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[Illustration: No. 13. QUEEN'S HEAD INN, SOUTHWARK.]
VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM CATALOGUES
DRAWINGS OF OLD LONDON
BY
PHILIP NORMAN, LL.D., F.S.A.
ILLUSTRATED
LONDON
PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE
1913
Crown Copyright Reserved
Price Sixpence
FIRST PRINTED MAY 1900.
REVISED AND REPRINTED JULY 1913.
NOTE.
The Drawings of Old London, which form the subject of this Catalogue,
were made by Mr. Philip Norman, LL.D., F.S.A., in almost every case
from the actual buildings, many of which have since been demolished
or essentially altered in appearance. They form, consequently, an
important record of characteristic examples of Old London architecture,
chiefly domestic; and, from this point of view, may be recommended to
the attention of students. The collection was purchased for the Museum,
in January 1896, on the recommendation of Professor W. Middleton and
William Morris.
The thanks of the Board are due to Mr. Norman for his courtesy in
providing the whole of the descriptions of the drawings; and also for
revising the proofs of the present edition and lending the block of No.
6, "The Old Houses, White Hart Inn."
The drawings can be seen by visitors, in the Students' Room of the
Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design (Room 71), at any
time when the Museum is open, except on Sundays. The Department
also contains other drawings and prints of a similar nature; and a
Topographical Index referring thereto.
CECIL SMITH.
Victoria and Albert Museum,
July 1913.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
QUEEN'S HEAD INN, SOUTHWARK frontispiece
OLD HOUSES, WHITE HART INN, SOUTHWARK facing 2
NAG'S HEAD INN YARD, SOUTHWARK " 4
KING'S HEAD INN, SOUTHWARK " 6
ENTRANCE TO GREAT ST. HELEN'S " 12
VIEW FROM PAUL'S PIER " 22
COCK AND PIE, DRURY LANE " 30
EMANUEL HOSPITAL, WESTMINSTER " 32
CATALOGUE OF DRAWINGS OF OLD LONDON. BY PHILIP NORMAN, LL.D., F.S.A.
_The dimensions are in inches, the height being given first._
1. Old Elephant and Castle, Newington Butts (Sepia).
The famous tavern so named is situated about a mile south of London
Bridge, at a place where several important roads meet. In the coaching
days it was passed by every traveller going south-east from London,
and it is now a well-known halting station for omnibuses and tramcars.
A writer in a famous publication has asserted that this was the house
referred to by Shakespeare, as follows:—
"In the South Suburbs, at the Elephant,
Is best to lodge."—Twelfth Night; Act iii., Sc. 3.
In fact, the Elephant and Castle at Newington Butts did not come into
existence until long after Shakespeare's time. The ground on which
it stands was not yet built upon in 1658, being then granted as a
charitable donation to the poor of Newington parish. The grant was
renewed and confirmed in 1673, when the structure here represented
may already have come into existence, for we are told that building
operations had then lately taken place. The sign may be derived from
the crest of the Cutlers' Company. Close to the Elephant and Castle,
during the construction of a new sewer in 1823, some piles, posts, and
rings for barges were found imbedded in the soil. Hard by, in the early
part of this century, that strange fanatic, Joanna Southcott, set up
a meeting-house for her followers. Newington Butts was so named from
the exercise of archery at the butts, which was practised here by the
parishioners in Tudor times. The inn was rebuilt in 1824. Of late there
has been another rebuilding on the same site. The view is founded on an
old drawing in the Gardner collection.
A house called the "Oliphant," previously the "Red Hart," is mentioned
in the vestry proceedings of St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, in 1598,
and an "Elephant Alley" near the Globe theatre comes to light in the
St. Saviour's sacramental token book for 1600. Shakespeare may have
had in his mind the building thus indicated, when he made the allusion
quoted above.
(6-5/8 × 10-1/8) D. 82-1896.
2. White Hart Inn Yard, Southwark, 1884 (Water-colour).
(13-1/4 × 17-3/8) D. 7-1896.
3. Back of White Hart Inn, Evening, 1884 (Black and white).
(9-3/8 × 13-9/16) D. 8-1896.
4. In the Gallery of the White Hart, 1884 (Water-colour).
(11-5/8 × 8-13/16) D. 9A-1896.
5. In the Gallery of the White Hart, 1884 (Black and white).
(11-1/4 × 8-5/8) D. 9B-1896.
6. Old Houses in Inner Yard of the White Hart, 1884
(Water-colour).
[Illustration: No. 6. OLD HOUSES. WHITE HART INN. SOUTHWARK.]
Southwark being on the high road to the coast and to Canterbury, which
contained the famous shrine of St. Thomas à Becket, was for centuries
occupied by inns in number out of all proportion to ordinary shops and
dwellings.
The Borough, according to a State Paper of 1619, "consists chiefly of
inn-keepers." John Stow, in his Survey (1598), says, "from thence (the
Marshalsea) towards London Bridge on the same side, be many fair inns
for the receipt of travellers; by these signs: the Spurre, Christopher,
Bull, Queen's Head, Tabard, George, Hart, King's Head," etc. Of older
date (about 1542) is a map of Southwark, to be found among the Duchy
of Lancaster Records in the Record Office, which shows almost all the
more important Southwark inns. They were grouped together chiefly on
the east side of what is now called the Borough High Street, the most
distant not being more than a quarter of a mile apart. These inns had
a gateway from the street, which was closed at night. Passing through
this gateway one entered a yard, round which ran the galleries where
the guests were housed. Beyond this again there was a larger yard,
which contained the stabling, and where there were often various
tenements. This was approached by a passage from the outer yard, and
generally there was also access to it from behind.
