Bassishaw is a
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
. Small, it is bounded by wards:
Coleman Street
Coleman Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington.
The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the former city wall, takes its name from ...
, east;
Cheap
Cheap may refer to:
*Cheapness
* ''Cheap'' (album), debut album from Seasick Steve
*Cheap (ward), London, UK
*Flatwoods, Kentucky, previously known as Cheap
See also
*Cheapskate
A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to th ...
, south;
Cripplegate
Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London.
The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into ...
, north;
Aldersgate, west.
It first consisted of
Basinghall Street
Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west.
It first consisted of Basinghall Street with the courts and short side streets off it, with the courts and short side streets off it,
[''Book 2, Ch. 6: Bassishaw Ward'', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 549-51]
accessed: 21 May 2007 but since a boundary review in 2003 (after which the ward expanded into Cripplegate Within) it extends to streets further west, including Aldermanbury,
Wood Street, and, to the north, part of
London Wall
The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...
and St Alphage Garden. The ward was historically the City's smallest.
[''A Topographical Dictionary of England'', Samuel Lewis, 1831, p 134]
History
Toponymy
The ward is named for Basinghall, the mansion house of the Bassing (or Basing) family, who were prominent in the City beginning in the 13th century.
[ King Henry III granted ]Adam de Basing
Adam de Basing (died 1266) was a 13th-century English politician and Mayor of London. The scion of a London political family, he was the son of alderman Peter Basing and grandson of an earlier mayor, Salomon de Basing.Fox, Christine M. (2014)"A H ...
"certain houses in Aldermanbury and in Milk-street; the advowson
Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...
of the church at Bassings hall; with other liberties and privileges". John Leake's 1667 map of the City of London refers to the ward as "Basinghall ward".
Guilds and churches
In this ward was a weekly cloth market, authorised by King Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Batt ...
. The coopers' guild hall was first founded in this ward in 1522, at The Swan, a public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, and, from 1547, their purpose-built hall. Their hall was destroyed in the Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...
in 1666 but later rebuilt in situ. They rebuilt again in 1865, selling a part of the site to the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
for the expansion of the Guildhall
A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...
. This hall was destroyed by fire on the night of 29 December 1940.''History of the Coopers'' (Company of Coopers)
accessed 21 May 2007
The
masons' hall was constructed in 1463 in Mason's Avenue which today is a southern limit. Their hall was also sold to the Corporation in 1865. The
weavers
Weaver or Weavers may refer to:
Activities
* A person who engages in weaving fabric
Animals
* Various birds of the family Ploceidae
* Crevice weaver spider family
* Orb-weaver spider family
* Weever (or weever-fish)
Arts and entertainmen ...
and
girdlers also had their guild halls in the ward.
[ The modern livery halls of the pewterers, salters and brewers are in Bassishaw.
There were two churches, neither of which remain. ]St Michael Bassishaw
St Michael Bassishaw, or Basinshaw, was a parish church in Basinghall Street in the City of London, standing on land now occupied by the Barbican Centre complex. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of Lon ...
, dedicated to St Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
, the archangel, which was founded in the 12th century.[''Churches of the City of London'' Reynolds,H (Bodley Head 1922)] At that time, the rectorship was included in the gift of St Bartholomew-the-Great
The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to Great St Bart's, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London located in Smithfield within the City of London. The building was founded as an Augusti ...
, but, over time, it came to be associated with St Paul's Cathedral itself. The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and rebuilt in 1679.[ It was united with ]St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the ...
in 1897; the site was sold in 1899 and the church was demolished in 1900. St Alphage London Wall
St Alphege or St Alphage London Wall was a church in Bassishaw Ward in the City of London, built directly upon London Wall. It was also known as St Alphege Cripplegate, from its proximity to Cripplegate. It is now operated as St& ...
, also damaged in the Great Fire but not rebuilt until 1777, was eventually demolished in 1924.[
]
Points of interest
The ward contains a large part of the Guildhall
A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...
buildings, the main administrative centre for the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
. (A small, but important, part of the Guildhall lies within Cheap ward.) The Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...
and Guildhall Library
The Guildhall Library is a public reference library specialising in subjects relevant to London. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England.
The library ...
both lie in Bassishaw, as part of the Guildhall buildings.
Also in the ward is Wood Street police station, the former headquarters of the City of London Police (not to be confused with the Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
whose headquarters are at Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
). It used to host a small police museum, which relocated in 2016 to the Guildhall Library, replacing the Clockmakers' Museum
The Clockmakers’ Museum in London, England, is believed to be the oldest collection specifically of clocks and watches in the world. The collection belongs to and is administered by the Clockmakers’ Charity, affiliated to the Worshipful Com ...
and Library.
The prominently motifed Chartered Insurance Institute
The Chartered Insurance Institute (also known as the CII) is a professional body dedicated to building public trust in the insurance and financial planning profession. The CII's purpose, as set out in its 1912 royal charter, is to 'Secure an ...
at 20 Aldermanbury has its own museum.
Pedestrian route
Aldermanbury has broad pavements and remains a pedestrian link from Gresham Street
Gresham Street in the City of London is named after the English merchant and financier Thomas Gresham.
It runs from the junction of Lothbury and Moorgate at its eastern end, to St. Martin's Le Grand in the west. Gresham Street was created ...
to the road aspect of, the main successor of, London Wall
The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...
.
Politics
Bassishaw is one of 25 wards in the City of London, each electing an alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
to the Court of Aldermen
The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior alderman during his year of office). The Co ...
and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
) to the Court of Common Council
The Court of Common Council is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation. It meets nine times per year. Most of its work is carried out by committees. Elections are held at least every four years. It is largely composed o ...
of the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
. Only electors who are Freemen of the City of London
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
are eligible to stand for election, though all candidates who stand are granted this status.
See also
* St Mary Aldermanbury
References
Further reading
A History of Bassishaw Ward c.1200 – c.1600 (2014, Christine M. Fox, PhD) ebookpartnership.com
External links
Map of Early Modern London: Basinghall Ward
- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly)
{{City of London wards
Wards of the City of London