Dowgate, also referred to as ''Downgate'' and ''Downegate'', is a small ward in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. The ward is bounded to the east by Swan Lane and Laurence Poutney Lane, to the south by the River Thames, to the west by Cousin Lane and College Hill, and to the north by Cannon Street. It is where the "lost"

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

watercourse emptied into the Thames. A number of City livery companies are quartered in the ward: the

Worshipful Company of Dyers The Worshipful Company of Dyers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Dyers' Guild existed in the twelfth century; it received a Royal Charter in 1471. It originated as a trade association for members of the dyeing industry ...

Worshipful Company of Innholders The Worshipful Company of Innholders is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. The innholders were originally known as hostellers, but their name had changed by the time it was incorporated under a royal charter in 1514. The c ...

, Worshipful Company of Skinners and Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers. There is one church, St. Michael Paternoster, where, in addition to its local and congregational causes, the Anglican Mission to Seafarers convenes and fundraises. The ward also contains Cannon Street station, which is on the site of the

Steelyard The Steelyard, from the Middle Low German (sample yard), was the main trading base () of the Hanseatic League in London during the 15th and 16th centuries. Location The Steelyard was located on the north bank of the Thames by the outflow o ...

(a mediaeval trading port of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

), and Dowgate Fire Station on

Upper Thames Street Thames Street, divided into Lower and Upper Thames Street, is a road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It forms part of the busy A3211 route (prior to being rebuilt as a major thoroughfare in the late 1960s, it ...

, the only

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

station within the City of London.London Fire Brigade
The City of London
accessed 5 June 2022

Politics

Dowgate is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, each electing an alderman to the Court of Aldermen and commoners (the City equivalent of a councillor) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation. Only electors who are Freemen of the City of London are eligible to stand. Cannon Street station seen from The Shard

Cannon Street station seen from The Shard

Notes

References

Bibliography

Betjeman, J, ''The City of London Churches'', Andover, Pitkin, 1972

External links

Corporation of London
- present day map of Dowgate ward
Vintry and Dowgate Wards ClubAlison Gowman, Alderman of Dowgate Ward

- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly) Wards of the City of London {{London-geo-stub