Soke of Cripplegate The Soke of Cripplegate was a landholding outside
Cripplegate and
Aldersgate. Bordered (in part at least) by the
Walbrook to the east, it covered the areas subsequently known as
Aldersgate Without and the parish of
St Giles-without-Cripplegate (which included
Cripplegate Without, the part of
Coleman Street Ward north of the wall and the Manor of Finsbury). ,
Cripplegate Without, the parts of
Coleman Street Ward north of the Wall and a much larger area, in the modern
London Borough of Islington, that would become the Manor of Finsbury. The Soke was granted to
St. Martin's Le Grand by
William the Conqueror in 1068, in exchange for prayers for the souls of his parents. It is thought the estate may be much older dating back to the establishment of the Diocese of London in the 7th century. The churches of
St Botolph without Aldersgate and
St Giles-without-Cripplegate appear to have been built in the early decades of the twelfth century (possibly under the aegis of
Matilda of Scotland) and there was very little, if any, development north of the wall before that time.
St Martins rights to the Soke were confirmed by the
Empress Matilda (daughter of Matilda of Scotland) around 1140. St Martins was permitted to enclose land there to prevent rubbish dumping in the area, but it is thought the Empress' principle intention was to promote planned development of a northern suburb. The development of streets such as Redcross Street, Whitecross Street, Grub Street, Fore Street, Moor Lane, Chiswell Street and others were subsequently recorded.
Manor and parishes It is not entirely clear how the territory and rights of the Soke evolved into the subsequent administrative and ecclesiastical units. The area covered by the Soke was served by two parishes; the little parish of
St Botolph without Aldersgate served the extramural City Ward of
Aldersgate Without, while the parish of
St Giles-without-Cripplegate served the extramural City Ward of
Cripplegate Without and the Manor (estate) of Finsbury. In the 17th century, Little and Lower Moorfields, previously in the Manor of Finsbury and Parish of St Giles, was transferred to the
Coleman Street Ward of the City of London (and also to the parish of
St Stephen Coleman Street for religious purposes). This meant that Coleman Street Ward also possessed an extramural area. in 1676, including the re-sited
Bethlem Hospital. London's Wall and the
Moorgate are clearly shown, and some of the administrative boundaries can also be discerned. From mid-12th century the Manor of Finsbury was owned by St Paul's cathedral and managed as a
Prebendary Manor to provide a prebend (a stipend of money or goods) to support an ecclesiastic person such as a
canon, or an institution. For a long time the prebendary income went to
Holywell Priory in nearby
Shoreditch, so the estate became known as the
Prebend of Halliwell and Finsbury, though the Priory itself did not lie adjacent to the prebendary manor or form part of it. The prebendary manor of Finsbury was, from 1315, leased by the
Lord Mayor of London, so that after that the formal title of the Mayors has been
Mayor of London and Lord of Finsbury. The mayoral manor house,
Finsbury Court, lay on the junction of
Chiswell Street and Finsbury Pavement. north of the Wall, were part of the Manor of Finsbury. In this way the part of St Giles parish,
Cripplegate Without, that was part of the city was also known as
The Freedom and governed by the Mayor as a part of, or a dependency of the city. The remaining part,
The Manor of Finsbury, was also known as
The Lordship, where the Mayor's position was that of a lessee, albeit with the title
Lord of the Manor of Finsbury. Other accounts suggest the Manor passed to the Lord Mayors later, being made over their use by
Richard II, in gratitude for the killing of
Wat Tyler by Mayor
William Walworth at Smithfield in 1381. In 1733, the growth of the local population, led to the part of St Giles-without-Cripplegate outside the city, the area which had been the Manor of Finsbury, being made an independent parish, known as ''St Luke's'', after the parish church.
Latter administration and representation The parts of the parish of St Giles outside of the city (originally the Manor of Finsbury, later organised as the Parish of St Luke) were part of the
Hundred of
Ossulstone in
Middlesex. By the 17th century, population growth made this unit inefficient, so it was sub-divided with the area north of the walls becoming part of a new
Finsbury Division which handled the responsibilities previously managed by the Hundred. Parish-level institutions continued to manage the
Poor Law and ecclesiastical matters. In 1832 the
parliamentary borough of Finsbury was created to represent the area in parliament. This area loosely approximated to the Finsbury division, but also included parts of west London. In 1857
Finsbury Park was opened some three miles north, for the enjoyment of the residents of this parliamentary borough. In 1965 the area merged with
Islington to form the new
London Borough of Islington, though
Finsbury Circus remains part of the
City of London. ==History==