metropolis. The lofty dome, seen for miles around, stands in the centre
of an enclosed churchyard of limited dimensions, at the head of Ludgate
Hill. A church is said to have existed here four hundred years before
the Norman conquest; and, under various shapes and extensions, it
remained till destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. An entirely
new edifice was then erected in its stead, the important work being
committed to Sir Christopher Wren. It was opened for divine service in
1697, and finished in 1710—one architect and one master-mason having been
engaged on it for 35 years. {47a} The cathedral is built in the form of
a cross, 514 feet in length by 286 in breadth. {47b} Outwardly, the
walls, which have a dark sooty appearance, except where bleached by the
weather, exhibit a double range of windows. There are three porticos at
as many entrances on the north, west, and south. That on the west is the
principal, with twelve lofty Corinthian pillars below, and a second order
carrying the pediment above; the angles are crowned with handsome
bell-towers, much larger than ordinary church steeples, and 222 feet
high. [Picture: St. Paul’s Cathedral and Churchyard, from Ludgate Hill]
But this entrance, which fronts Ludgate Hill, is not much used; the
common entrance is by the north portico and flight of steps. On
entering, the impression produced by the vastness of the internal space
is great, although the walls want something in tone and relief.
(Subscriptions are being gradually raised for richly adorning the
interior.) There are two domes, an outer and an inner, having a brick
cone between them. The inner dome has six paintings relating to events
in the life of St. Paul: they were painted by Sir James Thornhill, and
have recently been renovated. In the choir is much beautiful carving, by
Grinling Gibbons. In various parts of the cathedral are statues and
monuments of John Howard, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Bishop Heber,
Nelson, Cornwallis, Abercrombie, Sir John Moore, Lord Heathfield, Howe,
Rodney, Collingwood, St. Vincent, Picton, Ponsonby, and others. In the
_Crypt_ beneath are the tombs of Wellington, Nelson, Wren, Collingwood,
Picton, Reynolds, Lawrence, Opie, West, Fuseli, Turner, Rennie, and other
eminent men. Service is performed on Sundays at 10.30 A.M. and 3.15
P.M.; on week-days at 8.0, 10.0, and 4.0. A screen, on which the organ
stood, has lately been removed, throwing open the beautiful choir to view
from the nave. The organ has been placed on the north side of the choir.
Several times in the year service is performed under the dome on Sunday
evenings by gaslight; and an additional organ for this service has been
set up in the south transept. The appearance of the dome at these times,
with a soft light shed around it, is extremely beautiful; and the
congregation generally assembled is enormous. If the stranger pleases to
pay the required fees, he may mount, by means of stairs and ladders, to
the top of the dome; and he will be amply repaid by the extensive view
from the balcony or gallery, which comprehends the whole of London, with
the country beyond its outskirts, and the Thames rolling placidly in its
winding course between dense masses of houses. The _Whispering Gallery_,
at the bottom of the inner dome, renders audible the slightest whisper
from side to side. The _Library_ contains chiefly ecclesiastical works
for the use of the Chapter. The two _Golden Galleries_ are at the top of
the inner and outer domes. The _Ball_ and _Cross_, reached by more than
600 steps, are at the summit of the building; the ball, about 6 feet in
diameter, is reached with some difficulty. The _Clock-work_ and _Great
Bell_ always attract the notice of visitors. The pendulum measures 14
feet in length, while the mass at its extremity is one hundredweight.
The great bell, which is only tolled when a member of the royal family
dies, is placed in the southern turret above the western portico; it
weighs 4½ tons, and is 10 feet in diameter. The fine deep tones of this
mighty bell, on which the hours are struck, sweep solemnly, in a quiet
evening, across the metropolis, and are at times heard distinctly by
families at their firesides far out in the suburbs. Altogether, St.
Paul’s is a magnificent structure; and though it cost a million and
a-half of money in the erection—a great sum in the seventeenth
century—the amount was well spent on so worthy an object. St. Paul’s is
open, during the greater part of the day, free to the public, but no
place is exhibited during divine service.—Fee for admission to the
whispering gallery and the two outer galleries, 6d.; the ball, 1s. 6d.;
the clock, great bell, library, and geometrical staircase, 6d.; and the
crypt, 6d.
