the Medway, a little above Upnor Castle, which was built by Queen
Elizabeth to defend the passage of the river. To the left is seen a
sheer hulk, so called from her "sheers"--two strong pieces of timber of
great height, inclining towards each other and joined together at the
top--which are used for the purpose of raising and placing in their
proper situations the lower masts of ships of war. Further to the right
are perceived the large roofs of the building-slips and dry-docks;
nearly abreast of which are two ships of war laid up in ordinary. A-head
of those vessels are two others of the same class; and further up the
river, directly in front, a view is obtained of part of the town of
Chatham.
The Dock-yard of Chatham lies at a short distance to the northward of
the town of that name, and on the right bank of the river Medway. The
first dockyard at Chatham for the service of the navy was established by
Queen Elizabeth. It was situated higher up the river than the present
yard, on a narrow slip of land, and had only one dock. In 1622 a new
dock-yard was formed by James I., and the site of the old one, which was
too circumscribed for the service of the increasing navy, was assigned
to the Board of Ordnance. In the reign of Charles I., additional
dry-docks and building-slips were formed and several store-houses
erected.
Chatham dock-yard is enclosed on the land side by a high wall, and the
principal entrance is through a lofty gateway to the south-west, above
which are the royal arms, and on each side an embattled tower. Strangers
wishing to see the yard are furnished with a ticket by the
superintendent of the dock-police on entering their names in a book kept
at a lodge within the gate. There are four docks and seven
building-slips at Chatham, most of which are covered with immense roofs.
To the south-westward of the docks there is a long range of store-houses
facing the river, and having in front a spacious quay, part of which is
occupied as an anchor wharf. Behind this line of buildings, which is
upwards of a thousand feet in length, is the ropery, where cables and
all other kinds of ropes are manufactured for the use of ships of war.
Beyond the docks to the northward, are the mast-ponds and sheds for
storing timber, on the right; and on the left is the boat-house. At the
smith's shop anchors and other articles of iron work are made for the
use of the navy; and towards the north-eastern extremity of the yard is
a saw-mill, erected by Mr. Brunel, the inventor of the block-machinery
at Portsmouth. The mill is situated on an eminence, and the timber
intended to be cut is floated through a tunnel from the Medway into an
elliptic basin, from which it is raised by machinery to the level of the
mill. The saws are put in motion by a steam-engine; and the timber,
after having been cut, is conveyed away by trucks running on railways to
different parts of the yard. When M. Charles Dupin, the celebrated
French author of several works on the dock-yards, roads, bridges, and
harbours of Great Britain, visited Chatham in 1817, he objected to this
saw-mill being erected on an eminence; but he seems to have overlooked
the consequent advantage of the timber being thence conveyed by a gentle
slope, with very little labour, to the different docks and slips,
without interfering with any of the other works.[14] The commissioner
has a handsome residence within the walls of the yard, and there are
also many excellent houses, which are occupied by the officers and
principal artificers. A neat chapel, of brick, for the convenience of
the officers and workmen, was erected within the yard in 1811. At one
period during the late war, the number of men employed was 3000.
The Ordnance Wharf is situated to the south-westward of the dock-yard on
the site of the old yard established by Queen Elizabeth, and it is still
frequently called the Old Dock. The guns are placed in rows, and have
painted on them the name of the ship to which they belong, and their
weight of metal; the carriages are also placed separately, but under
sheds. Large piles of shot are seen in various parts of the wharf; and
there is also within its boundary an armoury, where various kinds of
weapons--chiefly muskets, pistols, pikes, and cutlasses--are arranged in
admirable order.
A fund--commonly called the Chest of Chatham--for the relief of disabled
seamen, was established there by Queen Elizabeth on the recommendation
of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins, in 1588--the seamen of the
royal navy, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, having agreed to
give up a portion of their pay for the relief of their wounded and
disabled brethren. The Royal Marine Hospital of Chatham is one of the
finest establishments of the kind in Great Britain, and from the
elegance of its plan, the extent of its buildings, and its commanding
position, forms a truly noble feature in the landscape.
