Chapter L: D’Honat’s Eden (4)

PRINCE’S _street_, 1. St. Anne’s street, Soho. 2. Barbican. 3. Brick lane, Spitalfields. 4. Charles street, Old Gravel lane, Ratcliff. 5. Drury lane. 6. Duke street, St. James’s. 7. Duke street, Southwark. 8. Hanover square. 9. Little Queen street. 10. Oxford street. 11. Queen street. 12. Ratcliff Highway. 13. Red Lion square, Holborn. 14. Rotherhith Wall. 15. Sun Tavern fields, Shadwell. 16. The west end of Threadneedle street; first built by act of Parliament after the fire of London, in which it was called by this name before it was erected. 17. Upper Moorfields. 18. Whitcomb street, Hedge lane. 19. Wood street, Spitalfields.

PRINTING HOUSE _lane_, leading to the King’s printing house in Black friars.

PRINTING HOUSE _street_, Water lane.

PRINTING HOUSE _yard_, 1. Water lane. 2. By White’s alley, Coleman street; thus named from a large printing house there for woollens.

PRITCHARD’S _alley_, Fair street, Horselydown.†

PRIVY COUNCIL, held at the Cockpit. This great and honourable assembly meet in order to consult upon those measures that are most likely to contribute to the honour, defence, safety and benefit of his Majesty’s dominions.

The members of this body are chosen by the King, and are, or ought to be distinguished by their wisdom, courage, integrity, and political knowledge. A Privy Counsellor, though but a Gentleman, has precedence of all Knights, Baronets, and the younger sons of all Barons and Viscounts. They sit at the council board bareheaded, when his Majesty presides; at all debates the lowest delivers his opinion first; and the King last of all declares his judgment, and thereby determines the matter in debate.

PRIVY GARDEN, Whitehall, was formerly used as a private garden, though it extended almost to the Cockpit. The wall joined the arch still standing by the Cockpit, and ran on in a line to King street. _Plan of London drawn in Queen Elizabeth’s time._

PRIVY GARDEN _stairs_, Privy Garden.

PRIVY SEAL OFFICE, Whitehall. An office under the government of the Lord Privy Seal, a great officer, next in dignity to the Lord President of the Council, who keeps the King’s privy seal, which is set to such grants as pass the great seal of England. The Lord Privy Seal has a salary of 3000_l._ _per annum_. Under him are three Deputies, a Secretary, and three Clerks; but these Clerks have no salaries; they have however considerable fees, and 30_l._ a year board wages.

PROBIN’S _yard_, Blackman street, Southwark.†

PROTONOTARIES, or PROTHONOTARIES, in the court of Common Pleas. The word is derived from _Protonotarius_, a chief Notary or Clerk; and they are accordingly the chief Clerks of this court. They enter and enrol all declarations, pleadings, assizes, judgments, and actions; and make out judicial writs, &c. for all English counties, except Monmouth. They are three in number, and have each separate offices, one in the Middle Temple, another in King’s Bench Walks, and the other in Searle’s court, Lincoln’s Inn. In these offices all the Attorneys of the court of Common Pleas enter their causes.

Each of these Protonotaries has a Secondary, whose office is, to draw up the rules of court, and these were formerly the ancientest and ablest Clerks or Attorneys of the court.

PROTONOTARY’S, or PROTHONOTARY’S _Office in Chancery_, is kept in Middle Temple lane, and is chiefly to expedite commissions for embassies.

PROVIDENCE _court_, North Audley street.

PROVIDENCE _yard_, Peter street, Westminster.

PRUJEAN’S _court_, in the Old Bailey.†

PRUSON’S _island_, Near New Gravel lane.†

PUDDING _lane_, Thames street. In this lane the fire of London broke out, at a house situated exactly at the same distance from the Monument as that is high. Upon this house, which is rebuilt in a very handsome manner, was set up by authority the following inscription:

‘Here by the permission of Heaven, Hell broke loose upon this protestant city, from the malicious hearts of barbarous papists, by the hand of their agent HUBERT: who confessed, and on the ruins of this place declared his fact, for which he was hanged, viz. That here began the dreadful fire, which is described and perpetuated, on and by the neighbouring pillar, erected 1681—in the mayoralty of Sir Patience Ward, Knt.’

But the inhabitants being incommoded by the many people who came to look at the house, and read this board, it was taken down a few years ago.

PUDDLE _dock_, Thames street. There was anciently a descent into the Thames in this place, where horses used to be watered; who raising the mud with their feet, made the place like a puddle; from this circumstance, and from a person named Puddle dwelling there, this dock, according to Maitland, obtained its present name.

