Close by Saffron Hill, and Fleet Lane, is Hatton Garden, or Ely Place,
formerly the seats of the Bishops of Ely; which Shakespeare has made so
familiar to us in _Richard III._ act iii. sc. 4. "My Lord of Ely, when
I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there; I
do beseech you, send for some of them."[66] In Queen Elizabeth's time
an arrangement was effected so that her favourite Chancellor Hatton,
who "led the brawls, the Seal and Maces danc'd before him,"[67] should
have this little estate, the gardens of which sloped down to the Fleet
River. Hence the Bishop of Ely's place assumed the name of Hatton
Garden.
There is a legend--and I give it as such--that this Sir Christopher
Hatton married a beautiful gipsy girl, who bewitched him; and the price
she had to pay, according to her compact with the Evil One, was her
soul, and body, after a given time. When that arrived, the Devil duly
came for her, and seizing her, bore her aloft, and, whilst in the air,
he rent her in pieces, and threw her still palpitating heart to earth.
Where it fell was, for years, known as _Bleeding Heart Yard_; but now,
the authorities, whoever they may be, have altered it to _Bleeding
Hart_, which, in all probability was the cognizance of the family who
resided there.
This Ely Place had very extensive premises, consisting of numerous
buildings, a Hall, Quadrangle, Cloisters, Chapel, a field, the historic
garden, _cum multis aliis_; and they occupied a large space. Only
the Chapel now remains, and that has had a curious career. At one
time marriages were celebrated there, as at the Fleet, presumably
that it was not under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, but
this fiction was overruled in the case of _Barton_ v. _Wells_ in the
Consistory Court, Nov. 17, 1789, when Sir Wm. Scott (afterwards Lord
Stowell) decided that Ely Chapel was under the authority of the Bishop
of London, and that Curates thereto must be licensed by him.
The Bishops came to London in former times, as now, and their
residences, in several cases were known as _Places_, or _Palaces_.
Thus, there was Winchester Place, in Southwark, now the headquarters of
the Fire Brigade--formerly the palace of the Bishops of Winchester, a
city which was once the metropolis of England, where Parliaments were
held, and whose Bishops to this day are titular Prelates of the Garter.
The Bishop of Bangor, who, although his see claims to be as old as any,
has not the richest bishopric, had a palace in Shoe Lane, Holborn, and
the Bishop of Lincoln also lived in Holborn.
The first mention of the connection of the Bishops of Ely, is in the
will of John de Kirkeby (who was appointed Bishop in 1286), and whose
will was proved in 1290, or 18 Edward I., and in the Close Roll of that
year, is the following (in Latin, of course):
"_For the Executors of the Will of the Bishop of Ely._
"Whereas the King hath understood that John, late Bishop of Ely,
deceased, of pious memory, hath in his last will bequeathed his
houses which he had in the parish of St. Andrew near Holeburn,
in the suburbs, and within the liberty of the city of London,
to God, and the Church of St. Etheldreda[68] of Ely, and his
successors, bishops of the same place, so that they should pay
the debts which the same deceased owed for those houses to
Gregory de Rokesle, the King's Citizen, of London; Ralph de
Sandwich, warden of the said City, is commanded, that, without
delay, he deliver the aforesaid houses, with appurtenances,
which are in the King's hand and custody, by reason of the death
of the aforesaid bishop, thereof to make execution of the said
will.
"Witness the King at Westminster on the 18th day of July."
The next bishop--William de Luda (who must have been a person of some
distinction, for he had previously held the Deanery of St. Martin's
le Grand, and the Archdeaconry of Durham, besides being Chamberlain,
Treasurer, and Keeper of the Wardrobe to the King) bequeathed more
property to the See, and in all likelihood, built the Chapel of St.
Etheldreda, which, however, was most probably considerably modified
by a later Bishop, Thomas de Arundel, who held the See from 1374 to
1388--as the windows, mouldings, &c., now existing show, being about
as good an example, as possible, of _Decorated_, or _Second Pointed_
architecture.
"Old _Iohn of Gaunt_, time-honoured Lancaster" lived at Ely Place for
a time--in all likelihood after his palace in the Savoy, had been
destroyed by rioters. This fact is noted by Shakespeare in "The life
and death of King Richard the Second," act i. sc. 4:
"_Busby._ Old Iohn of Gaunt is verie sick, my Lord,
Sodainly taken, and hath sent post haste
To entreat your Majesty to visit him.
_Richard._ Where lyes he?
_Busby._ At Ely house."
Hollinshed, also, under date 1399, says: "In the meane time, the Duke
of Lancaster departed out of this life at the Bishop of Elie's place,
in Holborne, and lieth buried in the Cathedrall Church of St. Paule, in
London, on the north side of the high altar, by the Ladie Blanche, his
first wife."