[14] _Quarterly Review_--Dupin, _On the Marine Establishments of France
and England_.--No. XLIII. p. 41.
[Illustration: GRAVESEND.]
GRAVESEND,
FROM THE THAMES.
The great facilities of communication with the metropolis, the salubrity
of the air, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the public
amusements by which it is enlivened, have all contributed to render
Gravesend the most frequented town on the river Thames. The thousands of
visitors who here keep holiday during six or eight months of the year,
have insured resources to the inhabitants more to be depended on than
the fluctuations of trade. New houses, new streets, hotels,
reading-rooms, public baths, and pleasure-gardens, have all appeared in
succession since the introduction of steam on the river, and now present
attractions rarely to be met with in any inland or maritime town of like
size. The harbour, generally enlivened by East and West Indiamen at
anchor; the incessant passing and repassing of steamers to every part of
the coast and kingdom; with private yachts and pleasure-boats skimming
past, or lying off the piers, with their holiday freight of joyous
citizens, give a never failing interest and spirit to the whole picture;
and present, in a short sojourn at Gravesend, more animation and variety
than is to be met with at any other part of the river. The rides and
drives inland are highly varied and picturesque. Cobham Hall--the
ancient seat of Lord Darnley--and its magnificent park-scenery, with the
village and ancient church adjoining, are objects that well repay a
summer-day's excursion. Springhead, famous for the water-cresses which
it supplies to the London markets, is one of the most rural and
picturesque retreats in Kent; while Gad's-hill, to which Shakspeare has
given immortality, as the scene of the robbery of the Sandwich
merchants, said to have been perpetrated by Henry the Fifth--when Prince
Hal--and his dissolute companions, is within an easy walk.
Windmill-hill, the highest object in the background of the picture, is
proverbially famed as commanding one of the finest panoramic views in
the county.
The bathing-establishments are on a large scale, admirably constructed,
and managed with great punctuality and attention. Adjoining the Clifton
Baths is a delightful pleasure-ground, agreeably varied with walks and
seats, and ornamented with trees, shrubs, and flowers. From this
eminence, which overhangs the Thames, a charming prospect is open at all
times to the groups of visitors by whom it is frequented.
The gardens, now known as the Rosherville-gardens, have been opened of
late years for dancing, music, and fireworks during the season, and have
become the chosen resort of numerous societies and schools, who here
celebrate their anniversaries. A large dining-hall and other necessary
adjuncts have been erected for their accommodation, including a handsome
pier, at which most of the steam-boats call, on their passages to and
from the other piers.
The Town-pier--having superseded the old and unpleasant process of
boating--is a structure of vast convenience as a landing place, and is
besides of excellent design and execution. It consists of insulated
columns, or piles of cast-iron, supporting a floor or stage, and extends
into the river about fifty feet beyond low-water-mark. In summer this
stage is covered with an awning, under which visitors can promenade,
sheltered from sun or shower, and enjoy the entertainment furnished by
an excellent band of music, which takes its daily station on the Pier.
Below the Town-pier is another pier, or jetty, extending nearly a
hundred feet into the water, called the Terrace-pier--so called from
having attached to it an extensive terrace or promenade, and a
beautifully arranged lawn or shrubbery, for the use of those who
frequent the pier.
During the last ten years, Gravesend has several times suffered very
severely from fires, causing great destruction in the more closely-built
portions of the town; these calamitous visitations, though deplorable in
their immediate consequences, have not been without their beneficial
results, by affording an opportunity for widening and improving the
thoroughfares in their vicinity, and of which due advantage has been
wisely taken.
