Today Clerkenwell is more or less a residential area, but it has a varied history that can be seen in clues still scattered around the ward. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924, the site of an annual Clerks' play in medieval times. The tall, stone Priory Gate is the restored version of St. John's Gate, built in 1504. Oliver Cromwell and Erasmus Smith had houses here and as a sign of its importance, it appears in more than one Dickens novel. The Industrial Revolution brought breweries, distilleries and the printing industry, but Clerkenwell is still known for watch and jewellery making. It also has a reputation for radicalism through history, from the Chartists, in the mid 19th century, to a rumoured meeting between Lenin and a young Stalin in The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell Green in 1905.