THE THAMES.
_The "Silent Highway"--London Bridge--The Bridge Houses and their
Signs--Waterworks--Ice Fairs--Swan-upping--Borough of Southwark--City
Jurisdiction--Early Lords of Southwark--Winchester House--Our Lady
Fair--Paris Garden Manor--Bull and Bear Baiting--Famous Inns--The
Marshalsea and King's Bench Prisons--Tooley Street--Bridge House and
the Bridge Masters--Sports on the Thames--Water Pageantry._
The facilities of transit afforded by the river highway led to the
extension of the City towards the East, where the necessities of commerce
converted its banks into a continuous succession of quays and wharves;
whilst on the West the social life of the Court and City filled the entire
frontage of the waterway between London and Westminster with the palaces
of the great. Here, on "the Silent Highway," all classes met. Kings and
queens in the royal pomp of their state-barges were rowed from the Tower
to the Palace of Westminster; nobles passed East or West from their river
mansions in their journeys to the City and the Court; the merchant brought
his goods to Queenhithe and the wharves; fish and other provisions were
landed at Billingsgate; watermen carried passengers to Greenwich, or up
stream to Hampton Court; and the City apprentices practised water-quintain
and other sports, in preparation for the grand Easter aquatic tournament
described by the old chronicler of Henry the Second's time, FitzStephen.
The great obstacle to the navigation of the river was the picturesque but
obstructive Old London Bridge. Its numerous narrow arches, whose piers
rested on huge sterlings, caused so great a fall in the stream that the
passage through was a feat which none but experienced boatmen could safely
attempt. John Mowbray, the second Duke of Norfolk, a companion of Henry V.
in his French wars, nearly perished here in 1428. Taking barge with his
retinue at St. Mary Overy, he prepared to pass through the bridge; but,
through unskilful steering, the barge struck against the piles, and was
overturned. Several of the party perished, but the Duke and two or three
other gentlemen saved themselves by leaping on to the piles, and were
drawn up with ropes to the bridge above.
The great fall of the rushing tide through the narrow arches is well shown
in the earliest known view of the bridge, which is given in the beautiful
illumination of the manuscript poems of Charles, duke of Orleans, who was
a prisoner in the Tower of London. The date of this interesting pictorial
record has been assigned to the year 1500.
The bridge consisted of a drawbridge and nineteen broad-pointed arches,
with massive piers varying in breadth from twenty-five to thirty-four
feet. Outside the piers were immense wooden sterlings, which were probably
added later to keep the foundations of the piers from being undermined. By
these obstructions the entire channel of the river was reduced from its
normal breadth of 900 feet to a total waterway of 194 feet, or less than
one-fourth of the whole.
Peter of Colechurch was the architect and builder of London Bridge,
replacing the older wooden bridge by a stone structure which was finished
in 1176. The weakness of the new building, however, soon showed itself. In
1280, less than eighty years after its completion, the bridge was so
decayed that men were afraid to pass over it, and a subsidy was granted
towards its restoration. A hundred years later its condition engaged the
attention of "a great collection or gathering of all archbishops, bishops,
and other persons." Notwithstanding the counsels of this distinguished
assembly, things went from bad to worse; and in a professional survey made
in 1425, one of the arches was found to be cracked, and the water-course
of the Thames was seen below. This was the reason of an Act made by the
Court of Aldermen, that no person should drive a cart or car shod with
iron over the bridge, upon pain of "punishment of his body and to pay
6_s._ 8_d._" In 1492, a reward of five shillings was given to John
Johnson, that the King's "great gonne should not pass over the bridge, but
rather by another way." "The other way" involved at this date a journey up
river to Kingston, where the first bridge was to be found.
For the greater part of its length, houses were built completely over the
bridge, leaving only three vacancies, one an open space called the Square,
not far from the city, and another at the Southwark end where the
drawbridge was. The thoroughfare passed through the centre of the bridge
beneath the houses, forming a kind of tunnel with shops on either side. As
there was no footway, it was the safest and most usual custom to follow a
carriage which might be passing across.