PUDDLE DOCK _hill_, Great Carter lane.

PUDDLE DOCK _stairs_, Puddle dock.

PULTNEY _court_, Little Windmill street.

PULTNEY _street_, 1. Brewer’s street.† 2. Knave’s Acre.†

PUMP _alley_, 1. Brown’s street.☐ 2. Gardener’s lane, Petty France, Westminster.☐ 3. Green bank, Wapping.☐ 4. Perkins’s rents, Peter street, Soho.☐ 5. Quaker street, Spitalfields.☐ 6. Queen street in the Park, Southwark.☐ 7. Red lion street, Wapping dock.☐ 8. Near Whitecross street, Cripplegate.☐

PUMP _court_, 1. Bridgewater gardens.☐ 2. Charing Cross.☐ 3. Crutched Friars.☐ 4. Glasshouse yard.☐ 5. Holland street.† 6. Jacob’s street, Mill street.☐ 7. Inner Temple.☐ 8. Long alley, Shoreditch.☐ 9. The Minories.☐ 10. Noble street, Foster lane.☐ 11. Rose and Crown court.☐ 12. Portpool lane.☐ 13. Queenhithe.☐ 14. Three Foxes court, Longlane, Smithfield.☐ 15. White Hart yard, Drury lane.☐ 16. White’s alley.☐

PUMP _yard_, 1. Near Aldersgate Bars.☐ 2. Church lane.☐ 3. Golden lane.☐ 4. Gravel lane.☐ 5. King John’s court, Southwark.☐ 6. Newington Butts.☐ 7. In the Orchard, Ratcliff.☐ 8. Pump alley, Chequer alley.☐ 9. Three Colts street.† 10. Whitehorse alley, Cow Cross.☐

PUNCH BOWL _alley_, Moorfields Quarters.*

PUNCH _court_, Thrall street, Spitalfields.

PURFORD. See PYRFORD.

PURSE _court_, 1. Fore street, Cripplegate.* 2. Old Change, Cheapside.*

PUTNEY, a village in Surry, situated on the Thames, five miles south west of London, famous for being the birth place of Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex, whose father was a blacksmith here. About this village the citizens of London have many pretty seats; and on Putney Heath is a public house, noted for polite assemblies, and in the summer season for breakfasting and dancing, and for one of the pleasantest bowling greens in England. Here is an old church erected after the same model with that of Fulham, on the opposite shore, and they are both said to have been built by two sisters.

That part of Putney which joins to the Heath, commands a fine view both up and down the river Thames.

PYE _corner_, Smithfield.

PYE _garden_, near Willow street, Bank side, Southwark.

PYE _street_, Westminster.

PYRFORD, or PURFORD, in Surry, the fine seat of the late Denzil Onslow, Esq; situated two miles from Guilford, on the banks of the Wey. It is rendered extremely pleasant, by the beautiful intermixture of wood and water, in the park, gardens, and grounds adjoining. By the park is a decoy, the first of the kind in this part of England.

Q.

QUAKERS, a body of dissenters who have the following places of worship in this metropolis:

1. Devonshire street, Bishopsgate street. 2. Ewer’s street, Southwark. 3. Fair street, Horselydown. 4. Little Almonry, Westminster. 5. St. John’s lane. 6. Sandy’s court, Houndsditch. 7. School house lane, Ratcliff. 8. Savoy in the Strand. 9. Wapping. 10. White hart yard, Gracechurch street. 11. Workhouse, Clerkenwell.

QUAKERS _street_, Spitalfields.

QUAKERS WORKHOUSE, in Bridewell Walk, Clerkenwell, contains about eighteen or twenty old men and women; but they are not confined to any number. These are provided with all the necessaries of life in a very decent manner: as are also forty boys and twenty girls; who are not only taught reading, writing and arithmetic; but to spin, sew, knit, and make thrum-mops, &c. in order to inure them to early labour: the boys, when put out apprentice, have 5_l._ given with each. These children are cloathed in very good cloth and callimancoes, and supported at the expence of about 600_l._ _per annum_.

QUALITY _court_, Chancery lane.

QUART POT _alley_, George street, Petty France, Westminster.*

QUEEN ANNE’S _street_, a very handsome regular street, building north of Cavendish square, and parallel to that and Wigmore street. It being built on the estate of the late Lord Harley, Earl of Oxford, it received its name in honour of his Royal Mistress.