For many years, the steam-boat companies monopolized the traffic from
London to Gravesend, their superior vessels, rapid speed, and moderate
fare, set every other species of conveyance at defiance; but they have
been compelled to admit a formidable rival to their trade, in the
all-absorbing railway, which now surpasses them in quickness, and places
itself upon an equality in respect to price and accommodation. The
North-Kent line passing through Woolwich and Erith, has penetrated into
the heart of Gravesend, and by filling up the Thames and Medway canal,
made an iron road to the ancient city of Rochester. But, although the
skill of the engineer and wealth of the capitalist has thus succeeded in
bringing this fashionable watering-place and the old cathedral town into
closer connection with our giant metropolis, they have not been able to
overcome those natural obstacles to the rapid progress of the locomotive
engine--hills and valleys, without having recourse to that most
disagreeable of all roads, the subterranean--and the difference between
rushing through their sombre excavations, amid the clatter of the
machinery and the hissing of the liberated steam, and calmly gliding on
the quiet surface of the beautiful Thames, must, we think, be such as to
render the journey by the river at all times the most popular with those
who travel for pleasure.
[Illustration: LONDON FROM GREENWICH PARK.]
LONDON,
FROM GREENWICH PARK.
How glorious is the scene that here expands,
Where, 'mid her lofty towers, Augusta stands,
Drawing, in tribute to her daring helm,
And boundless trade, the wealth of every realm;
And stretching forth her hand o'er land and main,
To check the proud, and break the captive's chain!
It may be safely affirmed that they who have witnessed the view of
London, from Greenwich Park, have beheld a scene which neither time nor
circumstances can ever obliterate, and to which it may be doubted if
Europe itself could furnish a rival. It is a point to which foreigners
and strangers uniformly advert, in expressing their admiration of the
British capital and its environs; and to which, during the fine season,
multitudes resort for the sake of the delicious park-scenery and the
magnificent prospects which it commands. From the base of the National
Observatory to the cupola of St. Paul's, the objects which it embraces
are of the most variegated and imposing character. In the fore ground is
the palace of the former "Kings and Queens of England,"--now the noblest
Hospital in the world--with all its stately appendages. In the centre of
the picture is the Thames--the great "highway" by which the fleets of
commerce are continually pouring the treasures of the world into the
heart of the metropolis. In the back ground--here in bold relief, and
there dimly shadowed in the horizon--are seen the towers and temples of
London, with the majestic dome of St. Paul's presiding over the whole in
glorious pre-eminence. Turning to the east, the scene presents new
objects of interest and admiration. The shipping off Blackwall--the
Docks--the vast traffic by which the river is continually agitated--the
steamers passing and repassing, their decks crowded with company, and
the bands of music occasionally striking up, as they pass the Royal
Hospital, the national air of "Rule Britannia,"--all produce an effect
upon the spectators, which, in point of animation, cannot be surpassed.
What gives peculiar interest to the picture, is the appearance of the
"ancient mariners" who are continually in sight--pensioners who have
given their legs and arms as pledges to British independence, and now
pass the evening of their days in every comfort to which a
weather-beaten seaman can aspire--
Heroes, every one,
Ye might as soon have made the steeple run;
And then his messmates, if you're pleased to stay,
He'll one by one the gallant souls display.
This magnificent Hospital presents an imposing range of buildings in the
Grecian style of architecture, extending several hundred feet along the
right bank of the Thames, and divided into two wings by a noble lawn,
with a descent to the water's edge by a handsome flight of steps. The
wings recede a considerable space from the river and are crowned in the
distance by two lofty domes, behind which rise the acclivities of the
royal park, covered with trees of centuries, and undulating with
variegated masses of verdure. Through the midst of these, and occupying
the site of the original fortress of Greenwich, rises that celebrated
Observatory which has so frequently engaged the attention of scientific
Europe; and with which the names of Flamsteed, Halley, Bradley, Bliss,
Maskelyn, Pond, and Airey, are so emphatically connected.
To the history of Greenwich Hospital we can only very briefly advert.
After the rebellion in 1715, the forfeited estates of the Earl of
Derwentwater, amounting at that time to six thousand pounds per annum,
were voted by parliament to this hospital; and with the numerous
benefactions since bestowed by private individuals, it is now enabled to
provide for nearly three thousand inmates. Every Pensioner receives a
liberal allowance of provisions and clothes, with a shilling a week for
pocket-money. The nurses--widows of seamen, and of whom there were
lately a hundred and five--in addition to provisions, have each an
annual allowance of from eighteen to twenty pounds. A library is
provided for the exclusive use of the Pensioners. The office of governor
of Greenwich Hospital is generally conferred on veterans of the highest
rank and standing in the service,--such as Hood, Keats and Hardy, the
friend and companion of Nelson.