The practice of erecting houses on bridges frequently prevailed in early
times, the object doubtless being to secure property for the maintenance
of the bridge. In many instances, too, a chapel was added. A curious
instance of this custom was on the bridge at Droitwich, where the road
passed through the chapel, and separated the congregation from the
reading-desk and pulpit. Another famous bridge chapel was erected over the
river Calder at Wakefield.
London Bridge had a beautiful chapel dedicated to St. Thomas of Acon, and
consisting of two floors, the upper being on a level with the Bridge road,
and the lower only slightly above the level of the river, its apartment
occupying the interior of the chapel pier. Another notable building was
the Bridge Gate or Tower, situated at a distance of about one-third of the
length from the Southwark end, and forming the boundary limit between the
City and that borough. Adjoining it on the Surrey side was the drawbridge,
which could be lowered for the passage of vessels up the river, and for
defence of the City from the south in times of invasion. Another tower
stood almost at the entrance into Southwark, on the second pier. Here, in
1263, Simon de Montfort forced a passage into the city. In 1471 the
Kentish Mariners, under the bastard Falconbridge, burnt the gate, and some
fourteen houses on the bridge. Sir Thomas Wyatt, in 1554, was repulsed,
after a determined attack on the bridge and its defenders; not, however,
before he had attacked the Bishop of Winchester's palace at the bridge
foot, and cut to pieces all his books, "so that men might have gone up to
their knees in the leaves so torn out." Over this tower the traitors'
heads were fixed in the sixteenth century, having been removed from the
Gate Tower, north of the drawbridge. These gates were decorated with leafy
boughs and garlands of flowers on Midsummer Day. On the west wall, set up
in 1492, was a statue of the patron and supposed guardian of the bridge
and City, St. Thomas of Canterbury.
From a period which may perhaps be assigned to the earlier part of the
thirteenth century, enterprising City tradesmen had availed themselves of
the excellent business situation of the bridge thoroughfare. A grant of
the above-named period exists, made to the fraternity and proctors of the
bridge, of "one shop upon the bridge, between the shop of Andrew le Ferun
and the shop of the bridge." The shops with their various quaint signs
tempted the wayfarer with a great variety of enticing wares. The Bridge
Records of the fourteenth century refer to the trades of Cutter,
Pouchmaker, Glover, Goldsmith, and Bowyer. At a later date we meet with
the sign of the "Three Shepherds," "The Botell," "Floure-de-Lice,"
"Horshede," "Ravynshede," "Bell," "Bore," "Cheker," "Castell," "Bulle,"
"Whyte Horse," "Panyer," "Tonne," the "Nonnes," "Holy Lambe," the "Chales"
(chalice), "Catte," "Bore's Head," "Seint Savyoures," "Redde Rose," "Three
Cornysshe Chowys" (choughs), and many others.
The great rush of water, through the narrow arches of the old bridge,
which proved so dangerous to the navigation of the river, was turned to
useful account by the citizens as a motive power for water supply. Early
attempts were made in this direction in 1479-80, but the project did not
take practical form till 1582, when waterworks were erected under the
arches nearest to the City bank of the river, on a plan devised by an
ingenious Dutchman named Peter Morris.
London Bridge was the scene of a grand pageant of chivalry in 1390, when
two doughty champions representing England and Scotland, engaged in a
passage of arms or jousting in the presence of King Richard II. and his
courtiers. The Scottish champion was Sir David Lindsay, who was opposed on
behalf of England by Sir John Welles. The Scotsman was victorious, and it
is characteristic of the condition of society at that period, that a
safe-conduct was provided for Sir David Lindsay, both for his journey to
London and return to Scotland.
Old London Bridge, after existing considerably over 600 years, was finally
demolished in 1832, when the bones of its builder, Peter of Colechurch,
were found beneath the masonry in the foundation of the chapel. Before its
removal, the obstruction of its numerous arches and their ponderous
sterlings frequently caused the river to become ice-bound in winter. In
times of more than usual severity, the frost lasted for several weeks, and
fairs with amusements of all kinds were held upon the ice. The earliest of
these frosts on record is that in the year 1092, and they continued at
frequent intervals till so recent a period as 1814. Work being largely
brought to a stop at these times, all the Londoners disported themselves
on the ice, and several prints of the scenes, and chap-books and
broadsides printed upon the ice, have come down to us, but are very
scarce.