The White Hart was perhaps the largest Southwark inn, and appears to
have dated from the latter part of the 14th century, the sign being
the badge of Richard II., derived from his mother, Joan of Kent. In the
summer of 1450 it was Jack Cade's headquarters whilst he was striving
to gain possession of London. Hall, in his Chronicle, thus speaks of
him:—"The capitayn being advertized of the kynge's absence came first
into Southwarke, and there lodged at the White Hart, prohibiting to
all men Murder, Rape, or Robbery; by which colour he allured to him
the hartes of the common people." It must have been by his orders,
if not in his presence, that "at the Whyt harte in Southwarke,
one Hawaydyne of sent Martyns was beheaded," as we are told in the
Chronicle of the Grey Friars. Here, too, Sir John Fastolfe's servant,
Payne, was despoiled and threatened with death. Cade's success was of
short duration: his followers wavered; he said, or might have said,
in the words of Shakespeare (2 Henry VI., act iv., sc. 8), "Hath my
sword therefore broke through London gates that you should leave me
at the White Hart in Southwark?" The outbreak collapsed, and our inn
is not heard of again for many years. In 1529 a message was sent to
Thomas Cromwell, the notorious minister of Henry VIII., by some one
asking for an interview at the White Hart. In 1669 the back of the
inn was burnt down; and on May 26, 1676, a most destructive fire
occurred in Southwark, when according to the best authorities, no
fewer than 500 houses were either burnt or blown up. The White Hart
was quite destroyed, but was rebuilt shortly afterwards on the old
foundations, at a cost of £2,400. In 1720 Strype describes it as "very
large and of a considerable trade, being esteemed one of the best inns
in Southwark," and it so continued until the early years of the 19th
century. Charles Dickens, in the tenth chapter of Pickwick, has given
us the following graphic description of the house when something of its
old prosperity still clung to it:—
"In the Borough especially, there still remain some half dozen old
inns, which have preserved their external features unchanged and
which have escaped alike the rage for public improvement and the
encroachment of private speculation. Great, rambling, queer old places
they are, with galleries, and passages, and staircases, wide enough
and antiquated enough to furnish material for a hundred ghost stories.
It was in the yard of one of these inns—of no less celebrated a one
than the White Hart—that a man was busily employed in brushing the
dirt off a pair of boots, early on the morning succeeding the events
narrated in the last chapter. The yard presented none of that bustle
and activity which are the usual characteristics of a large coach inn.
Three or four lumbering wagons, each with a pile of goods beneath
its ample canopy, about the height of the second floor window of an
ordinary house, were stowed away beneath a lofty roof, which extended
over one end of the yard; and another, which was probably to commence
its journey that morning, was drawn out into the open space. A double
tier of bedroom galleries, with old clumsy balustrades, ran round two
sides of the straggling area, and a double row of bells to correspond,
sheltered from the weather by a little sloping roof, hung over the door
leading to the bar and coffee-room. Two or three gigs and chaise-carts
were wheeled up under different little sheds and penthouses; and the
occasional heavy tread of a cart-horse, or rattling of a chain at
the further end of the yard, announced to anybody who cared about the
matter, that the stable lay in that direction. When we add that a few
boys in smock frocks were lying asleep on heavy packages, woolpacks,
and other articles that were scattered about on heaps of straw, we have
described as fully as need be, the general appearance of the yard of
the White Hart Inn, High Street, Borough, on the particular morning in
question."
In 1865-66 the south side of the building was replaced by a modern
tavern, which appears to the right of drawing No. 2. Some years
previously the yard had been disfigured by a penthouse or lean-to (also
shown in this drawing), which was used for the business of a bacon
dryer. The old galleries on the north and east sides were let out in
tenements. In the inner yard were some quaint old houses crowded with
lodgers (_vide_ No. 6). From here, looking back, one often saw the
smoke of the bacon curer's furnaces curling out of the windows of the
main building (as shown in drawing No. 3). The remains of the old White
Hart were pulled down in July 1889, and hop factors' rooms built on
the site, the yard being very much curtailed. The modern tavern on the
south side was closed some time ago. It is now used for the storage of
goods. The only trace of its former associations (October 1912) is a
painted board, still to be seen through one of the windows, with the
following words painted on it:—THE SAM WELLER (Social) CLUB.
(14-1/8 × 10-1/8) D. 10-1896.
7. The Tabard Inn, Southwark, 1810 (Water-colour).
The Tabard is perhaps the most famous of all Southwark inns, owing to
the fact that Chaucer has selected it as the starting point for his
Canterbury Pilgrims:—
"Byfel that in that sesoun on a day,
In Southwark at the Tabard as I lay."
He even mentions the name of the jovial landlord, Henry Bailly, a real
personage, who represented Southwark in the Parliament held at
Westminster, A.D. 1376.
