Ludgate is believed to have been one of four original gates in the
Roman London Wall, work on which started in 190 AD. . Oil painting by anonymous artist, circa 1670. Anti-royalist forces rebuilt the gate during the
First Barons' War (121517) using materials recovered from the destroyed houses of
Jews. The gate was rebuilt about 1450 by a man called Foster who at one time was lodged in the
debtors' prison over the gate. He eventually became
Sir Stephen Foster,
Lord Mayor of London. His widow,
Agnes, renovated and extended Ludgate and the debtor's prison; the practice of making the debtors pay for their own food and lodging was also abolished. Her gift was commemorated by a brass wall plaque, which read:
Devout souls that pass this way, For Stephen Foster, late mayor, heartily pray; And Dame Agnes, his spouse, to God consecrate, That of pity this house made, for Londoners in Ludgate; So that for lodging and water prisoners here nought pay, As their keepers shall answer at dreadful doomsday! In February 1554, Ludgate was the final setting of
Wyatt's rebellion, when Sir
Thomas Wyatt the Younger arrived at the gate with part of his army numbering three or four hundred men. The gate was defended by
Lord William Howard with the local
militia, who refused entry to the rebels, causing them to retreat and later surrender. Ludgate was rebuilt in 1586 to the design of William Kerwin; niches in the facade were furnished with statues of Queen
Elizabeth I and King Lud with his two sons;{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Peter |date=2018 |title=London's Statues and Monuments ==In literature==