QUEEN ELIZABETH’S _School_, in School house lane, Tooley street, Southwark, was founded by that Princess, for instructing the boys of St. Olave’s parish in English, grammar and writing.

This school generally consists of near three hundred boys, for the teaching of whom the master of the grammar school has a salary of 61_l._ _per annum_; his usher 41_l._ 10_s._ the writing-master has 60_l._ out of which he is obliged to supply the school with pens and ink; the English master has 37_l._ 10_s._ and his usher 20_l._ These sums, together amounting to 220_l. per annum_, are chiefly raised from an estate in Horselydown, which, pursuant to the letters of incorporation, is, with the school, under the management of sixteen of the parishioners. _Maitland._

QUEENHITHE, in Thames street, a hithe or harbour for large boats, lighters, barges, and even ships, which anciently anchored at that place, as they do now at Billingsgate, the draw-bridge being drawn up for their passage through; Queenhithe being then the principal key for lading and unlading in the heart of the city. Hither vast numbers of these vessels came laden with corn, as the barges do now with malt and meal, this being the great meal market of the city.

QUEENHITHE _alley_, near Thames street.

QUEENHITHE _stairs_, Queenhithe.

QUEENHITHE _little stairs_, Queenhithe.

QUEENHITHE WARD, is bounded on the north by Bread street ward, and Cordwainers ward; on the east by Dowgate ward; on the south by the Thames, and on the west by Baynard’s castle ward. The principal streets and lanes in this ward, are, next to Queenhithe, a part of Thames street, from St. Bennet’s hill to Townsend lane; Lambert hill, Fish street hill, Five foot lane, Bread street hill, Huggen lane, Little Trinity, with the south side of Great Trinity lane, and Old Fish street.

The most remarkable buildings, are the parish churches of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, St. Mary Somerset, and St. Michael’s Queenhithe; Painterstainers hall, and Blacksmiths hall.

This ward is governed by an Alderman and six Common Council men, including the Alderman’s Deputy; thirteen inquest men, eight scavengers, nine constables, and a beadle. The jury-men returned by the Wardmote inquest, serve in the several courts of Guildhall in the month of October. _Maitland._

QUEEN’S ARMS _alley_, 1. Shoe lane.* 2. Shoreditch.*

QUEEN’S ARMS _court_, Upper Ground.*

QUEEN’S _court_, 1. St. Catharine’s lane, East Smithfield.* 2. Great Queen street.* 3. High Holborn.* 4. King street, Covent Garden.*

QUEEN’S HEAD _alley_, 1. Hoxton.* 2. Newgate street.* 3. Shadwell.* 4. Wapping.* 5. Whitechapel.*

QUEEN’S HEAD _court_, 1. Fleet street.* 2. Giltspur street.* 3. Gray’s Inn lane.* 4. Great Windmill street.* 5. High Holborn.* 6. King street, Covent Garden.* 7. Pye corner.* 8. In the Strand.* 9. Turn again lane.*

QUEEN’S HEAD _yard_, 1. Gray’s Inn lane, Holborn.* 2. White Horse street.*

QUEEN’S LIBRARY, a handsome building erected by that learned Princess her late Majesty Queen Caroline, into which books were put in the month of October 1737. This is a very noble room, furnished with a choice collection of modern books in several languages, consisting of about 4500, finely bound, and placed in great order, with brass net-work before them. _Maitland._

QUEEN’S _square_, 1. St. James’s Park. 2. Little Bartholomew close. 3. Ormond street, by Red Lion street, Holborn. This, as a late writer justly observes, is an area of a peculiar kind, it being left open on one side for the sake of the beautiful landscape formed by the hills of Highgate and Hampstead, together with the adjacent fields. A delicacy worthy, as it is an advantage to the inhabitants, and a beauty even with regard to the square itself.

QUEEN’S SQUARE _street_, Long Ditch, Westminster.

QUEEN _street_. Many of these streets were thus named after the restoration, in honour of the royal family. 1. Bloomsbury. 2. Opposite King street in Cheapside; this street was widened, and had its name changed to Queen street, by act of Parliament, after the fire of London. 3. Great Russel street, Bloomsbury. 4. Great Windmill street. 5. Hog lane, St. Giles’s. 6. Hoxton. 7. Long Ditch, Westminster. 8. In the Mint, Southwark. 9. Moorfields. 10. Near New Gravel lane, Shadwell. 11. Old Paradise street, Rotherhith. 12. Oxford street. 13. In the Park, Southwark. 14. Ratcliff. 15. Redcross street, Southwark. 16. Rosemary lane. 17. Rotherhith. 18. Seven Dials. 19. Soho square. 20. Tower hill. 21. Mews, Great Queen street.

