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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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. Box 270 Guildhall
London EC2P 2EJ
Price - £2.50 inc.
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Courtyard, 21 New Street
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ISBN 0 85203 055 X