St John's Gate, in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redis ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, now within central

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 ...

, is one of the few tangible remains from Clerkenwell's

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

past. It was built in 1504 by

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

Thomas Docwra Sir Thomas Docwra (1458? – 1527) was Grand Prior of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in England, and thus ranked as Premier Lay Baron of England. Origins He was a member of the Docwra family of Hertfordshire, a ...

as the south entrance to the inner precinct of

Clerkenwell Priory Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was ...

, the English headquarters of the

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

s of the Order of St John (known as the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

). The substructure is of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, while the north and south

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

s are of

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. After centuries of decay and much rebuilding, very little of the stone facing is original. Heavily restored in the 19th century, the

Gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

today is in large part a Victorian recreation, the handiwork of a succession of

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s—

William Pettit Griffith William Pettit Griffith (7 July 1815 – 14 September 1884) was an English architect and antiquarian. Born in Clerkenwell in London, he had a particular interest in the area, and much of his work of restoring and designing buildings took place the ...

, R. Norman Shaw, and J. Oldrid Scott.

History

The Priory was established in the 1140s in Clerkenwell as the English headquarters of the Order. The Order was dissolved by King Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries when its lands and wealth were seized by the Crown. The Order was re-established for a brief period by that king's

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

daughter, Queen Mary, who granted it a Royal Charter. However, when her

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

half-sister Queen Elizabeth I succeeded her, the Order in England was dissolved once again. The Order was re-established in England during the Victorian era.

Uses

The building has many historical associations, most notably as the original

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

-house for

Edward Cave Edward Cave (27 February 1691 – 10 January 1754) was an English printer, editor and publisher. He coined the term "magazine" for a periodical, founding ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' in 1731, and was the first publisher to successfully fashio ...

's pioneering monthly, ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'', and sometime workplace of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

. From 1701 to 1709 it was the childhood home of the painter

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...

, whose father Richard Hogarth in 1703 opened a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

there, known as "Hogarth's Coffee House", which offered

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

lessons together with coffee. For many years the building was used as a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

. In 1831 John Frost established a medical hospital (St John's Hospital) in the building, the original mediaeval usage of that word signifying a guest-house. The Gate was acquired in the 1870s by the revived Order of St John and was gradually converted to serve as

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of both the Order and its subsidiary, the

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

Brigade. It now also houses the

Museum of the Order of St John The Museum of the Order of St John in Clerkenwell, London, tells the story of the Venerable Order of Saint John from its roots as a pan-European Order of Hospitaller Knights founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades, to its present commitment to ...

. Much of its Tudor-style interior, including the Council Chamber over the

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, is attributed to Scott's

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proce ...

in the 1880s and 1890s. St John's Gate was voted an iconic

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

to represent

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

for the

London Olympics 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Stone plaque

A modern stone plaque is affixed to the building inscribed as follows:See image
/ref>
:''St John's Gate. This building was the main entrance to the Grand Priory of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The original gatehouse was erected about the year 1148 & was burnt down by

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 ...

in 1381. It was restored by Prior John Redington & was finally rebuilt in its present form by Prior Thomas Docwra in 1504. The Grand Priory buildings were appropriated by the crown in 1559. The order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem resumed possession of this gatehouse in 1873.''

Gallery

Image:St_John's_Gate_2007_7.jpg, Detail of window and shields Image:St_John's_Gate_2004_3.jpg, View from

Clerkenwell Road Clerkenwell Road is a street in London. It runs west–east from Gray's Inn Road in the west, to Goswell Road in the east. Its continuation at either end is Theobald's Road and Old Street respectively. Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road we ...

Image:Gate of the Hospital of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem Wellcome V0013423.jpg, Gate of St John's Hospital by

Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...

, 1661 File:St. John's Gate, in Clerkenwell, Middlesex (Plate 1).jpg, Copper engraved view from ''Boswell's Antiquities'' published in London by Alexander Hogg, 1786 File:St. John's Gate, in Clerkenwell, Middlesex (Plate 2).jpg, Copper engraved view from ''Boswell's Antiquities'' published in London by Alexander Hogg, 1786 File:View of the south front of the St John's Gate Clerkenwell by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd.jpg,

Steel engraving Steel engraving is a technique for printing illustrations based on steel instead of copper. It has been rarely used in artistic printmaking, although it was much used for reproductions in the 19th century. Steel engraving was introduced in 1792 by ...

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (16 January 1793, France – 1864) was a British topographical watercolour artist well known for his architectural paintings. Life and work Thomas was the brother of topographical artist George Shepherd (artist), ...

, 1829–1831 Image:The Gentleman's Magazine, May 1759.jpg, ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', May 1759, with front page illustration of St John's Gate File:St John's Gate Clerkenwell by John Wykeham Archer.jpg,

Watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

John Wykeham Archer John Wykeham Archer (1808 – 25 May 1864) was a British artist, engraver and writer. Life Archer was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1808. In 1820 he went to London, and became a pupil of John Scott, a noted engraver of animals. His apprenti ...

, 1842 File:Saint John's Gate Clerkenwell the main gateway to the Priory of Saint John of Jerusalem 1880.jpg, Photograph by Henry Dixon, 1880

References

External links