MICKLEGATE , YORK

ALDGATE

Aldgate today is merely a prosaic traffic junction and so to continue the wall's momentum, a latin term for force or strength, we deviate to an alternative location and in so doing add an exotic ingredient albeit from the lesser city of York, known in Roman times as Eboracum.

See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York

Although much of the Roman wall fell into disrepair and what remains dates from later periods we can still get a flavour of Shakespeare's period. City walls were a part and parcel of everday life for those seeking entry to a city and those living and working within them.

York was in a sense a microcosm of London. It was founded in the year 71AD when the Ninth Legion overcame the inhabiting tribe who controlled what we now know as Yorkshire and a large part of the Midlands. Britain before the arrival of the Romans was divided up between Celtic tribes. The Celts as we know them would not have recognised themselves as such. There is no written record of their self definition. What we know of these people has been handed down from archeological artifact and Roman record but here the area was controlled by a confederation known as the Brigantes. Originally they were in alliance with the Romans but fell into discord. The consequence resulted in the formation of the city. After conquering the Brigantes a large fort comprising some 6,000 soldiers and covering an area of 50 acres was built.

The Emperors Hadrian, Septimius Severus and Constantius I all held court in York during their various campaigns. During his stay, the Emperor Severus proclaimed York capital of the province of Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that it was he who granted York the privileges of a colonia or city. Constantius I died during his stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the fortress.

From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York

Britannia Inferior was a subdivision of the Roman province of Britannia established c.214 by the emperor Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus. Located in modern northern England, the region was governed from the city of Eburacum (modern York) by a praetorian legate in command of a single legion stationed in the city.[1] This subdivision of Britannia lasted throughout the Severan dynasty until the reorganization of the empire under Diocletian in 296.

Note: the name Britannia Inferior is something of a misnomer, as its literal translation is Lower Britain, though it is located in Northern England. This coming from a fact that Romans named locations according to their proximity to the town of Rome itself. Therefore, Britannia that was further from Rome was called Inferior.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Inferior

The important thing to digest here is that history flows in a mediated way - contrived by us or at least by historians. There is cause and effect. The proximity and location of Londinium defined its strategic importance and we can make sense of this in hindsight but Shakespeare cultivated the known history of his time and made it tell a story that we have all bought into. He was'nt a spin doctor as such but a humble conduit - a copywriter...

The idea is all encompassing and it is the idea, made concrete, that serves to remind us, constantly, of our impermanence and of our belief in continuity, of eternal continuity.

York was never going to be London but what we get from these images is a sense of the period, of its flow. The traffic situatation in York has so far not led to any demolishments as the gates are now preseved by a grade 1 listing. In return for this preservation we are presented with references that are no longer visible in the City of London.

London Wall in its final incarnation encompassed an area of some 330 acres. In considering real estate : 1 acre is 43560 square feet. An acre itself is defined as an area 1 furlong long by 4 rods wide. A furlong is 201 metres and a rod is 1/40th of a furlong which is 5 metres. An acre is equal to an area of 4840 square yards. There are 4 roods to the acre and 1 rood is equal to an area 1 furlong long by 1 rod wide which is 1210 square yards. A rope is an obscure unit of length and was equal to 20 feet.

Confused? So are we Brits...

We used rope to hang criminals and it is this kind of mystification that is used by estate agents and governments to bolster British house prices which is a criminal act...allegedly. And criminals were not unknown to have been incarcerated for periods in gate houses. Unfortunately we live in a liberal society where criminal acts are no longer penalised , or so it seems....allegedly.

To get an idea of just how big an acre is see : http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/acre/acre.html

Real estate has always been a precious commodity in the London environs and in a symbolic way the wall is partly the cause of this. The very fact that the wall presented a definable boundary, separate from Royalty, yet distinct as a defensive unit allowed for strict regulation that meant building beyond the wall was an impossibility.This was because Royal land in Westminster wanted to remain as such : without loss of power and encroachment from the hoi polloi. Royalty without the walls had a bigger say than within the walls.

But the economic strength that the city accummulated over time acted as a magnet for those in the counties beyond, mainly men and young men seeking apprenticeships. Historical factors come into play as to why this happened but the heavy population burden that arose by Elizabeth 1's era did no favours for health. Poor sanitation created regular plagues and other nasties. The wall was both a defence and a prison.

Although the shear weight of population increase created additional forms of dwelling outside the city limits it was not until James 1 ascended to the throne that official building beyond the walls really started to take place. This as ever was due to Royal financial expedience, since only a few could build, rather than a practical approach to design. All of the land outside the City and subsequently what we know as London today lay in the hands of nobles and aristocrats, apart from Soho. Hence the number of squares in Central London. This is how modern London came into existence.

Villages existed outside the city locale and provided produce that was then brought in to the various market places inside the walls. This included livestock. So it's not hard to imagine the hubbub and noise around the gates in the early hours of the morning rush hour. And Oh Yes, there was traffic congestion even then. In fact
traffic congestion from the middle ages right up to the present day has been an ever present feature of
' progress '. Its what we might call a very English muddle. Ok , so there are traffic problems all over the world but the English mentality ever since the dissolution has always been to protect trade as trade became the replacement religion for Catholicism and trade had to be unhindered from the tethers of restriction. Its a fallacy of course but it is this sense of competitive fair play that in the end brought about the disapearance of the gatehouses marking the routes in and out of Londinium's earliest roads. Traffic grew, the world got smaller, in with the new out with the old.

9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has already been,
in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1

But lets not get hyper-literate.....

Although this is not Aldgate one thing important to bear in mind is this. From 1374 a customs official lived in rooms over the Aldgate and his name was Geoffrey Chaucer - the father of English vernacular language. It was Chaucer who legitimised the English language...