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Blomfield Street is a road in the City of London, close to Liverpool Street railway station. It was known as Broker Row, until 1860, when it was renamed in honour of former Bishop of London, Charles Blomfield, who had previously been rector of the local parish church of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate.
The street was built along the course of a part of the River Walbrook known as the Deepditch. Although the Walbrook is now culverted and runs beneath the street, the land on each side observably dips towards the course of the river.
The street forms the boundary between the Bishopsgate Without (to the east) and Coleman Street Ward (to the west) areas of the City of London.
The side streets are Liverpool Street and New Broad Street on the eastern side, and
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Until the early 19th century the river - and subsequent street - was on the edge of the London built-up area; with the developed East End neighbourhood of Bishopsgate Without on the east side, and the open Moorfields area on the west side of the river and subsequent street. The open Moorfields area was historically part of the Manor of Finsbury, before becoming part of the City of London's Coleman Street Ward, and subsequently being developed around 1817, as Finsbury Circus.
The Deepditch was a canalised section of the Walbrook. When freshly dug, the ditch was steeply cut with flat base and measured approximately 10m wide by 1.7m deep, at its greatest extent. The London Wall partially dammed the river, leading to marshy conditions on Moorfields. As only part of the flow could pass through the duct under the Wall, the excess water help flood the Moor Ditch, the section of the City Ditch (the defensive ditch on the outer side of the London Wall) between the originally Roman Bishopsgate and the area where the much newer Moorgate would be built, around 1415..
The Deepditch may have been first canalised when the City Ditch was cut, around 1212. This initial work, and a recut around 1415, appears to have had a twofold purpose, to improve the city's defences and also to help drain Moorfields.
This section of the Walbrook was the main focus of the Walbrook Skulls phenomena where very large numbers of skulls were found in the bed of the river over many centuries.City Sewer Records, referenced in Smith 1842, 152-3; Wheeler, 1928 p 87; March & West 1981 no2
[[File:Map 1682 Bethlem in Moorfields.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Detail from London Map by William Morgan (1682), showing siting of new Bethlem Hospital (1676) built in Moorfields, North London|William Morgan map of 1682. London Wall and the local administrative boundaries are marked. The area to the east or Moorfields (Bishopsgate Without and Shoreditch) is developed. The Walbrook (Deepditch) immediately east of Moorfields, is culverted by this time and Broker Row (now Blomfield Street) laid out along its course. The second Bethlem Hospital is shown to the west of the street.]]
Soon after the street was renamed two new stations were built adjacent to Blomfield Street. The development of adjacent Liverpool Street Station (opened in 1878) led to thousands of East Enders losing their homes; 3,000 in the parish of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate (known as Bishopsgate Without for civil purposes) and 7,000 in Shoreditch. (1984). 9780330027472, David & Charles. ISBN 9780330027472 Others were displaced by the creation of adjacent Broad Street Station which opened in 1865.
In the early and mid 19th century, before Harley Street rose to prominence, Finsbury (to the west of the street), was London's foremost medical district. Blomfield Street (then Broker Row) had the second Bethlem Hospital (until 1815), while the second site of the Moorfields Eye Hospital occupied a part of the Finsbury Circus development from 1822 to 1899.
The airship, which was 163 metres long and flying at 2500 metres of altitude, was largely invulnerable to defensive measures at this stage of the war. An eyewitness described catching sight of the airship:
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