Bishopsgate Bishopsgate is one of the 25 wards of the City of London and also the name of a major road ( part of the A10 ) between Gracechurch Street and Norton Folgate in the northeast corner of London ' s main financial district . Bishopsgate is named after one of the original seven gates in the London Wall . The site of this former gate is marked by a stone bishop ' s mitre , fixed high upon a building located at Bishopsgate ' s junction with Wormwood Street , by the gardens there and facing the Heron Tower . Although tens of thousands of people commute to and work in the ward , it has a resident population of only 222 ( 2011 ) . Ward geography . The ward ( which is large by City standards ) is bounded by Worship Street to the north , where the edge of the City meets the boroughs of Islington and Hackney . It neighbours Portsoken ward and the borough of Tower Hamlets in the east . The western boundary is formed by Old Broad Street and Broad Street ward itself . Bishopsgate also bounds the wards of Aldgate ( southeast ) , Coleman Street ( west ) , Cornhill ( southwest ) and Lime Street ( south ) . Bishopsgate ward straddles the ( now former ) line of the Wall and the old gate and is often ( even today ) divided into " Within " and " Without " parts , with a deputy ( alderman ) appointed for each part . Since the 1994 ( City ) and 2003 ( ward ) boundary changes , almost all of the ward is Without ; only a small area surrounding the Leathersellers ' livery hall remains as Bishopsgate Within . The ward previously extended much further south , along the Bishopsgate road and Gracechurch Street to meet Langbourn ward , but in the 2003 changes much of the Within part was transferred to Cornhill and Lime Street . No changes to Bishopsgate ' s ward boundaries occurred in the 2013 boundary changes . History . Originally Roman , the Bishop ' s Gate was rebuilt by the Hansa merchants in 1471 in exchange for steelyard privileges . Its final form was erected in 1735 by the City authorities and demolished in 1760 . This gate often displayed the heads of criminals on spikes . London Wall ( which is no longer extant in this sector ) divided the ward and road into an intramural portion called Bishopsgate Within and an extramural portion called Bishopsgate Without . The Bishopsgate thoroughfare forms part of the A10 and the section to the north of the site of the original Gate is the start of Roman Ermine Street , also known as the ' Old North Road ' . The parish church for the area of Bishopsgate Without is St . Botolph ' s . This is located just to the north of the original Gate on the west side of the road . Bishopsgate Within was originally divided into many parishes each with its own parish church : St Andrew Undershaft , St Ethelburga Bishopsgate , St Martin Outwich , St Mary Axe and St Helen ' s Bishopsgate , now all amalgamated under the jurisdiction of the latter . St Helen ' s is a very historic medieval church and former monastic establishment with many ancient funerary monuments and a stained glass window depicting William Shakespeare — commemorating a very famous former parishioner who lived in the area in the early to mid 1590s . Bishopsgate was originally the location of many coaching inn s which accommodated passengers setting out on the Old North Road . These , though they survived the Great Fire of London , have now all been demolished , though the modern White Hart pub , to the north of St Botolph ' s at the junction with Liverpool Street , is the successor of an inn of the same name . Others included the Dolphin , the Flower Pot , the Green Dragon , the Wrestlers , the Angel and the Black Bull . The latter was a venue for the Queen ' s Men theatrical troupe in the 16th century . The name of an inn called the Catherine Wheel ( demolished 1911 ) is commemorated by Catherine Wheel Alley which leads off Bishopsgate to the east . The 17th century facade of Sir Paul Pindar ' s House , demolished to make way for Liverpool Street railway station in 1890 , on Bishopsgate was also preserved and can now be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum . In the 18th century this grand residence became a tavern called Sir Paul Pindar ' s Head . Also demolished ( but then re - erected in Chelsea ) was the old Crosby Hall , at one time the residence of Richard III and Thomas More . Bishopsgate is also the site of Dirty Dick ' s ( a pub over 200 years old ) , the Bishopsgate Institute , and many offices and skyscrapers . On 24 April 1993 it was the site of an IRA truck bombing which killed journalist Ed Henty , injured over 40 people and caused £1 billion worth of damage , including the destruction of St Ethelburga ' s church and damage to the NatWest Tower and Liverpool Street station . Police had received a coded warning , but were still evacuating the area at the time of the explosion . The area had already suffered damage from the Baltic Exchange bombing one year prior . The street is home to the main London offices of several major banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development . Within the ward falls the Broadgate Estate . Skyscrapers . The following are tall buildings and skyscrapers built , under construction or approved for Bishopsgate ( the street ) , from north to south : Politics . Bishopsgate is one of 25 wards 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 of London are eligible to stand .