Originally built as a Roman fortification for the provincial city of Londinium in the second century C.E., the London Wall remained a material and spatial boundary for the city throughout the early modern period. Described by Stow as high and great (Stow 1:8), the London Wall dominated the cityscape and spatial imaginations of Londoners for centuries. Increasingly, the eighteen-foot high wall created a pressurized constraint on the growing city; the various gates functioned as relief valves where development spilled out to occupy spaces "outside the wall".

Lime Street Ward is west of Aldgate Ward. The ward is named after its principle street, Lime Street, which takes its name from the making or ſelling of Lime there, according to Stow (Stow 1603).

Aldgate Street ran slightly south-west from Aldgate until it reached a pump, formerly a sweet well. At that point, the street forked into two streets. The northern branch, called Aldgate Street, ran west until it ran into Cornhill at Lime Street. At an earlier point in history, Cornhill seems to have extended east past Lime Street because the church of St. Andrew Undershaft was called St. Andrew upon Cornhill (Harben 10).

Aldgate was the easternmost gate into the walled city. The name Aldgate is thought to come from one of four sources: Æst geat meaning Eastern gate (Ekwall 36), Alegate from the Old English ealu meaning ale, Aelgate from the Saxon meaning public gate or open to all, or Aeldgate meaning old gate (Bebbington 20–21).

Lime Street is a street that ran north-south from Leadenhall Street in the north to Fenchurch Street in the south. It was west of St. Andrew Undershaft and east of Leadenhall. It appears that the street was so named because people made or sold Lime there (Stow). This claim has some historical merit; in the 1150s one Ailnoth the limeburner lived in the area (Harben; BHO).

Fenchurch Street (often called Fennieabout) ran east-west from the pump on Aldgate High Street to Gracechurch Street in Langbourne Ward, crossing Mark Lane, Mincing Lane, and Rodd Lane along the way. Fenchurch Street was home to several famous landmarks, including the King’s Head Tavern, where the then-Princess Elizabeth is said to have partaken in pork and peas after her sister, Mary I, released her from the Tower of London in May of 1554 (Weinreb, Hibbert, Keay, and Keay 288). Fenchurch Street was on the royal processional route through the city, toured by monarchs on the day before their coronations.

Northumberland House was a stately home in Crutched Friars Lane, south of Aldgate. It was built by and named after Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in 1455 (Harben). Stow records that by 1598, the house had been abandoned and that the gardens had been turned into one of the first bowling alleys, where all and sundry could bowl and gamble.

The Bricklayers’ Hall was east of Billiter Lane and stood on the south side of the street running west from the water pump near Aldgate. This street was named Leadenhall Street in the seventeenth century but was considered part of Aldgate Street when Stow was writing. Stow mentions the hall only in passing in his survey, so he neglects the hall’s appearance and history (Stow). The hall was incorporated in 1568 but by the eighteenth century the Bricklayers had abandoned it. Thereafter, it was used as a synagogue by Dutch Jews (Harben).

Sugarloaf Alley ran north-south from Leadenhall Street to Fenchurch Street, on the west side of Bricklayers’ Hall. Stow indicates that it was called Sprinckle allie but had been renamed Sugarloaf Alley after a shop sign.

Billiter Lane ran north-west from Fenchurch to Leadenhall, entirely in Aldgate Ward. Nearby landmarks included Blanch Appleton facing the opening of Billiter Lane on the south side of Fenchurch and Ironmongers’ Hall to the west of Billiter Lane on the north side of Fenchurch. Nearby churches were St. Catherine Cree on Leadenhall and All Hallows Staining adjacent to the Clothworkers’ Hall) and St. Katharine Coleman on Fenchurch. On the Agas map, Billiter Lane is labelled Bylleter la.

London Stone was, literally, a stone that stood on the south side of what is now Cannon Street (formerly Candlewick Street). Probably Roman in origin, it is one of London’s oldest relics. On the Agas map, it is visible as a small rectangle between Saint Swithin’s Lane and Walbrook Street, just below the nd consonant cluster in the label Londonſton.