[Picture: Tomb of Nelson—crypt]
Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands
Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but
much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south. In very early times
this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters
of the Thames, and called Thorney Island. Here a monastic institution
was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain. Under
Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined
monastic building. The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the
cross. Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a
great degree of architectural grandeur. It had become the place for the
inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was
crowned here with great pomp in 1066. Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged
the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they
left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular
style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was
displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and
so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty
alone should be interred within its walls. During the reign of Henry
VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its
revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its
abbey was constituted a cathedral. It was, however, afterwards re-united
to the see of London, in 1550. (An archbishopric of Westminster, created
by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic
matters, and is not recognised by the English law.) Westminster Abbey,
during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the
towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir
Christopher Wren. These towers, however, though good in outline and
general mass, are not in harmony with the rest of the building. The
length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and
at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet. The exterior
measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet.
[Picture: Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church]
On entering at the great western door between the towers, the
magnificence of the abbey soon becomes apparent. The interior displays
grand masses of marble columns separating the nave from the side aisles.
A screen, surmounted by a noble organ, divides the nave from the choir;
while beyond the eye soars, amid graceful columns, tracery, and decorated
windows, to the summit of the eastern arch that overlooks the adjacent
chapels. The walls on both sides display a great profusion of sepulchral
monuments, among which are some finely executed pieces of sculpture, and
touching memorials of those whose exploits or exertions have deserved the
notice of posterity; but too many, unfortunately, are in very bad taste.
Above the line of tombs are chambers and galleries, once occupied by
ecclesiastics; solemn and dreary in their antiquity, though relieved by
occasional sunbeams glancing across the misty height of the nave. The
northern window is richly ornamented with stained glass.
[Picture: Westminster Abbey—Chapel of Henry VII.]
The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is at the eastern end of the choir,
and contains the shrine of St. Edward: that it was an exquisite piece of
workmanship, is evident even in its decay. Here also is the
coronation-chair, under which is placed the celebrated stone brought from
Scone, in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1297. The Chapel of Henry VII. is
also at the eastern end; and among the ashes of many royal personages
interred here are those of Mary and Elizabeth. The ascent to this
splendid work of Gothic art is by steps of black marble. The entrance
gates display workmanship of extraordinary richness in brass. The effect
produced on entering this chapel is striking: the roof is wrought in
stone into an astonishing variety of figures and devices; the stalls are
of oak, having the deep tone of age, with Gothic canopies, all
elaborately carved. Here, before the remodelling of the order, used to
be installed the knights of the Order of the Bath. In their stalls are
placed brass plates of their armorial insignia, and above are suspended
their banners, swords, and helmets; beneath the stalls are seats for the
esquires. The pavement is composed of black and white marble; beneath
which is the royal vault. The magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his
queen stands in the body of this chapel, in a curious chantry of cast
brass, admirably executed, and interspersed with effigies, armorial
bearings, and devices relating to the union of the red and white roses.
The number of statues and monuments in Westminster Abbey is very great.
Most of them are contained in side-chapels, of which there are several:
viz., St. Benedict’s, St. Edmund’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Paul’s, St.
Erasmus’s, John the Baptist’s, and Bishop Islip’s; besides Henry VII.’s
and Edward the Confessor’s Chapels, already mentioned. These Chapels
contain about ninety monuments and shrines, some of great beauty. The
Choir, the Transept, and the Nave, also contain a large amount of
sculpture—many specimens in wretched taste, by the side of some of the
first works of Flaxman, Chantrey, Roubiliac, Nollekins, Bacon,
Westmacott, Gibson, Behnes, and others. _Poets’ Corner_, occupying about
half of the south transept, is a famous place for the busts and monuments
of eminent men—including Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben
Jonson, Milton, Butler, Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay,
Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Mason, Sheridan, Southey, Campbell,
&c. Lord Macaulay and Lord Palmerston were recently buried in the
Abbey—the one in January, 1860; the other in October, 1865. William
Makepeace Thackeray does not lie there, but at Kensal Green, though his
bust is placed next to the statue of Joseph Addison. On the 14th June,
1870, Charles Dickens was interred there. His grave is situated at the
foot of the coffin of Handel, and at the head of the coffin of R. B.
