Farringdon, London

Farringdon
Farringdon
Farringdon shown within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ315818
Sui generis
Administrative area Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district EC1
Dialling code 020
Police City of London
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
City of London coat of arms

Farringdon is a locality in Central London and the collective name for the wards of Farringdon Within and Farringdon Without in the City of London respectively.

Toponymy

There are numerous places in England called Farringdon; all meaning fern covered hill. William and Nicholas de Faringdon, whose name is likely to have originated from one of these places, were two related prominent citizens and Aldermen in the early 13th century.[1] Nicholas purchased the area of the Farringdon ward of the City of London in 1279 and became its Alderman in 1281.[2] In 1394 the ward was split into the still extant Farringdon Within[3] and Farringdon Without.[4]

Farringdon Station was built close to Farringdon Road, a northern continuation of Farringdon Street outside the City, after which it was originally named when first opened in 1863 as Farringdon Street Station.[5] Farringdon Street was built over the River Fleet in 1737 and takes its name from either the Farringdon Wards of the City[2] or was named in honour of Nicholas de Faringdon.[1] The road was widened in 1829.[6] The area was previously the location of Farringdon Market, established for the sale of fruit and vegetables on 20 November 1826 when the earlier Fleet Market was cleared to enable the laying out of Farringdon Street.[7][8] The station was renamed Farringdon & High Holborn in 1922 and finally Farringdon in 1936.[5]

Farringdon station under British Rail with a Network SouthEast livery British Rail Class 319 on a Thameslink service

Street name etymologies

Farringdon has no formally defined boundaries - those utilised here are: Clerkenwell Road to the north, Goswell Road and Aldersgate Street to the east, Charterhouse Street, Charterhouse Square and Carthusian Street to the south and Farringdon Road to the west.

  • Albion Place – thought to be simply a suitably patriotic name; formerly George Court[9][10]
  • Aldersgate Street – the name Aldersgate is first recorded around 1000 in the form Ealdredesgate, i.e. "gate associated with a man named Ealdrād". The gate, constructed by the Romans in the 2nd or 3rd centuries when London Wall was constructed, probably acquired its name in the late Saxon period.[11][12][13]
  • Benjamin Street – unknown; thought to probably be for a local landowner/builder[9][14]
  • Briset Street – after Jordan de Briset, local 12th-century landowner who gave land to the Order of St John for their headquarters here[15][16]
  • Britton Street – after Thomas Britton, local coal seller and prominent patron of the arts, who lived nearby in the 17th – 18th century; it was formerly known as Red Lion Street, after a local inn[15][17]
  • Broad Yard
  • Carthusian Street – after the Carthusian monks who lived near here in the Middle Ages[18][19]
  • Charterhouse Buildings, Charterhouse Mews, Charterhouse Square and Charterhouse Street – Anglicisation of Chartreuse, from Grande Chartreuse, head monastery of the Carthusians in France; a nearby abbey was founded by monks of this order in 1371[20][19]
  • Cowcross Street – this street was path for cattle being taken to nearby Smithfield market[21][22]
  • Dickens Mews – presumably after Victorian author Charles Dickens
  • Eagle Court – after Eagle, Lincolnshire; the Order of Knights of St John owned land in this village and the Bailiff of Eagle owned a house near here[23][24]
  • Farringdon Road – from Sir William or Nicholas de Farnedon/Faringdon, local sheriffs or aldermen in the 13th century[25][1][26]
  • Faulkners Alley
  • Fox and Knot Street – after the Fox and Knot tavern of the 18th century[27][28]
  • Francis Court
  • Glasshouse Yard – after a 17th-century glass factory on this site[29][30]
  • Goswell Road – There is dispute over the origins of the name, with some sources claiming the road was named after a nearby garden called 'Goswelle' or 'Goderell' which belonged to Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, and others a well called the Gode Well[31] whilst others state it derives from "God's Well", and the traditional pagan practice of well-worship.[32][33]
  • Greenhill’s Rents – after John Greenhill, local 18th-century property owner[34][35]
  • Hat and Mitre Court – after an 18th-century tavern of this name[36]
  • Passing Alley – altered from the descriptive Pissing Alley, renamed at some point prior to the 1790s[37][38]
  • Peter’s Lane – after the former St Peter’s Key pub on this site[39][40]
  • Rutland Place – after the Manners family, earls of Rutland, local property owners of the 17th century[41][19]
  • St John’s Lane, St John’s Path, St John’s Place, St John’s Square and St John Street – after the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, who set up their English headquarters here in the 12th century[42][24]
  • Smokehouse Yard – after the bacon stoves formerly located here[43]
  • Stable Court
  • Turk’s Head Yard – after an 18th-century tavern of this name here[44]
  • Turnmill Street – originally 13th-century ‘Trimullstrete’ or ‘Three Mills Street’, after three mills that stood near here by the river Fleet[45][46]
  • White Horse Alley

City of London wards

In the City of London there are two Wards for Farringdon — Farringdon Within and Farringdon Without — a situation caused by the splitting of the original Farringdon Ward in 1394. "Without" and "Within" denote whether the Ward fell outside or within the London Wall — this was also the case for the Wards of Bridge Within and Bridge Without. These Wards cover a fairly considerable part of the City, though before 2004 these Wards covered an even wider area: Farringdon Without stretched from Chancery Lane including Middle Temple, Inner Temple and across to Smithfield[47] while Farringdon Within covered the area within the Walls across to Cheapside at Wood Street and included New Change and Blackfriars Bridge. Blackfriars and St Bartholomew's Hospital.[48][49]

A major review of the City's Wards in 2003, effected in 2004, removed from Farringdon Without the areas north of Fleet Street between Fetter Lane and Farringdon Street and south of Fleet Street between New Bridge Street and Temple Avenue to Castle Baynard Ward. However a 'corridor' connects the western area along Holborn to Smithfield. The area of Farringdon Within at Cheapside was transferred to Bassishaw Ward; the area around Blackfriars Lane and the Blackfriars Bridge was assigned to Castle Baynard.

