St Luke's
St Luke's Church, Old Street
St Luke's Location withinGreater London
OS grid reference	TQ322824
London borough	Islington
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	EC1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Islington South and Finsbury
London Assembly	North East
List of places UK England London 51°31′30″N0°05′35″W / 51.525°N 0.093°W /51.525; -0.093

St Luke's is an area inLondon, England and is located in theLondon Borough of Islington. It lies just north of the border with theCity of London near theBarbican Estate, and theClerkenwell andShoreditch areas.

The area takes its name from the now redundantparish church ofSt Luke's, onOld Street west ofOld Street station. Following theclosure of the church, theparish was reabsorbed into that ofSt Giles-without-Cripplegate, from which it had separated in 1733.

The civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Luke's was created on 18 October 1733 (St Luke's Day), following the construction of the church ofSt Luke. The parish was formed from the part of the existing parish ofSt Giles Cripplegate that was outside theCity of London.^[1] The area covered by the parish is the same as that previously occupied by the landholding known as theManor of Finsbury.^[2]

Being outside the City boundaries, the parish had a largenon-conformist population.John Wesley's house andWesley's Chapel are inCity Road, as isBunhill Fields burial ground.

In 1751,St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics, an asylum, was founded. It was rebuilt in 1782–1784 byGeorge Dance the Younger. In 1917, the site was sold to theBank of England for St Luke's Printing Works, which printed banknotes. The building was damaged bythe Blitz of 1940, and the printing works were relocated in 1958 toDebden, Essex.^[3]

TheGrade II listedIronmonger Row Baths were built as a public wash house in 1931. Turkish baths were added in 1938.

The civil parish became officially known as "St Luke's Middlesex". The parish was historically in the county ofMiddlesex, and was included in the area of theMetropolitan Board of Works in 1855. Under theMetropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Luke was divided into five wards (electingvestrymen): No. 1 (12), No. 2 (6), No. 3 (9), No. 4 (12) and No. 5 (9).^[4]

From 1889 it was part of theCounty of London. Thevestry administeredlocal government in the area until thecivil parish became part of theMetropolitan Borough of Finsbury in 1899. In 1965, that borough was amalgamated with theMetropolitan Borough of Islington to form theLondon Borough of Islington.^[1]

The eponymous parish church closed in 1959 after its structure was found to be unsafe, and the parish reunited withSt Giles-without-Cripplegate.^[5] The church building has been restored and is now home to aconcert hall and rehearsal space used by theLondon Symphony Orchestra.^[6]

The area of the former parish extends north from the City of London boundary toCity Road, with a small part, aroundCity Road Basin lying north of City Road.Goswell Road forms the western boundary with Clerkenwell, while the areas northern and eastern boundaries with theShoreditch area of theLondon Borough of Hackney area have been adopted by theLondon Borough of Islington. St Luke's is inside the London Congestion Charging Zone, theUltra Low Emission Zone, and is located in Zone 1. The nearest tube and railway stations areBarbican,Farringdon and Old Street.

St Luke's has no formal boundaries. Those used here form a rough triangle: City Road andFinsbury Pavement/Finsbury Square to the east, the boundary with the City of London to the south, andGoswell Road to the west.

