St George's Fields - Gordon Riots

Gordon Riots

It was the scene of riots in 1768, agitating for the release of John Wilkes and, more seriously, was the starting point of the Gordon Riots in 1780 which began in the movement to repeal the act of parliament removing penalties for Catholics. The City also decided to relocate from Moorfields the Bethlem Royal Hospital 1815. The location at the edge of the territory it had control of in St George's Fields, was thought at the time to be sufficiently rural for the institution but also convenient to the built up area.