[Illustration: THE PORT OF LONDON.]
THE PORT OF LONDON.
The Port of London commences at London Bridge. The forest of masts which
rises in direct view--thickening in perspective till it is lost in the
distance--announces the vast extent of that Commerce which stretches its
arms to the "uttermost parts of the globe." The Pool, as this part of
the river is called, extends from London Bridge to Deptford,--a distance
of nearly four miles, with an average breadth of from four to five
hundred yards. It consists of four divisions, called the Upper, Middle,
and Lower Pools, and that occupying the space between Limehouse and
Deptford. The Upper Pool extends from London Bridge to Union Hole--a
space of about sixteen hundred yards; from this to Wapping New Stairs
forms the Middle Pool--about seven hundred yards. The Lower Pool extends
from the latter point to Horseferry Pier, Limehouse--about eighteen
hundred yards. The fourth Pool occupies the space between Limehouse and
Deptford--about two thousand seven hundred yards.
The Custom-House, which is a prominent feature in this View, was first
erected in 1559--very shortly after the accession of Queen Elizabeth;
but, having shared the fate of the other public buildings in the great
fire of London, it was rebuilt, two years after by Charles the Second.
By a similar calamity, however, this was also burnt to the ground in
1718, and a third erected, which--strange to say--was also consumed in
1814. The fourth, which is the present magnificent structure, was opened
for business in May, 1817. It was erected from the designs of David
Laing, Esq.; but, in consequence of certain defects, which threatened
destruction to a considerable portion of the building, the Long Room, as
it is called, was _shored_ up, the front next to the river taken down,
and the present front as shown in the Engraving, was substituted by Mr.
Smirke. The whole is erected on an extensive and magnificent scale.
The London and St. Katherine's Docks are seen a little to the right, and
afford accommodation to a vast number of shipping. The London Dock
covers twenty acres: fourteen tobacco-warehouses cover an acre each; the
cellars occupy three acres, and can accommodate twenty-two thousand
pipes of wine. The St. Katherine's Dock covers the extensive area of
ground which a few years ago was occupied by the parish of St.
Katherine; the whole of which, comprising above twelve hundred houses,
was bought and pulled down, at an outlay of two millions sterling, for
the construction of these magnificent basins and warehouses, with which
nothing that mercantile enterprise has hitherto effected can bear a
comparison. The old parish church of St. Katherine was built on the site
of an ancient monastery founded in the twelfth century by Matilda of
Boulogne. A rich hospital and various benefactions have belonged to this
parish ever since its original endowment; for the perpetuation of which
a handsome church and several dwelling-houses were erected near
Gloucester Gate, Regent's Park, the emoluments connected with which were
bestowed by the late Queen Adelaide, in whose gift they were, upon
persons belonging to the royal household, or otherwise recommended to
her Majesty.
In front of these docks is a spacious steam-packet wharf; and from this
point to Rotherhithe the river--here called the Middle Pool--is
generally so crowded with shipping at anchor, or rapidly passing up and
down, that it requires both skill and caution on the part of the
helmsman to avoid collision. It is here that strangers can form an exact
idea of the vast traffic by which the Thames is continually animated,
and to which there is no parallel in the cities of commercial Europe.
Notwithstanding the obvious utility of wet-docks, and the vast trade of
the British Metropolis, there was no establishment of this sort on the
Thames till nearly a century after a wet-dock had been constructed at
Liverpool. The inconvenience arising from the crowded state of the river
at those periods when the fleets of merchantmen were accustomed to
arrive, the very insufficient accommodation afforded by the legal quays
and sufferance-wharfs; the necessity under which many ships were placed
of unloading in the river by means of fighters, and the insecurity and
loss of property thence arising, had been felt and complained of as an
intolerable grievance. But so powerful was the opposition to any change,
made by the private wharfingers and others interested in the support of
the existing order of things, that it was not till 1793 that a plan was
projected for making wet-docks for the Port of London, yet the activity
and enterprise of the merchants and shipowners of the metropolis have,
since that date, amply compensated for their lost time, and the docks of
London are now models of superiority in that peculiar department of
civil engineering.
