Editing Newgate

{{short description|One of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Newgate Hollar.PNG|thumb|right|225px|An old illustration of the gate, from a London map of 1690.{{Efn|The map is based on a [[Wenceslaus Hollar]] posthumous map of 1685.}}<ref name=bl>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldmapsonline.org/map/britishlibrary/007000000000002U00063000 |title=London, Westminster and Southwark |work=Old Maps Online |author=British Library }}</ref>]]

'''Newgate''' was one of the historic seven gates of the [[London Wall]] around the [[City of London]] and one of the six which date back to [[Ancient Rome|Roman times]]. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the [[River Fleet]] to [[Middlesex]] and western England. Beginning in the 12th century, parts of the gate buildings were used as a [[gaol]], which later developed into [[Newgate Prison]].

==Name==
[[File:Newgate London 01 07 2014.jpg|thumb|Blue plaque on the site of Newgate]]
It was once thought that Newgate was "New" since it was built after the Roman period, but archaeological evidence has shown that it was of Roman origin; it is therefore possible that the gate was named so when the [[Ludgate]] became less used, due to the building of the fourth St Paul's Cathedral in the early medieval period.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Halliday |date=2007 |title=Newgate: London's Prototype of Hell |page=3 |isbn=978-0750938969 |publisher=The History Press}}</ref> It was previously known as Chamberlains Gate, there was a landholding referred to as the [[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain's]] [[Soke (legal)|Soke]]<ref>London, its origin and early development William Page 1923 (including reference to the primary source). Link: https://archive.org/details/londonitsorigine00pageuoft/page/178/mode/2up/search/bishopsgate p179</ref> lying just outside Newgate, forming part of the ward of [[Farringdon Without]].

==Structure and history==
[[File:Remains of Roman Wall, Newgate, 1903 by Philip Norman.jpg|thumb|Remains of Roman Wall, Newgate, 1903 by [[Philip Norman (artist)|Philip Norman]]]]
Excavations in 1875, 1903 and 1909 revealed the Roman structure and showed that it consisted of a double roadway between two square flanking guardroom towers.<ref name="pevsner" />{{rp|272–3}}<ref>{{cite book |first1=Felix |last1=Barker |author-link1=Felix Barker |first2=Peter |last2=Jackson |author-link2=Peter Jackson (artist) |date=1974 |title=London: 2000 Years of a City and its People |pages=10–11 |isbn=0304292648 |publisher=Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated}}</ref>

From the 12th century, the gate was used as a prison for debtors and felons.<ref name="BenWeinreb">{{cite book |first1=Ben |last1=Weinreb |author-link1=Ben Weinreb |first2=Christopher |last2=Hibbert |author-link2=Christopher Hibbert |date=1983 |title=The London Encyclopedia |page=547 |isbn=1405049243 |publisher=Macmillan}}</ref> Jack Cade was beheaded publicly in Newgate after the conclusion of his [[Jack Cade's Rebellion|failed rebellion]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Castor |first=Helen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cH-Z-6osohsC |title=Blood and Roses |date=2011-11-03 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-28680-5 |pages=61 |language=en}}</ref> The notorious [[Newgate Prison]], was later extended to the south on the site of the modern [[Old Bailey|Central Criminal Court]] on Old Bailey. The gate was demolished in 1767.<ref name="BenWeinreb" />

==Communications and surrounding area==
Newgate Street, today part of the [[A40 road|A40 London to Fishguard route]], is mostly located within the city wall, leading west from [[Cheapside]] to the site of the old gate, and then continuing onto [[Holborn Viaduct]] at the point where the Old Bailey thoroughfare joins to the south and [[Giltspur Street]] to the north. A notable discovery here was a Roman tile inscribed with a disgruntled comment that "Austalis has been going off on his own for 13 days".<ref name="pevsner" />{{rp|272}} The [[Roman road]] continued along [[High Holborn]] and [[Oxford Street]], via the [[Devil's Highway (Roman Britain)|Devil's Highway]] to [[Silchester]] and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]<ref name="pevsner">{{cite book |first=Nikolaus |last=Pevsner |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=1973 |title=London: Volume 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 |isbn=978-0300096248 |publisher=Yale University Press}}</ref>{{rp|31}}

To the north of the street are the public gardens around the ruins of [[Christ Church Greyfriars]] (bombed during World War II) on the site of a medieval Franciscan monastery. To the south is [[Paternoster Square]] leading towards [[St Paul's Cathedral]].

==See also==
[[File:H. W. Brewer, Newgate.jpg|right|thumb|Newgate (lower right) from the west, 16th century]]
* [[Fortifications of London]]
* [[City gate]]
* [[Defensive wall]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20031224232648/http://www.motco.com/Map/81002/SeriesSearchPlatesFullb.asp?mode=query&artist=384&other=293&x=11&y=11 An 18th-century map showing the location of the gate (bottom right corner of map)]

{{coord|51|30|53.09|N|0|6|1.22|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

{{City of London gates}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1767]]
[[Category:London Wall and its gates]]
[[Category:Town gates in England]]
[[Category:Former gates]]