St. Andrew Undershaft stands at the southeast corner of St. Mary Axe Street in Aldgate Ward.The church of St. Andrew Undershaft is the final resting place of John Stow.

St. Mary Axe ran north-south from the church of St. Augustine Papey to Leadenhall Street. Stow remarks that the east side of the street belonged to Aldgate Ward, while the west side lay within the boundary of Lime Street Ward (Stow). It was named after the church of St. Mary Axe, located near the northwest corner of the street.

St Augustine Papey was a church on the south side of the city wall and opposite the north end of St. Mary Axe Street. The church dated from the twelfth century and in 1442 a fraternity of brothers was installed (Harben). The church and brotherhood were suppressed during the Reformation and Stow tells us the church was pulled down and houses built on the site (Stow).

Bevis Marks was a street south of the City Wall that ran east-west from Shoemaker Row to the north end of St. Mary Axe Street. It was in Aldgate Ward. Bevis Marks was continued by Duke’s Place.

Crutched Friars was a street that ran east-west from Poor Jewry Lane to the east end of Hart Street above Seething Lane. When Stow wrote, most of Crutched Friars was known as Hart Street, so Stow only uses the name Crutched Friars to refer to Crutched Friars Priory (Harben). Since Stow does not name the street that ran from Aldgate to Woodroffe Lane, it could have been known as Hart Street, Crutched Friars, or something different.

Woodroffe Lane ran north-south from Crutched Friars south to Tower Hill. The lane was in Aldgate Ward and was named after the Woodruffe family (Harben). Stow writes that the lane was a place of great benevolence. There were fourteen proper almes houses built from brick and wood in Woodruffe Lane and the tenants haue their dewllinges rent free, and ii.s. iiii.d. the peece: the first day of euery moneth for euer (Stow).

Tower Hill was a large area of open ground north and west of the Tower of London. It is most famous as a place of execution; there was a permanent scaffold and gallows on the hill for the execution of such Traytors or Transgressors, as are deliuered out of the Tower, or otherwise to the Shiriffes of London (Stow).

Hart Street ran east-west from Crutched Fryers and the north end of Seething Lane to Mark Lane. In Stow’s time, the street began much further east, running from the north end of Woodroffe Lane to Mark Lane (Harben; Stow).

Seething Lane ran north-south from the junction of Hart Street and Crutch Fryers through to Tower Street. The lane, in Tower Street Ward, was marked by a church at each end; on the northwest corner stood St. Olave, Hart Street and on the southeast corner was All Hallows Barking. Stow describes the lane as one with diuers fayre and large houses (Stow).

The church of St. Olave, Hart Street is found on the south side of Hart Street and the northwest corner of Seething Lane in Tower Street Ward. It has been suggested that the church was founded and built before the Norman conquest of 1066 (Harben). Aside from mentioning the nobility buried in St. Olave’s, Stow is kind enough to describe the church as a proper parrish (Stow). Samuel Pepys is buried in this church.

Mark Lane ran north-south from Fenchurch Street to Tower Street. It was for the most parte of this Towerstreet warde (Stow). The north end of the street, from Fenchurch Street to Hart Street was divided between Aldgate Ward and Landbourn Ward. Stow says Mark Lane was so called of a Priuiledge sometime enjoyed to keepe a mart there, long since discontinued, and therefore forgotten, so as nothing remaineth for memorie (Stow). Modern scholars have suggested that it was instead named after the mart, where oxen were fattened for slaughter (Harben).

Blanch Appleton was a manor on Fenchurch Street next to St. Katherine Coleman in Aldgate Ward. It is marked on the Agas map as Blanch chapelton. Stow records that it was a market during the reign of Edward IV, but the market by Stow’s time was discontinued, and therefore forgotten, so as no-thing remaineth for memorie, but the name of Mart Lane (Stow 1598, sig. I1r). The site was claimed by the Mayor and Commonality of the City in 1637, and its name continued in the eighteenth century Blanch Appleton Court (Harben).