QUICKAPPLE’S _alley_, Bishopsgate street without.†

QUIET _row_, Red Lion street.

R.

RACKET _court_, Fleet street.

RAG _alley_, Golden lane, Redcross street.

RAG FAIR, 1. East Smithfield. 2. Rosemary lane. Here old cloaths are sold every day, by multitudes of people standing in the streets; there is here a place called the ‘Change, where all the shops sell old cloaths: it is remarkable that many of the old cloaths shops in Rosemary lane, where this daily market is kept, deal for several thousand pounds a year.

RAG _street_, Hockley in the hole.

RAGDALE _court_, Millman street, near Red Lion street, Holborn.

RAGGED _row_, Goswell street.‖

RAGGED STAFF _alley_, Fleet street.*

RAGGED STAFF _court_, Drury lane.*

RAINDEER _court_, in the Strand.*

RAINE’S _Hospital_, in Fowden Fields in the parish of St. George, Ratcliff Highway, a handsome building erected by Mr. Henry Raine, brewer, in the year 1737, who endowed it by a deed of gift with a perpetual annuity of 240_l._ _per annum_, and added the sum of 4000_l._ in South sea annuities, amounting to about 4400_l._ to be laid out in a purchase.

The children of this hospital, which contains forty-eight girls, are taken out of a parish school almost contiguous to it, erected in the year 1719, by the above Mr. Raine, at the expence of about 2000_l._ and he likewise endowed it with a perpetual annuity of 60_l._

The children are supplied with all the necessaries of life, and taught to read, write, sew, and household work, to qualify them for service, to which they are put, after having been three years upon the foundation. _Maitland._

RALPH’S _key_, Thames street.

RAM _alley_, 1. Cock lane.* 2. Cow Cross, Smithfield.* 3. St. John’s street, Spitalfields.* 4. Rotherhith Wall.* 5. Wright street, Rotherhith.*

RAM’S HEAD _court_, Moor lane, Fore street, Moorgate.*

RAMSAY’S _Almshouse_, in Horns yard, Cloth Fair, was founded by Dame Mary Ramsey, relict of Mr. Thomas Ramsey, some time Lord Mayor, about the year 1596, for three poor women, who formerly received coals and cloaths; but at present only 2_s._ _per_ week each. _Maitland._

RAMPANT LION _yard_, Nightingale lane.*

RANDAL _alley_, Rotherhith Wall.†

_View of Ranelagh._
_S. Wale delin._ _B. Green sc. Oxon._
]

RANELAGH GARDENS, at Chelsea; so called from their formerly belonging to the Earl of Ranelagh. This is one of those public places of pleasure which is not to be equalled in Europe, and is the resort of people of the first quality. Though its gardens are beautiful, it is more to be admired for the amphitheatre. This is a circular building, the external diameter is 185 feet, round the whole is an arcade, and over that a gallery with a balustrade (to admit the company into the upper boxes) except where the entrances break the continuity. Over this are the windows (as may be seen in the print) and it terminates with the roof. The internal diameter is 150 feet, and the architecture of the inside corresponds with the outside, except that over every column, between the windows, termini support the roof. In the middle of the area, where the orchestra was at first designed, is a chimney having four faces. This makes it warm and comfortable in bad weather. The orchestra fills up the place of one of the entrances. The entertainment consists of a fine band of music with an organ, accompanied by the best voices. The regale is tea and coffee.

RANGER’S _yard_, York street, Jermain street.†

RAT _alley_, Great Eastcheap.*

RATCLIFF, by Upper Shadwell.

RATCLIFF SCHOOL, was founded by Nicholas Gibson, Sheriff of this city, in the year 1537, for the education of sixty poor children; the master had a salary of 10_l._ and the usher 6_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ _per annum_, at that time very considerable sums: at present the master has 23_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ and the usher 9_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ a year. This house belonging to the adjoining almshouses, is under the management of the Coopers company. _Maitland._

RATCLIFF _cross_, Ratcliff.

RATCLIFF _highway_, near Upper Shadwell.

RATCLIFF HIGHWAY _street_, Shadwell.

RATCLIFF _row_, near Old Street.†

RATCLIFF _square_, Ratcliff.†

RATHBONE _place_, Oxford street.

RAY’S _court_, Cross lane, Lukener’s lane.†

READ’S _rents_, Long lane, Smithfield.†

REBECCA’S _yard_, East Smithfield.

