A Companion to Darton's Plan of London in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; Comprising a Brief Notice of Its Origin a General Review of the City and Its ... of the Marginal Views Accompanying the Plan

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829. Excerpt: ... whom we have before quoted. It is there said, that in 1010, Alwyne, bishop of Helmeham, caused the body of King Edmund the Martyr to be brought from Bedrisworth, now called Bury St. Edmunds, to London, in at Cripplegate, a place so called from cripples begging there. At which gate it was pretended that the body entering wrought miracles, and made some of the lame to walk upright, praising God. The charter too of William the Conqueror, confirming the foundation of the college of St. Martin the Great in London, speaks of "the moor without the postern, which is called Cripplegate." This postern was for some time a prison, to which citizens and others arrested for debt or common trespasses, were committed. Cripplegate was new built by the brewers of London in 1244; and again in the year 1491, the expence being defrayed by a legacy bequeathed for that purpose by Edmund Shaw, mayor, in 1483. Cripplegate was repaired, for the last time previous to its demolition, in the reign of Charles the Second, A. D. 1663. New-gate was situated at the distance of 1037 feet southwest from the spot where Aldersgate stood: it is generally supposed to have derived its name from its having been erected in the reign of Henry the First, several hundred years after the four original gates of the city. From ancient records it appears that, as early as the year 1218, Newgate was a common gaol for felons taken in the city of London, or the county of Middlesex. And, even in the year 1457, Newgate, and not the Tower, was the prison for the great nobility and officers of state. In consequence of the damage which Newgate experienced from the fire of London in 1666, it was repaired in the year 1672. The west side of the gate was adorned with the three ranges of Tuscan pilasters with their e...