St Luke's 3841662 210211483 2008-05-04T23:52:32Z Kbthompson 1621071 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 210203475 by [[Special:Contributions/86.147.119.88|86.147.119.88]] ([[User talk:86.147.119.88|talk]]) - county no longer exists {{otheruses|St. Luke's}} [[Image:Finsbury_st_lukes_1.jpg|thumb|right|St Luke's Church, Old Street, after which the area is named. The tower was designed by [[Hawksmoor]] (January 2006)]] '''St Luke's''' is an area in the [[London Borough of Islington]] in [[Greater London]], close to the borders with the [[London Borough of Hackney]] and the [[City of London]], near the [[Barbican Estate|Barbican]] and [[Shoreditch]]. The closest tube station is Old Street. The area includes [[City Road]], Finsbury Square, Whitecross Street, and part of [[Old Street]]. The name is rarely used today. It is named after the parish and church of [[St Luke Old Street (church)|St Luke Old Street]]. St Luke's was created in 1733 (with the construction of the church) as both a civil and ecclesiastical parish, from the part of the existing parish of [[St Giles Cripplegate]] outside the [[City of London]]<ref name=Vision>{{web cite|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10100021|title=Old Street St Luke EP Middlesex through time|work=A vision of Britain}}</ref>. Being outside the City boundaries, the parish had a large [[non-conformist]] population. [[John Wesley]]'s house and Wesleyan Chapel are in City Road, as is [[Bunhill Fields]] burial ground. In 1751, [[St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics]], an asylum, was founded. Rebuilt in 1782 &ndash; 1784 by [[George Dance the Younger]]. In 1917, the site was sold to the Bank of England for St Luke's Printing Works producing banknotes and which was relocated in 1958 to Debden in Essex. It was damaged by [[the Blitz]] of 1940<ref>{{web cite|url=http://www.mdx.ac.uk/WWW/STUDY/4_13_TA.htm|title=Institutions with Pauper Lunatics in 1844|work=[[Middlesex University]] resources}}</ref>. The civil parish became officially known as "St Luke's Middlesex". The parish was historically in the county of [[Middlesex]], and was included in the area of the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] in 1855. From 1889 it was part of the [[County of London]]. The [[vestry]] administered [[local government]] in the area until the [[civil parish]] became part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury]] in 1899. In 1965, this borough was amalgamated with the [[Metropolitan Borough of Islington]] to form the [[London Borough of Islington]]<ref name=Vision/>. The eponymous parish church is now home to a [[concert hall]] and rehearsal space used by the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]. The parish has been reabsorbed by [[St Giles-without-Cripplegate]], since the closure of the church<ref>{{web cite|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/feature/0,1169,892444,00.html|title=Invasion of the bodysnatchers|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>. ==Whitecross Street Market== '''Whitecross Street Market''' is a daily general market. Stalls are set upon Whitecross Street, and the road closed to traffic. It has occasional food festivals.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,2107996,00.html ''Whitecross Street Food Festival'' Matthew Fort, June 23, 2007] ''[[The Guardian]]'' accessed 10 Nov 2007</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} {{LB Islington}} [[Category:History of local government in London]] [[Category:Neighbourhoods of Islington]] [[Category:Districts of London]] {{London-geo-stub}} [[no:St Luke's]]