The swans which are met with in the upper reaches of the Thames, belong to
the Crown and two of the City Companies, namely the Vintners and the
Dyers. These Companies have by immemorial usage kept a "game of swans," as
it is called, on the Thames, a right which is strictly confined to the
Crown and those to whom the Crown may grant the privilege. Once a year an
expedition was made by the swan-herds of the Companies to mark the young
birds with each Company's distinguishing nicks; this was made the occasion
of a festive gathering of the members of the Company, and was known as
"Swan-upping." The importance which attached to this privilege in former
days is seen in the nomenclature of the district in Lower Thames Street,
closely adjoining London Bridge, where Old Swan Pier, Swan Lane, &c.,
remain to this day. At one time the Bridge House appears to have possessed
the privilege of keeping a "game of swans," but this has long since
lapsed, probably through non-usage.
From very early times down to the middle of the eighteenth century, the
London Bridge of Peter of Colechurch, and its little-known predecessors,
formed the only thoroughfare across the Thames within the limits of the
Metropolis. Quite naturally therefore, the Borough of Southwark, situated
at the southern approach to the bridge, early became a place of
importance. For many centuries it consisted almost solely of the main
thoroughfare leading to the foot of the bridge. This well-frequented route
was under strict order and government, whilst the localities behind the
highway on either side, and skirting the river's banks, were the resort
and hiding-place of lawless persons and offenders of every description. To
provide for the large number of travellers passing to and from London and
the southern counties, Southwark's main street was occupied almost
exclusively by inn-keepers.
Early in the fourteenth century the citizens of London petitioned the King
for jurisdiction over Southwark, which was a harbour for felons, thieves,
and other malefactors. They succeeded in 1327 in obtaining from Edward
III. a charter by which the King sold the vill or town of Southwark to the
citizens of London, retaining for himself the Lordship of the Manor and
the appointment of the bailiff. Some few years later the inhabitants
regained their former privileges, and kept possession of them till the
reign of Edward VI., when the Crown in 1550, by another charter, made a
second grant of Southwark to the City of London for a valuable
consideration.
Within a month of the grant of this charter, namely on 12th May, 1550, the
Court of Aldermen appointed Sir John Ayloffe, Barber-Surgeon, as Alderman
of the ward of Bridge Without, by which term the Borough of Southwark was
designated for City municipal purposes.
An Act of Common Council was also passed in the following July, providing
for the election of an alderman by the inhabitants of the borough. This
ordinance was never acted upon, the appointment of Alderman of Bridge
Without remaining in the hands of the Court of Aldermen. The constitution
of the ward was never completed, no representatives were elected as Common
Councilmen, and the office of alderman for this ward consequently became a
sinecure. It has long been held by the senior member of the Court of
Aldermen, or the next in seniority who is willing to accept it; when a
vacancy occurs it is offered to the senior alderman, and on his refusal to
the next in seniority, and so on. The alderman who accepts it is called
the Father of the City, and thereupon vacates the aldermanship of his own
ward, for which a vacancy is duly declared. The curious spectacle is thus
seen of a ward presided over by an alderman, but being without a
constituency or any local representation.
The Corporation of London, having been Lord of the Manor of Southwark,
exercised their rights through the Recorder of London, whom they appointed
High Steward of Southwark. In that capacity he held Courts Leet as Steward
of the Corporation, charging the leet juries and appointing days for
receiving their reports as to nuisances. This slight jurisdiction of the
City over the ancient borough has now disappeared, consequent upon the
constitution of Southwark into a municipality by itself.