It is recorded that in 1304 the Abbot and Convent of Hyde purchased
here from William de Lategareshall two houses, held of the Archbishop
of Canterbury. On this site the abbot built himself a town dwelling,
and at the same time probably a hostelry for the convenience of
travellers. In 1307 he obtained licence from the Bishop of Winchester
to build a chapel at or by the inn. In a later deed occur the following
words: "The Abbott's lodgeinge was wyninge to the backside of the inn
called the Tabarde and had a garden attached." Stow, in his Survey,
puts the matter clearly when he says, "Within this inn was also the
lodging of the Abbot of Hide (by the City of Winchester) a fair house
for him and his train, when he came to that city to parliament." A
lease of the Tabard dated 1st April, 31 Henry VIII., has been found
by Mr. G. Rutter Fletcher, F.S.A., and was printed, with notes by
the present writer, in the "Collections" of the Surrey Archæological
Society, 1896, Vol. XIII. Its chief interest lies in the enumeration
of the rooms and their fixtures, given in the schedule, which may not
unlikely represent the house much as it was in Chaucer's time. At the
dissolution this inn, with other possessions of Abbot Salcote or Capon,
was surrendered, and granted by the king to Thomas and John Master. The
sign of the Tabard (or sleeveless coat, like that worn by heralds),
sometimes the Syrcote, was used till about the end of the sixteenth
century, when it was little by little changed to Talbot, perhaps
through fancy or carelessness. Aubrey says, "the ignorant landlord
or tenant, instead of the ancient sign of 'The Tabard,' put up 'The
Talbot,' a species of dog." Be this as it may, in certain Chancery
proceedings of 27th June 1599, both names are used. About this time
there were large additions to the building. We are told by Speght in
his second edition of Chaucer (1602) that:—"Whereas through time it
has been much decaied, it is now by Master J. Preston, with the Abbot's
house thereto adjoined, newly repaired, and with convenient rooms much
increased for the receipt of many guests." In 1676 occurred the great
Southwark fire, when "the Talbot, with its backhouses and stables, &c.,
was burnt to the ground." It was, however, rebuilt on the old plan,
as depicted in drawing No. 7, and continued to be a picturesque and
interesting example of seventeenth century architecture until 1875-76,
when the whole was swept away. Hop merchants' offices and a modern
"Old Tabard" occupy the site. Here Roman objects were found in 1912.
This drawing was copied from one by George Shepherd (1810) which is in
private hands. It formerly belonged to the late Mr. R. P. Evans, hop
merchant, who occupied rooms in the George Inn Yard.
(7-3/4 × 10-3/4) D. 11-1896.
8. The George Inn, Southwark, 1884; also seventeenth century
Trade Token issued from here (Black and white).
(13 × 9-3/4) D. 12-1896.
9. Interior of Taproom, George Inn, 1886 (Black and white).
The George Inn, or what is left of it, stands between the sites of the
Tabard and the White Hart. It seems to have come into existence in the
early part of the sixteenth century, and is mentioned by the name of
"St. George" in 1554;
"St. George that swinged the Dragon,
And sits on horseback at mine hostess' door."
The owner in 1558 was Humfrey Colet or Collet, who had been member
of Parliament for Southwark. In 1634 a return was made that the inn
had been built of brick and timber (no doubt rebuilt) in 1622. Soon
after the middle of that century, in a book called Musarum Deliciæ or
the Muses' Recreation, compiled by Sir John Mennes (admiral and chief
comptroller of the navy), and Dr. James Smith, appeared some lines
"upon a surfeit caught by drinking bad sack at the George Tavern in
Southwark." Perhaps the landlord mended his ways; in any case the rent
was shortly afterwards £150 a year, a large sum for those days. Two
seventeenth-century trade tokens of the house exist; an illustration of
one is given, which reads thus:—
O.—ANTHONY BLAKE. TAPSTER. YE. GEORGE. INN. SOUTHWARKE
R.—(No legend.) Three tobacco-pipes and four pots.
In 1670, Mark Wayland and Mary his wife, held the George at a rent of
£150 a year. It was then partly burnt down, and Wayland rebuilt it.
In consequence, his rent was reduced to £80, and a sugar-loaf. In the
Great Southwark Fire of 1676, the house was totally destroyed, and
was again rebuilt by the tenant, a further reduction of the rent and
an extension of the lease being granted. The present structure dates
from this rebuilding. It was a great coaching and carriers' inn; only
a fragment, but a picturesque one, now exists, the rest having been
pulled down in 1889-90. The yard is used for the purposes of the Great
Northern, the Great Central, and the Great Eastern Railway Companies.
(7 × 10-1/2) D. 13-1896.
[Illustration: No. 10. THE NAG'S HEAD INN YARD, SOUTHWARK.]
10. The Nag's Head Inn Yard, Southwark (Black and white).
In the map of Southwark dating from about 1542, this inn is called the
Horse Hede. In 1720 Strype says that "the buildings are old and sorry
with inhabitants answerable." The inn standing in 1886, of which only
a small part is shown to the right of the drawing, looks as if it were
built not much more than a hundred years ago, but it will be seen that
the tenements on the same side next the High Street were much older.
Here Andrew Ducrow, the great equestrian performer, is said to have
been born, May 12, 1796. His parents had just arrived from Germany.
George Colman, the younger, in his "Poor Gentleman," a comedy produced
at Covent Garden in 1801, makes a farmer say:—"I be come from Lunnon
you see. I warrant I smell of smoke, like the Nag's Head chimney in
the Borough." The inn was well spoken of in a little book called the
Epicure's Almanac, published in 1815; there were balls here sometimes
in the earlier half of the last century. The tavern business is no
longer carried on, the yard and premises being in the hands of the
Great Western Railway Company. The building over the entrance to this
yard remains, but all those on the north side, that is to spectator's
right, including the inn, disappeared some years ago.
(9-3/4 × 6-3/4) D. 18-1896.
11. Remains of the King's Head Inn, Southwark (Water colour).
(7-3/16 × 10-1/2) D. 14-1896.
