Gates of London

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Sutton Nicholls (active early 18th century), Gates of London, no date [1731]. Engraving. GA 2005.01593

This eighteenth-century print describes the ten London gates, each within a black border with a compass and description beneath. They are Ald-Gate, Bishops-Gate, Moore-Gate, Cripple-Gate, Alders-Gate, New-Gate, Lud-Gate, Temple Bar, Kings-Gate, the King Street gate at Westminster.

The engraving was first published in a portfolio entitled London Described; or Perspective Views and Elevations of Noted Buildings by the London print and map seller John Bowles in 1731 (only one copy in OCLC). According to the British Museum, “most of the prints had been issued before, but this one is only mentioned in Bowles’ 1731 catalogue, not the 1728.”

Engravings of the individual gates were used in various editions of Stow’s The History and Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, and elsewhere. For information on the restoration of Temple Gate, see http://www.thetemplebar.info/