No. 75 Cripplegate Ward without Volunteers

Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London (see map – click on it to expand).   The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into two parts: Cripplegate Within and Cripplegate Without, with a beadle and a deputy (alderman) appointed for each part. Since the 1994 (City) and 2003 (ward) boundary changes, most of the ward is Without, with the ward of Bassishaw having expanded considerably into the Within area. Until World War II, the area approximating to Cripplegate Without was commonly known as simply Cripplegate. The area was almost entirely destroyed in the Blitz of World War II causing the term to fall out of colloquial speech. Cripplegate Without is the site of the Barbican Estate and Barbican Centre, with a small part of these lying in neighbouring Aldersgate Without.  Cripplegate was located at what is now the corner of Wood Street and St Alphage Gardens . The origins of the gate’s name are unclear.  One theory is that it takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word crepel, meaning a covered or underground passageway. Another theory suggests cripples used to beg there. The nearby church of St Giles lends credence to this suggestion as Saint Giles is the patron saint of cripples and lepers.