MIDDLESEX STREET CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER SUMMARY Department of Planning & Transportation Sandy’s Row Sandy’s Row 12 Widegate Street Devonshire Row Stone House 12 Widegate Street New Street Brushfield Street 12 Widegate Street Sandy’s Row Devonshire Square BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE Opposite: Sandys Row from Artillery Lane, April 1912 Front Cover Picture: Bishopsgate Street looking north 12 Widegate Street Middlesex Street Conservation Area Character Summary This conservation area summary of character identifies key characteristics of the area and particular planning considerations. In the City of London the present urban form and character has evolved through many centuries and is the product of numerous influences and interventions: the character and sense of place is hence unique to that area, contributing at the same time to the wider character of the City. It is inevitable that the present knowledge and information is incomplete, and in the interests of brevity only the principal characteristics of the area are identified here. A more comprehensive appreciation of history and character of the City of London and the nature of conservation area character (with particular reference to the City) are addressed in Conservation Areas in the City of London, A General Introduction to their Character. Each conservation area character summary should be read in conjunction with the General Introduction to enable a potential appreciation of any matters of possible importance in relation to any building, site, street or area. The role of such elements in the character and appearance of any area within the City of London will vary, and will be appraised in the light of particular proposals for alteration, extension or development. It is prepared in the light of national legislation, policy and advice provided in particular by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and PPG 15 Planning and the Historic Environment 1994, and planning policies for the City of London contained in the City of London Unitary Development Plan 2002. 1 Middlesex Street Conservation Area O.S. 1999 100 ISBN 0 85203 055 X © Corporation of London 2003 0 Brushfield Street towards Bishopsgate Sandy’s Row Sandy’s Row towards Artillery Lane 2 200m Middlesex Street Location and Boundaries The Middlesex Street Conservation Area lies on the City’s north-eastern boundary. To the west it is contained by Bishopsgate; to the south by Houndsditch. The eastern boundary runs north from Houndsditch along the east side of Devonshire Square, the north/ south section of New Street, Cock Hill, then east at the rear of the buildings fronting Middlesex Street to the City boundary. It then runs north along Sandys Row and Fort Street to Brushfield Street. The Middlesex Street Conservation Area lies entirely within the Ward of Bishopsgate. Sandys Row looking north Bishopsgate looking north Designation The area was designated in December 1981, as part of the comprehensive review of conservation areas in the City that was carried out at that time. Middlesex Street was one of eleven new areas to be designated by the Corporation as a result of the review. The implementation of the Boundary Commissions’s findings on 1 April 1994 resulted in an extension of the area’s north-east boundary to include a small area between the City’s former boundary and Fort Street, adjacent to Tower Hamlets conservation area. Fort Street, south to Artillery Lane 3 Area Character Historical Evolution and Key Features The area lies to the east of Bishopsgate which follows approximately the line of the Roman road running north out of the City from the Basilica Forum. It is outside the line of the Roman city wall which ran eastwest just to the south of Houndsditch. There was a gate in the wall at Bishopsgate. There is little evidence of Roman settlement in this area. It is known that Roman cemeteries were located outside the city limits and burials are expected to survive here. By the 11th century buildings are known to have been constructed outside the City’s main gates. In 1197 the hospital of St Mary Spittal was founded on the east side of Bishopsgate to the north of the current City boundary. Gradually the City expanded outside the line of the Roman and Medieval walls. Cathrine Wheel Alley 1855 Stow’s Survey of London, first published in 1598, describes this area as part of the “Suburbs Without the Walls” and mentions the Dolphin Inn, just north of Houndsditch, Fisher’s Folly, and “so up to the west end of Berwardes lane continual building of small cottages then the hospital of St Mary Spittle”. GUILDHALL LIBRARY The Elizabethan mansion Fisher’s Folly, built for Jasper Fisher the warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company in 1567, stood just to the west of what is now Devonshire Square. From 1620 to 1675 it was the Duke of Devonshire’s town house. Part of the house was leased in 1666 to Quakers for use as a meeting-house and in 1675 the house was sold to Nicholas