• Anchor Yard – after a former inn here of this name^[7]
• Angel Gate
• Baldwin Street – after Richard Baldwin, Treasurer atSt Bartholomew's Hospital when the street was built in 1811^[8]
• Baltic Street East and Baltic Street West – the streets here were built by a timber merchantc. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Baltic refers to theBaltic softwood trade^[9][10]
• Banner Street – after the Banner family, late 18th-century landowners in the area^[11][12]
• Bartholomew Square – built in 1811 on land owned bySt Bartholomew's Hospital^[13][14]
• Bastwick Street – unknown; possibly afterBastwick inNorfolk^[15]
• Bath Street – after the former Peerless Pool here, later turned into a bath; it was formerly Pest House Row, after a plague hospital built here in theTudor era (demolished 1736)^[16][17]
• Beard Street
• Bunhill Row – after the adjacentBunhill Fields cemetery, the original phrase being 'bone hill'^[18][19]
• Cahill Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s^[20]
• Cayton Place and Cayton Street – renamed, afterthe village in Yorkshire, from New Street in 1805, to avoid confusion with other streets of this name^[21]
• Central Street – named thus in 1861, for it lay in the centre of St Luke's Parish^[22][21]
• Chequer Street – after the former Chequers tavern here^[23][24]
• Cherry Tree Walk
• Chiswell Street – old term meaning stony/gravelly earth^[25]or a corruption of 'Choice Well', denoting a source of clean water^[26]
• City Road – as it connectsIslington to theCity of London^[27][28]
• Crescent Row – descriptive, after its shape^[29]
• Dingley Place and Dingley Road – after Charles Dingley, who instigated the construction of City Road in 1756^[30][28]
• Domingo Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchantc. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Domingo is an alternative name forHispaniola, a source ofmahogany^[31][10]
• Dufferin Avenue and Dufferin Court – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s^[20]
• Errol Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s^[20]
• Europa Place –unknown^[32]
• Exchange Street – after the former Clerkenwell Telephone Exchange^[32]
• Featherstone Street – after the Featherstone family, local landowners after Matthew Featherstone bought land here in 1732^[33][34]
• Finsbury Pavement,Finsbury Square and Finsbury Street – after a Saxon burgh (settlement) owned by someone called Finn^[35][36]
• Fortune Street – after theFortune Playhouse, which formerly stood here on the junction with Golden Lane; it was closed in 1648^[37][38]
• Fredericks's Row
• Galway Street – afterHenri de Massue, Earl of Galway, first governor of the French Hospital that was formerly here^[39][40]
• Gard Street – after a member of the nearby Orphan Working School^[41]
• Garrett Street – after a person of this name who was a member of the local parish vestry Works Committee^[42][43]
• Gee Street – after its 1784 builder, Osgood Gee^[42][44]
• George Gillett Court – forGeorge Gillett, local politician in the early 20th century
• Golden Lane – formerly Goldynglane, thought to be after a local property owner of the name Golding/Golda^[45][46]
• Goswell Road – there is dispute over the origins of the name, with some sources claiming the road was named after a nearby garden called 'Goswelle' or 'Goderell' which belonged toRobert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk,^[47] while others state it derives from "God's Well", and the traditional pagan practice of well-worship,^[48] or a former 'Gode Well' located here^[49]
• Hall Street – after James and Joseph Hall, who built the street in 1822^[50][51]
• Helmet Row – after theWorshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land; its coat of arms incorporates a helmet motif^[52][53]
• Honduras Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchantc. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities;Honduras was a source ofmahogany^[31][10]
• Hull Street – after its 18th-century builder, William Hulls^[54][55]
• Ironmonger Passage and Ironmonger Row – after theWorshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land^[56][53]
• King Square – built 1820, and named forGeorge IV^[57][58]
• Lamb's Buildings and Lamb's Passage – after its early 19th-century owner William (or Thomas) Lamb; it was formerly known as Great Swordbearers Alley^[59][60]
• Lever Street –unknown^[61]
• Lizard Street – after theWorshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land; their arms incorporates asalamander motif^[62][53]
• Ludlow Street –unknown^[63]
• Macclesfield Road – afterGeorge Parker, 4th Earl of Macclesfield, chairman of the canal company in the 17th century^[64][65]
• Mallow Street – after the formermallow field located here^[66][67]
• Martha's Buildings
• Masons Place and Masons Yard
• Memel Court and Memel Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchantc. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Memel was a timber-exporting port in Germany (nowKlaipėda inLithuania)^[31][10]
• Mitchell Street – after John Mitchell, who bequeathed this land to theWorshipful Company of Ironmongers in 1527^[68][53]
• Moor Lane – after the marshy moorlands that formerly stood here^[69][70][71]
• Mora Street – after theprebend of Moor/Mora, belonging toSt Paul's Cathedral, named for the local moors^[72][73]
• Moreland Street – after the Moreland family, prominent locally in the 19th century^[72][73]
• Mount Mills – after a former mount here supporting awindmill, later a chapel, and then in theCivil War a raised battery; it was levelled in 1750^[74][75]
• Nag's Head Court – after a former inn of this name^[76]
• Nelson Passage – after AdmiralHoratio Nelson^[76][77]
• New Charles Street – as this formerly led to a Charles Street, named forCharles II^[78]
• Norman Street – after bricklayer William Norman, who leased land here in the 1750s^[79][53]
• Old Street – after its age, thought to have ultimately Roman origins^[80][81]
• Paton Street –unknown^[82]
• Pear Tree Street – after the pear trees formerly grown here^[83][84]
• Peerless Street – site of the Peerless Pool, a bath used in the 18th century, thought to be a corruption of ‘perilous’^[85][86]
• Pickard Street – after a clergyman of this name who founded the Orphan Working School here in 1754^[87][88]
• President Street
• Radnor Street – after theEarls of Radnor, who governed the French Hospital that was formerly here^[39][40]
• Red Cow Lane
• Ropemaker Street – descriptive, after the rope making trade formerly located here^[89][90]
• Roscoe Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s^[20]
• St Agnes Well – after an ancient well thought to have been located about 200 metres to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Remnants of the well can be found withinOld Street station.^[91]
• St Luke's Close – after the adjacentSt Luke Old Street church^[92]
• Seward Street – after Edward Seward, who owned a dyeworks here in the 18th century^[93][94]
• Sidney Grove
• Sundial Court
• Sutton's Way
• Sycamore Street – by association with the nearby Timber Street,^[95] or possibly after an inn of this name^[96]
• Timber Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchantc. 1810, who named them after trade-related activities[9]^[10]
• Wakley Street – after 19th-century surgeon and social reformerThomas Wakley^[97][98]
• Warwick Yard –unknown^[99]
• Whitecross Street – after a white cross which stood near here in the 1200s^[100][101]
• Withers Place – after William Withers, 18th-century property owner^[102][103]
• Youngs Buildings – after Francis Young, local 18th-century property owner^[104]

