Aldersgate (Ward of). One of the 26 wards of London, and so called from the old City gate of the same name which shod across the high road between Bull-and-Mouth-street and Little Britain. This ward was divided into two distinct portions – Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without. Thus, St. Martin’s-le-Grand lies within the gate, and Aldersgate-street without the gate. General Boundaries. – “Aldersgate Bars,” in Goswell-street, (“a pair of posts” in Stow’s time): the General Post Office. Stow enumerates six churches in this ward: St. John Zachery; St. Mary Staning; St. Olave, in Silver-street; St. Leonard, in Foster-lane; St. Anne within Aldersgate; St. Botolph without Aldersgate. The first four were destroyed in the Great Fire, and not rebuilt: the last two alone remain. Little Britain and Goldsmiths’ Hall are in this ward.
Source: A Handbook for London, Past and Present. Peter Cunningham. Published by John Murray 1849.
