Bishopgate Street

[Leodian]

Coming across a mention of Bishopgate Street it made me wonder why it is just not called Bishopgate. For example Kirkgate, Eastgate, Briggate, Swinegate and Westgate in the centre of Leeds do not have anything after their names.

[tyke bhoy]

Isn't that the equivalent of Street Street

Leeds has never been walled so the concept of a Bishop's gate in a wall for entry to/exit from the Cathederal is out. Does the Catholic Bishop of Leeds have an official residence?

[jim]

Were the "gates" connected to the bar stones and/or the tollgates for the improved/new Toll Roads/Turnpike Trusts of the 17th century? Just a vague suggestion.

[jma]

I think the explanation is that two different but similar old words have merged into one.

• The Old English geat meant a way etc which often had actual gates

• The word gat pronounced like gate meant a street etc in Scots and Northern English dialects but had different origins to geat

Clear as mud

[Leodian]

Isn't that the equivalent of Street Street

Leeds has never been walled so the concept of a Bishop's gate in a wall for entry to/exit from the Cathederal is out. Does the Catholic Bishop of Leeds have an official residence?

Thanks tyke bhoy. Your "Street Street" made me smile. Street Lane in Leeds suggests someone was not sure if it was a street or a lane!
Thanks also to jim and jma for your inputs which are appreciated.

[jma]

We have a Street Lane in Gildersome which I think got that name because it leads to Gildersome Street, formerly part of the A650.

[tilly]

Another very short street is Sidney Street i cant remember if that should be a y its on the other side of the road from where the Market Tavern stood It is to the right comes out on Vicar Lane i think its only about two hundred feet long.

[blackprince]

Bishopgate Street was listed in an 1853 Leeds street directory.

It could have originally been called Bishopgate and some regency or early Victorian developer just added the Street without realising that gate = gata = street in Norse.
Another theory: quite a few Leeds streets are just named after London streets. There is a Bishopsgate Street in London which could have been copied and lost the s on the way up the A1.

Have you heard the one about Bishopgate and Mabgate?

[chemimike]

William Parson's directory of 1826 also lists properties in Bishopgate St

[blackprince]

William Parson's directory of 1826 also lists properties in Bishopgate St

So the redundant "St." was added in pre-Victorian times.
To be fair to our ancestors we often make the same type of mistake, especially with acronyms.
How often do we say PIN number, LCD display, HIV virus etc.?