Though not included in the engraving, the recent improvements which have
been effected in its vicinity by the public spirit of the Corporation of
London, demand a passing tribute of admiration. The New Coal Exchange is
an edifice worthy of the purpose for which it was designed--the mart for
the sale of one of Great Britain's most valuable products; and
Billingsgate is now a market fitting for a city containing two millions
of inhabitants.
[Illustration: THE TOWER OF LONDON.]
THE TOWER OF LONDON.
This celebrated fortress is situated on the east side of the City, a
short distance from London-bridge, near the banks of the river Thames.
It at first consisted of no more than what is at present called the
White Tower, traditionally reported, without any authority, to have been
built by Julius Caesar, though there is the strongest evidence of its
being marked out and a part of it first erected by William the
Conqueror, in the year 1076, doubtless with a view to secure to himself
and followers a safe retreat, in case the English should ever have
recourse to arms to recover their ancient possessions and lost
liberties.
The death of the Conqueror, however, in 1087, about eight years after he
had commenced this fortress, for some time prevented its progress, and
left it to be completed by his son William Rufus, who, in 1098,
surrounded it with walls and a broad and deep ditch, which is in some
places about one hundred and twenty feet wide, into which water from the
river Thames was introduced. Henry III., in 1240, ordered a stone gate,
bulwark, and other additions to be made to this fortress, and the
ancient tower to be whitened, from whence it was called the White Tower.
In 1465, Edward IV. greatly enlarged the fortifications, and built the
Lion's Tower, for the reception of foreign beasts, birds, &c., presented
to the kings of England; the zoological collection have, however, long
since been transferred to more eligible quarters in the Regent's-park.
By the command of Charles II., in 1663, the ditch was completely
cleansed, the esplanade rebuilt with brick and stone, and sluices were
erected for admitting and retaining water from the Thames, as occasion
might require.
The Tower is in the best situation that could have been chosen for a
fortress, lying near enough to protect the metropolis and the seat of
commerce from invasion by water. It is parted from the river Thames by a
commodious wharf and narrow ditch, over which is a drawbridge. Upon this
wharf is a noble platform, on which are placed sixty-one pieces of
cannon, nine-pounders, mounted on handsome iron carriages, which were
fired on state holidays, but small pieces are now used for those
purposes.
Parallel to the middle part of the wharf, upon the walls, is a platform,
seventy yards in length, called the Ladies' Line, from its being much
frequented in the summer evenings, as on the inside it is shaded with a
row of lofty trees, and without affords a fine prospect of the shipping
and of the boats passing and repassing on the river. The ascent to this
line is by stone steps, and, being once upon it, there is a walk almost
round the walls of the fortress without interruption, in doing which the
visiter passes three batteries: the first called the Devil's Battery,
where there is a platform on which are mounted seven pieces of cannon;
the next is named the Stone Battery, and is defended by eight pieces of
cannon; and the last, called the Wooden Battery, is mounted with six
pieces of cannon.
The wharf, or esplanade, which is divided from Tower-hill at each end by
gates, is opened every morning for the convenience of a free intercourse
between the respective inhabitants of the Tower, the City, and its
suburbs. From this wharf is an entrance for persons on foot, over the
drawbridge already mentioned; and also a water-gate under the
Tower-wall, commonly called the Traitor's-gate, through which it has
been customary, for the greater privacy, to convey traitors and other
state prisoners by water to and from the Tower; the water of the ditch
had here a communication with the Thames, by means of a stone bridge on
the wharf. Over this water-gate is a regular building, terminated at
each end by a round tower, on which are embrasures for pointing cannon.