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Ludgate Hill
Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London, England. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760.
The area includes St Paul's Cathedral. The modern cathedral, it has been claimed, was built on a site that – during the Roman British era of the early first millennium – was occupied by a major Roman temple, dedicated to the goddess Diana.
Ludgate Hill itself is traditionally regarded as one of a trio of hills in Central London, the others being Tower Hill and Cornhill. The highest point in the City is just north of St Paul's, at 17.6 metres (58 ft) above sea level.
The modern street named Ludgate Hill, which was previously a much narrower thoroughfare named Ludgate Street, runs between St Paul's Churchyard and Ludgate Circus (built in 1864), at which point it becomes Fleet Street.
Ludgate is generally accepted to derive from the Old English term "hlid-geat" from "hlid" ("lid, cover, opening, gate") and "geat" or "gæt" ("gate, opening, passage") and was a common Old English compound meaning "postern" or "swing gate" and survives in various place names across England as well as in surnames.
Ludgate is mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136. According to the pseudohistorical work the name comes from the mythic Welsh king Lud son of Heli whom he claims also gave his name to London. The Cronycullys of Englonde tell us of an early king of Britain: "he lete make a fayre gate and called hit Lud Gate after his name" in the year 66 BC, but it is more likely that the Romans were the first to build it, and that it is simply named after him. One proposed derivation, entirely prosaic, is that the name is a variation on "Fleodgaet", or "Fleet-gate".
Many small alleys on Ludgate Hill were swept away in the mid 1860s to build Ludgate Hill railway station between Water Lane and New Bridge Street, a station of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. It was closed to passengers in 1929 and the railway bridge and viaduct between Holborn Viaduct and Blackfriars stations was demolished in 1990 to enable the construction of the City Thameslink railway station in a tunnel. This also involved the regrading of the slope of Ludgate Hill at the junction.
There is a blue plaque near the bottom of the hill with these words: "In a house near this site was published in 1702 The Daily Courant first London daily newspaper".
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Ludgate Hill AI simulator
(@Ludgate Hill_simulator)
Ludgate Hill
Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London, England. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760.
The area includes St Paul's Cathedral. The modern cathedral, it has been claimed, was built on a site that – during the Roman British era of the early first millennium – was occupied by a major Roman temple, dedicated to the goddess Diana.
Ludgate Hill itself is traditionally regarded as one of a trio of hills in Central London, the others being Tower Hill and Cornhill. The highest point in the City is just north of St Paul's, at 17.6 metres (58 ft) above sea level.
The modern street named Ludgate Hill, which was previously a much narrower thoroughfare named Ludgate Street, runs between St Paul's Churchyard and Ludgate Circus (built in 1864), at which point it becomes Fleet Street.
Ludgate is generally accepted to derive from the Old English term "hlid-geat" from "hlid" ("lid, cover, opening, gate") and "geat" or "gæt" ("gate, opening, passage") and was a common Old English compound meaning "postern" or "swing gate" and survives in various place names across England as well as in surnames.
Ludgate is mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136. According to the pseudohistorical work the name comes from the mythic Welsh king Lud son of Heli whom he claims also gave his name to London. The Cronycullys of Englonde tell us of an early king of Britain: "he lete make a fayre gate and called hit Lud Gate after his name" in the year 66 BC, but it is more likely that the Romans were the first to build it, and that it is simply named after him. One proposed derivation, entirely prosaic, is that the name is a variation on "Fleodgaet", or "Fleet-gate".
Many small alleys on Ludgate Hill were swept away in the mid 1860s to build Ludgate Hill railway station between Water Lane and New Bridge Street, a station of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. It was closed to passengers in 1929 and the railway bridge and viaduct between Holborn Viaduct and Blackfriars stations was demolished in 1990 to enable the construction of the City Thameslink railway station in a tunnel. This also involved the regrading of the slope of Ludgate Hill at the junction.
There is a blue plaque near the bottom of the hill with these words: "In a house near this site was published in 1702 The Daily Courant first London daily newspaper".