Sheridan, and between the coffins of Lord Macaulay and Cumberland the
dramatist. Near to England’s great humorist, towards his feet, lie Dr.
Johnson and Garrick, while near them lies Thomas Campbell. Shakespeare’s
monument is not far from the foot of the grave. Goldsmith’s is on the
left. A monumental brass, to the memory of Robert Stephenson, has
recently been inlaid in the floor of the nave. The _Cloisters_ and the
_Chapter House_ contain some curious old effigies.
Westminster Abbey is a collegiate church, with a dean and chapter, who
possess a considerable authority over the adjoining district, and a
revenue of about £30,000 per annum. The abbey may be considered as
sub-divided into chapels; but in the present day divine service (at
7.45,10, and 3) is performed only in a large enclosed space near the
eastern extremity of the building—except on Sunday evenings during a
portion of the year, when service is performed in the nave, in a similar
way to the Sunday evening services under the dome of St. Paul’s. This
evening service, at 7 o’clock, is very striking in effect. There are
usually a considerable number of strangers present at the services,
particularly at that on Sunday evenings. The entrance chiefly used is
that at Poets’ Corner, nearly opposite the royal entrance to the Houses
of Parliament; but on Sunday evenings the great western entrance is used.
There is admittance every week-day free to the chief parts of the
building, and to other parts on payment of a fee of 6d.
Parish and District Churches.—When we consider that the metropolis
contains nearly 1000 churches and chapels, it may well be conceived that
only a few of them can be noticed here. In addition to St. Paul’s and
the Abbey, the following are worth the notice of strangers. _St.
Michael’s_, Cornhill, has lately been restored and re-decorated in an
elaborate manner by Mr. Gilbert Scott. _St. Bartholomew’s_, Smithfield,
which has been lately restored, was once the choir and transepts of a
priory church; it is interesting, not only for some of its monuments, but
for the varieties of Norman and Gothic styles which it exhibits. _St.
Stephen’s_, Walbrook, close to the Mansion House, is especially worthy of
attention; as the interior is considered to be one of Wren’s happiest
conceptions. _Bow Church_, or the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, occupies a
conspicuous position on the south side of Cheapside, and has a spire of
great elegance, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The clock projects
over the street from the lower part of the tower. Standing as this
church does, in the centre of the city, those who are born within the
sound of its bells are jocularly called _Cockneys_, a name equivalent to
genuine citizens. [Picture: St. Stephen’s, Walbrook] The consecration of
the Bishop of London takes place at Bow Church. _St. Bride’s_, Fleet
Street, is adorned with one of the most beautiful of Sir Christopher
Wren’s steeples. _The Temple Church_ is described in the section
relating to the Temple and other Inns of Court. _St. Saviour’s_ is by
far the most important parish church on the Surrey side of the water. It
is near the foot of London Bridge, on the west side of High Street,
Southwark. It originally belonged to the Priory of St. Mary Overy, but
was made a parish church in 1540. The Choir and the Lady Chapel are
parts of the original structure, and are excellent examples of the early
English style; they have been restored in the present century. Many
other parts of the building deserve notice. The _Savoy Church_, between
the Strand and the Thames, near Waterloo Bridge, was once the Chapel of
the Hospital of St. John the Baptist; it was destroyed by fire in 1864,
and re-built in 1866. _St. Paul’s_, Covent Garden, built by Inigo Jones,
is noticeable for its massive Doric portico. _St. James’s_, Piccadilly,
one of the least sightly of brick churches outside, has an interior which
exhibits Wren’s skill in a striking degree. _St.
Martin’s-in-the-Fields_, at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square,
has always been admired for its elegant spire and portico, constructed by
Gibbs. _St. George’s_, Hanover Square, is chiefly celebrated for the
fashionable marriages that take place there; the exterior, is, however,
picturesque. _Whitehall Chapel_ was originally intended as part of a
royal residence. It is, in fact, the Banqueting House of the palace of
Whitehall, the only remaining portion of what was once an extensive pile.
