all of one pattern, formed of detached or semi-detached villas standing
a little back from the road, with small trees growing before them.
The three churches in this part--namely, St. Paul's, Avenue Road; All
Souls, Loudoun Road; and St. Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill Road--all
date from the last thirty or forty years, and are in the same style,
built of brick, and requiring no special notice.
Primrose Hill rises to the height of 216 feet in a conical shape, and
commands a magnificent view. The earliest name was Barrow Hill, and the
name Primrose Hill was first used in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; it
originated, it is said, from the quantity of primroses which grew here.
Professor Hales, in an address to the Hampstead Antiquarian and
Historical Society, quoted from the "Roxburgh Ballads," printed about
1620:
"When Philomel begins to sing,
The grass grows green and flowers spring,
Methinks it is a pleasant thing
To walk on Primrose Hill."
It was in a ditch on Primrose Hill that the body of Sir Edmondbury
Godfrey, who was mysteriously murdered, was found in 1678. Soon after
Queen Victoria's accession the hill was obtained by the Crown as a
public space for the people for ever, the provost and fellows of Eton
surrendering their rights in consideration of an exchange of land.
The derivation of the odd name of Chalk Farm was not from any chalk
found in the vicinity, but is a corruption of Chalcots, a country house
or farm which stood on the south side of England's Lane. Contemporary
prints show us a large white house with balconies and pleasure-grounds,
for the house was at one time one of the minor tea-gardens in which the
North of London seemed particularly rich.
Chalk Farm was a favourite spot for duels in the earlier half of the
nineteenth century. The Adelaide Tavern dates from 1839, and facing the
spot there was previously a toll-house with turnpike gate.
We have now traversed the length and breadth of Hampstead, finding there
much that is picturesque, some few things ancient and many modern; and
above all we have experienced some of the charm and freshness of this
favoured spot. It is not difficult to see why Hampstead has been so
frequently selected as a home by artists--and not by artists alone, but
by literary men of all classes. Its natural advantages and its many
associations have exercised, and continue to exercise, a fascination
which draws men potently, in spite of some drawbacks, not the least of
which is its inaccessibility.
MARYLEBONE
The derivation of this name is simple. Lysons says: "The name of this
place was anciently called Tiburn, from its situation near a small bourn
or rivulet formerly called Aye-brook or Eye-brook, and now Tybourn
Brook. When the site of the church was altered to another spot, near the
same brook, it became St. Mary at the Bourne, now corrupted to St. Mary
le bone or Marybone." There is a possibility that the "bourne" did not
indicate the brook, but the boundary of the parish, in which case
Marybone would still be a corruption of St. Mary at the Bourne.
The borough of Marylebone is unique in many respects. It contains many
well-known and magnificent houses, such as Montagu House, Portman
Square; Hertford House, Manchester Square, where is Sir Richard
Wallace's collection of pictures and curiosities; Portland House,
Cavendish Square; and others. More than two-thirds of Regent's Park are
within its boundaries, including nearly all the Zoological Gardens. In
some parts of the borough the street lists furnish many titled and
famous names; in others are the poorest and most squalid districts,
rivalling in misery those of the East End.
Many foreign embassies are located within the parish boundaries. But the
most striking characteristic is the great number of hospitals. There are
hospitals for special diseases everywhere, besides large institutions
which have acquired more than Metropolitan fame.
The ancient Tyburn stream ran right through this district. It rose not
far from Swiss Cottage, and ran for a few hundred yards through Regent's
Park, across the road at Sussex Place, between Gloucester Place and
Baker Street, across the Marylebone Road, then, turning westward under
Madame Tussaud's, by South Street to the foot of High Street, passing
along close to Mandeville Place, it crossed Wigmore Street and so
reached Oxford Street.
The manor of Tyburn is mentioned in Domesday Book among the possessions
of the Abbess and Convent of Barking. Early in the thirteenth century it
was held by Robert de Vere, whose daughter married William de Insula,
Earl of Warren and Surrey, from whom the manor passed to their heirs,
the Fitzalans, Earls of Arundel. The Berkeleys, Nevilles and Howards
divided three-quarters of it later, and one quarter went to Henry V. as
heir of the Earls of Derby.