Now, having spoken of the City's jurisdiction, which, as we have seen, was
of a very light description, we must revert shortly to the earlier history
of the borough. The year 1347 found the larger part of Southwark still in
the possession of the powerful family of the Earls De Warren, whose
ancestor, William de Warren, was a great favourite of the Conqueror. This
young lord married William's daughter or stepdaughter, and received as her
dowry some 300 manors. Early in the reign of Edward III. the Earl's
Bailiff and the King's had a common box for the toll collected. The King's
Bailiff had the box, and the Earl's Bailiff the keys. At each division of
the toll the King received two-thirds and the Earl one-third of the amount
collected. In course of time the manors became vested in a larger number
of owners. This appears from the names of the manors, of which the
principal were the "Gildable Manor," or the Liberty of the Mayor, the
Manor of the Maze, the Liberty of my Lord of Barmesey (the Abbot of
Bermondsey), the Liberty of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Liberty of
Paris Garden, and the Suffolk Manor, which comprised the property of
Brandon, duke of Suffolk.
Winchester House, situated west of St. Mary Overy's Church, was built in
1107 by Bishop Giffard. It has had famous occupants besides the prelates:
such were Simon de Montfort and his wife; and James Stuart, king of
Scotland, who was married here to the niece of Cardinal Beaufort in 1424.
No less interesting was its history in later times, with which we have
here, however, no concern.
From the Bridge foot, looking south, extends the great highway called Long
Southwark. In this main street was held the market of the Borough, which
also occupied the Churchyard of St. Margaret, at the end of the great
thoroughfare. Close by, opposite St. George's Church, were the cage,
pillory, stocks, and whipping-post, for the correction of offenders
sentenced at the Court of Piepowder at Our Lady Fair. Behind Winchester
House was the ducking-stool for sousing scolds in the river.
Southwark Fair, or Our Lady Fair, was held at Michaelmas, under a charter
granted by Edward IV. in 1462. It occupied the main thoroughfare of the
Borough, and overflowed on either side into the courts and inn-yards,
invading even the bridge itself. In 1499, as we learn from the Bridge
House Records, 7_s._ 8_d._ was "leveid and gaderid of divers artificers
stonding and selling their wares and chefres on the said bridge in the
tyme of Oure Ladye Faire in Southwerke."
The Manor of Paris Garden took its name from Robert de Paris, who held the
manor in the reign of Richard II. That part of the Liberty of Paris Garden
bordering on the Thames was known as Bankside, and was the site of several
early theatres. Long before the legitimate drama made its appearance, bull
and bear-baiting flourished at Bankside. The bull-ring was the special
delight of the Southwark people, and boats by hundreds were always passing
to and fro, filled with sightseers from Westminster and the city.
Many of the Southwark inns had signs referring to this sport. Such were
"The Chained Bull," "The Bull and Chain," and "The Bull and Dog." At the
bridge foot, Southwark, was the famed tavern of "The Bear," and the token
of its proprietor was impressed with a bear passant, with a collar and
chain. Of the theatres which took the place of these exhibitions, and were
at first contemporaneous with them, the most famous was the Shakespearian
playhouse known as the Globe. It was built in 1593 for William Burbage. A
licence was granted by James I. permitting Shakespeare and others to act
here in 1603. The building was of wood, hexagonal in form, and was used by
Shakespeare as a summer theatre. Ben Jonson was also connected with it as
a partner, playwright, or actor. The building was destroyed by fire in
1613, but was rebuilt in the following year; its site is now covered by a
portion of Barclay and Perkins's brewery.
The Rose was probably the oldest theatre upon Bankside, excepting the
early circuses in Paris Garden already mentioned. These were leased in
James the First's reign by Edward Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College,
and Philip Henslow; the latter also held the Rose Theatre for several
years. The Swan was in high repute before 1598, but after 1620 both the
Rose and Swan were occasionally used by gladiators and fencers. The Hope,
used both for bear-baiting and as a playhouse, was situated near the Rose.
In 1614 Ben Jonson's _Bartholomew Fair_ was first acted here; at a later
date the building was used for prize-fighting; and in 1632 again for
bear-baiting. In 1648 all theatres were suppressed.
