Aldgate Aldgate was the eastern - most gateway through the London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End of London . It gives its name to a City ward bounded by White Kennet Street in the north and Crutched Friars in the south , taking in Leadenhall and Fenchurch Street s , which remain principal thoroughfares through the City , each splitting from the short street named Aldgate that connects to Aldgate High Street . The road is situated east north - east of Charing Cross . John Cass ' s school , where a plaque records the former placement of London Wall , is sited on the north side of Aldgate ( the street ) . History . It is thought that a gate at Aldgate was already spanning the road to Colchester in the Roman period , when the City wall itself was constructed . The gateway stood at the corner of the modern Duke ' s Place and was always an obstacle to traffic . It was rebuilt between 1108 – 47 , again in 1215 , and reconstructed completely between 1607 - 09 . The gate was finally removed in 1761 ; it was temporarily re - erected at Bethnal Green . The etymology of the name " Aldgate " is disputed . Writing in the 16th century , John Stow derived the name from " Old Gate " ( Aeld Gate ) . However , Henry Harben , writing in 1918 , contended that this was wrong and that documents show that the " d " is missing in documents written before 1486 - 7 . Alternative meanings include " Ale Gate " in connection with a putative ale - house or " All Gate " meaning the gate was free to all . Other possibilities canvassed by Harben include reference to a Saxon named " Ealh , " or reference to foreigners ( " el " ) or oil ( " ele " ) or " awl " . Gillian Bebbington , writing in 1972 , suggests Alegate , Aelgate ( " public gate " ) or Aeldgate " ( Old Gate " ) as equally viable alternatives whilst Weinreb and Hibbert , writing in 1983 , revert to Stow ' s theory that the name means " Old Gate " . While he was a customs official , from 1374 until 1386 , Geoffrey Chaucer occupied apartments above the gate . The Augustinians priory of Holy Trinity Aldgate was founded by Matilda , the wife of King Henry I , in 1108 , on ground just inside the gate . Within Aldgate ward , a short distance to the north of the gate , Jews settled from 1181 , until their expulsion in 1290 by King Edward I . The area became known as Old Jewry . Jews were welcomed back by Oliver Cromwell , and once again they settled in the area , founding London ' s oldest synagogue at Bevis Marks in 1698 . In about 1420 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry was founded in Aldgate , but it later moved to nearby Whitechapel . The foundry continued to supply bells to churches in the City , including the rebuilt church of St Botolph Without Aldgate in 1744 . At Aldgate ' s junction with Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street is the site of the old Aldgate Pump . From 1700 it was from this point that distances were measured into the counties of Essex and Middlesex . The original pump was taken down in 1876 , and a ' faux ' pump and drinking fountain was erected several yards to the west of the original ; it was supplied by water from the New River . In ancient deeds , " Alegate Well " is mentioned , adjoining the City wall , and this may have been the source ( of water ) for the original pump . A section of the remains of Holy Trinity Priory can be seen through a window in a nearby office block , on the north side . In 1773 " Poems on Various Subjects , Religious and Moral " by Phillis Wheatley , the first book by an African American was published in Aldgate after her owners could not find a publisher in Boston , Massachusetts . Daniel Mendoza was born in 1764 to a Jewish family in Aldgate . He was author of " The Art of Boxing " and became an English boxing champion from 1792 to 1795 . Aldgate is one of 25 ward s in the City of London , each electing an Alderman to the Court of Aldermen and Commoners ( the City equivalent of a councillor ) to the Court of Common Council of the City of London Corporation . Only electors who are Freemen of the City are eligible to stand . The area around the large traffic roundabout to the east of where the gate stood is also often referred to as Aldgate ( although strictly , this is Aldgate High Street , and extends a short distance into Whitechapel ; it is also known occasionally by the epithet ' Gardiners ' Corner ' , in honour of a long - disappeared department store ) . Today . The City ward of Aldgate is bounded on the east by the line of the former London Wall , effectively parallel with Houndsditch , which separates it from the Portsoken ward ; it is bounded on the south by Tower ward and on the west and north by the Langbourn , Lime Street , and Bishopsgate wards . The ward today is dominated by the insurance industry , with several brokers and underwriters based there ; prominent buildings include the Lloyd ' s Register building , 30 St Mary Axe ( formerly the Swiss Re Building ) , the Willis Building and the London Metal Exchange . On 10 April 1992 the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb close to the Baltic Exchange , severely damaging the historic building and neighbouring structures . 30 St Mary Axe now occupies the site and the Baltic Exchange is located at No . 38 , St Mary Axe . Three churches are located in Aldgate ward : St . Botolph ' s , St Katharine Cree ( 1631 ) and St Andrew Undershaft ( 1532 ) - administered from St . Helen ' s in Lime Street ward . The Bevis Marks Synagogue ( 1699 ) , the oldest in the United Kingdom , is also located in the ward , on Bevis Marks . The nearest London Underground station is Aldgate on the Circle , Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan line s . Nearby mainline railway stations are located at Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street , and Tower Gateway is the closest Docklands Light Railway station .