Cripplegate Within Ward Schools

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. Cripplegate Ward lies at the north of the City and has two parts, 'within' and 'without' the City wall.

The ward school was established in the 18th century, from at least 1712. In 1713 the school admitted girls. The Boys and Girls Schools from their foundation, used hired buildings, chiefly premises in Philip Lane. The school was closed in 1892 and the charitable funds administered by the Aldersgate Ward School.