View source for Moorgate

{{about|the street and area in central London|the rail and tube station|Moorgate station|the village in Norfolk|Moorgate, Norfolk}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{infobox UK place
| official_name            = Moorgate
| map_type                 = Greater London
| country                  = England
| region                   = London
| london_borough           = City of London
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.5174|-0.0887|region:GB|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference        = TQ327811
| population               =
| population_ref           = 
| post_town                = LONDON
| postcode_area            = EC
| postcode_district        = EC2
| dial_code                = 020
| constituency_westminster = [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]] 
}}
'''Moorgate''' was one of the [[City of London]]'s northern gates in its [[London Wall|defensive wall]], the last to be built. The gate took its name from the [[Moorfields]], an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall.

The gate was demolished in 1762, but gave its name to a major street, ''Moorgate'', laid out in 1834. The area around the street and around [[Moorgate station]] is informally also referred to as ''Moorgate''. The Moorgate district is home to many financial institutions and has many notable historic and contemporary buildings.

Moorgate station was the site of the [[Moorgate tube crash]] of 1975, when a [[Northern City Line]] train failed to stop and hit a brick wall killing 43. This resulted in systems, known as [[Moorgate control]],  being installed on the Underground in order to stop trains at dead-ends.

==The gate==
[[File:Moorgate Hollar.PNG|thumb|The Moorgate, 1650]]
[[File:Moorgate gate.jpg|left|thumb|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 Wall|London city wall]]. Located between [[Bishopsgate]] and [[Cripplegate]] and leading to a marshy open space known as [[Moorfields]], it was not one of the larger or more important of the city gates.

In 1415 an [[local ordinance|ordinance]] enacted that the old postern be demolished.  It was replaced with a newer and larger structure located farther 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]] in 1666.  Although the City gates had ceased to have any modern function apart from decoration, it was replaced along with [[Ludgate]], [[Newgate]], and [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]] with a stone gate in 1672.
[[File:City of London Ward Map, 1870.svg|thumb|The Moorgate linked the parts of Coleman Street Ward on either side of London's Wall]]

Moorgate and the Wall originally formed the northern boundary of [[Coleman Street Ward]]. It appears that the area outside, the once very marshy [[Moorfields|Lower and Little Moorfields]] (now mostly occupied by [[Finsbury Circus]] and the surrounding buildings), previously part of the [[Finsbury|Manor of Finsbury]] were added in the 17th century,{{efn|The Ward did not extend beyond the wall at the time of John Stows survey of 1603 – but it did by the time of Ogilby and Morgans map of 1676}} though it was not developed until 1817.

Moorgate was demolished with most of the other London city wall gates in 1761/2, and the resulting stone was sold for £166 to the [[City of London Corporation]] to support the [[Starling (architecture)|starlings]] of the newly widened centre arch of the [[London Bridge]].

Little Moorgate was a postern opposite [[Little Winchester Street]] leading into [[Moorfields]]. It had been demolished by 1755, but gave its name to a street <ref>Boyle, P. ''Boyle's View of London, and its Environs''; 1799. London, accessed at [http://www.londonancestor.com/boyle/str-l.htm] 2008-04-12</ref> that was later removed for the building of a railway.

==Moorgate Street and locality==
[[File:MoorHouse.jpg|thumb|[[Moor House]]]]
[[File:City Point building.jpg|thumb|[[CityPoint]]]]
The area around the former gate, Moorgate Street and Moorgate station is referred to informally as the ''Moorgate'' area. This locale roughly approximates to the [[Coleman Street Ward]] of the [[City of London]].

The contemporary street of Moorgate runs north from Princes Street and [[Lothbury]] at the back of the [[Bank of England]], across the road named London Wall and the location of the old gate, and then continues north. After leaving the [[City of London]] in the direction of the [[London 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 [[Chartered Accountants' Hall]], on Moorgate Place, is the home of the [[Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales]].

The [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]] is connected to [[Moorgate station]] via Bassishaw Highwalk. The Guildhall is the home of the [[City of London Corporation]] 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 architecture|Gothic]] style which was completed in 1999 to replace an earlier building destroyed in 1941.

The [[Moorfields]] were an extensive area of open land, partly in the City of London, partly in the [[Finsbury|Manor of Finsbury]]. The Lower Moorfields was home to the [[Bethlem Royal Hospital]] (also known as Bedlam, Europe's oldest [[psychiatric hospital]]) from 1676 to 1815.

[[File:Rocque e1 MoorgateCrop.jpg|thumb|Rocque e1 MoorgateCrop]]
The Lower Moorfields was developed in 1817, with the building of [[Finsbury Circus]]. Finsbury Circus includes a number of classical buildings surrounding an oval-shaped [[circus]]. The gardens in the centre of the circus occupy a {{convert|5,000|sqm|acre|adj=on}} plot enclosed by railings, and include the lawn of the City of London Bowls Club.

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

A new commercial development on Moorgate, known as [[Moor House]], opened in 2005. The building is located at the corner of Moorgate and London Wall, and was designed by [[Foster and Partners]]. The building has {{cvt|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. A 36 m shaft under the building incorporates part of [[Crossrail]]'s new station and ticket hall serving Liverpool Street.