Whitecross Street Market is a market with stalls arranged inWhitecross Street and the road closed to traffic. There is a small general market every weekday, and a larger food market on Thursdays and Fridays. It has occasional food festivals.^[105]

The market dates to the 17th century, and was formerly one of London's great Sunday markets, although today trading is largely limited to lunchtimes.^[106] By the end of the 19th century, the area had become a by-word for poverty and alcohol abuse. It became known asSqualors' Market.^[107]

St Luke's Parochial Trust is an historic charity still operating in the St Luke's area, fulfilling its original purpose of improving the lives of local people. It has its origins in the gifts of land and money from benefactors to the ancient parish as far back as the 16th century. The charity owns and manages a busy community centre^[108] on Central Street, from which a wide range of community activities and services are delivered and coordinated.

The community centre was originally the Central Street Board School, one of manyVictorian era schools built and managed by theLondon School Board. The school closed during theSecond World War whilst local school children were evacuated to the countryside to avoidthe Blitz. The school reopened and operated after the war as the Frank Barnes School for the Deaf until the mid-1970s. St Luke's Parochial Trust purchased the building in 1979, and converted it to a community centre which was opened by QueenElizabeth II in 1982.

The nearest stations are Barbican, Farringdon, Moorgate and Old StreetLondon UndergroundNorthern line (City branch) and theNational RailNorthern City Line (which is operated byGreat Northern) providing services atOld Street station^[109] on St Luke's eastern edge.^[110]

• Bebbington, G. (1972).London Street Names.
• Ekwall, Eilert (1954).Street-Names of the City of London. Clarendon Press.
• Fairfield, S. (1983).The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins.

• St Luke's Parochial Trust homepage
• Islington Museum and Local History Centre.Archived 4 June 2011 at theWayback Machine

• Districts of the London Borough of Islington
• Areas of London
• Parishes governed by vestries (Metropolis)
• Bills of mortality parishes
• Former civil parishes in the London Borough of Islington

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