About the end of the fifteenth century Thomas Hobson bought up the
greater part of the manor, and in 1544 his son Thomas exchanged it with
Henry VIII. in consideration of lands elsewhere.
The manor remained with the Crown until James I. sold it to one Edward
Forset, who had previously held it at a fixed rental under Elizabeth.
James reserved to the Crown the tract of land then known as Marylebone,
now Regent's, Park. Sir John Austen, Forset's grandson, sold the estate
to John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, for L17,500. The Duke of Newcastle's
only child, Henrietta, married Edward Harley, who succeeded his father
as Earl of Oxford and Mortimer. He carried on his father's collection of
books and MSS., and formed what was afterwards known as the Harleian
Collection, which was bought by the trustees of the British Museum for
L10,000. Henrietta's only daughter, Margaret, married William Bentinck,
second Earl of Portland, and thus the estates passed to the Portland
family.
In the west was another manor, that of Lyllestone, a name still
preserved in the corruption, "Lisson" Grove. This manor is mentioned in
Domesday Book among the lands in the hundred of Ossulston. In 1338 it
was in the hands of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Sir William
de Clyf held it from the knights. In 1512 the then Lord Prior granted a
parcel of land out of the manor to John and Johan Blennerhasset on a
fifty years' lease. On their decease Chief Justice Portman acquired
their interest, afterwards obtaining the land in fee simple, and thus
creating the Portman estate. This estate comprised 270 acres. The
remainder of Lyllestone Manor included several estates of importance.
The St. John's Wood estate was granted by Charles II. to Lord Wotton in
discharge of a debt. In 1732 it was bought by Samuel Eyre, after whom it
was known as the Eyre Estate.
Another estate lying along the Edgware Road was bequeathed to Harrow
School by John Lyon. A third was known as City Conduit Estate. The
borough at present embraces the Eyre estate at St. John's Wood, the
Baker estate, comprising the poor district to the west of Lisson Grove,
the Portman estate, the Portland estate, and other land, including the
park held by the Crown.
Beginning our ramble at St. John's Wood Station in the heart of the
borough, we find ourselves near the well-known Lord's Cricket Ground.
Thomas Lord first made a cricket-ground in what is now Dorset Square,
and in 1814 it was succeeded by the present one, which is the
headquarters of the Marylebone Cricket Club, the club that gives laws to
the cricketing world. Among the most popular matches which take place
here are the annual contests between Oxford and Cambridge, Eton and
Harrow, when the resources of space are taxed to the utmost. Besides
these, during the season, the M.C.C. matches, the Middlesex Club
matches, and Gentlemen _v._ Players are played here. Lord's has been
increased many times since its inauguration; most recently by a piece of
ground, about two acres, which was formerly part of the site of the
Clergy Orphanage. This was presented by the Great Central Railway
Company in return for the privilege of being permitted to tunnel a
corner of the cricket ground.
The extension of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway,
now known as the Great Central Railway, has completely altered the face
of Marylebone. The demolition caused by it extends up the west side of
the Wellington and Finchley Roads; but it is further south that the
greatest changes have taken place. St. John's Wood Road is itself
untouched, the line passing under it.
The part of the parish lying to the west and north contains nothing of
any exceptional interest. There are wide roads and well-built terraces,
and an air of prosperity that speaks well for the neighbourhood. A Home
for Incurable Children, founded in 1873, is near the Maida Vale end of
St. John's Wood Road, and in Hamilton Terrace is St. Mark's Church, in
modern Gothic style; a Presbyterian church and several chapels are also
to be found in this neighbourhood.
Returning to the point from whence we set out, we find St. John's Wood
Chapel, which is in the classical style, designed by Hardwicke in 1814.
The chapel stands well at the junction of four important roads; its
Ionic portico is dignified and suitable to the position. The body of the
chapel is covered with ivy, and the windows look down on a large
burial-ground, now open as a public garden, which is peculiarly bright
and well kept. In it are many fine trees, chiefly willows, which
overhang the seats placed for public comfort. The gravestones, which are
many, have not been removed, and with few exceptions are of the regular
round-topped pattern. In the vault beneath the chapel lies the wife of
Benjamin West, P.R.A. In 1833 there had been about 40,000 persons buried
in this ground, and it is probable this number was greatly exceeded
before the burials ceased. Joanna Southcott was buried here in 1814.
