The Tumultuous and Gruesome History Of The Temple Bar Gate

On Paternoster Square by St Paul’s Cathedral you will find an ornate stone gateway. 

It is called Temple Bar and is, in fact, the only surviving gateway into the City of London. It has not, however, always sat serenely next to St Paul’s and has a rather gory element to its past. 

Temple Bar

The gateway, known as ‘Temple Bar’, once stood at the point where Fleet Street becomes the Strand: where the City of London becomes the City of Westminster. 

The ‘Temple’ bit in the name refers to the Temple area of London to the South. It was at one time owned by the Knights Templar who built Temple Church in the 12th century. After the downfall of the Templars it then became a lawyers district in the 14th century. You can find out more about Temple Church here.

From at least 1293 there would have been a chain or ‘bar’ across the road but by 1351 a wooden gateway had been constructed with a small prison over it. 

Fleet Street and the Strand were an important processional route for the medieval monarchs and the Temple Bar gateway played a significant role in coronations, marriage processions and funerals. It was, for example, draped in black velvet for the funeral of Admiral Nelson in 1806.

Queen Elizabeth I stopped at the Temple Bar gate on her way to St Paul’s Cathedral to pay thanks for victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588. She met the Lord Mayor, presenting him with a jewel-encrusted sword, before he gave her the keys to the City.

This ceremony still takes place in some form today if the monarch wishes to enter the City of London.

Sir Christopher Wren’s Gate

The Great Fire of London did not reach as far as Temple Bar but the old wooden gateway was demolished in 1669 and rebuilt in stone as part of the improvement works following the fire. 

As if he wasn’t busy enough, the man brought in for the job was Sir Christopher Wren. There is no definite historical evidence that it was designed by Wren, however his son had the original drawings of the work so it is assumed that it was him. 

Out goes the wood and in comes the sturdier, grander and, most importantly, fire-resistant, Portland stone. 

The statues on the East side of the gate (now the North) are James I and Anne of Denmark. On the other are depicted Kings Charles I and Charles II (the King at the time of the rebuilding). 

The Gruesome 17th and 18th Centuries 

From the 17th century the heads of traitors were displayed on spikes on top of Temple Bar. They were boiled in salt or pitch first to stop the birds eating them. 

Sir Thomas Armstrong, one of the ‘Rye House Plotters’, who in 1683 conspired to assassinate the King, was hanged, drawn and quartered, before having one of his ‘quarters’ displayed atop Temple Bar. 

The last heads to be displayed were those of Colonel Francis Towneley and George Fletcher, executed for taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.  

As ever with London, enterprising sorts are always ready to make some money and people used to hire out ‘spy-glasses’ for a halfpenny, to get a closer look at the heads atop the gateway. One night in 1766, a man was actually arrested for taking pot-shots with a musket at the heads.

The final heads ended up being blown down in a storm in 1772, bringing an end to the practice. 

The gate and area in general became a key spot for displaying the power of the authorities and a place of spectacle in the city, for example, a pillory stood by the gate in which Daniel Defoe spent time in 1703 for libel.

Removal and Restoration

As central London became increasingly congested, it was decided to remove the gateway in 1878 to ease traffic. The Temple Bar Column was put up in its place in 1880. 

The gateway lay disassembled in a yard off Farringdon Road for ten years before being acquired by Sir Henry Bruce Meux who had it erected at his estate: Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire. 

In 1976 the Temple Bar Trust was formed with the aim to return the gateway to London. In 2004, at a cost of £3 million, the Temple Bar gateway was returned and placed on Paternoster Square, where it still sits today.

Click here for the website for Temple Bar and to see a video of the restoration.

Thank you for reading, see below for more of London’s fascinating history!