A silent sentinel of history, Rosery Gate stands as a testament to London’s enduring legacy. The Rosery Gate whispers tales of Roman routes and medieval modifications. London is full of historic gems. Blue plaques mark important residences. Building cornerstones bear dates from centuries past. Street names harken back to times when those streets peddled wares.
Through my fascination with the London Wall and Roman history in London, I began to ponder the fabled gates of London. These gates served as protection and passageways to the city. This was from the time of the Romans through the birth of the modern era in the late 18th century.
There is some confusion about which London gates exactly count on the list of the official seven gates of London. One of the oldest accounts of London was written in the 1170s by William Fitzstephen. He said that there were seven double gates in the London Wall but he did not name them.
Another source, A Survey of London, was written in 1598 by John Stow. He cites four Roman gates and seven Medieval gates. However, his seven London gates don’t match most common lists you’ll see today. Based on archaeological research, we now believe that there were six Roman gates. There were also seven double gates by the Medieval period. The seven double-gates of London were Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Cripplegate, Aldersgate, Newgate, and Ludgate.
According to Stow, the original four gates in the Roman fortifications of London were Aldgate, Aldersgate, Ludgate, and Bridgegate. He does not mention Newgate or Bishopsgate in this list. Similarly, he doesn’t count Moorgate or Newgate in his list of the seven Medieval gates of London. Instead, he includes Bridgegate and a Postern Gate at the Tower of London.
Despite Stow’s consistent endorsement of Bridgegate as an important London gate, most other sources omit it entirely from all lists of London gates. They skip over postern gates even when they were significant like the Tower Postern.
Historians and archaeologists should count more than seven gates of London. Looking at historical significance, there are nine important gates of London. They are the Tower Postern Gate, Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Cripplegate, Aldersgate, Newgate, Ludgate, and Bridgegate.
The first maps of London weren’t produced until the mid-1500s. Before this time, we rely entirely on written sources to understand London’s long history. The River Thames is London’s most defining geographic feature. Thousands of years ago, it was wider and shallower that it is today. The Romans arrived in the area after sailing ships from the empire for several weeks. They found a huge bay on the eastern coast of the British isles and sailed up it. Being navigable under the right tidal conditions, they eventually arrived at a point where the river narrows too much to continue sailing inland. They decided to set up shop there and thus London was founded in 43 AD by the Romans. It came to be called Londinium.
The Romans built up Londinium for several centuries until their numbers reached about 50000 in the third century. Upon repeated attacks from the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century, the Romans abandoned London to them. It became the capital of Essex in the eighth century. By the ninth century, the Vikings attacked the city several times.
London has seen a lot in its 2,000 years of being a city. The list of London gates varies depending on when you’re looking at the list. Aldgate was built into the original London Wall. It accessed the area east of London like Colchester and Essex. Bishopsgate was built into the London Wall for better access to the north and east like Cambridge, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Cripplegate was built into the London Wall for additional access north. Aldersgate was built into the original London Wall, accessing the area north of London. Newgate was built into the London Wall as an additional gate to the west. Ludgate was built into the original London Wall. It accessed the area west of London. Bridgegate was built at the southern terminus of the original London Bridge. It accessed the area south of London like Southwark. The Postern at the Tower of London was built after the building of the Tower of London to provide access between the two. Moorgate was first a postern gate. It was later enhanced to provide access to the northern Moors.
The gates of London, including the Rosery Gate, stand as silent witnesses to the city’s evolving story. They remind us that even in a modern metropolis, echoes of the past resonate beneath our feet.