ranks with the stone gateway of the Hospitallers in Clerkenwell, with
the tower of St. James's Palace, and with the gate of Lambeth Palace, as
one of the three or four relics of the Gothic style left in London. Even
Gothic churches are scarce, while specimens of the domestic style are
still scarcer. It need hardly be said that this tower has been
constantly threatened, by "restorers" on the one hand, as well as by
open destroyers on the other. It was built while Cardinal Wolsey was
Chancellor, and was still new when Sir Thomas More sat in the hall as
his successor. The windows have been altered, and the groining of the
archway has been changed for a flat roof. It is said that the bricks of
which the gate is built were made in the Coney Garth, which much later
remained an open field, but is now New Square. A pillar, said to have
been designed by Inigo Jones, stood in New Square, or, as it was called
from a lessee at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Searle's
Court. This ground and the site of the Law Courts formed part of
Fickett's Field, the tilting-place of the Templars. Over the arch of the
gate are carved three shields of arms. In the centre are the
fleurs-de-lis and lions of Henry VIII., crowned within the garter. On
the north side are the arms of Sir Thomas Lovell, who was a bencher of
the Inn, and who rebuilt the gate in 1518. At the other side is the
shield of Lacy. It was Henry Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln, who died in
1311, by whom the lawyers are said to have been first established here.
It is certain that soon after his death the house and gardens, which
before his time had belonged in part to the Blackfriars, and which he
had obtained on their removal to the corner of the City since called
after them, were in the occupation of a society of students of the law.
An adjoining house and grounds belonged to the Bishops of Chichester:
Bishop's Court and Chichester's Rents are still local names. Richard
Sampson, Bishop in 1537, made over the estate to Suliard, a bencher of
the Inn, and his son in 1580 granted it to the lawyers. The gate is at
76, Chancery Lane, formerly New Street, and later Chancellor's Lane. In
Old Square, the first court we enter, are situated the ancient hall and
the chapel, the south side being occupied by chambers, some of them
ancient. The turret in the corner, and one at the south-western corner,
behind the hall, are very like those at St. James's Palace, and probably
date very soon after the gate. Here at No. 13 Thurloe, Oliver Cromwell's
Secretary of State, concealed a large collection of letters, which were
discovered long after and have been published. The hall is low, and
cannot be praised for any external architectural features of interest.
The brickwork, which is older by twelve years than that of the gate, is
concealed under a coat of stucco. There are three Gothic windows on each
side, and the dimensions are about 70 feet by 32 feet high. The interior
is not much more imposing, but the screen, in richly-carved oak, set up
in 1565, is handsome, and there is a picture by Hogarth of St. Paul
before Felix.
Mr. Spilsbury, the librarian, seems to have proved conclusively that the
chapel, which stands at right angles to the old hall, was a new building
when it was consecrated in 1623. There is no direct evidence that it was
designed by Inigo Jones; on the other hand, there is a record in
existence which testifies that the Society intended to employ him. John
Clarke was the builder. There was an older chapel in a ruinous
condition, which there is reason to believe had been that of the
Bishops, as it was dedicated to St. Richard of Chichester. Mr. Spilsbury
quotes one of the Harleian manuscripts, written in or about 1700, in
which Inigo is named as the architect, and Vertue's engraving of 1751
also mentions him. The chapel is elevated on an open crypt, which was
intended for a cloister. Butler's "Hudibras" speaks of the lawyers as
waiting for customers between "the pillar-rows of Lincoln's Inn." There
were three bays, divided by buttresses, each of which was surmounted by
a stone vase, a picturesque but incongruous arrangement, which was
altered in the early days of the Gothic revival, being the first of a
series of "restorations" to which the chapel has been subjected. A more
serious offence against taste was the erection of a fourth bay at the
west end, by which the old proportions are lost. It looks worst on the
outside, however, and the fine old windows of glass stained in England,
apparently after a Flemish design, are calculated to disarm criticism.