The premises were of very great extent, as appears by plans taken
before its almost total demolition in 1772. Under the Chapel was a
cellar, or under croft--divided into two--and this seems to have
caused some inconvenience in the seventeenth century, for Malcolm, in
his "Londinium Redivivum" (vol. ii. p. 236) says: "One half of the
crypt under the chapel, which had been used for interments, was then
frequented as a drinking-place, where liquor was retailed; and the
intoxication of the people assembled, often interrupted the offices of
religion above them." And this statement seems to be borne out by a
reference to Harl. MSS. 3789, _et seq._, where it says: "Even half of
the vault or burying place under the Chapel is made use of as a public
cellar (or was so very lately) to sell drink in, there having been
frequently revellings heard there during Divine Service."
More curious things than this happened to Ely Place, for the Journals
of the House of Commons inform us how, on January 3, 1642-3, "The
palace was this day ordered to be converted into a prison, and John
Hunt, Sergeant-at-arms, appointed keeper during the pleasure of
the House." He was, at the same time, commanded to take care that
the gardens, trees, chapel, and its windows, received no injury. A
sufficient sum for repairs was granted from the revenues of the see.
Again, on March 1, 1660: "Ordered that it be referred to a Committee
to consider how, and in what manner, the said widows, orphans, and
maim'd soldiers, at Ely House, may be provided for, and paid, for the
future, with the least prejudice, and most ease to the nation; and
how a weekly revenue may be settled for their maintenance; and how the
maimed soldiers may be disposed of, so as the nation may be eased of
the charge, and how they may be provided of a preaching minister."
There were always squabbles about this property, and it nearly fell
into ruin; but in 1772 an Act of Parliament was passed (Geo. III., an.
12, cap. 43) entitled "An Act for vesting _Ely House_, in _Holbourn_,
in His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, and for applying the Purchase
Money, with another Sum therein mentioned, in the purchasing of a
Freehold Piece of Ground in _Dover Street_, and in the building, and
fitting up another House thereon, for the future Residence of the
Bishops of _Ely_, and the Surplus to the Benefit of the See; and for
other Purposes therein mentioned." And the town residence of the Bishop
of Ely is now 37, Dover Street, Piccadilly. This little bargain was the
sale to the Crown of Ely Place for £6,500, and a perpetual annuity of
£200 to the Bishop of Ely and his successors.
The site and materials were purchased by a Mr. Charles Cole, an
architect and builder, and he built Ely Place, Holborn. The chapel was
let, and, eventually, to the Welsh Episcopalians of London. But the
property got into Chancery, and the estate was ordered to be sold; and
it was sold on January 28, 1874, and the chapel alone fetched £5,250.
As there was no stipulation as to its purchase by any particular
religious body, it was bought by the Roman Catholics, and is now St.
Etheldreda's Church, Convent, and schools.
[Illustration: ELY HOUSE, 1784.]
_Apropos_ of Ely House, when Bishop Coxe demurred at surrendering the
property of his see to Hatton, Queen Elizabeth wrote him that famous
letter, beginning "Proud Prelate," and telling him that, if he did not
do as he was told, she, who had made him what he was, could unmake him,
and if he did not immediately comply, she would unfrock him--signing
this very characteristic and peremptory epistle, "Yours, as you demean
yourself, ELIZABETH."
On the other or east side of the Fleet was a tributary brook called
Turnmill brook--a name now surviving in Turnmill Street--which, even in
this century, drove flour and flatting mills, and we have indisputable
evidence of its industrial powers, in an advertisement in the _Daily
Courant_ September 17, 1714, which calls attention to a house in
Bowling (Green) Alley,[69] Turnmill Street, which had the power of
utilizing "a common sewer with a good stream, and a good current,
for purposes of a Mill;" and it was on Turnmill Brook that Cave, the
publisher, in 1740, went into an unprofitable partnership with one
Lewis Paul, of Birmingham, to work a mill for the utilization of a
patent taken out by Paul for a "Machine to spin wool or cotton into
thread, yarn, or worsted." This experiment, however, was not a success.
[Illustration]
The Fleet flowing to its bourne,[70] the Thames, was bridged over at
Holborn. Stow says: "Oldbourne bridge, over the said river of Wels more
towards the north, was so called, of a bourn that sometimes ran
down Oldbourne hill into the said river. This bridge of stone, like as
Fleet bridge from Ludgate West, serveth for passengers with Carriage,
or otherwise, from Newgate toward the west and by north." This was
written in 1598.
[Illustration]
After the great fire of 1666 the Fleet was widened, and canalized,
from the Thames, to Holborn Bridge; thence, to its source, it took
its natural course, and, although there were then three bridges over
it, from Holborn to Newgate Street, set close, side by side, yet
it was considered too narrow for the traffic, as we see in an Act
of Parliament passed in 1670 (22 Car. II., cap. 11), entitled "An
additional Act for the Rebuilding of the City of _London_, Uniting
of Parishes, and Rebuilding of the Cathedral and Parochial Churches
within the said City." Section 7 says: "And, whereas the Way or Passage
of _Holborn-Bridge_ is now too strait, or incommodious for the many
Carriages and Passengers daily using and frequenting the same, and is
therefore necessary to be enlarged; Be it therefore likewise enacted,
That it shall and may be lawful for the said Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commons, so to enlarge and make wider the same, as that the said Way
and Passage may run in a Bevil Line from a certain Timber house on the
North side thereof, commonly called or known by the Name or Sign of the
_Cock_, into the Front of the Buildings of a certain Inn called the
_Swan_ Inn, situate on the North side of _Holborn Hill_, as aforesaid."
