Castle Baynard is one of the 25 wards of 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 f ...

, the historic and financial centre of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Features

The ward covers an irregularly shaped area, sometimes likened to a tuning fork, bounded on the east by the wards of

Queenhithe Queenhithe is a small and ancient ward of the City of London, situated by the River Thames and to the south of St. Paul's Cathedral. The Millennium Bridge crosses into the City at Queenhithe. Queenhithe is also the name of the ancient, but now ...

and

Bread Street Bread Street is one of the 25 wards of the City of London the name deriving from its principal street, which was anciently the City's bread market; already named ''Bredstrate'' (to at least 1180) for by the records it appears as that in 1302, E ...

; the ward of

Farringdon Without __NOTOC__ Farringdon Without is the most westerly Ward of the City of London, its suffix ''Without'' reflects its origin as lying beyond the City's former defensive walls. It was first established in 1394 to administer the suburbs west of Ludg ...

to the north and west; the ward of

Farringdon Within Farringdon Within is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It was formed in the 14th century from the sub-division of the pre-existing Farringdon Ward into ''Farringdon Within'' (inside the line ...

to the north; and by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

to the south. Major landmarks within the ward include Blackfriars Bridge (the full span of which falls within the City and this ward), the naval establishment HMS ''President'', and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

. In addition, the area includes the churches of St Bride's, which the Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman described as "magnificent, even by the exalted standards of

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churche ...

", and

St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street, London in the City of London, near Blackfriars station. History First mentioned around 1170, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe was almost certainly founded consi ...

. The ward formerly also included the Church of St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street, which burned down in 1886 and was not rebuilt, and its own charitable foundation, Castle Baynard Ward School. Today the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

, on the site of Curriers'

Alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...

and

Puddle Dock Puddle Dock is a street in Blackfriars in the City of London. It was once the site of one of London's docks, and was later the site of the Mermaid Theatre. The dock was filled in during redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s. As a dock Berkel ...

, lie within the ward's catchment area. The north-bank entrance of

Blackfriars station Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford an ...

, the only London station to span the Thames, also lies within Castle Baynard. Boundary changes in 2003 expanded the ward considerably into the traditional area of the two Farringdon wards, though a small amount of territory was lost to

ward. Today, Castle Baynard is busy and an exceptionally concentrated area of commercial and tourist activity, but still retains its own distinct identity.

History

Castle Baynard derives its name from

Baynard's Castle Baynard's Castle refers to buildings on two neighbouring sites in the City of London, between where Blackfriars station and St Paul's Cathedral now stand. The first was a Norman fortification constructed by Ralph Baynard ( 1086), 1st feudal ...

, which existed there from the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

until it burnt down during 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 th ...

in 1666. It was anciently spelled as one word — Castlebaynard — but this is regarded today as incorrect. Baynards Castle the outfall of the Fleet Ditch

Baynards Castle the outfall of the Fleet Ditch

Politics

Castle Baynard is one of 25

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 ...

s in the City of London, each electing an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

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. Ian Luder is the Alderman representing the ward, and Christopher Boden, Michael Hudson,

Angus Knowles-Cutler Angus Knowles-Cutler (born 1 September 1962) is a British businessman and politician. He is currently vice-Chairman and London office managing partner at Deloitte, councilman representing Castle Baynard, London, and holds a number of other busin ...

Catherine McGuinness Catherine McGuinness (; born 14 November 1934) is a retired Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2006, a Judge of the High Court from 1996 to 2000, a Judge of the Circuit Court from 1994 to 1996 and a Senator ...

, Graham Packham, Henrika Priest and Jeremy Simons are the Common Councilmen. In October 2018, the Labour Party won its sixth seat on the Common Council in Castle Baynard when the local resident Natasha Lloyd-Owen topped the polls for Labour in an unexpected by-election victory. Labour had previously won a record total of five seats on the Common Council in March 2017 winning two seats in

Portsoken Portsoken, traditionally referred to with the definite article as the Portsoken, is one of the City of London's 25 ancient wards, which are still used for local elections. Historically an extra-mural Ward, lying east of Aldgate and the City wall ...

, two seats in

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 ...

ward and one seat in

Aldersgate Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix den ...

ward.Labour had previously won a record total of five seats on the Common Council in March 2017, winning two seats in Portsoken, two seats in Cripplegate ward and one seat in Aldersgate war

/ref>

References

External links

Castle Baynard Ward Club

Alderman Luder CBE

www.college-of-arms.gov.uk

www.curriers.co.uk

Rev Canon Dr Alison Joyce, Rector of St Bride's

www.castle-baynard.org.uk

Map of Early Modern London: Castle Baynard Ward
– Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly) {{City of London wards Wards of the City of London