REBEL’S _row_, near St. George’s church, Southwark.

RECKMAN’S _rents_, Limehouse bridge.†

RECORD OFFICE, in the Tower, is kept in Wakefield’s Tower, which joins to the Bloody Tower, near Traitor’s Gate; and consists of three rooms one above another, and a large round room where the rolls are kept. These are all handsomely wainscoted, the wainscot being framed into presses round each room, within which are shelves, and repositories for the records; and for the easier finding of them, the year of each reign is inscribed on the inside of these presses, and the records placed accordingly.

Within these presses, which amount to fifty-six in number, are deposited all the rolls from the first year of the reign of King John, to the beginning of the reign of Richard III. but those after this last period are kept in the Rolls chapel. See ROLLS _Office_.

The records in the Tower, among other things, contain, the foundation of abbies, and other religious houses; the ancient tenures of all the lands in England, with a survey of the manors; the original of our laws and statutes; proceedings of the courts of common law and equity; the rights of England to the dominion of the British seas; leagues and treaties with foreign Princes; the achievements of England in foreign wars; the settlement of Ireland, as to law and dominion; the forms of submission of the Scottish Kings; ancient grants of our Kings to their subjects; privileges and immunities granted to cities and corporations during the period abovementioned; enrollments of charters and deeds made before the conquest; the bounds of all the forests in England, with the several respective rights of the inhabitants to common of pasture, and many other important records, all regularly disposed, and referred to in near a thousand folio indexes. _Chamberlain’s Present State._ _Strype’s Stowe._

This office is kept open, and attendance constantly given, from seven o’clock till one, except in the months of December, January, and February, when it is open only from eight to one, except on Sundays and holidays. A search here is half a guinea, for which you may peruse any one subject a year.

RECORDER _of London_. This officer ought always to be a learned Lawyer, well versed in the customs of the city. He is not only the chief Assistant to the Lord Mayor in matters of law and justice; but takes place in councils and in courts before any man that hath not been Lord Mayor: he speaks in the name of the City upon extraordinary occasions; usually reads and presents their addresses to the King; and when seated upon the bench delivers the sentence of the court. _Maitland._

RED BULL _alley_, 1. Kent street, Southwark.* 2. St. Olave’s street, Southwark.* 3. Thames street.*

RED BULL _court_, 1. Fore street, Cripplegate.* 2. Red Bull alley.*

RED BULL _yard_, 1. Ailesbury street, St. John’s street, Clerkenwell.* 2. Islington.*

RED COW _alley_, 1. Church lane, Rag Fair.* 2. Old street.*

RED COW _court_, 1. Church lane, Caple street.* 2. Rotherhithe Wall.*

RED COW _lane_, Mile-end turnpike.*

REDCROSS _alley_, 1. Jewin street, Redcross street. 2. By London Bridge. 3. Long Ditch, Westminster. 4. St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark. 5. Old street. 6. Redcross street, in the Mint.

REDCROSS _court_, 1. Cow lane. 2. In the Minories. 3. Old Bailey. 4. Tower street.

REDCROSS STREET LIBRARY. See _Dr._ WILLIAMS’S LIBRARY.

REDCROSS _square_, Jewin street.

REDCROSS _street_, 1. Extends from Cripplegate to Barbican: at the upper end of this street, opposite the west end of Beach lane, stood a red cross, which gave name to this street. _Maitland._ 2. Nightingale lane, East Smithfield. 3. In the Park, Southwark.

REDCROSS STREET SCHOOL, was founded in the year 1709, by Dame Eleanor Hollis, who endowed it with 62_l._ 3_s._ _per annum_, in ground rents; for the education of fifty poor girls; but by additional benefactions the revenue is increased to 80_l._ 2_s._ 8_d._ a year.

This school being kept in the same house with that of the parish boys of St. Giles’s, Cripplegate, it is generally taken for the parish girls charity school.

RED GATE _court_, in the Minories.