During the 1940s-60s, HM Customs and Excise investigation staff were based at Moorgate Hall, 153 Moorgate.

There is a campus of the [[London Metropolitan University]], formerly a polytechnic, and part of the [[London Guildhall University]], on Moorgate. The campus houses its business school, a [[library]], and other administrative facilities.

A number of large buildings are being planned or already built in the neighbouring streets. These include a 43-storey, 140 m residential skyscraper at Milton Court ([[The Heron]]), that is taller than [[CityPoint]], and a 90 m office tower at Ropemaker Place is also being developed by [[British Land]], with construction already underway.

==Nearest places==
* [[Barbican Estate]]

==Nearby rail and Tube==
;[[National Rail]]
*[[Liverpool Street station]]
*[[Moorgate station]]

;[[London Underground]]
*Moorgate station: [[Northern line]] (city branch), [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle]], [[Hammersmith & City line|Hammersmith & City]] and [[Metropolitan line|Metropolitan]] lines

== Bus routes ==
Moorgate is served by the following bus routes: 21, [[London Buses route 43|43]] (24 hour), 76 (24 hour), [[London Buses route 100|100]], [[London Buses route 141|141]], 153, 214 (24 hour), 271 (24 hour) and Night Bus route N551 (Towards [[Gallions Reach]] on a temporary diversion)

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
;Books and articles
* Lange, D. ''The Queen's London: A Pictorial and Descriptive Record of the Streets, Buildings, Parks and Scenery of the Great Metropolis''. Cassell and Company, London, 1896.
* Harris, C. M. ''What's in a name? The origins of the names of all stations in current use on the London Underground and Docklands Light rail with their opening dates.'' Midas Books and [[Transport for London|London Transport]], fourth edition, 2001. {{ISBN|1-85414-241-0}}.
* Mills, A. D. ''Dictionary of London Place Names''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2004. {{ISBN|0-19-860957-4}}.
* Rocque, J. ''Rocque's Map of London''. 1746 and 1763.
* Harben, H. A. ''A Dictionary of London''. 1918.
* Stow, J. ''Survey of London''. 1720 and 1755. 2 volumes.
* [[Sidney Colvin|Colvin, Sidney]]. ''John Keats - Biography''. 1887.
* Motion, A. ''Keats''. [[University of Chicago]] Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-374-18100-4}}.
* Holloway, S. ''Moorgate: Anatomy of a Railway Disaster''. Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1989. {{ISBN|0-7153-8913-0}}.
* Bacon, J. M. ''The Dominion of the Air'', Chapter 3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050415080713/http://www.ballooning.net/doach03.htm Online extract].

;Other web sites
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018214144/http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1079692807470 Metronet history of the Circle Line]. Retrieved 31 March 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071025052021/http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1079017504638 Metronet history of the Hammersmith and City Line]. Retrieved 31 March 2005.

==External links==
{{commons}}
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/28/newsid_2515000/2515033.stm BBC News account of the 1975 crash]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018214144/http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1077885590015 Moorgate station]. Official homepage of the station from [[Metronet (British infrastructure company)|Metronet]]
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_files/ENG/LON/Rocque/rocque_index.htm John Rocque's Map of London - 1746].
*[http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=532747&y=181599&z=0&sv=EC2M+6SQ&st=2&pc=EC2M+6SQ&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf Streetmap.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190202/http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=532747&y=181599&z=0&sv=EC2M+6SQ&st=2&pc=EC2M+6SQ&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf |date=3 March 2016 }}. The map is centred on the Moorgate campus of [[London Metropolitan University]]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/walks/ BBC nature walks - Roman London and a geological walk of the world].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070107150958/http://www.moorsgate.com/ Moors Gate].

;Major buildings
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040815231230/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=101375 Emporis information on the new Moor House]}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040620034058/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110744 Emporis information on the old Moor House]}}
*[http://www.capitalandcommercial.com/internation/state/index.asp?id=10 CapitaLand homepage on 25 Moorgate]
*[http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/architectural_heritage/Buildingswithinthecity/guildhall.htm City of London Corporation homepage on Guildhall]

;Vincenzo Lunardi
*[http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Balloon-Lunardi/lunardi.htm Hydrogen balloon model]. Site with information about the balloon attempt and a model of the hydrogen balloon.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050406053949/http://www.printsgeorge.com/ArtEccles_Aeronauts4.htm Flights of fancy]. Site with information about the balloon attempt.
*[http://www.welhamgreen.com/balloonCorner.html Balloon Corner, Welham Green]. Site with picture of the stone marking the landing spot of Lunardi's balloon at Welham Green.
*[http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=523200&y=205560&z=5&sv=523200,205560&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf Streetmap.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106080534/http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=523200&y=205560&z=5&sv=523200,205560&st=OSGrid&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf |date=6 January 2007 }} showing Welham Green and Ware in Hertfordshire

{{Moorgate}}
{{City of London gates}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1762]]
[[Category:London Wall and its gates]]
[[Category:Streets in the City of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of London]]
[[Category:Central business districts in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Former gates]]