Further north in the Finchley Road All Saints' Church stands up
conspicuously. This is a fine church in the Perpendicular style, built
in 1846. The chancel was added in 1866, and the tower and spire in 1889.
It is really the church of the Eyre estate, and was largely built by the
Eyre family. There is in it a beautiful marble font of uncommon
pattern, and a pulpit to match.
This part of Marylebone, to the north of Regent's Park, has a High
Street of its own--a wide street with comparatively low buildings. The
vista, on looking back from the top to the trees of the burial-ground
and Regent's Park, is not unattractive. The shops which line either side
of the road, though small, are clean and bright. St. John's Wood Terrace
is a very wide thoroughfare. In it stands St. John's Wood Church,
chiefly distinguished by a very heavy portico. The church is at present
used by the Congregationalists, and was formerly known as Connaught
Chapel. Just beyond the chapel we come to the St. Marylebone Almshouses.
They are built round three sides of a square, and enclose a quadrangle
of green grass. The blue slate roofs and drab stuccoed walls form a
gentle contrast. The central house, occupied by the superintendent, is
fronted by a clock over the Royal Arms.
By the will of Simon, Count Woronzow, dated September 19, 1827, the sum
of L500 was left for the poor of the parish of Marylebone, and this sum
was given by the Vestry, under certain conditions, to the committee for
the proposed erection of almshouses in 1836, to be by them applied to
building purposes. Various charitable subscriptions and donations have
been added from time to time, until at present the almshouses afford an
asylum to about fifty-two single women and eight married couples. The
recipients must be of good character, and must have paid rates in the
parish of Marylebone for at least ten years, and never received
parochial relief. They must be over the age of sixty years. They must
have a small weekly sum of their own or guaranteed by a friend. They
receive shelter and free firing; the single inmates receive in addition
7s. a week, and the married couples 10s. 6d. The corner houses, in which
the rooms are larger, are occupied by the married couples. The central
building contains the board-room, lined by the names of generous donors.
On the staircase is a bust of Count Woronzow, whose name is also
commemorated in the road which runs on the east side of the houses.
The parish extends to within about fifty yards of the summit of Primrose
Hill on the south side. At this spot three stones, erect, standing
together, mark the point where the three boroughs of Hampstead, St.
Pancras, and Marylebone meet. Not far below is a covered reservoir. This
spot was formerly known as Barrow Hill, a name supposed to be derived
from burials which anciently took place here. St. Stephen the Martyr's
Church stands just within the parish boundaries of Marylebone. It is a
pretty little Gothic church with a square battlemented tower and
triple-gabled east end. It was built in 1849, and restored thirty years
ago. The interior of the church is not equal to the exterior. All the
roads lying to the north-west are in uniform style, with comfortable
modern villa houses.
When the Manor of Tyburn was let to Edward Forset, King James reserved
Marylebone Park for the Crown, and it remained in the same keeping until
1646. In that year King Charles I. granted it to two faithful adherents,
Sir G. Strode and J. Wandesford, in payment for arms and ammunition
which they had supplied to him. In the time of the Commonwealth the park
was seized and was sold on behalf of the opposite cause, the proceeds
being devoted to the payment of one of Cromwell's regiments of dragoons.
At the Restoration it was restored to its former holders, who retained
it until the debt due to them was discharged. The park was then let to
various leaseholders, the last of whom was the Duke of Portland, whose
lease ended in 1811, when the land reverted to the Crown.
The ground was laid out by Nash in 1812, and was named Regent's Park in
honour of the then Regent (George IV.), for whom it was proposed to
build a palace in the centre of the park, in the spot now occupied by
the Botanical Gardens.
Regent Street was designed to form a continuous line between the Palace
and Carlton House, near St. James's Park. Nash built all the terraces in
the park except Cornwall Terrace, which was the work of Decimus Burton.
By a clause in the lease the lessees of the houses in these terraces
have to repaint the exteriors in August every fourth year. The broad
walk and adjacent flower-beds were laid out and opened to the public in
1838.
