please empty your brain below
Plot twist: Dick Whittington didn’t own a cat. He was the cat!

solar penguin | 20.07.21 - 8:19 a.m. | #

Cannon Street again I have been there before, but I will return armed with this extra knowledge. Especially the Steelyard and the connection to the Hanseatic League.

On reading this post I finally found the answer to the subject of a photo I had taken back in 2009 of Suffolk lane. Like many tourists I had taken the photo but then didn't really remember where in London.

Michael | 20.07.21 - 8:56 a.m. | #

Great post!
Dowgate was named Doe Gate on earlier maps (Stag Gate) - perhaps a connection with Diana/Artemis . . . whose temple was reputed to be on or near the site of St. Pauls (shown on old OS maps)

Le Ver | 20.07.21 - 10:11 a.m. | #

The Nomura building, Watermark Place, seems largely empty at the moment. They recently found the rare small-flowered tongue-orchid in the garden on the roof.

It was formerly the site of Mondial House, the international switching centre, with its heavy white tiers beside the river. Years before, much of the site was the City of London Brewery; also the location of the churches of All-Hallows-the-Great and All-Hallows-the-Less, and Coldharbour. The hall of the Watermen's Company was here once too, remembered by a plaque set into the riverside walk.

London is a palimpsest, rewritten over and over again, layers upon layers.

Andrew | 20.07.21 - 11:12 a.m. | #

I think the timber footbridge is just timber cladding on the original concrete footbridge to Mondial house. The fire station was built as part of it, but wasn't demolished with the rest of the building.

dg writes: updated, thanks.

Ian | 20.07.21 - 11:28 a.m. | #

An odd little corner. But a fascinating collection of pictures of it, and some interesting historical snippets. The way Cannon Street (and Charing Cross) have been sandwiched between office blocks looks like the ultimate fate of most London termini. Unless WFH (or global boiling) changes things.

Malcolm of Kent | 20.07.21 - 11:40 a.m. | #

There’s also an excellent nightclub called the Steel Yard under Cannon St station. Didn’t know the naming link before; fascinating.

David | 20.07.21 - 1:51 p.m. | #

Is "dou" really Anglo-Saxon for water? I read this on a City website some years ago, but both then and now I can't find that "dou" corresponds to water in online Anglo-Saxon sources.

The Welsh word for water is "dwr", so if it is meant to be a 'watergate' of some form maybe it is Brythonic in origin. This would be appropriate if the Wal in Walbrook refers to British inhabitants (like Walton, Wales and Cornwall), as some suggest. Perhaps it was a British area within the City in Saxon times. Of course, this does not fit the 'approved narrative' of English history.

Huw B | 20.07.21 - 1:57 p.m. | #

Dowgate's alderman says the ward's name "is said to derive from the Anglo Saxon word “dou” meaning water"...
(see link in first paragraph)
...but they may of course be incorrect.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 20.07.21 - 2:19 p.m. | #

Thank you for supplying - possibly unwittingly - the answer to one of the questions in today's Radio Times quiz.
(Got them all right for once - yeh!)

Ian | 20.07.21 - 3:57 p.m. | #

I worked in Mondial for many years as a BT employee on the International circuits and yes that bridge was a concrete structure then.
The fire station was part of Mondial and obviously was retained when the new building was constructed.

Alan Ball | 20.07.21 - 5:10 p.m. | #

The earliest recorded spellings of the place-name Dowgate (Duuegate, 1151, Douegat, 1244) suggest a different etymology. The Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names proposes Old English dūfe and geat, loosely translating as dovegate, or 'gate frequented by pigeons or doves' as the dictionary proposes.

Jack Kirby | 20.07.21 - 11:33 p.m. | #

Readers can discover more on the history of the Cloak Lane vault on the late Mike Horne's website here.

Cloak Lane Vault | 21.07.21 - 7:27 a.m. | #

Some 30 years ago I had membership of the health club (or gym as we knew it) under Cannon St through a corporate deal with the company I worked for. It was called "Cannons" then, showing a startling lack of imagination (nice place though).

The point of this comment, however, is to say how much I'm enjoying this series on the City wards - thank you, dg.

Steve | 21.07.21 - 8:29 a.m. | #

The Dyers are only one of two livery companies that take responsibility for swan upping. The other one is the Vintners - just round the corner on Upper Thames Street.

Dave Cross | Homepage | 21.07.21 - 9:58 a.m. | #

I count five wards remaining, unless you've forgotten to update the map.

dg writes: it is four.

Klepsie | 21.07.21 - 9:47 p.m. | #











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