RED HART _court_, Fore street, Cripplegate.*

REDHILL’S _rents_, Vine street.†

RED HORSE _yard_, Glasshouse yard.*

RED LION _alley_, 1. Barnaby street, Southwark.* 2. St. Catharine’s, Tower hill.* 3. Cow Cross, Smithfield.* 4. St. John’s street, Smithfield.* 5. St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark.* 6. In the Minories.* 7. Peter’s street, St. John’s street, Westminster.* 8. Thames street.* 9. Tower Ditch.* 10. Whitechapel.*

RED LION _back court_, Charterhouse lane.*

RED LION _court_, 1. Addle hill, by Thames street.* 2. Barnaby street, Southwark.* 3. Bennet’s hill, Thames street.* 4. Bennet’s street, Southwark.* 5. Brick lane.* 6. St. Catharine’s lane.* 7. Castle yard, Holborn.* 8. Charterhouse lane, by Charterhouse square.* 9. Cock lane, Snow hill.* 10. Drury lane.* 11. Fleet street.* 12. Grub street.* 13. Holiwell lane.* 14. Kingsland road.* 15. London Wall.* 16. Long Acre.* 17. Red Lion alley, St. Margaret’s hill.* 18. Red Lion street, Spitalfields.* 19. Long alley, Moor fields.* 20. Silver street, Cripplegate.* 21. Watling street, St. Paul’s church yard.* 22. Wheeler street, Spitalfields.* 23. White Hart yard.* 24. Windmill hill.*

RED LION _inn yard_, Bishopsgate street.*

RED LION _market_, Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

RED LION MARKET _passage_, Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

RED LION _mews_, Cavendish street.*

RED LION _passage_, Fetter lane.*

RED LION _square_, by Red Lion street, Holborn. A handsome square, adorned with a lofty obelisk placed upon a pedestal in the center.

RED LION _street_, 1. In the Borough.* 2. A very neat well-built street, leading to Clerkenwell.* 3. St. George’s Fields.* 4. High Holborn.* 5. Spitalfields market.* 6. Wapping.* 7. Whitechapel.*

RED LION _yard_, 1. Cavendish street.* 2. Church street, Lambeth.* 3. Great Warner’s street.* 4. Houndsditch.* 5. Long lane, Smithfield.* 6. Long Acre.* 7. Lower Shadwell.* 8. Red Lion street.* 9. Star street, Clerkenwell.*

RED MAID _lane_, near the Hermitage.*

RED ROSE _alley_, Whitecross street, Old street.*

RED WOOD _alley_, near Skinner’s street, Bishopsgate street without.

REDDISH _row_, Red Maid lane, Wapping.

REEVE’S _mews_, Audley street.†

REGISTER’S OFFICE _in Chancery_, Symond’s Inn, Chancery lane.

REGISTER OFFICE _of Deeds_, for the county of Middlesex, Bell yard, Fleet street.

_City_ REMEMBRANCER, an officer who on certain days attends the Lord Mayor. His business is to put his Lordship in mind of the select days when he is to go abroad with the Aldermen, &c. and to attend the parliament house during the sessions, in order to make a report to the Lord Mayor of what passes there.

_The King’s_ REMEMBRANCER’S OFFICE, in the Inner Temple. An office belonging to the court of Exchequer, in which there are eight sworn Clerks, two of whom are Secondaries.

Here are entered the state of all the accounts relating to the King’s revenue, for customs, excise, subsidies: all aids granted to the King in Parliament; and every thing relating to his Majesty’s revenue, whether certain or casual: all securities, either by bonds or recognizances, given to the King by accountants and officers: all proceedings upon any statute by information for customs, excise, or any other penal law: all proceedings upon the said bonds or recognizances, or any other bonds taken in the King’s name, by officers appointed for that purpose under the great seal of England, and transmitted hither for recovery thereof, are properly in this office, from whence issue forth process to cause all accountants to come in and account; For there being a court of equity in the court of Exchequer, all proceedings relating to it are in this office. _Chamberlain’s Present State._

_The Lord Treasurers_ REMEMBRANCER’S OFFICE, also belongs to the court of Exchequer. In this office process is made against all Sheriffs, Receivers, Bailiffs, &c. for their accounts, and many other things of moment, as estreats, rules, &c. All charters and letters patent, upon which any rents are referred to the King, are transcribed, and sent into this office by the Clerk of the petty bag, in order to be transmitted to the Clerk of the pipe, that process may be made to recover the money by the Comptroller of the pipe. Out of this office process is likewise made to levy the King’s fee farm rents, &c.

In short, when the Auditors of the revenue have made schedules of such arrears, and transmitted them to the Remembrancer, the state of all imprest accounts, and all other accounts whatsoever, are entered in this office, as well as in that of the King’s Remembrancer. Both this and the other office are in the King’s gift. _Chamberlain’s Present State._

_Court of_ REQUESTS. See _Court of_ CONSCIENCE.

