Newgate at the west end of Newgate Street was one of the historic seven gates of London Wall round the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. From it a Roman road led west to Silchester. Excavations in 1875, 1903 and 1909 revealed the Roman structure and showed that it consisted of a double roadway between two square flanking guardroom towers.
From the 12th century, at least, the gate was used as a prison for debtors and felons. This, the infamous Newgate Prison, was later extended to the south on the site of the modern Old Bailey. The gate was demolished in 1767.
Newgate Street is mostly located within the City Wall, leading west from Cheapside to the site of the gate, and then joining with Holborn Viaduct at the point where the Old Bailey thoroughfare joins to the south and Giltspur Street to the north. A notable discovery here was a Roman tile inscribed with a disgruntled comment that "Austalis has been going off on his own for 13 days".
To the north of the street are the ruins of Christ Church Greyfriars on the site of a medieval Franciscan monastery. To the south is Paternoster Square leading towards St Paul's Cathedral.