Mr. Spilsbury attributes them to Bernard and Abraham van Linge, but the
glass was made by Hall, of Fetter Lane. The monuments commemorate, among
others, Spencer Perceval, murdered in 1812, and a daughter of Lord
Brougham, who died in 1839, and was buried in the crypt. The office of
chaplain was in existence as early as the reign of Henry VI. The
preachership was instituted in 1581, and among those who held the office
were John Donne, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, who preached the first
sermon when the chapel was new. Herring, another preacher, was made
Archbishop of York in 1743, and of Canterbury in 1747. Another
Archbishop of York, William Thomson, was preacher here, and was promoted
in 1862. The greatest of the list was, perhaps, Reginald Heber, though
he was only here for a year before he was appointed Bishop of Calcutta.
The garden extends along the east side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, the New
Square occupying the south portion, the new hall and library the middle
part, and the west part of Stone Buildings facing the northern part. A
terrace divides them, and there is a gate into the Fields, the roadway
leading north to Great Turnstile and Holborn. North of the Old Buildings
and the chapel is Stone Buildings, in a handsome classical style, with a
wing which looks into Chancery Lane near its Holborn end, and is half
concealed by low shop-fronts. The history of the Stone Buildings is
connected with that of the new hall and the library. Hardwick, one of
the last of the school which might be connected with Chambers, the
Adams, Payne, and other architects of the English Renaissance, was
employed to complete Stone Buildings, begun by Sir Robert Taylor, before
the end of the eighteenth century. Hardwick was at work in 1843, and his
initials and a date, "P. H., 1843," are on the south gable of the hall.
The new Houses of Parliament had just set the fashion for an attempt to
revive the Tudor style, and Hardwick added to it the strong feeling for
proportion which he had imbibed with his classical training. This gable
is exceedingly satisfactory, the architect having given it a dignity
wanting in most modern Gothic. It is of brick, with diagonal fretwork in
darker bricks, as in the gate tower. The library had been removed to the
Stone Buildings in 1787 from a small room south of the old hall, and,
more accommodation being required, Hardwick designed a library to adjoin
the new hall. The two looked very well, the hall being of six bays, with
a great bow-window at the north end. The interior is embellished with
heraldry in stained glass, carved oak, metal work, and fresco painting.
At the north end, over the daïs, is Mr. G. F. Watts' great picture, "The
School of Legislation." The hall is 120 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 62
feet high. The roof of oak is an excellent imitation of an open timber
roof of the fifteenth century, and is carved and gilt. The windows were
filled with heraldry by Willement, and show us the arms of the legal
luminaries who have adorned Lincoln's Inn, many of whom are also
represented by busts and painted portraits. The hall is connected with
an ample kitchen, and a series of butteries, pantries, and sculleries of
suitable size.
Adjoining the hall, the library and a reading-room, which as first built
were calculated to enhance the dignity of the hall, were soon found to
be too small. Sir Gilbert Scott was called in to add to them. The
delicate proportions of Hardwick suffered in the process, the younger
architect having evidently thought more of the details, as was the
fashion of his school. The additions were carried out in 1873, and the
library is now 130 feet long, but shuts out a large part of the view
northward through the gardens. It is believed that Ben Jonson worked
here as a bricklayer, and we are told by Fuller that he had a trowel in
his hand and a book in his pocket. Aubrey says his mother had married a
bricklayer, and that he was sent to Cambridge by a bencher who heard him
repeating Homer as he worked. Of actual members of eminence, Lincoln's
Inn numbers almost as many as the Inner Temple. Sir Thomas More among
these comes first, but his father, who was a Judge, should be named with
him. The handsome Lord Keeper Egerton, ancestor of so many eminent
holders of the Bridgwater title, belonged to Lincoln's Inn during the
reign of Elizabeth. The second Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, was a
student here in 1647, and Lenthall, his contemporary, was Reader. A
little later Sir Matthew Hale, whose father had also been a member, was
of this inn, and became Chief Justice in 1671. The first Earl of
Mansfield was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and four or five Lords
Chancellor in a row, including Bathurst, Campbell, St. Leonards, and
Brougham.
From the antiquarian or the picturesque point of view Lincoln's Inn is
not so fascinating as the two Temples. It looks rather frowning from
Chancery Lane, where it rises against the western sky. The old hall and
the chapel are rather curious than beautiful, and cannot compare with
Middle Temple Hall or the Church of the Knights. The fine buildings
which overlook the gardens and trees of Lincoln's Inn Fields owe much to
their open situation. The Stone Buildings where they look on the green
turf of the garden are really magnificent, but they stand back from the
public gaze, and are but seldom seen by the casual visitor.
