East Smithfield

East Smithfield is the name of a road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London, part of the A1203 road. It was historically an alternative name for the liberty and parish of St Botolph without Aldgate. The route of both the London Marathon and the London Triathlon pass along East Smithfield. The Royal Mint, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London are located in the vicinity. John Stow recounts the origin of the area from the Liber Trinitae, where the Saxon King Edgar was petitioned by 13 knights to grant them the wasteland to the East of the city wall, desiring to form a guild. The request was said to be granted on condition that each knight should "accomplish three combats, one above the ground, one below the ground, and the...