Sir Christopher Wren built this bridge, which was meant to be the
ornamental end of "The New Canal," as it is described in the map of
Farringdon Ward in Stow's "Survey" (ed. 1720). It must have taken some
time to complete, for it was not finished until the Mayoralty of Sir
William Hooker, whose name appeared carved upon it (although somewhat
mutilated) when it was uncovered in March, 1840. Sir William Tite,
C.B., M.P., F.S.A., &c., Architect to the City of London, writing at
that date, says: "The Sewer at Holborn Hill was opened, and as I was
passing, I saw the southern face of the Bridge which crossed the Fleet
at this place uncovered to some extent. It was built of red brick, and
the arch was about twenty feet span. The road from the east intersected
the bridge obliquely, which irregularity was obviated from a moulded
and well-executed stone corbel arising out of the angle thus formed,
which carried the parapet. On the plinth course of the parapet was
cut the inscription following, recording the fact of the erection of
the bridge, with the name of the Lord Mayor at the period:--"William
Hooke(r). (A)nno D. 1674."
Sir William Tite says it was a red brick bridge; Hatton, in his "New
View of London" (1708), says it was of stone; but then, probably, he
never really saw it, and Tite did. Hatton's description is: "_Holbourn
Bridge_ is built of Stone, it leads from _Holbourn_ to _Snow Hill_,
over the N. end of the _Fleet Brook_, where a little rivulet called
_Wells_, falls by _Hockley Hole_, running a little E'd of _Saffron
Hill_, crossing near the W. end of _Chick Lane_, and so into this
Brook."
The canalization of the Fleet after 1666 was a useful work, as it
enabled barges to go up to Holborn Bridge; and that it was availed of,
we can judge by the frontispiece, which was painted in the middle of
the eighteenth century; but it was not much used, if we can trust Ned
Ward, whose sharp eyes looked everywhere, and whose pen recorded his
scrutiny[71]: "From thence we took a turn down by the Ditch side, I
desiring my Friend to inform me what great Advantages this costly Brook
contributed to the Town, to Countervail the Expence of Seventy four
Thousand Pounds, which I read in a very Credible Author, was the Charge
of its making: He told me he was wholly unacquainted with any, unless
it was now and then to bring up a few Chaldron of Coles to two or three
Pedling _Fewel-Marchants_, who sell them never the Cheaper to the Poor
for such a Conveniency: and, as for those Cellars you see on each side
design'd for Ware-Houses, they are render'd by their dampness so unfit
for that purpose that they are wholly useless, except... or to harbour
Frogs, Toads, and other Vermin. The greatest good that ever I heard it
did was to the Undertaker, who is bound to acknowledge he has found
better Fishing in that muddy Stream, than ever he did in clear Water."
[Illustration: END OF HOLBORN BRIDGE, TAKEN FROM THE SOUTH, AND PART OF
HOLBORN HILL. JUNE 2, 1840. (_Art. Crosby._)]
Gay, too, in his "Trivia," more than once mentions the foulness of the
Fleet in book ii.
"Or who that rugged street[72] would traverse o'er,
That stretches, O Fleet-Ditch, from thy black shore
To the Tour's moated walls?"
And again:
"If where Fleet-Ditch with muddy current flows."
Here is a pen-and-ink sketch of Holborn Bridge--from some old engraving
or painting (Crosby does not give his authority), which gives an
excellent idea of old London--squalid and filthy according to our
ideas. How different from that noble viaduct which now spans the course
of the Fleet River! which her Majesty opened on November 6, 1869.
[Illustration: HOLBORN BRIDGE.]
[Footnote 66: Hollinshed says--speaking of a Council at the Tower,
relative to the Coronation of Edward V., at which the Protector
presided, "After a little talking with them, he said unto the Bishop
of Ely, 'My Lord, you have verie good strawberries at your garden in
Holborne, I require you let us have a messe of them.' 'Gladlie, my
Lord,' quoth he, 'would God I had some better thing as readie to
your pleasure as that!' And there withall, in all haste, he sent his
servant for a messe of strawberries."]
[Footnote 67: Gray, "_A long Story_."]
[Footnote 68: Afterwards Anglicised into Audrey.]
[Footnote 69: There is now _Bowling Green Street_, Farringdon
Street.]
[Footnote 70: See next two pages.]
[Footnote 71: "London Spy," part vi.]
[Footnote 72: Thames Street.]
[Illustration]