Horselydown is situate near the bank of the river Thames, about half a
mile eastward of London Bridge. "It is difficult," says Mr. Corner, the
South wark antiquary, "to imagine that a neighbourhood now so crowded
with wharves and warehouses, granaries and factories, mills, breweries,
and places of business of all kinds, and where the busy hum of men at
work, like bees in a hive, is incessant, can have been, not many
centuries since, a region of pleasant fields and meadows, pastures for
sheep and cattle; with gardens, houses, shady lanes, clear streams with
stately swans, and cool walks by the river-side. Yet such was the case,
and the way from London Bridge to Horselydown was occupied by the
mansions of men of mark and consequence, dignitaries of the Church, men
of military renown, and wealthy citizens."
Horselydown was part of the possessions of the Abbey of Bermondsey, and
was, probably, the common of the manor. After the surrender to Henry
VIII. it became the property of private individuals, and, in 1581, was
conveyed to the Governors of St. Olave's Grammar School, to whom it
still belongs; and it is one of the remarkable instances of the enormous
increase in the value of property in the metropolis, that this piece of
land, which was then let as pasturage for 6_l_. per annum, now produces
to the governors for the use of the school an annual income exceeding
3,000_l_. Hereon were erected the parish butts for the exercise of
archery, pursuant to the statute of 33 Henry VIII.
The Marquis of Salisbury possesses, at Hatfield, a very remarkable
picture, which has been supposed to have been painted by the celebrated
Holbein, but is really the work of George Hofnagle, a Flemish artist in
Queen Elizabeth's time, as is shown by the costume of the figures: it
bears the date of 1590, whereas Holbein died in 1554. The picture
represents a Fair or Festival, which, from the position of the Tower of
London in the background, appears to have been held at Horselydown. In
the catalogue of the pictures at Hatfield, in the _Beauties of England
and Wales_, the painting is said to represent King Henry VIII. and his
Queen, Anne Boleyn, at a country wake or fair, at some place in Surrey,
within sight of the Tower of London; but several circumstances, in
addition to its situation with respect to the river Thames and the Tower
of London, concur to show that the locality is Horselydown, or, as it
was then called, Horseydown or Horsedown. This is proved by a curious
picture-map, dated 1544. Its centre shows a large open space, now
occupied by the diverging Queen Elizabeth Free School, and _Fair_
Street. It is not known whether Southwark Fair was ever held on
Horselydown; but it is worthy of observation, that when the down came to
be built on, about the middle of the seventeenth century, the principal
street across it from east to west, and in the line of foreground
represented in the picture, was, and is to the present day, called
_Fair_ Street; and a street or lane of houses running from north to
south is called Three Oak Lane, traditionally from three oaks formerly
standing there. The tree-o'ershadowed hostelry, where the feast is being
prepared, may indicate the spot. In Evelyn's time, however (_Diary_,
13th Sept. 1666), the fair appears to have been held at St. Margaret's
Hill, in the Borough, for he calls it St. Margaret's Fair; and it
continued to be held between St. Margaret's Hill and St. George's
Church, until the fair was suppressed in 1762.
The portly figure in the centre foreground, with a red beard and a
Spanish hat, must have occasioned the idea of its being a representation
of King Henry VIII.; but the general costume of the figure is later
than his reign, and the date on the picture shows the period of the
scene to have been towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign.
The principal figures seem rather to represent some of the grave
burgesses and young gallants of Southwark, with their wives and
families, assembled on Horseydown on some festive occasion, on a bright
day in summer. The principal figure is evidently a man of worship, for
whom and his company a feast is preparing in the kitchen of the
hostelry; while the table is laid in the adjoining apartment, which is
decorated with boughs and gaily-coloured ribbons. The principal figure
may be one of the Flemish brewers, who settled in the parish in great
numbers; one of whom Vassal Webling, dwelt hard by Horseydown, having
become possessed of the house of Sir John Fastolfe, called Fastolfe
Place. Or, it may be Richard Hutton, armourer, and an alderman of
London, an inhabitant of St. Olave's. Whoever it is, he is accompanied
by a comely dame, probably his wife, and by two elderly women, and
followed by a boy and girl with a greyhound, a servant carrying an
infant, and a serving-man with sword and buckler. Near them is a yeoman
of her Majesty's guard, with the Queen's arms on his breast. The
citizen, in his long furred gown, accompanied by a smartly-dressed
female, crossing behind the principal party, is worthy of notice. The
gay trio behind them are also remarkable objects in the picture.
The minister accompanying a lady, is probably Thomas Marten, M.A.,
parson of the parish. The hawking party behind shows that the
neighbourhood of Southwark was at that period sufficiently open for the
enjoyment of the sport. The flag-staff, or May-pole, in the left
background, is also noticeable, as well as the unfinished vessel at the
river side, and the unfortunate transgressor in the stocks.
Two young women and two serving-men are bearing large brass dishes for
the coming feast; while in the right foreground a party of five are
dancing to the minstrelsy of three musicians seated under a tree. A
party are approaching from the right, headed by another minister, who
may be the celebrated Robert Browne, a Puritan minister, and founder of
the sect of Brownists, who was schoolmaster of St. Olave's Grammar
School, from 1586 till 1591. He was connected by family ties with Lord
Burghley, which circumstance may account for this picture being
preserved at Hatfield, which was built by Robert Cecil, Earl of
Salisbury, second son of Lord Burghley.
Behind the musicians are two figures which deserve some attention. It
has been suggested that the appearance of the foremost is much that of
the portraits of Shakspeare, and the head behind him is not unlike that
of Ben Jonson. Nor would there be any improbability in the idea of
Shakspeare and Jonson being present at such a fête, as Shakspeare lived
in St. Saviour's, and is very likely to have been invited to a festival
in the adjoining parish; but the date of the picture is somewhat too
early to be consistent with that notion.
The church-like building with a tower, at the right of the picture, may
be "The Hermitage," marked on the plan: it was no uncommon thing for
hermitages to have chapels attached to them, as at Highgate, where the
hermit was authorized by a royal grant of Edward III. to take toll for
repairing the road. The hermitage at Highgate, which had a tower,
became a chapel for the devotions of the inhabitants.
Hermitages were generally founded by an individual upon the ground of
some religious house, who, after the death of the first hermit, collated
a successor; and as those persons devoted themselves to some act of
charity, it does not appear so extraordinary that we find hermits living
upon bridges, and by the sides of roads, and being toll-gatherers, as
numerous records indubitably prove. (Tomlin's _Yseldon_.)
The Hermit of Horselydown, or Dock-head, perhaps, received a toll for
keeping in repair the road across the Bermondsey Marshes from Southwark
towards Rotherhithe and Deptford.[60]