CHANCERY LANE.
Strype says the Lane "received the name of Chancellor's Lane in the time
of Edward I. The way was so foul and miry that John le Breton, Custos of
London, and the Bishop of Chichester, kept bars with staples across it
to prevent carts from passing. The roadway was repaired in the reign of
Edward III., and acquired its present name under his successor, Richard
II."
About half of the Lane falls within the district, being in the parish of
St. Andrew, Holborn. In it at the present time there is nothing worthy
of remark, except the gateway of Lincoln's Inn, mentioned elsewhere.
Offices, flats, and chambers in the solid modern style rise above shops.
Near the north end is the Chancery Lane Safe Deposit. On the opposite
side the old buildings of Lincoln's Inn frown defiance. Chancery Lane
has for long been the chief connection between the Strand and Holborn,
but will soon be superseded by Kingsway further west.
Near the north end are Southampton Buildings, rigidly modern, containing
the Birkbeck Bank and Chambers. They are built on the site once covered
by Southampton House, which came to William, Lord Russell, by his
marriage with the daughter and heiress of the last Lord Southampton. It
is difficult to realize now the scene thus described by J. Wykeham
Archer: "It was in passing this house, the scene of his domestic
happiness, on his way to the scaffold in Lincoln's Inn Fields, that the
fortitude of the martyr for a moment forsook him; but, overmastering his
emotion, he said, 'The bitterness of death is now past.'"
Cursitor Street was in the eighteenth century noted for its
sponging-houses, and many a reference is made to it in contemporary
literature. We are now in the Liberties of the Rolls, a parish in
itself.
The Cursitors' Office was built by Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal,
and adjoined the site of a palace of the Bishop of Chichester; and this
adjoined the Domus Conversorum, or House of Converts, wherein the rolls
of Chancery were kept, now replaced by the magnificent building of the
new Record Office. Southward is Serjeants' Inn--the building still
stands; also Clifford's Inn, once pertaining to the Inner Temple. The
hall of Clifford's Inn was converted into a court for the adjustment of
boundaries after the Fire of London.
On the west side of Chancery Lane, a few doors above Fleet Street, Izaak
Walton kept a draper's shop. These details about the southern part of
Chancery Lane are mentioned for the sake of continuity, for they do not
come within the Holborn District.
Chancery Lane was the birthplace of Lord Strafford, the residence of
Chief Justice Hyde, of the Lord Keeper Guildford, and of Jacob Tonson.
Passing on into Holborn and turning eastward, we soon perceive a row of
quaint Elizabethan gabled houses (see Frontispiece), with overhanging
upper stories and timber framework. The contrast with the modern
terra-cotta buildings on the north side of the street is striking. The
old houses are part of Staple Inn, now belonging to the Prudential
Assurance Company, whose red terra-cotta it is that forms such a
contrast across the way. It was bought by the company in 1884, and
restored a few years later by the removal of the plaster which had
concealed the picturesque beams. Still within St. Andrew's parish, we
here arrive at the City boundaries. The numbering of Holborn proper,
included in the City, begins a door or two above the old timbered
entrance, which leads to the first courtyard of Staple Inn. The
courtyard is a real backwater out of the rushing traffic. The uneven
cobble-stones, the whispering plane-trees, the worn red brick, and the
flat sashed windows, of a bygone date all combine to make a picture of
old London seldom to be found nowadays. Dr. Johnson wrote parts of
"Rasselas" while a resident here.
The way is a thoroughfare to Southampton Buildings, and continuing
onward we pass another part of the old building with a quaint clock and
small garden. Near at hand are the new buildings of the Patent Office
and the Birkbeck Bank and Chambers, already mentioned, an enormous mass
of masonry. The Inn contains a fine hall, thus mentioned in 1631:
"Staple Inn was the Inne or Hostell of the Merchants of the Staple (as
the tradition is), wherewith until I can learne better matter,
concerning the antiquity and foundation thereof, I must rest satisfied.
But for latter matters I cannot chuse but make report, and much to the
prayse and commendation of the Gentlemen of this House, that they have
bestowed great costs in new-building a fayre Hall of brick, and two
parts of the outward Courtyards, besides other lodging in the garden and
elsewhere, and have thereby made it the fayrest Inne of Chauncery in
this Universitie."
