Holborn Bars
Names
- Holborn Bars
- Bar of Holeburne
- Bar of the Old Temple
- Holeburne extra Barram Templi
- Bar of Pourte Pole
- Holburnebarre
- Bar of Portpool
- Bar of Pourtepole
Street/Area/District
- Holborn
Maps & Views
- 1553-59 London (Strype, 1720): ye Barrs
- 1553-9 London ("Agas Map" ca. 1633): The Bares
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - British Library): Holborn Bars
- 1593 London (Norden, 1653 - Folger): Holborn Bars
- 1666 London after the fire (Bowen, 1772): Holborn Barrs
- 1720 London (Strype): Holborn Bars
Descriptions
from A Dictionary of London, by Henry Harben (1918)
Holborn Bars
Across Holborn, at its western end, at Gray's Inn Lane, being the western boundary of the City (Rocque, 1746).
First mention: "Bar of Holeburne," temp. H. III. (Anc. Deeds, B. 2386).
Other names: "Bar of the old Temple," 24 Ed. I. (Ch. I. p.m. 112). "Holeburne extra Barram Templi," 30 Ed. I. (Ch. I. p.m.). "Bar of Pourte Pole," 1328 (Ct. H.W. I. 340). "Holburnebarre," 1399 (ib. II. 341).
The bars were removed in the 18th century, but the name still survives and the site is marked by two granite obelisks, one at the end of Gray's Inn Road and the other near Staple Inn.
from London and Its Environs Described, by Robert and James Dodsley (1761)
Holborn bars, near the end of Gray's Inn lane, where the liberties of the city end on that side.
from Old and New London, by Walter Thornbury and Edward Walford (1873-1893)
"Holborn Bars" used to stand a little west of Brooke Street. They marked the termination of the City Liberties in that direction. The spot is now shown by two granite obelisks bearing the City arms. The Corporation of London formerly received a penny and two-penny toll from the carts and carriages of non-freemen entering the City. These tolls were levied at the six bars, including Holborn Bars. The richest inlets were Temple Bar and Whitechapel Bar.
from A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs, by James Elmes (1831)
Holborn-Bars, are the boundaries of the liberties of the City, and are marked by two granite Obelisks, near Middle-row and the corner of Gray's-inn-lane.
from London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, by Henry Benjamin Wheatley and Peter Cunningham (1891)
Holborn Bars, the boundary in Holborn of the liberties of the City of London. Two granite obelisks at the edge of the pavement on opposite sides of the way, one at the end of Gray's Inn Road and the other by Staple Inn, mark the site. The appearance of the Bars in the middle of the last century is well represented in Hogarth's Seven Stages of Cruelty. West of the Bars, on the south side of Holborn, was Middle Row, an insulated row of houses, removed in 1867. [See Middle Row.]