A map based on Stow c 1600[6] shows the Fagswell Brook south of Cowcross Street as the northern boundary of the City with the bar at Long Lane.

Until 1993, a small triangle of land south of Cowcross Street was within the City of London and formed part of the Farringdon Without ward.[50][51] The boundary between the City of London and the London Borough of Islington was locally realigned in 1993 with exchanges of land between each; in this area the boundary was moved slightly south to align with Charterhouse Street.[52][53]

Informal use

The extent of the area around Farringdon station which is actually in Clerkenwell is sometimes referred to as Farringdon cannot be exactly defined; this contemporary usage is most likely a back-formation and its use is similar to that in the Victoria area.

The station and its immediate environs are located at the southernmost tip of Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington very close to the northern boundary of the City of London and the eastern boundary of the London Borough of Camden.[54] Farringdon Station and its environs were previously within the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury[55] and are now within the London Borough of Islington.[56]

Planned redevelopment and expansion of Farringdon Station is expected to have a significant effect on the local area. The station is currently served by the Thameslink north-south rail route; it is planned that this will be supplemented by a future east-west Crossrail service which will require the construction of additional station entrances.[57] This will be part of the Elizabeth line, and is due to open in December 2018.[58] Crossrail opened an Information Exchange in Farringdon in 2004 to aid consultation with local stakeholders.[59] A proposed upgrade of the Thameslink route would also affect the local area, including the construction of further station entrances, the pedestrianisation of Cowcross Street and the demolition of several buildings.[60] The area forms part of the City Fringe Partnership, an initiative between the City of London and other local authorities to revive parts of Inner London immediately adjacent to the City.[61] In 2008 a plan to significantly redevelop the area, including the demolition of part of Smithfield Market, was rejected by the Department of Communities and Local Government.[62]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names (2000)
  2. 1 2 Smith, A., Dictionary of City of London street names (1970)
  3. ↑ Victorian London – Farringdon Within. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
  4. ↑ Victorian London – Farringdon Without. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
  5. 1 2 Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground: A diagrammatic history. Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
  6. 1 2 Ekwall, E., Street-names of the City of London (1954)
  7. ↑ SAVE Britain's Heritage (2007). Don't Butcher Smithfield. The threat to Britain's finest group of market buildings (PDF). ISBN 0-905978-45-5. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  8. ↑ Perseus Digital Library – Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor: Volume 1. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  9. 1 2 "British History Online – Britton Street". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p19
  11. ↑ Mills, A.D. (2010). A Dictionary of London Place-Names. Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 9780199566785.
  12. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p6
  13. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p20
  14. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p44
  15. 1 2 Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p42
  16. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p287
  17. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p57-8
  18. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p60
  19. 1 2 3 Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p82
  20. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p65
  21. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p84
  22. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p100-01
  23. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p106
  24. 1 2 Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p287-8
  25. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p118
  26. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p128-9
  27. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p124
  28. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p136
  29. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p134
  30. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p143
  31. ↑ "Goswell Road". Golden Lane Estate. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  32. ↑ "Smithfield Fair". Barbican Living. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
  33. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p147
  34. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p144
  35. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p154
  36. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p167
  37. ↑ "British History Online – St John's Gate and St John's Lane". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  38. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p249-50
  39. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p246
  40. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p253
  41. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p274
  42. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p280
  43. ↑ "British History Online – St John Street: East side". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  44. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p327
  45. ↑ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p322
  46. ↑ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p327-8
  47. ↑ Corporation of London Archived 21 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine. – Farringdon Without. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  48. ↑ Corporation of London Archived 21 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine. – Farringdon Within. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  49. ↑ The Farringdon Wards of the City of London, Tony Sharp, 2000
  50. ↑ Corporation of London, City of London unitary development plan (1984)
  51. ↑ Corporation of London, City of London unitary development plan (1989)
  52. ↑ OPSI Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine. – The City and London Borough Boundaries Order 1993. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  53. ↑ Corporation of London, City of London unitary development plan (1993)
  54. ↑ Islington London Borough Council – High detail map with City/Islington boundary shown (PDF). Retrieved 26 October 2006.
  55. ↑ Vision of Britain – Historic boundaries of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  56. ↑ Islington London Borough Council, Islington development plan (1978)
  57. ↑ Crossrail Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. – Farringdon (PDF). 28 October 2006
  58. ↑ "Farringdon station". Crossrail. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  59. ↑ Crossrail – Crossrail launches Round 2 Consultation with new Farringdon and Spitalfields Information Exchanges. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  60. ↑ Network Rail – Statement of Case (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  61. ↑ City Fringe Partnership – About us. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  62. ↑ BBC News – Smithfield market plans refused
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