[Illustration: No. 12. THE KING'S HEAD INN, SOUTHWARK.]
12. The last of the Old King's Head (Water-colour).
This inn was originally the Pope's Head, and the name was changed at
the time of the Reformation. In 1534 the Abbot of Waverley, whose town
house was not far off, writes, apparently on business, that he will
be "at the _Pope's Head_ in Southwark." This was the very year of the
separation of the Church of England from Papal headship. Eight years
afterwards the house is marked in the Record Office map as the "Kynge's
Hed." That the two were one and the same is proved by a deed of 1559,
that belonged to the late Mr. G. Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A., whose family
at one time possessed the property. This deed is between John Gresham,
uncle of Sir Richard and Lord Mayor in 1547, and John White, Lord Mayor
in 1563, on the one side, and Thomas Cure, a notable inhabitant of
Southwark, on the other; and the inn is here described as having been
"formerly known as the Pope's Hed and now as le kynge's hed abutting on
the highway called Longe Southwarke." In 1588 the house came into the
possession of the Humble family. John Taylor mentions it as frequented
by carriers in 1637; ten years afterwards it belonged to Humble, Lord
Ward. A seventeenth-century trade token which was issued from here,
reads thus:—
O.—AT . THE . KINGS . HEAD . IN = Bust of Henry VIII.
R.—SOUTHWARKE . GROCER = W. P.
The King's Head was one of the inns burnt down in the fire of 1676, but
was rebuilt immediately afterwards. The last fragment of the structure
then erected was pulled down in January, 1885. The back of it is shown
on the right of drawing No. 3, as the building actually touched the
White Hart Inn Yard. Mr. John Timbs, in his "Curiosities of London,"
remarks that within his recollection the sign was a well-painted
half-length of Henry VIII.
(14-1/8 × 10-5/8) D. 15-1896.
13. The Queen's Head Inn, Southwark, 1883 (Water-colour).
(10-9/16 × 7-1/4) D. 16-1896.
14. Back of the Queen's Head from the Inner Yard, 1884
(Water-colour).
The Queen's Head is on the site of a house called the Crowned or
Cross Keys, which belonged to the Poynings family. In 1529 it was
used as an armoury, or store place for the King's "harness." In 1558
it still retained its old sign, for Richard Westray, ale brewer,
bequeaths to his wife Joane his messuage on this site, "called
the Cross Keyes with the brewhouse garden and stable as it is now
newly builded by his son Thomas." In 1634 the house had become the
Queen's Head, and the owner was John Harvard, of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, who afterwards migrated to America and gave his name to
Harvard University, Massachusetts. About this time it was frequented
by carriers, as we learn from John Taylor, "the water-poet." The
Queen's Head seems to have escaped the fire of 1676, perhaps owing to
the fact that, by way of precaution, a tenement was blown up at the
gateway. The main building was pulled down towards the end of 1895. It
was then found to be of half timbered construction, dating possibly
from the time of Richard Westray. A carved oak mantelpiece in a room
on the first floor appeared to be of the early seventeenth century.
The galleried portion of the inn, also of considerable age, which had
been partly let out in tenements, though much dilapidated, was still
standing in June, 1900, but it was all cleared away before the end of
the year. A goods yard for the Great Central Railway was then made, but
at the time of writing this, though still in use, was to let. The inner
yard was then being built over for the purposes of Guy's Hospital.
(14 × 10-1/8) D. 17-1896.
15. The Sieve Public-house, Church Street, Minories, 1865 (Black
and white).
(5-3/8 × 6-5/8) D. 19-1896.
16. Back of Sieve Public-house, 1885 (Black and white).
(6 × 7-3/4) D. 20-1896.
17. Taproom of Sieve and Trade Tokens issued from here, 1885
(Black and white).
(7 × 10-9/16) D. 21-1896.
18. Chimney-piece in Taproom of Sieve, 1885 (Black and white).
The Sieve, close to Holy Trinity Church, Minories, was one of the
oldest public-houses in London. Underneath, there were crypt-like
cellars, the material used in their construction being of the nature
of chalk. It is possible that originally they had some connection with
the adjoining convent of nuns of St. Clare, for Mr. J. T. Smith, who
in 1797 sketched the remains of the conventual buildings, then laid
bare by a fire, and published the results in his "Ancient Topography
of London," tells us that their walls were of chalk and Caen stone. The
parish of Holy Trinity is all included within the ancient precincts of
the convent, and in the early days of the Reformation the gates were
still kept up. In the parish records, under date 1596, there is mention
of the appointment of a "vitler to the parish." He was also to have the
custody of the keys, and was to close the gate "in the sommer at night
at tenne of the clocke, and in the winter at nyne, and at noe other
hour, except the necessary and urgent occasions of the inhabitants of
the said parish doe require the contrarie." Later extracts speak of
vestry meetings at the Sieve; for instance, on February 13, 1705-6,
"about agreeing to pull down the churchyard wall," when matters were
facilitated by the expenditure of six shillings on refreshment. A
seventeenth-century trade token issued from this house, of which a
drawing is given, reads thus:—
O.—RICHARD . HARRIS . AT . YE SEV = a sieve.
R.—IN . TRINITY . MINORIES = HIS HALF PENY. R. R. H.
It is mentioned among public-houses of note in the "Vade Mecum
for Malt-worms" (1715?). The sign is a rare one; in 1669, however,
there was also a Sieve in Aldermanbury, from which a trade token
was issued. In the eighteenth century the Sieve in the Minories
appears to have been much curtailed, for in a deed of 1762 it
is described as "all that messuage or tenement now divided into
three," and an old drawing shows adjoining shops similar in style,
which no doubt originally formed part of it. For many years the
house belonged to the Byng family, and at last came into the hands
of the Metropolitan Railway Company, by whom it was closed in 1886,
but not entirely destroyed until 1890. The parish of Holy Trinity is
now annexed to that of St. Botolph, Aldgate. The church, within a few
yards of the old Sieve, is a plain little structure, but has various
interesting features and associations, which have been described in
two publications, by the last vicar, the late Rev. Samuel Kinns. The
previous incumbent, the Rev. E. M. Tomlinson, has also written an
interesting book about it.
(7-1/8 × 5-1/4) D. 22-1896.
19. Old houses in Aldgate, 1886 (Black and white).
On the south side of Aldgate High Street a few seventeenth century
houses still survive, chiefly butchers' shops, to remind us that even
in Strype's time (1720) they plied their trade here, because, as he
tells us, this region lies "conveniently for driving and carrying
cattle from Rumford market." One of these shops is shown in the
drawing, and to the right of it the Hoop and Grapes tavern, better
known as Christopher Hill's. The posts at the door, handsomely carved,
seem coeval with the house; and inside there is an archaic board for
chalking up the score, with an inlaid frame.
(8-13/16 × 7-1/4) D. 23-1896.
20. Remains of the Bull Inn, 25, Aldgate High Street, 1886 (Black
and white).
Aldgate and Whitechapel, being on the high road to Essex, had in old
days several famous inns; among others the Three Nuns, the Crown,
the Blue Boar, and the Black Bull. This last, afterwards known as the
Bull, is the house a small part of which appears in the drawing. It
was at its zenith shortly before the advent of railways, when Mrs. Anne
Nelson, coach proprietor, was the landlady. It has been said that she
could make up nearly 200 beds there, and she lodged and boarded about
three dozen of her guards and coachmen. Most of her business was to
Essex and Suffolk, but she also owned the Exeter coach. She must have
been landlady on the memorable occasion when Mr. Pickwick arrived in a
cab, after "two mile o' danger at eightpence," and it was through this
very archway that he and his companions were driven by the elder Weller
when they started on their adventurous journey to Ipswich. The house is
now wholly destroyed, and the yard built over.
(9-7/8 × 5-5/16) D. 24-1896.
21. 5, 6, and 7, Aldgate High Street, formerly Saracen's Head
Inn, 1887 (Black and white).
On the opposite side of the way, some distance west, just within
the original limits of the City, an old block of buildings is still
(1912) to be seen, which once formed the original front of another
well-known coaching inn—the Saracen's Head. The name in 1887 could be
dimly observed on the right-hand house, beneath the paint. The carved
pilasters to the left must have been the work of an artist. The back of
the inn was once galleried, and coaches plied from here to Norwich as
long ago as 1681. In the yard, at the time of the drawing, there was
still a carriers' booking office, but that came to an end many years
ago.
(9-3/4 × 7-5/16) D. 25-1896.
22. Almshouses of the Skinners' Company, Mile End Road, 1892
(Sepia).
(6-13/16 × 10-9/16) D. 26-1896.
23. Almshouses of the Skinners' Company, Mile End Road, from the
Garden, 1892 (Water-colour).
They were immediately west of the famous Trinity Hospital, which was
threatened with destruction some years ago. Their narrow frontage to
the road did not prepare one for the picturesque view within. Over the
gate were the Company's arms and two statuettes of cripples. There were
also two inscriptions, one of them setting forth that these almshouses
were founded in 1688 during the mastership of Benjamin Alexander; the
other ran thus:—
THE GIFT OF MR. LEWIS NEWBURY.
BUILT BY
THOMAS GLOVER ESQ.,
his Executor, committed
to the management of the
COMPANY OF SKINNERS,
LONDON.
The houses, twelve in number, were for poor widows. There was a
chapel and a garden at the further end. In 1892 the Skinners' Company
invited tenders for the purchase of the property, and about two years
afterwards the old buildings here represented were swept away.
(7-3/16 × 5-3/8) D. 27-1896.
24. The Old George Inn, Trinity Square, 1890 (Black and white).
This was a picturesque building, but with no special history. A drawing
of it in the Crace collection shows trees in front and a horse-trough.
To the gallery, people may have flocked to see executions on Tower
Hill, for instance, those of the rebel lords in 1746 and '47. The house
was burnt down early in 1894.
(8-5/8 × 11-3/8) D. 28-1896.
25. Gateways on the east side of College Hill, 1891 (Black and
white).
College Hill is so named because Richard Whittington, the famous Mayor
of London, here founded a College of St. Spirit and St. Mary. He was
buried in St. Michael's Church hard by, which was destroyed in the
Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren. A view of its tower is given in this
drawing, and here in the foreground appear two gateways with sculptured
pediments which are quite in the style of the same great architect. It
is worthy of remark that on College Hill was the house and courtyard of
"Zimri," the second and last Duke of Buckingham of the Villiers family,
who, as Strype tells us, lived in this street for some time "upon a
particular humour." Hatton in his "New View of London," 1708, says that
this is "a spacious building on the east side of College Hill, now or
late in the possession of Sir John Lethieullier," and as regards the
position of the house he is followed by Peter Cunningham. However, in
Ogilby and Morgan's map of 1677, and in the map attached to Strype's
edition of Stow, the Duke's dwelling is distinctly shown on the west
side of College Hill.
At present the gateways shown in the drawing are incorporated in
a frontage which in old leases is always called "the stable"; they
form the means of access to two houses joined together; that to the
south—No. 21, College Hill, being a capital specimen of a merchant's
dwelling of the early part of the eighteenth century, with a handsome
staircase, carved over-doors, and a finely panelled room on the first
floor. The other has been rebuilt of late years. They stand back
some distance from the street, and have no special relation with the
gateways, which are older in style. Underneath both houses run, or ran,
very large cellars, connected, and within memory there was a small
garden at the back of No. 21. In 1746 this house belonged to Charles
Lethieullier, and was then tenanted by Sir Samuel Pennant, the previous
occupant having been Sir Robert Godschall. The house afterwards passed
by marriage to the Hulses; for many years it has been in the hands of
the Wilde family, which has produced two eminent judges—Lord Truro and
Lord Penzance.
Taking into consideration the fact of the property having belonged
to the Lethieullier family, from its ground plan, and from the style
of the gateways themselves and of the building to which they belong,
it seems not improbable that here were the stables of Buckingham
House with a garden at the back. The house between the gateways and
the church was built for the Mercers' School, being opened by the
Master and Wardens, June 6th, 1832, and is said to occupy the site of
Whittington's dwelling. The school has of late years, in its turn,
been removed to Barnard's Inn, of which there are drawings in this
collection. The school building on College Hill at the time of writing
remains.
(11-1/4 × 7-11/16) D. 30-1896.
26. Staircase of House in Botolph Lane, 1887 (Black and white).
This house stood in a quiet courtyard opening into Botolph Lane
with a second entrance in Love Lane, and had been used since 1859
for the Billingsgate and Tower Ward School. The front, plain but
well proportioned, was built of remarkably small bricks with stone
facings. It had a projecting cornice and flat lead-covered roof. The
doorway was approached by a double flight of steps, beneath which
an opening had been left, once used as a dog kennel, to judge from
the little hollow for water scooped out in front. Entering a hall
which extended right through the house and was paved with alternate
chequers of black and white marble, one saw in front a handsome
staircase, part of which is shown; the date 1670 appeared on the
plaster. Upstairs, the structure had been mutilated, the greater
part of the landings on the first and second floors being latterly
included in the schoolrooms, but a marble chimney-piece, fine cornices
and plaster-work, evinced the taste of former possessors. Perhaps
the most interesting part of the house was a small room immediately
to the left of the main entrance. It was panelled throughout, and
painted from ceiling to floor with strange designs, among which one
could dimly discern the figures of Indians, a rhinoceros, antelopes,
palm trees, and other signs of tropical life as it represented itself
to the imagination or memory of the artist. According to some, the
history of the tobacco plant was here depicted, but of this there was
no sign. Fortunately we know the name of the painter of this curious
series of pictures, one of the panels being signed "R. Robinson,
1696." The other decorations of the room were a carved mantelpiece
and a panelled cupboard. The house is charmingly described in the late
Mrs. Riddell's novel "Mitre Court," and she made it the home of
her heroine. There is, however, no authority for her statement that
Sir Christopher Wren was its architect and first inhabitant. This
interesting old building was pulled down in 1905-6, although great
efforts were made to induce its owners to preserve it.
(11-9/16 × 9-5/8) D. 29-1896.
27. Staircase of No. 9, Great St. Helen's, 1891 (Black and
white).
During the early part of the year 1892 a large mansion was destroyed
on the south side of Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate Street. Latterly
divided into two, being numbered 8 and 9, it was of brick, having
engaged pilasters, which were furnished with stone bases and capitals.
They also had bands, on two of which appeared in relief the initials
L/AI and the date 1646. The projecting sills or cornices and the
deep keystones on the first floor windows gave a striking appearance
to the house. It was also memorable as an early specimen of brickwork
in London, and as dating from a period before the formal conclusion of
the Civil War, when building operations were almost at a standstill.
No. 9 had, in a room on the first floor, a wooden seventeenth century
mantelpiece, behind which, on its removal, were found traces of an
older mantelpiece of marble, and evidence of the former existence
of a large open fireplace. The beautiful staircase, or portion of a
staircase, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, of which a slight
drawing is here given, may from its style be Elizabethan. A blocked-up
window with wooden transoms for casements was also discovered; so it
seems likely that, some years after the date of the original building,
considerable alterations took place. The façade has been attributed
to Inigo Jones, but it had not his classic symmetry, and looked like
the work of a less instructed native genius. Besides Inigo Jones, a
Royalist and Roman Catholic, was taken prisoner in October, 1645, at
the storming of Basing House, having been there during the siege, which
had lasted since August, 1643. He was apparently not free to return
to his profession until July 2nd, 1646, when, after payment of a heavy
fine, his estate, which had been sequestrated, was restored to him, and
he received pardon by an ordinance of the House of Commons. It is hard
to believe that whilst he was passing through such a crisis, or in the
few months succeeding it, he would have been superintending a work in
the Puritan City. At the time of his release the great architect was
seventy-four years of age, and, as far as we know, he hardly practised
his profession afterwards. The division of Nos. 8 and 9, Great St.
Helen's, into two, took place in the course of the 18th century;
probably about 1750, to judge from the style of the fanlights and
projecting hoods to the front doors, and from the staircase of No. 8,
the upper portion of which, however, was much more archaic, and might
have served as part of the back-staircase to the original building.
The initials on this house have generally been considered to relate
to Sir John Lawrence, who was Lord Mayor in the year of the Great
Plague, and to Abigail, his wife, but they were really those of his
uncle and aunt—Adam and Judith Lawrence, who were of Flemish or Dutch
origin. From the former, Sir John inherited this house with other
property in the parish. It does not, however, appear that he ever
lived there. He kept his mayoralty in a house of totally different
appearance, an illustration of which by T. Prattent, published in
1796, forms the frontispiece to Vol. XXIX. of the "European Magazine."
As there shown, it had elaborate plaster decorations in front with
the City arms and the arms of Lawrence, and last, not least, with
the inscription Sr J L—K & A. 1662. That undoubted residence of Sir
John Lawrence is marked by name in the map of Bishopsgate Street Ward
accompanying Strype's edition of Stow's Survey, where a slight sketch
of it is also given. The present Jewish synagogue in Great St. Helen's
is rather west of the site.
(6-7/8 × 3-3/4) D. 34-1896.
[Illustration: No. 28. ENTRANCE TO GREAT ST. HELEN'S.]
28. Entrance to Great St. Helen's from Bishopsgate Street, 1891
(Black and white).
When this view was taken, the passage from Bishopsgate Street to
Great St. Helen's passed under old buildings which had escaped the
Great Fire. The structure on spectator's right was Sir Andrew Judd's
almshouse, founded by him in 1551, and rebuilt by the Skinners' Company
in 1729. Sir Andrew, who was Lord Mayor and belonged to the Skinners'
Company, seems, in this benefaction, to have been merely acting as
executor to his cousin Elizabeth, widow of Sir William Hollis. Stow,
however, does not mention her name in connection with the charity. Sir
Andrew also founded and endowed Tunbridge Grammar School. The almshouse
was destroyed about the year 1892, and the old buildings by Bishopsgate
Street did not long survive. The building on spectator's left was the
modern part of Crosby Hall, swept away in 1907-8.
(11-1/2 × 8-3/16) D. 35-1896.
29. No. 10, Great St. Helen's, 1891 (Black and white).
At the corner of Great St. Helen's, opposite the pretty south porch of
the church, by some attributed to Inigo Jones, which has on it the date
1633, stood a quaint old house constructed of wood and plaster, with
projecting upper stories and massive timbering, which dated from long
before the Great Fire, and at the time of this sketch was, perhaps, the
oldest domestic building in the City except Crosby Hall; the inside,
however, had been modernised. Tradition boldly asserts that Anne
Boleyn's father, Sir Thomas, afterwards Viscount Rochford and Earl of
Wiltshire, once lived here. It is an undoubted fact that a kinsman of
his name, was intimately connected with St. Helen's, for "on the 24th
December, 26th Hen. VIII., 1534, the Prioress and Convent appointed
Sir James Bolleyne, Knt., to be steward of their lands and tenements
in London and elsewhere, the duties to be performed either by himself
or a sufficient deputy during the life of the said James, at a stipend
of forty shillings a year, payable at Christmas. If in arrear for six
weeks the said James might enter and distrain." This was most likely
Sir Thomas Boleyn's elder brother. The house, No. 10, had been much
shaken by the removal of Nos. 8 and 9 adjoining. It was propped up for
some time, and destroyed in the course of 1894.
(12-5/16 × 5-5/16) D. 33-1896.
30. Old Houses, Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate Street, 1862
(Black and white).
This drawing was made from the passage between Bishopsgate Street
and St. Helen's, the view being the reverse of No. 28. The strip of
building to the extreme right belonged to the modern part of Crosby
Hall, a Gothic mansion unrivalled in its day; but its entrance—No. 1,
St. Helen's, is not shown, nor is No. 2—a well-proportioned house
with a pretty doorway, dating from the earlier part of the eighteenth
century which has also disappeared. The three plastered houses
adjoining were pulled down many years ago. The high brick house
immediately to their left has so far been spared, and deserves a visit
for the sake of its good Georgian staircase. Part of Nos. 8 and 9,
already described, is dimly seen through the trees on the left. No. 10
is not visible, being chiefly round the corner, in the lane leading to
St. Mary Axe. There was a right of way through here for the public from
quite early times; for Dugdale tells us that in the Hundred Roll of 3rd
Edward I. several entries occur relating to an attempt which the nuns
made to stop up the lane or passage through the court of their priory
from Bishopsgate Street to St. Mary Axe. Since 1862 a large piece
has been taken from the churchyard, with no apparent advantage to the
public.
(8-7/16 × 6-5/8) D. 89-1896.
31. Crosby Hall Chambers, Bishopsgate Street, 1891 (Prout's
brown).
(7-7/16 × 4-3/8) D. 87-1896.
32. Mantelpiece in Crosby Hall Chambers, Bishopsgate Street, 1891
(Pen and ink).
At No. 25, Bishopsgate Street Within, until 1892-93, a house was
standing which had been known for years as Crosby Hall Chambers. The
front towards the street had no marks of antiquity except two carved
festoons of flowers much blocked up by paint, between the first floor
windows. The north side, as seen from a passage which is here depicted,
appeared to be externally more or less in its original state. Its base
was composed of rustic work, the wall being relieved by pilasters.
There was a room on the first floor looking out on this passage, which
was adorned by a very beautiful carved chimney-piece shown in the
second drawing, and now in the Board room of the Bank of Scotland,
which stands on the site. It bears the date 1633; the lower part is of
stone, the overmantel of oak. Students of work of this period should
compare it with a somewhat earlier chimney-piece now in the Guildhall
Museum, which was removed from an old mansion in Lime Street now
many years ago. There was also at Crosby Hall Chambers a fragment of
decorative plaster ceiling. This was acquired by the authorities of the
Victoria and Albert Museum. They also have a cast of the chimney-piece.
(11 × 9-7/16) D. 31-1896.
33. Garden of No. 4, Crosby Square, 1891 (Black and white).
Crosby Square, built about the year 1678, is on the site of the
offices of Crosby Hall, which had been destroyed by fire. No. 3
was formerly a good specimen of a house of that date. It has been
recased with brick, but the handsome doorway is preserved. No.
4 has a fine staircase; its chief distinction, however, was the
charming garden at the back, with its fig trees, its thorns, and
fountain—a veritable oasis in this wilderness of bricks and mortar.
Unfortunately, soon after the removal of Crosby Hall, it was destroyed,
and the garden built upon. The south wall of this was mediæval,
being composed of good rubble, 3 feet thick, and extending from
the present ground level to a depth of 14 feet of made earth. It
was part of the original boundary wall of the Crosby precinct. Dr.
Nathan Adler, Chief Rabbi, lived here for some years, from 1847
onwards; the garden and basin are marked distinctly in Strype's map of
1720.
(7 × 10-3/4) D. 32-1896.
34. Sir Paul Pindar's House, No. 169, Bishopsgate Street Without,
1890 (Black and white).
In 1890-91 the Great Eastern Railway Company cleared a great space
near the Liverpool Street terminus, which involved the removal of
the remains of Sir Paul Pindar's house, a beautiful work of art and
a unique relic of a great city residence at the beginning of the
seventeenth century. The oak front, with its elaborate carved work, is
now to be seen in the Museum (West Hall, R. 48). One is thankful that
it exists, but of course it was far more interesting while still in its
original position. The decorated plaster ceiling from the first floor
is also in the Museum. There is a view of the room which contained this
ceiling, drawn by J. T. Smith in 1810, which also shows a fine though
somewhat grotesque chimney-piece, having on it the date 1600. With
other decorative work, it was removed early in the last century, when
the room was made what the possessors called "a little comfortable."
Doubtless the original mansion included the adjoining house, or its
site, and much more besides. This latter house to the left or south,
destroyed about the year 1877, contained a good plaster ceiling of
more modern style than that already referred to; it is also now in
the Museum. There must have been gardens at the back, and a building,
with handsome decoration, called "the Lodge," which formerly stood in
Half Moon Street, and is figured in Wilkinson's "Londina Illustrata,"
was said by tradition to have been occupied by the gardener. Sir Paul
Pindar was an eminent merchant and diplomatist, who lent great sums
of money to Charles I., and gave at least £10,000 for the rebuilding
and embellishment of old St. Paul's Cathedral. A tablet to his
memory was formerly on the north side of the chancel of St. Botolph's
Church, Bishopsgate Street, but of late years it has been banished
to an obscure corner in the north vestibule. The inscription runs as
follows:—
Sir Paul Pindar Kt
Her Majesty's embassador to the Turkish Emperor
Anno DM 1611 and 9 years resident
Faithful in negotiations foreign and domestick
Eminent for piety charity loyalty and prudence
An inhabitant 26 years and a bountiful benefactor
To this Parish
He dyed the 22d August 1650
Aged 84 years.
From 1787 or earlier the main portion of Pindar's house, here depicted,
was used as a tavern.
(10-1/4 × 7) D. 36-1896.
35. The One Swan Inn, Bishopsgate Street Without, 1890 (Black and
white).
Another house destroyed by the Great Eastern Railway Company,
about the same time as that last described, was the One Swan Inn,
Bishopsgate Street Without. It had no special history, but was
an old place of call for carriers and waggons, and survived its
companions, the Two Swans hard by, and the better-known Four Swans,
Bishopsgate Street Within, the site of which is now marked by a modern
tavern. The yard of the One Swan Inn was of considerable size. A
picturesque wool warehouse had stood on the vacant space shown in the
sketch, to the left-hand side. This latter building had been destroyed
in 1886.
(9-3/8 × 5-3/8) D. 37-1896.
36. Staircase of No. 10, Austin Friars, 1895 (Water-colour).
Early in 1896 the interesting house, No. 10, ceased to be. It was in
the precinct of Austin Friars, on the north side of the Old Friars'
Church, the nave of which has for centuries been handed over to the
Dutch congregation in London. As appeared from a date on a rain-pipe,
it had been in existence at least as early as the year 1704. The porch
was approached by steps; ascending these, one saw in front a spacious
staircase, so typical of the period that it is here portrayed. This
staircase was panelled throughout, and was especially noticeable from
its ceiling, which was painted on plaster with allegorical figures, in
the style of Sir James Thornhill. The house No. 11 formed part of the
same block of buildings. While these were in process of destruction a
Gothic arch was exposed to view, the upper part of which had been in
a room on the ground floor of No. 10, incorporated in the east wall of
the house. From the character of the mouldings it appeared to date from
the fifteenth century, and had no doubt belonged to the cloisters of
the Augustine Friars. Other mediæval remains were found, and a paper
on the subject was read by Mr. Allen S. Walker, before the London and
Middlesex Archæological Society.
(9-7/8 × 7-3/8) D. 77-1896.
37. Arms of the Olmius Family on Mantelpiece at No. 21, Austin
Friars, 1888 (Black and white).