City of London, Giltspur Street - geograph

Giltspur Street is a street in Smithfield 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 ...

, running north–south from the junction of Newgate Street,

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London financial district, passing over ...

and

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, up to West Smithfield, and it is bounded to the east by

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

. It was formerly known as Knightsriders Street, from the knights riding at the tournaments in Smithfield. In 1381

King Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...

met the leaders of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

here, promising to agree to the rebels' demands, which included a repeal of the Statute of Labourers that prevented workers changing jobs for better pay. However, during the negotiations

William Walworth Sir William Walworth (died 1385) was an English nobleman and politician who was twice Lord Mayor of London (1374–75 and 1380–81). He is best known for killing Wat Tyler during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Political career His family ca ...

, the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, lured rebel

Wat Tyler Wat Tyler (c. 1320/4 January 1341 – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to London to oppose the institution of a poll tax and to demand economic and social reforms. Wh ...

away and stabbed him; when Tyler sought refuge in the neighbouring St. Bartholemew's Church he was dragged out and beheaded. The revolt later subsided. Located on the junction of Giltspur Street and

Cock Lane Cock Lane is a small street in Smithfield in the City of London, leading from Giltspur Street in the east to Snow Hill in the west. In the medieval period, it was known as ''Cokkes Lane'' and was the site of legal brothels. 25 Cock Lane is t ...

is the

Golden Boy of Pye Corner The Golden Boy of Pye Corner is a small late-17th-century monument located on the corner of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane in Smithfield, central London. It marks the spot where the 1666 Great Fire of London was stopped, whereas the Monument ind ...

, a cherub which is a symbol of

gluttony Gluttony ( la, gula, derived from the Latin ''gluttire'' meaning "to gulp down or swallow") means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items, particularly as status symbols. In Christianity, it is considered a sin if ...

, the sin which supposedly led to divine retribution in the form of 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 ...

. An inscription on the monument reads: :"The Boy at Pye Corner was erected to commemorate the staying of the Great Fire which beginning at

Pudding Lane Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monum ...

was ascribed to the sin of gluttony when not attributed to the Papists as on the Monument, and the Boy was made prodigiously fat to enforce the moral. He was originally built into the front of 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 ...

called

The Fortune of War ''The Fortune of War'' is the sixth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1979. It is set during the War of 1812. HMS ''Leopard'' made its way to Botany Bay, left its prisoners, ...

which used to occupy this site and was pulled down in 1910." Also on Giltspur Street is a monument to the English essayist

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...

, best known for his ''

Essays of Elia ''Essays of Elia'' is a collection of essays written by Charles Lamb; it was first published in book form in 1823, with a second volume, ''Last Essays of Elia'', issued in 1833 by the publisher Edward Moxon. The essays in the collection first be ...

'' and for co-writing the children's book ''

Tales from Shakespeare ''Tales from Shakespeare'' is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons" while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible. Mary Lamb was responsible for r ...

''. An inscription on the sculpture reads: :''Perhaps the most loved name in English literature who was a bluecoat boy here for 7 years. B·1775, D·1834.'' The street gave its name to the

Giltspur Street Compter The Giltspur Street Compter was a compter or small prison, designed by English architect and surveyor George Dance the Younger, mainly used to hold debtors. It was in Giltspur Street, Smithfield, London, Smithfield, close to Newgate, in the City ...

, a small

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

located on the street from 1791 to 1855. The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station is St Paul's and the closest mainline railway stations are City Thameslink and Farringdon.

References

Streets in the City of London Smithfield, London {{London-road-stub