The park is about 400 acres in extent. The ornamental water is in shape
something like the three legs on a Manx halfpenny. A terrible accident
happened here in 1867, when the ice gave way and forty skaters lost
their lives; since then the pond has been reduced to a uniform depth of
4 feet. The water for this is supplied by the ancient Tyburn Brook.
South Villa was built about 1836, and an observatory was erected here by
Mr. Bishop; this was frequently used by Dawes and Hinde, who here
discovered many asteroids and variable stars.
St. Dunstan's Villa was formerly occupied by the Marquis of Hertford,
and is of considerable size. It is in the Italian style, and was
designed by Decimus Burton, whose name is almost as closely associated
with the park as Nash's own. The name of St. Dunstan's arose from the
two gigantic wooden figures of Gog and Magog, which the Marquis brought
from St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, where they had been since 1671.
A panorama was formerly exhibited in Regent's Park, in a great building
called the Colosseum. This was opened in 1829, and attracted crowds of
people. It stood on the east side of Regent's Park near Park Square.
Regent's Park Baptist College is established in an old house known as
Holford House, from its first owner Mr. Holford.
The building is of great size and stuccoed; within, the central hall,
used for prayers, has an ornamental gallery. The domed skylight is of
coloured glass, and a huge bronze statue of Bunyan, by Sir E. Boehm,
stands on the south side.
The former ballroom, now used for lectures, debates, etc., is a
magnificent room, with richly mounted ceiling and walls decorated with
plaster work painted to resemble wood. The dining-room is also of great
size. The students' studies are at the east and west ends of the
building, and the common rooms in the centre. The extreme west wing is
let privately, as the whole house is too large for the college
requirements.
Regent's Canal was begun in 1812, and was opened August 1, 1820, with a
procession of boats, barges, etc. It is in total length 8 miles 6
furlongs, and descends about 84 feet from the beginning to the end.
In Regent's Park there are various enclosed gardens and grounds--namely,
the Zoological Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, and the grounds of the
Toxophilite Society. The first of these is too well known to need much
description. The Zoological Society originated in 1826, and was
incorporated three years later. Sir Humphrey Davy and Sir Stamford
Raffles are the two names most closely connected with its foundation.
The Gardens were opened in 1828, and contain the finest collection of
animals in the world. They are open to the public on payment of 1s.
daily and 6d. on Mondays. On Sundays admittance is obtained only by an
order from a Fellow.
The Botanical Gardens belong to the Botanical Society, incorporated in
1839 by a Royal Charter. The Gardens fill nearly the whole of what is
known as the inner circle in Regent's Park, a space of ground comprising
nearly 20 acres in extent, held on a lease from the Crown. These gardens
are tastefully laid out, and include a hot-house (covering about 20,000
feet of ground), winter garden, conservatory, special tropical houses,
museum and lecture-room, tennis court, and an ornamental piece of water.
Entrance is obtained by an order from a Fellow. Exhibitions of plants,
flowers, and fruit take place during the spring and summer. The Duke of
Teck is the President.
The Toxophilite Society was founded by Sir Assheton Lever in 1781. He
had previously formed a museum of curiosities in Leicester Square on the
site of the present Empire Music Hall. It was in the grounds of this
house that targets were first shot by the Society. When the museum was
sold in 1784 the ground was no longer available. It was in this year
that an Archers division of the Honourable Artillery Company was formed.
In 1791 an archery ground was rented on the east side of Gower Street,
on part of which site Torrington Square now stands. In 1805 this ground
was required for building purposes. From this date to 1810 there are no
authentic records of the Society, and from then until 1821 the records
are intermittent. It is probable the Society shot at Highbury. In 1821
Mr. Lord allowed the members to shoot on his cricket ground on payment
of three guineas a day. Mr. Waring, who had been Sir Assheton's
coadjutor in founding the Society, owned ground in Bayswater to the east
of Westbourne Street. He had previously offered this site to the
Society, and his offer was eventually accepted. In 1833 the present
ground in Regent's Park was obtained. This is about 6 acres in extent
and well laid out. It includes a hall with accommodation for members.