The former brick structure is entirely gone. The present edifice, built
by Inigo Jones in the time of James I., is considered to be one of the
finest specimens of Italian architecture in England. Charles I. was
executed on a scaffold erected in front of one of the windows. The
interior of Whitehall is about 112 feet long, 56 wide, and 56 high,
forming exactly a double cube; the ceiling is painted by Rubens, with
mythological designs in honour of James I. The building, being
appropriated to no other use, was converted into a chapel in the time of
George I., and was modernized in the interior, about 30 years ago, by Sir
Robert Smirke. _Old St. Pancras Church_, in Pancras Road, a small but
venerable structure, has in recent years been altered and adapted as a
District Church. Its churchyard was remarkable for the number of artists
and other eminent persons interred in it; at one time it was the great
metropolitan burial-place for Roman Catholics, and consequently an
unusual number of foreigners of celebrity, French _emigrés_ during the
Reign of Terror, &c., were buried there. Recently, however, the old
graveyard has been sadly cut about by the pickaxes and shovels of railway
excavators, engaged by the Midland Railway, which passes thereby.
It is worthy of note, that Sir Christopher Wren built the large number of
_fifty-three_ churches in London after the Great Fire. Nearly all of
them are still standing. Among the most noted are St. Paul’s; Bow
Church; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; St. Bride’s; St. Andrew’s, Holborn; St.
Sepulchre’s; St. Antholin’s, Watling Street; Christ Church, Newgate; St.
Clement Danes; St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East; St. James’s, Piccadilly; St.
Lawrence, Jewry; St. Magnus, London Bridge; St. Martin’s, Ludgate; and
St. Mary, Aldermanbury.
Among churches and chapels of the Establishment, of more recent date, the
following are worth looking at:—_New St. Pancras_, near the Euston
Railway Station, is the most notable example in London of an imitative
Greek temple; it was built by Messrs. Inwood, in 1822, and cost nearly
£80,000. _St. Marylebone_, in the Marylebone Road, built by Mr. Hardwick
in 1817, cost £60,000; the interior is heavy in appearance, having two
tiers of galleries; in few London churches, however, is divine service,
according to the established ritual, performed on a more impressive
scale. _St. Stephen’s_, Westminster, in Rochester Row, was built wholly
at the expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, and is a fine example of revived
Gothic; the choral service on Sundays is grand and complete. _St.
Paul’s_, at Knightsbridge, and _St. Barnabas_, at Pimlico, especially the
latter, are noticeable for the mediæval revivals, in arrangements and in
service, which belong to what is called the high-church party. _All
Saints’ Church_, Margaret Street, is, perhaps, the most sumptuous of
modern London churches. Although small, it cost £60,000. Mr.
Butterfield was the architect. The exterior is of red and black brick,
very mediæval in appearance. The interior is ornate, with polished
granite piers, alabaster capitals, coloured marble decorations,
stained-glass windows, and frescoes by Dyce. _St. James the Less_, in
Garden Street, Westminster, is a truly remarkable specimen of
coloured-brick architecture, both within and without; Mr. Street was the
architect; and the cost was defrayed by the daughters of the late Dr.
Monk, Bishop of Gloucester. A very noteworthy and costly brick church
has been constructed in Baldwin’s Gardens, Gray’s Inn Lane, from the
designs of Mr. Butterfield, and at the sole cost of Mr. J. G. Hubbard.
It is dedicated to _St. Alban_. The Rev. A. Mackonochie, whose extreme
ritualistic views have several times brought his name prominently before
the public, was the incumbent.
Catholic, Dissenting, and Jewish Places of Worship.—It is almost
impossible to give an exact enumeration of the places of worship in
London, seeing that so many new ones are in the course of building. But
the following figures, based on information supplied by the London
Post-Office Directory, and otherwise, will, it is hoped, be found to
convey a very fair approximate notion on the subject. In that Directory,
then, there will be found the names of about 100 city parishes. But of
these, some 40 have, of late years, been united to other parishes. Thus,
All Hallow’s, Honey Lane, is united with St. Mary-le-Bow; St. Mary
Magdalen, in Milk Street, is united with St. Lawrence, Jewry; and so
forth. Many of the parishes so united have their own churches now
closed, or in course of demolition, and worship is provided for them at
the churches of the particular parishes into which they have been merged.
