Coleman Street Ward

Coleman Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London, England, and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington.

The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the former city wall, takes its name from a road linking Gresham Street with the London Wall road.

Modern ward boundary changes, particularly those of 2003, have much altered the extent of city wards, so that many no longer closely correlate to their historic areas.

Coleman Street is a very busy ward, it has its own long established ward club and newsletter.

The ward takes its name from Coleman Street, which took its name from the charcoal burners who occupied the area in medieval times.

The first mention of the ward appears to have been in 1130, but at that time it was common practice to use the name of the ward Alderman to refer to the ward. In the 1130 survey, Coleman Street Ward is thought to correspond to Warda Haconis.

The ward contains areas both outside and inside the line of the City's former defensive walls. There was no local gate through the wall until Moorgate, previously a small postern, was built in 1511. Abraham Cowley's 1661 Restoration comedy The Cutter of Coleman Street refers to the area.

It appears that the area outside, the once very marshy Lower and Little Moorfields (now mostly occupied by Finsbury Circus and the surrounding buildings), previously part of the Soke of Cripplegate and then the Manor of Finsbury, was added in the 17th century, though it was not developed until 1817.