The shooting season is divided into two parts: one from the first
Thursday in April to the last Thursday in July, and the other from the
last Thursday in September to the first Thursday in November. Ladies'
days are a feature of the club, and every Thursday between the
above-mentioned dates has some fixture or competition. The only rival to
the Royal Toxophilite Society is the Grand National Archery Society.
The part of the borough lying to the west of the park has been immensely
altered by the new railway. In fact, the greater part of the buildings
have been demolished, and the amount of compensation paid to
dispossessed owners and leaseholders is said to be unprecedented.
In Blandford Square there is a convent which has survived the general
wreck. It was first established near Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, in
1844, and was opened on its present site in 1851.
The House of Mercy is for servants out of work, who do laundry and other
work, and so contribute to their own support. There are thirty Sisters,
who, besides attending to the home, do much charitable work in teaching
and the visitation of the sick.
Dorset Square was built on the site of the original Lord's Cricket
Ground. It was made by one Thomas Lord at the end of the eighteenth
century, and, as stated above, in 1814 the present ground was
substituted, so Dorset Square can claim only a small connection with
the famous game. The streets leading northward from Dorset Square are of
little interest. In Hill Street is a small Baptist place of worship. In
Park Street is St. Cyprian's little church, opened in 1866.
The last house on the east side of Upper Baker Street bears one of the
Society of Arts memorial tablets to the memory of Mrs. Siddons, who
lived here intermittently for many years. She used to give readings from
Shakespeare to her friends in this house, and here in 1831 she died. The
house is now called "Siddons House Private Hotel."
In the Marylebone Road, close to the underground station, stands Madame
Tussaud's famous waxwork exhibition, the delight of children and
visitors from the country. The waxworks were begun in Paris in 1780, and
brought to London in 1802 to the place where the Lyceum Theatre now
stands, and afterwards were removed to Hanover Square rooms.
On the west side of Park Road are the terraces abutting on Regent's
Park. Some of these terraces show fine design, though in the solid,
cumbrous style of the Georgian period. Hanover Terrace was designed by
Nash, and also Sussex Place, which was named after the Duke of Sussex.
The latter is laid out in a semicircle, and is crowned by cupolas and
minarets. The houses are very large, and, in spite of fashion having
deserted the district, can still show a goodly list of inhabitants.
The district lying to the west of Sussex Grove and Grove Road is the
poorest and most miserable in the borough. In Grove Road is a Home for
Female Orphans, a large gabled building. The girls are received here at
six years of age, and pass on to service when about sixteen. The little
village of Lisson Green stood out in the country not far from the great
Roman Road, the present Edgware Road (see p. 58), and it formed the
nucleus round which houses and streets sprang up. From the Marylebone
Road to St. John's Wood Road the streets are poor and squalid, abounding
in low courts and alleys. Several great Board Schools in the
neighbourhood of Great James Street rise up prominently, and round about
them neat lines of workmen's houses are gradually replacing the wretched
tenements. The district is still miserable, but it has bettered its
notoriously bad reputation of ten or twenty years ago.
St. Barnabas Church, near Bell Street, was built by Blomfield, and is in
a kind of French Gothic. Christ Church, in Stafford Street, not far off,
is surmounted by a cupola, and built in the classical style. It was the
work of P. Hardwick in 1825.
Earl Street is a long, dreary, but fairly respectable thoroughfare. The
Marylebone Theatre or Music Hall is in Church Street. This was opened
in 1842 as a penny theatre, and enlarged in 1854. In Church Street there
is also a Baptist chapel.
Salisbury and Carlisle Streets are indescribably dingy. In the latter is
St. Matthew's Church, which has the (perhaps) unique distinction of
having been built for a theatre. It was consecrated in 1853, and
restored forty years later. Close by the church, between the two streets
mentioned above, is the Portman Market. This was opened as a hay-market
in 1830, and the year following was dedicated to general uses. The
market is still held on Friday every week. Smith speaks of it as bidding
"fair to become a formidable rival to Covent Garden," a prophecy which
has not been fulfilled. There is another Board School of great size
between two miserable little streets on the east, and another a little
further north between Grove Road and Capland Street.