Langbourn is one of the 25 ancient 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 fr ...

. It reputedly is named after a buried stream in the vicinity. Lombard Street, London

It is a small ward; a long thin area, running in a west–east direction. Historically, Lombard Street and Fenchurch Street were the principal streets, forming the cores of the ward's West and East divisions respectively. Boundary changes in 2003 and 2013 have resulted in most of the northern sides of these streets remaining in Langbourn, whilst the southern sides are now largely in the wards of

Candlewick Candlewick may refer to: *Candle wick, a part of a candle or oil lamp *Candlewick, a style of glassware made by the Imperial Glass Company * Candlewick (fabric), a thick, soft cotton fabric *Candlewick, an element in financial candlestick charts * ...

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Billingsgate Billingsgate is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. This small City Ward is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in the south-east of the Square Mile. The modern Ward extends south to the ...

and

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. Three changes to the boundaries of Langbourn took place in 2013; all of the southern side of Lombard Street, with the notable exception of the guild - or ward - church of St Mary Woolnoth, is in Candlewick (from 2003 to 2013 Candlewick extended only to Abchurch Lane); the ward of

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 ...

now includes the northern side of Lombard Street from number 68 to Bank junction. In turn, Langbourn expanded by taking another part of Leadenhall Market, from Lime Street ward. The ward at present borders eight other wards (Walbrook, Candlewick, Bridge, Billingsgate, Tower,

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

, Lime Street, and Cornhill); historically no other City ward bordered so many neighbours. The ward encompasses a large area of

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number of ...

and two historic churches: St. Mary Woolnoth and St. Edmund's. Historically, the ward also contained four other churches:

St Nicholas Acons St Nicholas Acons was a parish church in the City of London. In existence by the late 11th century, it was destroyed during the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt. History The church was situated on the west side of Nicholas Lane in ...

(destroyed in the Great Fire 1666),

All Hallows Staining All Hallows Staining was a Church of England church located at the junction of Mark Lane and Dunster Court in the north-eastern corner of Langbourn ward in the City of London, England, close to Fenchurch Street railway station. All that remains ...

(demolished 1870), St. Dionis Backchurch (1878), and

All Hallows Lombard Street All Hallows Lombard Street, also seen with descriptor Gracechurch Street, was a parish church in the City of London. It stood behind thin buildings fronting both streets, in Langbourn Ward, The west and south sides faced into Ball Alley. Of ...

(1939). It has its own club for ward officials, City workers and residents and newsletter.

Politics

Langbourn is one of 25 wards of the City of London, 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 Cou ...

and three councilmen (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 a

freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

are eligible to stand.

Lost River

The 1598 Survey of London records the course of the Langbourn river. The entry notes that the

Langbourne The Lorteburn or Langbourne is a lost stream or river, which ran in the east of the City of London, arising near to Aldgate, flowing south near to the Tower of London, and discharging into the River Thames. The stream appears to have been covered ...

had ceased to flow by the time the entry was written.

"Langborne water so called of the length thereof, was a greate streame of water breaking out of the ground, in Fan Church streete 'Fenchurch St'' which ran downe with a swift course, west, through that streete, thwart Grastreet 'Gracechurch Street''and downe Lombardestreete 'Lombard Street'' to the west ende of S. Mary Woolnothes Church, and then turning the course South downe Shareborne lane 'Sherbourne Lane'' so termed of sharing or deviding, it brake into divers rilles or rillets to the River of Thames, of this Bourne that warde tooke the name, and is till this day called Langborne warde, this Bourne also is long since stopped up at the heade and the rest of the course filled up and paved over, so that no signe thereof remaineth more then the names aforesaide."

The John Stowe's 1598 Survey of London records the street name Sharebourne Lane and attributes its origin to the dividing of the stream at this point. Henry Harben's 1918 ''Dictionary of London'' asserts that Stowe's explanation "must be left out of account as a possible derivation, inasmuch as it ignores the earliest forms of the name to be found." It goes on to list "Shitteborwelane," "Shiteburn lane," "Shiteb(ur)uelane" and "Shiteburlane as forms of the name recorded around 1300 AD. Harben goes on to state that:

"The first syllable " shitte," " shite," "schite," presents considerable difficulty, and it is hard to See from what A.S. nglo Saxonword it can be derived, as the suggested derivation from A. S. "scir "= a share, "sciran "= to divide, seems to leave the "t" out of account. The word "borwe," "borue" suggests O.E. "burh," "burgh," "borough," rather than "burn" or "bourne," as the original form. "Burgh "= fortress, walled town, later perhaps "a mansion," "fortified house."

Later commentators have made the conclusion that the modern english translation is either "Shit House Lane" or "Shite Bourne Lane" and refers to public latrines that were placed over the river. Nicholas Barton, in his 1962 book "Lost Rivers of London" lists the Langbourn in his chapter on "Dubious Lost Rivers" for three reasons: # "It does not fit in with the contours, and actually involves the proposed stream's flowing uphill to the extent of three feet, both in the ancient and modern ground levels." # "During the construction of the Gracechurch Street sewer the builders specifically looked for it and found no traces." # "Stow more or less admits that he himself has nothing more to go on than the name."

References

External links

Map of Early Modern London: Langbourn Ward
- Historical Map and Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's London (Scholarly) *Ward Clu

{{City of London wards Wards of the City of London