcard Zone 1.

Aldgate was opened in 1876 with its entrance on Aldgate High Street. The nearby Aldgate East station opened eight years later and is served by the District and Hammersmith & City lines.

History

The route first proposed ran south from Moorgate to Cannon Street, but this was soon amended to the present alignment to allow connection with three additional termini: Liverpool Street, Broad Street, and Fenchurch Street. However, this change also forced an awkward doubling-back at Aldgate, reducing the desirability of the line for local traffic and greatly increasing the cost of construction due to high prices in the City of London.

The station was opened on 18 November 1876 with a southbound extension to Tower Hill opening on 25 September 1882, completing the Circle (line). Services from Aldgate originally ran further west than they do now, reaching as far as Richmond, and trains also used to run from Aldgate to Hammersmith (the Hammersmith & City line now bypasses the station). It became the terminus of the Metropolitan line in 1941. Before that, Metropolitan trains had continued on to the southern termini of the East London Line.

London Underground

The London Underground (or simply the Underground or the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. The network is considered the oldest rapid transit system, incorporating the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863 and is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; and the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2014/15 carried 1.305 billion passengers, making the Underground the world's 11th busiest metro system.

Aldgate

Coordinates: 51°30′48″N 0°04′40″W / 51.5132°N 0.0777°W / 51.5132; -0.0777

Aldgate was the eastern-most gateway through the London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End of London. It gives its name to a City ward bounded by White Kennet Street in the north and Crutched Friars in the south, taking in Leadenhall and Fenchurch Streets, which remain principal thoroughfares through the City, each splitting from the short street named Aldgate that connects to Aldgate High Street. The road is situated 2.3 miles (4 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.

John Cass's school, where a plaque records the former placement of London Wall, is sited on the north side of Aldgate (the street).

Etymology

The etymology of the name "Aldgate" is disputed. It is first recorded in 1052 as Æst geat ("east gate") but had become Alegate by 1108. Writing in the 16th century, John Stow derived the name from "Old Gate" (Aeld Gate). However, Henry Harben, writing in 1918, contended that this was wrong and that documents show that the "d" is missing in documents written before 1486–7. Alternative meanings include "Ale Gate" in connection with a putative ale-house or "All Gate" meaning the gate was free to all. Other possibilities canvassed by Harben include reference to a Saxon named "Ealh," or reference to foreigners ("el") or oil ("ele") or "awl". Gillian Bebbington, writing in 1972, suggests Alegate, Aelgate ("public gate") or Aeldgate" (Old Gate") as equally viable alternatives whilst Weinreb and Hibbert, writing in 1983, revert to Stow's theory that the name means "Old Gate".