REYGATE, a large market town in Surry, situated in the valley of Holmsdale, twenty-four miles from London, and surrounded on each side with hills. It is an ancient borough, and had a castle, built by the Saxons, on the east side of the town, some ruins of which are still to be seen, particularly a long vault with a room at the end, large enough to hold 500 persons, where the Barons who took up arms against King John are said to have had their private meetings. Its market house was once a chapel dedicated to Thomas Becket. The neighbourhood abounds with fullers earth and medicinal plants.

On the south side of the town is a large house, formerly a priory: it belongs to the late Mr. Parsons’s family, and is beautified with plantations, and a large piece of water. It has two rooms, each fifty feet long, and of a proportionable breadth; but the ceilings are much too low. The house and gardens are on every side surrounded with hills, so as to render the prospect very romantic.

In this town the late celebrated Lord Shaftesbury had an house, to which he retired to seclude himself from company. It is now in the possession of a private gentleman, who has laid out and planted a small spot of ground, in so many parts, as to comprise whatever can be supposed in the most noble seats. It may properly be called a model, and is called by the inhabitants of Reygate, _The world in one acre_.

RHODES _yard_, Bishopsgate street.†

RICHARD’S _court_, Lime street, Leadenhall street.†

RICHBELL _court_, Red Lion street, Holborn.†

RICHMOND, a village in Surry, twelve miles from London. This is reckoned the finest village in the British dominions, and has therefore been termed the _Frescati_ of England. It was anciently the seat of our Monarchs, and the palace from its splendor was called _Shene_, which in the Saxon tongue signifies bright or shining; Here King Edward III. died of grief for the loss of his heroic son Edward the Black Prince; and here died Anne the wife of Richard II. who first taught the English women the use of the side saddle; for before her time they were used to ride astride; Richard, however, was so afflicted at her death, that it gave him such a dislike to the place where it happened, that he defaced the fine palace; but it was repaired and beautified afresh by King Henry V. who also founded near it three religious houses. In the year 1497, this palace was destroyed by fire, when King Henry VII. was there; but in 1501 that Prince caused it to be new built, and commanded that the village should be called Richmond; he having borne the title of Earl of Richmond, before he obtained the crown by the defeat and death of Richard III. Henry VII. died here; and here also his grand-daughter Queen Elizabeth breathed her last. On the ground where formerly stood a part of the old palace, the Earl of Cholmondeley has a seat, as has also Mr. Wray.

The present palace, which is finely situated, is a very plain edifice built by the Duke of Ormond, who received a grant of a considerable space of land about Richmond, from King William III. as a reward for his military services; but it devolved to the Crown on that Duke’s attainder, in the beginning of the reign of King George I. and this house was by his present Majesty confirmed to the late Queen Caroline, in case she became Queen Dowager of England.

His Majesty took great delight here, and made several improvements in the palace, while her Majesty amused herself at her royal dairy house, Merlin’s cave, the Hermitage, and the other improvements which she made in the park and gardens of this delightful retreat.

Though the palace is unsuitable to the dignity of a King of England, the gardens are extremely fine, without offering a violence to nature; and Pope’s advice with respect to planting, may be considered as a very accurate description of the beauties to be found here.

To build, to plant, whatever you intend,
To rear the column, or the arch to bend;
To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot,
In all let Nature never be forgot:
Consult the genius of the place in all,
That tells the waters or to rise or fall;
Or helps th’ ambitious hill the heav’ns to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale;
Calls in the country, catches op’ning glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades;
Now breaks, or now directs th’intending lines;
Paints as you plant, and as you work, designs.

In short, almost every thing here has an agreeable wildness, and a pleasing irregularity, that cannot fail to charm all who are in love with nature, and afford a much higher and more lasting satisfaction than the stiff decorations of art, where the artist loses sight of nature which alone ought to direct his hand.

On entering these rural walks, you are conducted to the dairy, a neat but low brick building, to which there is an ascent by a flight of steps; in the front is a handsome angular pediment. The walls on the inside are covered with stucco, and the house is furnished suitably to a royal dairy, the utensils for the milk being of the most beautiful china.

Passing by the side of a canal, and thro’ a grove of trees, the temple presents itself to view, situated on a mount. It is a circular dome crowned with a ball, and supported by Tuscan columns, with a circular altar in the middle, and to this temple there is an ascent by very steep slopes.

Returning by the dairy, and crossing the gravel walk, which leads from the palace to the river, you come to a wood, which you enter by a walk terminated by the Queen’s pavilion, a neat elegant structure, wherein is seen a beautiful chimney-piece, taken from a design in the addition to Palladio, and a model of a palace intended to be built in this place.