Barbon for development. Devonshire Square and a new Quaker meeting-house were built on the garden of the former house between 1678 and 1708. Remains of a wall of Fisher’s Folly survive, forming the lower part of the rear wall of Nos. 4-18 Devonshire Row. Brushfield Street 1912 Devonshire Square, east side 1911 BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE 4 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Devonshire Square 1906 BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE The 18th century saw a significant expansion of both residential and commercial developments. To the north of Devonshire Square where, on the north side are a pair of fine mid 18th century houses, New Street was created. Nos. 5-7, a group of late 18th century houses survive and on the south side are the first buildings of what became known as the Cutler Street Warehouses. The Old Bengal Warehouse in New Street was built in 1769-70 and the major area of construction to the west was undertaken between 1792 and 1800. The block on the eastern side of Devonshire Square was built in 1820. The warehouses were built for the East India Company and later occupied by the Port of London Authority before being converted for use as offices in the 1970s. Further north in Widegate Street the houses, Nos. 24 and 25, date from about 1720 and on the south side of Brushfield Street, at the northern end of the Conservation Area, the terrace contains an excellent example of a four storey town house dating from about 1785. Middlesex Street from Bishopsgate April 1912 BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE The 19th century saw the decline of the area as a fashionable residential district and an increase in commercial activity. Existing buildings were modified, as can be seen in the number of 19th century shopfronts that have been put into much earlier buildings, and purpose built workshops and warehouses created. Possibly the most significant influence on the area was the creation of Liverpool Street Station, on the western side of Bishopsgate, when the terminus of the Great Eastern Railway was moved south from the northern end of Bishopsgate. The station was opened in 1874. The proximity of the associated goods depot reinforced the area’s commercial importance. Bishopsgate Institute 1912 5 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Ogilby & Morgan Undertaken when reconstruction of the City was well underway, the Plan is the “first large multisheet plan of a British town to be so delineated”, and is considered to be relatively accurate; plans before this had been aerial pictorial views. The framework of major streets with a network of alleyways leading from them is well established. Devonshire House Garden dominates the immediate area. Ogilby and Morgan 1676-79 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Richard Horwood The map is more schematic than Ogilby and Morgan. The streets correspond more closely with the present-day pattern with many bearing the names we have for them today. Devonshire Square is established at the core of what was previously Devonshire House Garden. Cutlers Gardens warehouses, including Shield House and Bengal House on New Street, have been established. These warehouses were used by the East India Company. Richard Horwood 1792 - 99 GUILDHALL LIBRARY 6 1890 Ordnance Survey The street pattern and plot widths reflect more directly the pattern of built environment today. Some of the narrow plot widths have been amalgamated to establish larger buildings such as Bishopsgate Institute and Bishopsgate Fire Station. Cutlers Gardens complex of warehouses have been completed. Liverpool Street Station also appears for the first time. Ordnance Survey 1890 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Ordnance Survey 1915 GUILDHALL LIBRARY 1915 Ordnance Survey The changes to the street pattern are minor and include the development of Victoria Avenue adjacent to the Bishopsgate Police Station. The northern end of Middlesex Street has also been altered and resulted in the loss of some buildings and shortening of Sandys Row. Many of the earlier narrow plot widths survive. 7 Part of the area’s eastern boundary is defined by Middlesex Street and Sandys Row, a route between Aldgate High Street and Bishopsgate that was in existence in the 13th century. Originally known as Hogge Lane, its name had changed to Peticote Lane by the beginning of the 17th century. Its importance as a major route, linking the docks and the manufacturing industries of the East End with the main line terminus at Liverpool Street, lead to its widening and the creation, at its northern end, of a new link through to Widegate Street and Bishopsgate in the late 1890s. Devonshire Square, west side 1911 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Devonshire Square, circa 1750 GUILDHALL LIBRARY Devonshire Square, doorway to No. 4 GUILDHALL LIBRARY In the past the area has been subject to rapid expansion and development. The present character is reflected in both its historic origins