Description
Cock Hill is an alley leading from New Street that forms the east side of the small courtyard of No. 21 New Street. The building was formerly a wool warehouse built for the Coopers' Company in the 1860s and later converted to offices in the 1980s. The entrance archway to the small courtyard has a distinctive free-standing ram over the gate. Within the courtyard is a fountain, planting and some tubs.
Practical Information
| Site location | 21 New Street/Cock Hill |
|---|---|
| Postcode | E2M 4TP |
| What3Words | ///horn.each.guilty |
| Type of Site | Square |
| Borough | City of London |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private but visable |
| Public Transport | Rail: Liverpool Street. Tube: Liverpool Street (Central, Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City) |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The numerous alleyways still found in the City date from the C17th and earlier, providing routes through the area as the villas and estates gave way to trade properties such as warehouses, when the wealthy merchants moved out of the City to more rural settings. New Street itself was originally called Hand Alley, renamed in 1782 when it was realigned.
The first mention of a fraternity of Coopers is found in 1298 and the Worshipful Company of Coopers gained its Charter from Henry VII in 1501. The present Coopers' Company Hall is a mid C18th townhouse located nearby at 13, Devonshire Square (q.v.), although this was only acquired by the Company in 1957 when their original premises in Basinghall Street, where they had been based since 1522, were sold to the Corporation of London for the extension of the Guildhall (q.v.).
The first mention of a fraternity of Coopers is found in 1298 and the Worshipful Company of Coopers gained its Charter from Henry VII in 1501. The present Coopers' Company Hall is a mid C18th townhouse located nearby at 13, Devonshire Square (q.v.), although this was only acquired by the Company in 1957 when their original premises in Basinghall Street, where they had been based since 1522, were sold to the Corporation of London for the extension of the Guildhall (q.v.).
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ333815 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.011 |
| Site Ownership | private |
| Dates | 1863 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Gateway to No 21 New Street |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | City of London |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Middlesex Street |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Until 1675 this was part of lands owned by the Earl of Devonshire, and was the site of the garden of his mansion. The Earl sold his lands to Dr Nicholas Barbon who was responsible for developing Devonshire Square between 1678-1708. By 1770 residential development in the area included a circus, crescent and square, of which only Devonshire Square remains with two surviving mid-C18th houses. C19th and C20th building broke up the symmetry of the square although the centre was marked by a small oval street garden, re-landscaped post 2004 with paving, seating and a circle of 12 pleached lime trees.
Cutlers Gardens, a C20th office, retail and residential development with generous landscaping, is on a historic site. From C2nd to C4th the area was used for burials and later rubbish pits; in the C10th the land was granted to 13 medieval knights, known as the Cnihtengild, who held it until 1108 when Holy Trinity Priory was founded at Aldgate and the monks had a convent garden here. This was built over by the C16th and by 1700 the area was covered with tenements, workshops and small industries. In 1768 the East India Company began purchasing land here and built warehouses, expanding its property over the years. In 1833 the Company's trade monopoly with China ended and St Katharine's Dock Company purchased the warehouses, which in 1909 transferred to the Port of London Authority who used them until 1976. Commercial development of the site began in 1978, a combination of new build and restoration of some of the old buildings, with generous landscaping part of the scheme.
Jubilee Gardens is a small public garden created for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. The layout consisted of raised brick planters within a paved area and some seating. It was closed in the mid 1980s when the LEB Substation was built. The garden was refurbished in 2004 when more structured planting and box hedging was added to reflect the outlines of the hard landscaping and surrounding buildings. (Please note, the gardens are currently closed for refurbishment - February 2022)