Southwark was famous for its inns. The Hostelers or Inn-holders of the
City of London formed themselves into a guild at an early date, and the
Company still flourishes, and has a quaint old hall in College Street,
Dowgate Hill. A curious petition was presented by its members in 1473; it
complained that "the members of the Fraternity, in being called hostellers
and not inn-holders, had no title by which to distinguish themselves from
their servants," and prayed that they might be recognised as the "misterie
of Innholders." More than 500 years later we find that the servant still
keeps the title of ostler, while the master has to be content with the
roundabout expression of hotel-keeper or proprietor.
Aubrey, the antiquary, writing in 1678, says:--"Before the Reformation
public inns were rare; travellers were entertained at religious houses if
occasion served." The word "inn," literally a dwelling or abiding-place,
was formerly used in a wide sense. The Inns of Court still retain the
name; but the town houses or resting-places of great personages, whose
business brought them to London, were often so called. Thus, there were in
Southwark the inns of the Bishop of Rochester and of the Abbot of
Waverley, south of Winchester House; those of the Abbot of Hyde and the
Abbot of Battle, and the hostelry of the Prior of Lewes. The inn of the
Cobhams was the Green Dragon in Foul Lane, and was still known in 1562 as
Cobham's Inn. But it is of the hostelry proper that we have now to speak.
Space will admit of little more than an enumeration of the most notable
hostelries. The Chequers Inn in Chequer Court, High Street, appears to
have taken its name from the arms of the De Warrens. The Boar's Head,
though not as famous as its namesake in Eastcheap, was the scene of a
performance of stage-plays in 1602, by the servants of the Earls of Oxford
and Worcester. The Tabard, so well known as the starting-place of
Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims, was on the east side of the High Street. It
was built probably in the fourteenth century, and continued until quite
modern times to possess an apartment which was known as the Pilgrims'
room. Other well-known inns were the George and the Falcon.
Among the many places of interest in the High Street were the famous
prisons of the Marshalsea and the King's Bench. The former was so called
"as pertaining to the Marshals of England." The Court of the Marshalsea
was held by the Steward and Marshal of the King's house. Both court and
prison can be traced as early as Edward the Third's reign, and they no
doubt existed at a much earlier period. The King's Bench Prison,
familiarly known as "The Bench," closely adjoined the Marshalsea, from
which it was separated by about twenty houses. To this prison, it is said,
Henry V. when Prince of Wales, was committed by Judge Gascoigne for
striking him when seated on the bench. Among its prisoners have been many
notable persons, especially in later times.
Tooley Street, skirting the river eastward from the bridge foot, derived
its name from a corruption of St. Olave's Street. St. Olaf, the Christian
King of Norway, came to the assistance of Ethelred II. against the Danes
in 1008, and destroyed London Bridge, which was then in their possession.
He pulled down the piles of the bridge by means of ropes attached to his
ships. This friendly act, together with his reputation as a Christian
sovereign, procured him the gratitude of the English nation. No less than
four churches in London were dedicated to this saint--those, namely, in
Tooley Street, Hart Street, Silver Street, and Old Jewry.
Closely adjoining St. Olave's Church was the Bridge House, the centre of
administration for the bridge and its repairs, and an institution hardly
second in importance to any in Southwark. Indeed, the Borough has no other
heraldic device than the curious "mark" of the Bridge House, which it has
adopted as its heraldic cognisance. The origin of the Bridge House Trust
extends back probably to the period of the early wooden bridge which
existed before the building of Peter of Colechurch's stone bridge in 1176.
London Bridge, being regarded, and with good reason, as a work of national
importance, attracted a long roll of wealthy benefactors. William Rufus
and his successors (probably, too, his Norman and Saxon predecessors) made
grants of tolls and taxes for its support. Other benefactors included
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury (Becket's successor) in 1174; Cardinal
Hugo di Petraleone, papal legate to this country in 1176; Henry
Fitzailwin, first Mayor of London; and numerous wealthy citizens and
ecclesiastics who, either in their lifetime or by their wills, left
valuable property to the Bridge House funds. This was administered in
early times by the Bridge Masters or Wardens, two in number, who were
appointed by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City.