through its street layout and alignment, as seen in the planned form of New Street, Devonshire Row and Square, and in the earlier surviving historic alleys and courts such as Catherine Wheel Alley, Cock Hill and Victoria Avenue. It is also created by the legacy of gradual and relatively smallscale changes to the building fabric. Artillery Lane looking east to Christ Church 8 The Fire Station, 162-164 Bishopsgate The survival of mid to late Victorian commercial buildings within the conservation area are essential to the area’s character. For the most part these buildings are of 4 to 5 storeys, built in red brick and often are embellished with painted stone or stucco decoration. Frequently these buildings reflect the narrow plot widths of former buildings, giving a characteristic vertical emphasis to the street elevations. This characteristic scale of building and particular use of materials is in marked contrast with the nature of the adjoining areas of the City to the south and west of the conservation area. The area is also characterised by the amount of retail frontages, especially along Bishopsgate, Devonshire Row and Widegate Street. The diversity of uses is further amplified by the presence of public buildings such as the Bishopsgate Police Station of 1938, designed by Vine & Vine, which replaced and extended the former Victorian one; the listed former Bishopsgate Fire Station of 1885, by George Vulliamy, and the Bishopsgate Institute and Library. This outstanding listed building was designed by Harrison Townsend. This Charity Commissioners’ scheme received royal approval in 1891 and the building was opened in 1894. Stone House column detail 9 Listed Buildings Devonshire Square • 162-164 Bishopsgate • Bishopsgate Institute & Library • 10 Brushfield Street • 14 Brushfield Street • 4-18 Devonshire Row, wall at rear • 12-13 Devonshire Square • 5-7 New Street • 16 New Street • 21 New Street, gateway • 1, 3 & 5 Stone House Court • 24-25 Widegate Street There are no Scheduled Monuments within the conservation area. The Magpie PH, New Street 10 & 14 Brushfield Street 13-15 Artillery Lane 10 Additional Considerations The following also contribute to the immediate setting of the Middlesex Street Conservation Area: • Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool Street • Liverpool Street Station, Bishopsgate • St Botolph without Bishopsgate Church, Bishopsgate • Cutlers Gardens Estate, New Street and Devonshire Square • Synagogue, 4a Sandy’s Row (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) • 13 & 14 Widegate Street (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) • 15 & 16 Widegate Street (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) • 2-9a Widegate Street (London Borough of Tower Hamlets Police Station, Bishopsgate The Artillery Passage Conservation Area, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is adjacent to the east. There are a number of important views into and out of the area along thoroughfares and through the adjacent conservation areas. Some of these views between the conservation areas also constitute important settings of listed buildings. 5-7 New Street Stone House Court Port of London Authority warehouse, New Street The Shooting Star PH, Middlesex Street 21 New Street 11 Acknowledgements The Design Section of the Department of Planning & Transportation would like to express its gratitude for the advice and / or assistance provided by the following organisations and individuals in the preparation of this series: The Guildhall Library - Jeremy Smith, John Fisher. Illustrations identified below are reproduced with the kind permission of the following: The Guildhall Library: Pages 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8. Bishopsgate Institute: Pages 1, 4, & 5. Several of the maps in this series on Conservation Area Character are based upon Ordnance Survey maps for the City of London with the sanction of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Crown Copyright Reserved. All other illustrations were taken by the Design Team, Department of Planning & Transportation, Corporation of London. References The brief quote in the reference to the Ogilby and Morgan plan is taken from the introduction to this series of maps by Ralph Hyde, Guildhall Library. Readers are also referred to the sources mentioned in the General Introduction to this series on the Character of the City’s Conservation Areas. This series on the Conservation Areas of the City of London, is written and designed by the Design Team, Department of Planning & Transportation, Corporation of London. © The Corporation of London 2003. Design by Dom Strickland; printing by Ingersoll Printers Ltd. Further Information and assistance: Department of Planning & Transportation Corporation of London P.O. Box 270 Guildhall London EC2P 2EJ Tel: 020 7332 1716 Produced under the direction of: Peter Wynne Rees B.Sc, BArch, BTP, RIBA, FRTPI, FRSA. The City Planning Officer Corporation of London P.O. 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