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Moorgate

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   Moorgate was one of the minor gates of the old London Wall. Though the
   gate itself was demolished in 1761, the name survives as a major street
   in the heart of the City of London. The street connects the city to
   Islington, and was constructed around 1846 for the formation of new
   approaches to London Bridge.

   The name "Moorgate" derives from the surrounding area of Moorfields,
   which was one of the last pieces of open land in the city. Today this
   region is a financial centre, and is home to several of the United
   Kingdom's major investment and commercial banks. The street also
   showcases historic and contemporary office buildings, including the
   Guildhall and the Moorhouse.

   The Moorgate station on the London Underground is widely remembered for
   the Moorgate tube crash of 1975. In the incident, a train terminating
   at the station failed to stop and crashed into a brick wall, and 43
   people were killed. This resulted in systems being installed on the
   Underground which automatically stop trains at dead-ends, which have
   become known as Moorgate control.

History

   An engraving showing Moorgate before it was demolished in 1762.
   Enlarge
   An engraving showing Moorgate before it was demolished in 1762.

   The earliest descriptions of Moorgate date from the early 15th century,
   where it was described as only a postern in the London city wall.
   Located between Bishopsgate and Cripplegate and leading to a moor known
   as Moorfields, it was not one of the larger or more important of the
   city gates.

   In 1415 an ordinance enacted that the old postern be demolished. It was
   replaced with a newer and larger structure located further to the west,
   which included a wooden gate to be shut at night. This gate was
   enlarged again in 1472 and 1511, and then damaged in the Great Fire of
   London. Although the city gates had ceased to have any modern function
   apart from decoration, it was replaced along with Ludgate, Newgate, and
   Temple Bar with a stone gate in 1672.

   Moorgate was demolished with all the other London city wall gates in
   1761, and the resulting stone was sold for £166 to the Corporation of
   London to support the starlings of the newly widened centre arch of the
   London Bridge. Little Moorgate was a gate opposite Little Winchester
   Street leading into Moorfields. It was demolished by 1755, however it
   gave its name to a street taken down by the construction of the
   railways.

   The Moorfields were one of the last pieces of open land in the City of
   London. The fields were divided into three areas: the Moorfields
   proper, just inside the City boundaries, north of Bethlem Royal
   Hospital (also known as Bedlam, the world's oldest psychiatric
   hospital), and Middle and Upper Moorfields (both also open fields) to
   the north. Much of Moorfields was developed in 1777 and turned into
   present day Finsbury Circus.
   Map of London Wall, Moorgate, Moorfields and Bethlem Royal Hospital
   from John Rocque's Map of London, dated 1746.
   Enlarge
   Map of London Wall, Moorgate, Moorfields and Bethlem Royal Hospital
   from John Rocque's Map of London, dated 1746.

   Today, the name survives in the name of the Catholic parish of St. Mary
   Moorfields; Moorfields the short street parallel with Moorgate; and
   Moorfields Highwalk, one of the pedestrian "streets" at high level in
   the Barbican Estate.

   In addition, the London Dispensary for curing diseases of the Eye and
   Ear was founded on the Moorfields in 1805, and evolved to become the
   present Moorfields Eye Hospital, which is now located on City Road
   (known popularly from the second verse of the nursery rhyme Pop Goes
   the Weasel), and is close to Old Street station.

   Moorfields was the site of the first hot air balloon flight in England,
   when Italian Vincenzo Lunardi took off on the afternoon of 15 September
   1784. Lunardi flew in a hydrogen balloon from the area of the
   Honourable Artillery Company near Moorfields (where it still is to this
   day, occupying a site next to City Road). The ascent took place in
   front of 100,000 spectators as well as the then Prince of Wales,
   George, Duke of Cornwall. The envelope of the balloon was made of oiled
   silk, and had a diameter of 33  ft (10  metres) which resulted in a
   volume of 18,200  cubic feet (515  m³). Due to the size of the balloon,
   it took all of the previous evening and early morning to fill it.
   Lunardi first landed at Welham Green (North Mymms), Hertfordshire, 13
   miles (21  km) north of London (where the landing is commemorated with
   a stone, at a location now known as Balloon Corner) and then continued
   his flight to land at Ware, Hertfordshire after flying a total of
   24 miles.

Moorgate Street and neighbourhood

   Moorhouse
   Enlarge
   Moorhouse

   The contemporary dual carriage street of Moorgate runs north from
   Princes Street and Lothbury near the location of the Bank of England,
   past London Wall and the location of the old gate, and then continues
   north. It is located inside the London EC2 postal district. After
   leaving the City of London in the direction of the Borough of
   Islington, the street is known as Finsbury Pavement, which at one time
   was known as Moor Fields Pavement, and then City Road. The street was
   constructed around 1846 as one of the new approaches to London Bridge.
   While the street was formally known as "Moorgate Street", the street
   part of the name eventually fell out of use.

   The street is lined with offices of several major commercial banks and
   investment banks. A new commercial development on Moorgate, known as
   Moorhouse, is scheduled to open in 2005. The building is located at the
   corner of Moorgate and London Wall, and was designed by Foster and
   Partners. The building has 28,000  m² of office space in 19 storeys,
   and is built in the location of a smaller office building built in the
   1960s known as Moor House. The building incorporates part of
   Crossrail's new station and ticket hall serving Liverpool Street and
   Moorgate.
   The Guildhall, image courtesy of the Corporation of London
   Enlarge
   The Guildhall, image courtesy of the Corporation of London

   There is a campus of the London Metropolitan University, formerly a
   part of the London Guildhall University, on Moorgate. The campus houses
   its business school, a library, and other administrative facilities.
   There is a small side street to the east off of Moorgate, known as
   Moorgate Place. It now connects to another side street known as Swan
   Alley, in turn connecting to Moorgate. The side street is the location
   of the Chartered Accountants' Hall, home of the Institute of Chartered
   Accountants in England and Wales,

   The Guildhall is connected to Moorgate station via Bassishaw Highwalk.
   The Guildhall is the home of the Corporation of London and the centre
   of City government since the Middle Ages. Adjacent and internally
   connected to the Guildhall is the Guildhall Art Gallery, which houses
   the art collection of the City of London. It occupies a stone building
   in a semi- Gothic style which was completed in 1999 to replace an
   earlier building destroyed in 1941.

   Finsbury Circus, an oval-shaped circus, branches east out of Moorgate,
   sitting on the site of the old Bethlem Hospital and part of Moorfields.
   The gardens in the centre of the circus occupy a 5,000 square metre
   (1.2  acres) plot enclosed by railings, and include the immaculate lawn
   of the City of London Bowls Club. Built in 1814, it is unusual amongst
   London's squares in being elliptical, with the major axis oriented
   west-east. According to the National Register of Historic Parks and
   Gardens, the garden is Grade II listed.

   The London branch of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is located at 12-15
   Finsbury Circus. BP's headquarters were previously at 1 Finsbury Circus
   (it is now at 1 St. James' Square).

   Moorgate is also the birthplace of John Keats, one of the principal
   poets in the English Romantic movement. Keats was born in 1795 in the
   Swan and Hoop Inn at 199 Moorgate, where his father was an ostler. The
   pub is now called "The John Keats at Moorgate", having previously been
   known as "The Moorgate Coffee House" and "The Moorgate", only a few
   yards from Moorgate station.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorgate"
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