This post was one much coveted in early times, and was bestowed upon men
of the highest position in the City. The Wardens' duties were honourable
and doubtless profitable, but they entailed great responsibilities. They
had in their ward and keeping all the goods of the bridge, whether lands,
rents, tenements, or commodities, and possessed large, if not absolute,
powers of dealing with the bridge property by sale or otherwise for the
profit of the Trust. On the other hand, their responsibility was strictly
personal, and unthrifty wardens were removed from office. This was the
case in 1351, when the wardens were removed after ten years' service for
showing a deficit of 21_l._ odd. The unfortunate wardens for the year
1440, Thomas Badby and Richard Lovelas, owed no less than 327_l._ 9_s._
10_d._, the loss having arisen from many of the houses on the bridge being
dilapidated and unlet. The wardens obtained the King's intercession on
their behalf, and the Court of Aldermen compromised the matter by
accepting 200 marks in full discharge of the debt.
The wardens kept great state at the Bridge House, which was necessarily an
establishment of considerable extent. Behind the Tooley Street frontage
the premises extended to the river, where was a wharf for landing stone,
timber, and all other necessaries for the repair of the bridge, the houses
upon it, and the large property belonging to the estate. Besides the
necessary offices, the Bridge House contained state apartments for
official meetings, and the sumptuous entertainments already mentioned. In
fact, the Bridge House in mediæval times largely resembled and took the
place of the Mansion House of modern days. The building itself must have
been pleasantly situated; it possessed extensive grounds, which were laid
out as a garden with ponds and a fountain. The wardens kept, as we have
seen, a "game" of swans, and, moreover, a pack of hounds.
Besides its great service to the citizens of London in establishing their
world-wide commerce, the Thames also largely contributed to the health
and recreation of the inhabitants of London. Fitzstephen, writing in the
twelfth century, thus describes the water sports in his day: "In the
Easter holidays they play at a game resembling a naval engagement. A
target is firmly fixed to the trunk of a tree, which is fixed in the
middle of the river, and in the prow of a boat, driven along by oars and
the current, stands a young man, who is to strike the target with his
lance. If, in hitting it, he break his lance and keep his position
unmoved, he gains his point and attains his desire; but, if his lance be
not shivered by the blow, he is tumbled into the river, and his boat
passes by, driven along by its own motion. Two boats, however, are placed
there, one on each side of the target, and in them a number of young men
to take up the striker when he first emerges from the stream, or when--
'A second time he rises from the wave.'
"On the bridge, and in balconies on the banks of the river, stand the
spectators,
'... well disposed to laugh.'"[3]
Other recreation was afforded by fishing, as the Thames abounded with fish
of all kinds, from the noble sturgeon and the salmon to the shoals of
smelts and whitebait.
The river presented a gay scene, being the great highway for all classes
of society, both for purposes of locomotion and for conveyance of goods.
The traffic between the court and city was naturally carried on by
wherries from London Bridge or Blackfriars to Westminster. The King and
Queen had their royal barges, so had the noblemen whose mansions lined the
south side of the Strand, each having stairs for approach from the river.
Gower gives a charming picture of his meeting his patron, King Richard
II., on the river, when the King summoned him to his barge and asked him
to write "some new thinge." The poet obeyed by presenting the King with
his "Confessio Amantis."
From time to time, gay pageants were seen on the Thames. The Sovereign
would proceed in state from the Palace at Greenwich to the Tower, or from
the Tower, Baynard's Castle, or other residence, to the Palace of
Westminster, and the City guilds accompanied their sheriffs or mayors on
their way to Westminster to take oath of office. The accounts of the
Grocers' Company for the year 1436 mention payments for the hire of barges
to attend the sheriffs' show; but John Stow, the historian of London,
describes the water procession as an innovation made by John Norman, mayor
in 1450. He writes: "This John Norman was the first mayor that was rowed
by water to Westminster to take his oath, for before that time they rode
on horseback. He caused a barge to be made at his own charge, and every
company had several barges, well decked and trimmed, to pass along with
him; for joy whereof, the watermen made a song in his praise, beginning,
'Row thy boat, Norman.'"
Of the more important buildings which formed conspicuous ornaments of the
river's banks we shall speak when describing the royal palaces.