Without counting the city proper, there are, in London, 50 parish
churches, and at least 300 district churches and chapels belonging to the
Church of England. The Roman Catholics have 41 churches and chapels,
without reckoning sundry religious houses. The Wesleyans have 152. The
recognised Dissenters from the Wesleyan body have 4; the Baptists, 109;
the Independents, 109; the United Methodist Free Church, 27; Primitive
Methodists, 16; the Unitarians, 8; Methodist New Connexion, 8; the
Quakers, 5; the Presbyterians (English) 15; the Church of Scotland, 5;
the Calvinists have 2; the Calvinistic Methodists, 3; the Welsh
Calvinistic Methodists, 4. The Jews have 12 Synagogues; there are 3
French Protestant churches; 9 German (Reformed) churches and chapels;
Swiss Protestant, 1; Swedenborgians, 2; Plymouth Brethren, 3; Catholic
Apostolic (not Roman) 6; 1 Swedish, and 1 Greek church; 1 Russian chapel,
and 3 meeting-houses of Free Christians; 1 Moravian; and some 40 other
places for public worship, belonging to miscellaneous denominations. Of
Roman Catholic churches, the chief is _St. George’s Cathedral_, near
Bethlehem Hospital—a very large, but heavy Gothic structure; the tower
has never been finished for want of funds. [Picture: The Tabernacle] The
service here is more complete than at any other Roman Catholic structure
in England. _St. Mary’s_, near Moorfields; the _Spanish Chapel_, near
Manchester Square; and the _Italian Church_, in Hatton Wall—are three
other Roman Catholic chapels that attract many strangers by their
excellent music. The _Catholic and Apostolic Church_, in Gordon Square,
may be regarded as the cathedral of the so-called Irvingites (a
designation, however, which they repudiate); it is one of the best modern
examples of early English, but there are no funds available for finishing
the tower. The minister of the National Scotch Church, in Crown Court,
Drury Lane, is the celebrated Rev. J. Cumming, D.D., whose preaching
attracts large congregations. Of the dissenting chapels in London, by
far the most remarkable is Mr. Spurgeon’s _Tabernacle_, built at a cost
of about £30,000, at Newington, near the Elephant and Castle; everything,
within and without, has been made subservient to the accommodating of
4000 or 5000 persons, all of whom can hear, and nearly all see, the
celebrated preacher. The principal _Jews’ Synagogue_ is in Great St.
Helen’s, near Leadenhall Street—remarkable rather for the ceremonies, at
certain seasons of the year, than for anything in the building itself. A
synagogue exists for the Jews residing in the western half of the
metropolis, in Great Portland Street.
Cemeteries.—Intramural burial is now forbidden in London. The chief
cemeteries are those at Highgate, Finchley, Abney Park, Mile-End, Kensal
Green, Bethnal Green, Ilford, Brompton, Norwood, Nunhead, and Camberwell.
There is a very fine view of London, on a clear day, from the
first-named. Kensal Green contains the graves of many distinguished
persons. Princess Sophia was buried at the last-named cemetery; and a
sedulous visitor would discover the tombs and graves of Sydney Smith, the
daughters and a grandchild of Sir Walter Scott, Allan Cunningham, John
Murray, Thomas Hood, Liston, Loudon, Callcott, Birkbeck, Brunel,
Thackeray, and other persons of note. Cardinal Wiseman lies interred in
the Catholic Cemetery adjacent to Kensal Green. The _Great Northern
Cemetery_, near Colney Hatch, lately opened, has special railway
facilities from the King’s Cross Station. The _Woking Necropolis_, in
Surrey, is too far distant to be included within London; nevertheless,
the admirable railway arrangements, from a station of the South-Western,
in the Westminster Road, make it, in effect, one of the metropolitan
cemeteries. If the old burial-grounds are no longer attended to for
funerals, many of them are deeply interesting for their memorials of the
past. _Old St. Pancras Churchyard_ has already been named; and another
worthy of attention is _Bunhill Fields_ burying-ground. It has been
called the ‘Campo Santo’ of Dissenters, for there lie the remains of
Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan, John Owen, George Fox, (who founded the sect
of the Quakers about 1646,) Dr. Isaac Watts, and many a stout defender of
nonconformity.
BRITISH AND SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUMS; SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENTS.