The area of the former parish extends north from the City of London boundary to
City Road, with a small part, around
City Road Basin lying north of City Road.
Goswell Road forms the western boundary with Clerkenwell, while the areas northern and eastern boundaries with the
Shoreditch area of the
London Borough of Hackney area have been adopted by the
London Borough of Islington. St Luke's is inside the London Congestion Charging Zone, the
Ultra Low Emission Zone, and is located in Zone 1. The nearest tube and railway stations are
Barbican,
Farringdon and Old Street.
Street name etymologies St Luke's has no formal boundaries. Those used here form a rough triangle: City Road and
Finsbury Pavement/
Finsbury Square to the east, the boundary with the City of London to the south, and
Goswell Road to the west. • Anchor Yard – after a former inn here of this name • Angel Gate • Baldwin Street – after Richard Baldwin, Treasurer at
St Bartholomew's Hospital when the street was built in 1811 • Baltic Street East and Baltic Street West – the streets here were built by a timber merchant 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Baltic refers to the
Baltic softwood trade • Banner Street – after the Banner family, late 18th-century landowners in the area • Bartholomew Square – built in 1811 on land owned by
St Bartholomew's Hospital • Bastwick Street – unknown; possibly after
Bastwick in
Norfolk • Bath Street – after the former Peerless Pool here, later turned into a bath; it was formerly Pest House Row, after a plague hospital built here in the
Tudor era (demolished 1736) • Beard Street •
Bunhill Row – after the adjacent
Bunhill Fields cemetery, the original phrase being 'bone hill' • Cahill Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s • Cayton Place and Cayton Street – renamed, after
the village in Yorkshire, from New Street in 1805, to avoid confusion with other streets of this name • Central Street – named thus in 1861, for it lay in the centre of St Luke's Parish • Chequer Street – after the former Chequers tavern here • Cherry Tree Walk •
Chiswell Street – old term meaning stony/gravelly earthor a corruption of 'Choice Well', denoting a source of clean water •
City Road – as it connects
Islington to the
City of London • Crescent Row – descriptive, after its shape • Dingley Place and Dingley Road – after Charles Dingley, who instigated the construction of City Road in 1756 • Domingo Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Domingo is an alternative name for
Hispaniola, a source of
mahogany • Dufferin Avenue and Dufferin Court – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s • Errol Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s • Europa Place –
unknown • Exchange Street – after the former Clerkenwell Telephone Exchange • Featherstone Street – after the Featherstone family, local landowners after Matthew Featherstone bought land here in 1732 •
Finsbury Pavement,
Finsbury Square and Finsbury Street – after a Saxon burgh (settlement) owned by someone called Finn • Fortune Street – after the
Fortune Playhouse, which formerly stood here on the junction with Golden Lane; it was closed in 1648 • Fredericks's Row • Galway Street – after
Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, first governor of the French Hospital that was formerly here • Gard Street – after a member of the nearby Orphan Working School • Garrett Street – after a person of this name who was a member of the local parish vestry Works Committee • Gee Street – after its 1784 builder, Osgood Gee • George Gillett Court – for
George Gillett, local politician in the early 20th century •
Golden Lane – formerly Goldynglane, thought to be after a local property owner of the name Golding/Golda •
Goswell Road – there is dispute over the origins of the name, with some sources claiming the road was named after a nearby garden called 'Goswelle' or 'Goderell' which belonged to
Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, while others state it derives from "God's Well", and the traditional pagan practice of well-worship, or a former 'Gode Well' located here • Hall Street – after James and Joseph Hall, who built the street in 1822 • Helmet Row – after the
Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land; its coat of arms incorporates a helmet motif • Honduras Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant 1810, who named them after trade-related activities;
Honduras was a source of
mahogany • Hull Street – after its 18th-century builder, William Hulls • Ironmonger Passage and Ironmonger Row – after the
Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land • King Square – built 1820, and named for
George IV • Lamb's Buildings and Lamb's Passage – after its early 19th-century owner William (or Thomas) Lamb; it was formerly known as Great Swordbearers Alley • Lever Street –
unknown • Lizard Street – after the
Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, who owned this land; their arms incorporates a
salamander motif • Ludlow Street –
unknown • Macclesfield Road – after
George Parker, 4th Earl of Macclesfield, chairman of the canal company in the 17th century • Mallow Street – after the former
mallow field located here • Martha's Buildings • Masons Place and Masons Yard • Memel Court and Memel Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant 1810, who named them after trade-related activities; Memel was a timber-exporting port in Germany (now
Klaipėda in
Lithuania) • Mitchell Street – after John Mitchell, who bequeathed this land to the
Worshipful Company of Ironmongers in 1527 • Moor Lane – after the marshy moorlands that formerly stood here • Mora Street – after the
prebend of Moor/Mora, belonging to
St Paul's Cathedral, named for the local moors • Moreland Street – after the Moreland family, prominent locally in the 19th century • Mount Mills – after a former mount here supporting a
windmill, later a chapel, and then in the
Civil War a raised battery; it was levelled in 1750 • Nag's Head Court – after a former inn of this name • Nelson Passage – after Admiral
Horatio Nelson • New Charles Street – as this formerly led to a Charles Street, named for
Charles II • Norman Street – after bricklayer William Norman, who leased land here in the 1750s •
Old Street – after its age, thought to have ultimately Roman origins • Paton Street –
unknown • Pear Tree Street – after the pear trees formerly grown here • Peerless Street – site of the Peerless Pool, a bath used in the 18th century, thought to be a corruption of ‘perilous’ • Pickard Street – after a clergyman of this name who founded the Orphan Working School here in 1754 • President Street • Radnor Street – after the
Earls of Radnor, who governed the French Hospital that was formerly here • Red Cow Lane • Ropemaker Street – descriptive, after the rope making trade formerly located here • Roscoe Street – thought to be named after a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund, who redeveloped this former slum area in the 1880s • St Agnes Well – after an ancient well thought to have been located about 200 metres to the east, at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Remnants of the well can be found within
Old Street station. • St Luke's Close – after the adjacent
St Luke Old Street church • Seward Street – after Edward Seward, who owned a dyeworks here in the 18th century • Sidney Grove • Sundial Court • Sutton's Way • Sycamore Street – by association with the nearby Timber Street, or possibly after an inn of this name • Timber Street – the streets here were built by a timber merchant 1810, who named them after trade-related activities • Wakley Street – after 19th-century surgeon and social reformer
Thomas Wakley • Warwick Yard –
unknown • Whitecross Street – after a white cross which stood near here in the 1200s • Withers Place – after William Withers, 18th-century property owner • Youngs Buildings – after Francis Young, local 18th-century property owner
Whitecross Street Market Whitecross Street Market is a market with stalls arranged in
Whitecross Street and the road closed to traffic. There is a small general market every weekday, and a larger food market on Thursdays and Fridays. It has occasional food festivals. The market dates to the 17th century, and was formerly one of London's great Sunday markets, although today trading is largely limited to lunchtimes. By the end of the 19th century, the area had become a by-word for poverty and alcohol abuse. It became known as ''Squalors' Market''. ==St Luke's Parochial Trust==