Aldersgate Ward School

The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council, Corporation of London. Aldersgate Ward was bounded on the east by Cripplegate Ward, on the south by Farringdon Ward Within, on the west by Farringdon Ward Without, and extending north to the former borough of Finsbury. It was divided into an Inner and Outer Ward, the southern portion within the City walls called Aldersgate Ward Within, and the northern portion outside the walls, Aldersgate Ward Without.

The school was founded in 1702 for the purpose of educating children and adults in the Ward. The school appears to have used hired premises from the date of its foundation, and the last building used was a house in Little Britain, which formed part of the estate of the parish of St Botolph Aldersgate. In 1859 the school merged with the National School, and new buildings were erected at 160-161 Aldersgate Street. In 1875 the school merged with the Farringdon Within Ward Schools.