Looking south along Norton Folgate. The tall buildings seen here are 30 St Mary Axe and Tower 42.

Norton Folgate is a short length of street in London, connecting Bishopsgate with Shoreditch High Street on the northern edge of its financial district, the City of London. It constitutes a very small section of the A10 road, the former Roman Ermine Street. Its name is a reminder of the tiny ancient liberty and parish^[1] of Norton Folgate situated in and around this area.

[edit] History

The Liberty of Norton Folgate was a distinct administrative unit between the Bishopsgate ward of the City to the south and the parish of St Leonard, Shoreditch to the north. Its origin was as the area of land occupied by the inner precinct of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital. This was dissolved during the Reformation, but the land, reverting to the Crown, retained its status as an extra-parochial liberty. Within the 8.7 acres (35,000 m²) of the former liberty are Folgate Street and Spittle Square in Spitalfields to the east and a small area of land between Primrose Street and Worship Street on the west side of the main road.^[2]

It is noted as the sometime residence of the playwright Christopher Marlowe. The theatrical association continued, with the construction in 1837 of the City of London Theatre, here, by the architect Samuel Beazley. The theatre specialised in "domestic" and temperance drama, and closed in 1868. Performances included The Pickwick Papers between March and April 1837; and Nicholas Nickelby in November and December 1838.^[3]

The liberty was abolished in 1900^[4] and was divided between the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney and the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch. A civil parish of Norton Folgate in the County of London existed between 1889 until it was absorbed by the parish of Whitechapel in 1921.^[5]

Norton Folgate was also the site of the London Gas Light and Coke Company, the works, also known as the 'Curtain Road Works', were established from about 1812, when the Company received a contract to light Bishopsgate and supply the surrounding area with gas. The site obtained was cramped, and riddled with springs. The Company was applying novel chemistry (devised by Fredrick Winsor) on an industrial scale, and these factors resulted in the Company paying substantial fines for non-delivery. The site was in operation from about 1820 to 1871, when the new works at Beckton took over supply for much of London. The site was then used as a coal siding - for coaling trains at Broad Street and Liverpool Street. Latterly it was used as a yard for taxis, before redevelopment in about 2000.^[6]

In 2008, in opposition to a plan to demolish the trendy Light Bar (built as a power station for the Great Eastern Railway)^[7] in order to build an office block, local activists claimed that documents in the council archives showed that the abolition of the Liberty of Norton Folgate in 1900 was technically invalid and that it still existed.^[8]

[edit] See also

• Stepney Historical Trust
• The 2009 album by Madness, The Liberty of Norton Folgate

[edit] Population and area

The liberty of Norton Folgate covered 10 acres (40,469 m²). The population as recorded in the Census was:

Liberty of Norton Folgate 1801-1901

[edit] Nearest station

The nearest London Underground station is Liverpool Street. London Liverpool Street is also, a National Rail station.

Opening in June 2010, the nearest London Overground station is Shoreditch High Street

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Large scale 1885 Map of the Liberty and surrounding area
• Hidden London: Norton Folgate
• Local administration of Norton Folgate
• Tower Hamlets Archives
• Survey of London Vol 27: Norton Folgate

Coordinates: 51°31′16″N 0°04′44″W / 51.5211°N 0.0788°W / 51.5211; -0.0788