King Edward Street is a street in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

that runs from Newgate Street in the south to

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (TV series), a British radio and then television series ** '' Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second ...

in the north. It is joined by Greyfriars Passage in the west and Angel Street in the east. Postman's Park is on its east side where Bull and Mouth Street once lay and joined King Edward Street.

History

King Edward Street area Ordnance Survey map 1896

The street was once known for its butchers and slaughterhouses and had the names Butchers' Hall Lane, Stinking Lane, Chick Lane, and Blowbladder Street. According to

John Strype John Strype (1 November 1643 – 11 December 1737) was an English clergyman, historian and biographer from London. He became a merchant when settling in Petticoat Lane Market, Petticoat Lane. In his twenties, he became perpetual curate of Theydo ...

by 1720 the butchers had been replaced by milliners and seamstresses. It received its current name in 1843 in memory of King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

."King Edward Street"
in

Buildings

Notable buildings in the street include: *The remains of

Christ Church Greyfriars Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a parish church afte ...

. *

King Edward Building King Edward Building in the City of London was London's main Post Office for most of the 20th century and also the main sorting office for the EC postcode area, London EC postal area and for overseas mail. Designed by Sir Henry Tanner, it was ope ...

s (London Chief Office of the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

until 1994; now

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading pla ...

). *The statue of

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...

(inscribed 'He founded

uniform penny postage The Uniform Penny Post was a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UK's official postal service, that took place in the 19th century. The reforms were a government initiative to eradicate the abuse and corruption of the e ...

– 1840'). *1 St Martin's Le Grand (rear) ( Post Office Headquarters until 1984; now

Nomura Nomura (written: 野村 "field village" or 埜村 "wilderness village") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * , Japanese volleyball player * , Japanese-American baseball agent * , Japanese voice actor, including in t ...

House). *BT Centre (

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

Head Office until 2021); (main entrance in Newgate Street).

References

External links

Streets in the City of London {{London-geo-stub