1799 E. Meeke II. xii. 317 Her Ladyship..caught Archy in the very act of attempting to force the area-gate.
1841 C. Dickens xxxv. 141 Area-gates is left open.
1917 T. S. Eliot 31 I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids Sprouting despondently at area gates.
1935 15 July 13/3 Two of his friends as young men passed the area gate in Blythwood Square of the Smith family on the crucial evening.