[Illustration: THE LOLLARDS' TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE.]
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of England, who crowns the
sovereigns, has his palace at Lambeth, on the south side of the Thames,
opposite Westminster, and its most noted portion is the Lollards' Tower.
The Lollards, named from their low tone of singing at interments, were a
numerous sect exerting great influence in the fourteenth century. The
Church persecuted them, and many suffered death, and their prison was
the Lollards' Tower, built in 1435, adjoining the archiepiscopal palace.
This prison is reached by a narrow stairway, and at the entrance is a
small doorway barely sufficient for one person to pass at a time. The
palace itself was built in the days of the Tudors, and the gatehouse of
red brick in 1499. The chapel is Early English, its oldest portion built
in the thirteenth century. All the Archbishops of Canterbury since that
time have been consecrated there. There is a great hall and library, and
the history of this famous religious palace is most interesting. At the
red brick gatehouse the dole is distributed by the archbishop, as from
time immemorial, to the indigent parishioners. Thirty poor widows on
three days of the week each get a loaf, meat, and two and a half pence,
while soup is also given them and to other poor persons. The archbishops
maintain this charity carefully, and their office is the head of the
Anglican Church.
[Illustration: ST. MARY-LE-BOW.]
[Illustration: ST. BRIDE'S, FLEET STREET.]
Bow Church, or St. Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside, is one of the best known
churches of London. It is surmounted by one of the most admired of
Wren's spires, which is two hundred and twenty-five feet high. There is
a dragon upon the spire nearly nine feet long. It is the sure criterion
of a London Cockney to have been born within sound of "Bow Bells." A
church stood here in very early times, said to have been built upon
arches, from which is derived the name of the Ecclesiastical Court of
Arches, the supreme court of the province of Canterbury, a tribunal
first held in Bow Church. Another of Wren's noted churches is St.
Bride's, on Fleet Street, remarkable for its beautiful steeple,
originally two hundred and thirty-four feet high. It has been much
damaged by lightning. The east window of St. Bride's is a copy on
stained glass of Rubens' painting of "The Descent from the Cross." This
church contains several famous tombs.