The whole of this district abounds in these one-time Inns of Chancery,
formerly attached to the Inns of Court; but those that remain are all
now diverted to other uses, and some have vanished, leaving only a name.
Further on there is Furnival Street, lately Castle Street, and so marked
in Strype's map. The Castle Public-house still recalls the older name.
Tradesmen of every kind occupy the buildings, besides which there is a
Baptist mission-house. The buildings on the east side are of the
old-fashioned style, dark brick with flat sashed windows.
Furnival Street lies within the City. The street takes its name from
Furnival's Inn, rebuilt in the early part of the nineteenth century.
This stood on the north side of Holborn, and was without the City. There
is, perhaps, less to say about it than about any of the other old Inns.
It was originally the town-house of the Lords Furnival. It was an Inn of
Chancery in Henry IV.'s reign, and was sold to Lincoln's Inn in the
reign of Elizabeth. Its most interesting associations are that Sir
Thomas More was Reader for three years, and that Charles Dickens had
chambers here previous to 1837, while "Pickwick" was running in parts.
It was rebuilt in great part in Charles I.'s reign, and entirely rebuilt
about 1818. With the exception of the hall, it was used as an hotel.
The Prudential Assurance Company's palatial building now completely
covers the site.
In Holborn, opposite to the end of Gray's Inn Road, formerly stood
Middle Row, an island of houses which formed a great obstruction to
traffic. This was removed in 1867.
The next opening on the south side is Dyers' Buildings, with name
reminiscent of some former almshouses of the Dyers' Company. Then a
small entry, with "Mercer's School" above, leads into Barnard's Inn, now
the School of the Mercers' Company. The first court is smaller than that
of Staple Inn, and lacks the whispering planes, yet it is redolent of
old London. On the south side is the little hall, the smallest of all
those of the London Inns; it is now used as a dining-hall. In the
windows is some ancient stained glass, contemporary with the
building--that is to say, about 470 years old.
The exterior of this hall, with its steeply-pitched roof, is a favourite
subject for artists. Beyond it are concrete courts, walls of glazed
white brick, and cleanly substantial buildings, which speak of the
modern appreciation of sanitation. A tablet on the wall records in
admirably concise fashion the history of the Mercers' School and its
various peregrinations until it found a home here in 1894. Before being
bought by the Mercers' Company, the Inn had been let as residential
chambers. It was also an Inn of Chancery, and belonged to Gray's Inn. It
was formerly called Mackworth's Inn, being the property of Dr. John
Mackworth, Dean of Lincoln. It was next occupied by a man named Barnard,
when it was converted into an Inn of Chancery.
The further court is bounded on the east side by one of the few very old
buildings left in London. This was formerly the White Horse Inn, but is
now also part of the Mercers' School buildings.
Timbs quotes from Lord Eldon's "Anecdote Book," 1776, in which Lord
Eldon says he came to the White Horse Inn when he left school, and here
met his brother, Lord Stowell, who took him to see the play at Drury
Lane, where "Lowe played Jobson in the farce, and Miss Pope played Nell.
When we came out of the house it rained hard. There were then few
hackney coaches, and we both got into one sedan-chair. Turning out of
Fleet Street into Fetter Lane there was a sort of contest between our
chairmen and some persons who were coming up Fleet Street.... In the
struggle the sedan-chair was overset, with us in it."
The white boundary wall of the Mercers' School replaces the old wall of
the noted Swan Distillery (now rebuilt). This distillery was an object
of attack in the Gordon Riots, partly, perhaps, because of its stores,
and partly because its owner was a Roman Catholic. It was looted, and
the liquor ran down in the streets, where men and women drank themselves
mad. Dickens has thus described the riot scene in "Barnaby Rudge":
"The gutters of the street and every crack and fissure in the
stones ran with scorching spirit, which being dammed up by busy
hands overflowed the road and pavement, and formed a great pool
into which the people dropped down dead by dozens. They lay in
heaps all round this fearful pond, husbands and wives, fathers and
sons, mothers and daughters, women with children in their arms and
babies at their breasts, and drank until they died. While some
stooped their lips to the brink and never raised their heads again,
others sprang up from their fiery draught, and danced half in a mad
triumph, and half in the agony of suffocation, until they fell and
steeped their corpses in the liquor that had killed them."
Both the Holborn and Fleet Street ends of Fetter Lane were for more than
two centuries places of execution. Some have derived the name from the
fetters of criminals, and others from "fewtors," disorderly and idle
persons, a corruption of "defaytors," or defaulters; while the most
probable derivation is that from the "fetters" or rests on the
breastplates of the knights who jousted in Fickett's Field adjoining.
An interesting Moravian Chapel has an entry on the east side of Fetter
Lane. This has memories of Baxter, Wesley, and Whitefield. It was bought
by the Moravians in 1738, and was then associated with the name of
Count Zinzendorf. It was attacked and dismantled in the riots. Dryden is
supposed to have lived in Fetter Lane, but Hutton, in "Literary
Landmarks," says the only evidence of such occupation was a curious
stone, existing as late as 1885, in the wall of No. 16, over
Fleur-de-Lys Court, stating:
"Here lived
John Dryden,
Ye Poet.
Born 1631--Died 1700.
Glorious John!"
But he adds there is no record when or by whom the stone was placed.
Otway is said to have lived opposite, and quarrelled with his
illustrious neighbour in verse. In any case, Fleur-de-Lys Court lies
outside the boundaries of the parish we are now considering. It may,
however, be mentioned that the woman Elizabeth Brownrigg, who so foully
tortured her apprentices, committed her atrocities in this court. Praise
God Barebones was at one time a resident in the Lane, and in the same
house his brother, Damned Barebones. The house was afterwards bought by
the Royal Society, of which Sir Isaac Newton was then President, and the
Royal Society meetings were held here until 1782.
Returning to Holborn, from whence we have deviated, we come across
Bartlett's Buildings, described by Strype as a very handsome, spacious
place very well inhabited.
Thavie's Inn bears the name of the vanished Inn of Chancery. Here was
originally the house of an armourer called John Thavie, who, by will
dated 1348, devised it with three shops for the repair and maintenance
of St. Andrew's Church. It was bought for an Inn of Chancery by
Lincoln's Inn in the reign of Edward III. It is curious how persistently
the old names have adhered to these places. It was sold by Lincoln's Inn
in 1771, and afterwards burnt down. The houses here are chiefly
inhabited by jewellers, opticians, and earthenware merchants. There are
a couple of private hotels.
In St. Andrew's Street are the Rectory and Court-house, rebuilt from the
designs of S. S. Teulon in yellow brick. The buildings form a
quadrangle, with a wall and one side of the church enclosing a small
garden. In the Court-house is a handsome oak overmantle, black with age,
which was brought here from the old Court-house in St. Andrew's Court,
pulled down in the construction of St. Andrew's Street and Holborn
Viaduct in 1869.
Holborn Circus was formed in connection with the approaches to the
Viaduct. In the centre there is an equestrian statue of the Prince
Consort in bronze, by C. Bacon. This was presented by an anonymous
donor, and the Corporation voted £2,000 for erecting a suitable pedestal
for it. The whole was put up in 1874, two years after the completion of
the Circus. On the north and south sides are bas-reliefs, and on the
east and west statues of draped female figures seated.
Holborn Viaduct was finished in 1869. It is 1,400 feet in length, and is
carried by a series of arches over the streets in the valleys below. The
main arch is over Farringdon Road, the bed of the Fleet or Holbourne
Stream, and is supported by polished granite columns of immense
solidity. At the four corners of this there are four buildings enclosing
staircases communicating with the lower level, and in niches are
respectively statues of Sir William Walworth, Sir Hugh Myddleton, Sir
Thomas Gresham, and Sir Henry Fitz-Alwyn, with dates of birth and death.
On the parapets of the Viaduct are four erect draped female figures,
representative of Fine Art, Science, Agriculture, and Commerce. Holborn
Viaduct is a favourite locality for bicycle shops.
The City Temple (Congregational) and St. Andrew's Church are near
neighbours, and conspicuous objects on the Viaduct just above Shoe Lane.
The City Temple is a very solid mass of masonry with a cupola and a
frontage of two stories in two orders of columns.
The parish of St. Andrew was formerly of much greater extent than at
present, embracing not only Hatton Garden, Saffron Hill, but also St.
George the Martyr, these are now separate parishes.