Moorfields
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Moorfields was an open space, partly 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 ...
, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous
Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...
. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, impeding the flow of the
River Walbrook The Walbrook is a subterranean river in the City of London that gave its name to the Walbrook City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The Walbrook is one of many "lost" rivers of London, the most famous of which is the River Fleet. It p ...
and its tributaries. Moorfields gives its name to the
Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...
which occupied a site on the former fields from 1822–1899, and is still based close by, in the St Luke's area of the
London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...
.


Setting

Moorfields is first recorded in the late 12th century, though not by name, as a ''great fen''. The fen was larger than the area subsequently known as Moorfields. Moorfields was contiguous with
Finsbury Fields Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the ...
, Bunhill Fields and other open spaces, and until its eventual loss in the 19th century, was the innermost part of a green wedge of land which stretched from the
wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...
, to the open countryside which lay close by. Moorfields separated the western and eastern growth of London beyond the
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
– with the eastern extension being better known as the
East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
. The fields were divided into four areas; the ''Little Moorfields'', ''Moorfields proper'', ''Middle Moorfields'' and ''Upper Moorfields''.


Great Fen

The origins of Moorfields lie in a wider area, described by
William Fitzstephen William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket. In the 1170s he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzsteph ...
as the "great fen which washed against the northern wall of the
City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
". The marshy conditions appear to have been caused by London's Wall acting as a dam, restricting the flow of the river. The fen covered much of the Manor of Finsbury, but its exact extent is not clear. It has been suggested that it extended west from the Walbrook which fed it, extending to the vicinity of
Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...
in the north, and the road from
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 tw ...
in the west. Other commentators have suggested that the topography of the area means the marsh probably didn’t extend as far west due to higher ground there, but did extend further north and possibly, in places, further east.


Little Moorfields and Moorfields Proper

The ''Little Moorfields'' and ''Moorfields proper'' (also known as ''Lower Moorfields'') were just north of London's wall, and from 1676 to 1815 included the
Bethlem Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably ''Bedlam'', a 1946 film with Bo ...
. ''Little Moorfields'' was the element that was left lying just west of Moorgate Street after a gap had been made in the wall to create the
Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...
, and the associated road from the north, in the 15th and 16th century. These parts were inside the City boundaries, lying in the
Coleman Street Ward 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 ...
. It is thought that this open space was not included within the City’s administrative boundaries until the 17th century, prior to that being part of the Manor of Finsbury. The
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 ...
, known at this point as ''Deepditch'' and running on the line of modern
Blomfield Street Blomfield Street is a road in the City of London, close to Liverpool Street railway station. It was known as Broker Row, until 1860. Setting The street extends in a SSW-NNE direction from its junction with the road ''London Wall'' in the south t ...
, seems to have formed the eastern boundary of ''Moorfields proper''. It also formed an administrative boundary, with
Coleman Street Ward 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 ...
to the west (including the open spaces of ''Little Moorfields'' and ''Moorfields proper''); while on the
East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
side lay the urbanised extra-mural ward of Bishopsgate Without, and also the parish of Shoreditch. This section of the Walbrook, around Blomfield Street, was the focal point of the Walbrook Skulls; the result of the deposit of large numbers of decapitated Roman-era human skulls into the water. These are still regularly uncovered during building work.


Middle and Upper Moorfields

''Middle Moorfields'' and ''Upper Moorfields'' lay outside the City, to the north-west of ''Moorfields proper'', in the Manor of Finsbury. The manor was coterminous with the parish of St Luke's (a late sub-division of the parish of
St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...
).


Neighbouring areas

The
Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough ...
(which replaced the parish of Shoreditch, being based on the same boundaries), had an electoral ward named Moorfields, this was adjacent to the former Moorfields (and also the famous
Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...
) with only a small part of the area ever having been part of Moorfields, and only at an early date.


History

An early name for ''Moorfields proper'' appears to have been ''Moor Mead''. The Moor place-name element usually refers to
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...
environments, and the wet nature of the area persisted, though this was improved by a drainage scheme in 1572. In the 15th century the monasteries of
Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...
and St Bartholomews diverted the headwaters of the Walbrook to their sites in the
River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds an ...
catchment. It has been suggested that this caused a significant reduction in the flow of the river, causing Moorfields to become drier, and allowing the Mayor to construct the new Moorgate. Moorgate was built by upgrading a postern built in 1415, and enlarged in 1472 and 1511. The gate remained poorly connected as there was no direct approach road from the south until 1846, long after the gate and wall were demolished. After 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, refugees from the fire evacuated to Moorfields and set up temporary camps there. King
Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
encouraged the dispossessed to move on and leave London, but it is unknown how many newly impoverished and displaced persons instead settled in the Moorfields area. In the early 18th century, Moorfields was the site of sporadic open-air markets, shows, and vendors/auctions. Additionally, the homes near and within Moorfields were places of the poor, and the area had a reputation for harbouring
highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...
, as well as
brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s. James Dalton and
Jack Sheppard Jack Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724), or "Honest Jack", was a notorious English thief and prison escapee of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in ...
both retreated to Moorfields when in hiding from the law. Parts of the area were known as public cruising areas for gay men. A path in the Upper Moorfields, beside a wall that separated the Upper and Middle Moorfields, was known as ''Sodomites Walk'': the wall was removed in 1752 but the path remains as the south side of
Finsbury Square Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the pa ...
. In 1780 it was the site of some of the most violent rioting during the
Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...
. The district was once the site of The Foundery, a former cannon foundry turned preaching house and an early centre of Wesleyan Methodism. A fashionable carpet manufactory was established here by Thomas Moore (c. 1700–1788) in the mid-eighteenth century. Moore's carpet manufactory at Moore Place made a number of fine carpets commissioned by the architect and interior designer,
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
, for the grand rooms he designed for his wealthy clients. Thomas Moore lived at his home on Chiswell Street until his death. His Moore Park factory remained in operation until 1793, when his daughter, Jane, and her husband, Joseph Foskett, sold the lease to another carpet manufacturer.


Demise and legacy

Much of Moorfields was developed in 1777, when
Finsbury Square Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the pa ...
was developed; the remainder succumbed within the next few decades, notably when Moorfields proper was replaced by the modern
Finsbury Circus Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Finsb ...
in 1817. Today the name survives in the names of
Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...
(since moved to another site);
St Mary Moorfields St Mary Moorfields is a Roman Catholic church in Eldon Street near Moorgate, on a site previously known as Moorfields. It is the only Catholic church in the City of London. Prior to a 1994 boundary change, the church was in the Borough of Hackn ...
; Moorfields the short street (on which stands the headquarters of the
British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...
) parallel with
Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...
(and containing some entrances to Moorgate station); and Moorfields Highwalk, one of the pedestrian "streets" at high level in the Barbican Estate. Moorfields Highwalk is featured in the music video to Robbie Williams' song "No Regrets".


References

{{City of London Areas of London Geography of the City of London Parks and open spaces in the City of London Former parks and open spaces of London