Coleman Street
Encyclopedia
Wards of the City of London
The City of London , in the United Kingdom, is constituted of 25 wards. The City is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of London, with an ancient and sui generis form of local government, which avoided the many reforms enacted to local government elsewhere in the country in the 19th and...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
The Ward
Warren Stormes Hale
Warren Stormes Hale was Lord Mayor of London and founder of the City of London School.Born on 2 February 1791 he was orphaned and became an apprentice candlemaker or chandler; he was later twice Master of the Tallow Chandlers' Company....
, Lord Mayor of London in 1864, was the Ward’s most notable civic dignitary. It borders six wards and runs from Chiswell Street at its northern-most point, the border with the London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
,along Ropemaker Street around Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus is an elliptical square with its long axis lying east-west in the City of London, England; with an area of 2.2 hectares it is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It has an immaculately maintained Lawn Bowls club in the centre, which has existed in the gardens...
in the north-eastern corner via Blomfield Street down to Gresham Street and St Margaret Lothbury
St Margaret Lothbury
St. Margaret Lothbury is a Church of England parish church in the City of London; it spans the boundary between Coleman Street Ward and Broad Street Ward. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren....
before coming back up Silk Street, its western extremity. Historically, it takes its name from the profession of charcoal burners who occupied the area in mediaeval times. A very busy ward it has its own long established ward club and newsletter. Despite the bustle of business, the ward also contains the City’s “finest oasis of calm”, Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus is an elliptical square with its long axis lying east-west in the City of London, England; with an area of 2.2 hectares it is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It has an immaculately maintained Lawn Bowls club in the centre, which has existed in the gardens...
, an elliptical square with its own Bowling Club.
Coleman Street is one of 25 ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
s in the City of London, each electing an Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
, to the Court of Aldermen
Court of Aldermen
The Court of Aldermen is an elected body forming part of the City of London Corporation. The Court of Aldermen is made up of the twenty five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor...
and Commoners (the City equivalent of a Councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freeman of the City of London are eligible to stand. , the elected members for Coleman Street are Alderman Sir Robert Finch, Deputy Michael Cassidy CBE, Sophie Fernandes, Stuart Fraser, Michael Henderson-Begg and Matthew Richardson.
The Street
Coleman Street runs from London WallLondon Wall
London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in what is now the United Kingdom, and subsequently maintained until the 18th century. It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of...
, to the north, to where Gresham Street
Gresham Street
Gresham Street, in the City of London, is named after Thomas Gresham and runs from St. Martin's Le Grand near St Paul's Cathedral in the west, past Guildhall, to Lothbury in the east...
meets Lothbury
Lothbury
Lothbury is a street in the City of London. It runs east-west, between Gresham Street to the west and Throgmorton Street to the east. The area was populated with coppersmiths in the Middle Ages before later becoming home to a number of merchants and bankers. The Bank of England is on the southern...
, to the south. The church of St Stephen, Coleman Street used to stand at the southern end of the street, on the western side, but was completely destroyed in the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
and not rebuilt. At the northern end of the street stands Armourers' Hall.
On the night of January 5, 1642, after the King's failed attempt to arrest them, the 5 MPs Pym, Hampden, Haselrig, Strode and Holles hid on Coleman Street, utilising the support for Parliament that tended to be afforded by sympathisers in the City of London
External links
- City of London Corporation Coleman Street ward boundaries (2003 —)
- Map of Early Modern London: Coleman Street Ward - Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)
- Coleman Street Ward Club
