Giltspur Street is a street in Smithfield

Smithfield, London

Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, running north-south from the junction of Newgate Street, Holborn Viaduct, and Old Bailey

Old Bailey

The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...

 up to West Smithfield, and it is bounded to the east by St Bartholomew's Hospital

St Bartholomew's Hospital

St Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England.-Early history:It was founded in 1123 by Raherus or Rahere , a favourite courtier of King Henry I...

 (Bart's). It was formerly known as "Knightsriders Street", from the knights riding at the tournaments in Smithfield.

In 1381 King Richard II met the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...

 here on 15 June, promising to agree to the rebels' demands, which included a repeal of the Statute of Labourers that prevented workers changing jobs for better pay. However, during the negotiations William Walworth

William Walworth

Sir William Walworth , was twice Lord Mayor of London . He is best known for killing Wat Tyler.His family came from Durham...

, the Lord Mayor of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...

, lured Wat Tyler

Wat Tyler

Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...

 away and stabbed him, and when Tyler took refuge in St Bartholemew's church he was dragged out and beheaded. The Revolt later subsided.

Located on the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane is the Golden Boy of Pye Corner

Golden Boy of Pye Corner

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner is a small monument located on the corner of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane in Smithfield, London.It was erected where the Great Fire of London stopped and it bears the following inscription:...

, a cherub which is a symbol of gluttony

Gluttony

Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...

, the sin which supposedly led to divine retribution in the form of the Great Fire of London

Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

. The inscription reads:

"The Boy at Pye Corner was erected to commemorate the staying of the Great Fire which beginning at Pudding Lane was ascribed to the sin of gluttony when not attributed to the Papists as on the Monument, and the Boy was made prodigiously fat to enforce the moral."

He was originally built into the front of a public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 called The Fortune of War

The Fortune of War Public House

The Fortune of War was an ancient public house in Smithfield, London.It was located on a corner originally known as Pie Corner, today at the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane, the name deriving from the magpie represented on the sign of an adjoining tavern.The Fortune of War on Pie Corner...

 which used to occupy this site and was pulled down in 1910.
The street also gave its name to the Giltspur Street Compter

Giltspur Street Compter

The Giltspur Street Compter was a small Compter or prison, mainly used to hold debtors. It was situated in Giltspur Street, Smithfield, close to Newgate, in the City of London, between 1791 and 1853....

, a small prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

located on the street from 1791 to 1855.