In another part of the wood is the Duke’s summer house, which has a lofty arched entrance, and the roof rising to a point is terminated by a ball.

On leaving the wood you come to the summer house on the terrace, a light small building with very large and lofty windows, to give a better view of the country, and particularly of that noble seat called Sion house. In this edifice are two good pictures, representing the taking of Vigo by the Duke of Ormond.

Passing through a labyrinth, you see, near a pond, Merlin’s cave, a Gothic building thatched; within which are the following figures in wax, Merlin, an ancient British enchanter; the excellent and learned Queen Elizabeth, and a Queen of the Amazons; here is also a library consisting of a well chosen collection of the works of modern authors neatly bound in vellum.

On leaving this edifice, which has an antique and venerable appearance, you come to a large oval of above 500 feet in diameter, called the Forest oval, and turning from hence you have a view of the Hermitage, a grotesque building, which seems as if it had stood many hundred years, though it was built by order of her late Majesty. It has three arched doors, and the middle part which projects forward, is adorned with a kind of ruinous angular pediment; the stones of the whole edifice appear as if rudely laid together, and the venerable look of the whole is improved by the thickness of the solemn grove behind, and the little turret on the top with a bell, to which you may ascend by a winding walk. The inside is in the form of an octagon with niches, in which are the busts of the following truly great men, who by their writings were an honour not only to their country, but to human nature. The first on the right hand is the incomparable Sir Isaac Newton, and next to him the justly celebrated Mr. John Locke. The first on the left hand is Mr. Woolaston, the author of The Religion of Nature displayed; next to him is the reverend and learned Dr. Samuel Clarke, and in a kind of alcove is the truly honourable Mr. Robert Boyle.

Leaving this seat of contemplation, you pass through fields cloathed with grass; through corn fields, and a wild ground interspersed with broom and furze, which afford excellent shelter for hares and pheasants, and here there are great numbers of the latter very tame. From this pleasing variety, in which nature appears in all her forms of cultivation and barren wildness, you come to an amphitheatre formed by young elms, and a diagonal wilderness, through which you pass to the forest walk, which extends about half a mile, and then passing through a small wilderness, you leave the gardens.

At the extremity of the garden on the north east, is another house that belonged to her Majesty, and near it the house of his late Royal Highness Frederic Prince of Wales, which is on the inside adorned with stucco. Opposite the Prince’s house is the Princess Amelia’s, built by a Dutch architect, the outside of which is painted.

To the west of the gardens are seen the fine houses of several of the nobility and gentry, particularly the Lady Buckworth’s, and Mr. Geoffrey’s, and extending the view across the Thames, there appears Isleworth.

But to return to the village of Richmond. The Green is extremely pleasant, it being levelled and enclosed in a handsome manner; it is also surrounded with lofty elms, and adorned on each side with the houses of persons of distinction. A sun dial is here affixed in a pretty taste, encompassed with seats: this, and the railing in of the Green, were at the sole charge of her late Majesty.

Among the pretty seats on this spacious Green, is a handsome edifice that formerly belonged to Sir Charles Hedges, and since to Sir Matthew Decker, in the gardens of which is said to be the longest and highest hedge of holly that was ever seen, with several other hedges of evergreens; there are here also vistas cut through woods, grottos, fountains, a fine canal, a decoy, summer house and stove houses, in which the anana, or pine-apple, was first brought to maturity in this kingdom.

On the north east side of the Green is a fine house, which belonged to the late Mr. Heydigger, and a little beyond it that of the Duke of Cumberland; passing by which, you come to a small park belonging to his Majesty, well stocked with deer, and opposite to it is the entrance into the gardens.

The town runs up the hill above a mile from the village of East Shene, to the New Park, with the royal gardens sloping all the way towards the Thames; whose tide reaches to this village, though it is sixty miles from the sea; which is a greater distance than the tide is carried by any other river in Europe.

On the ascent of the hill are wells of a purging mineral water, frequented during the summer by a great deal of good company. On the top there is a most extensive and beautiful prospect of the country, interspersed with villages and inclosures; the Thames is seen running beneath, and the landscape is improved by the many fine seats that are scattered along its banks.

There is here an almshouse built by Dr. Duppa, Bishop of Winchester in the reign of King Charles II. for the support of ten poor widows, pursuant to a vow made by that Prelate during that Prince’s exile. There is another almshouse endowed with above 100_l._ a year, which, since its foundation, has been considerably increased by John Mitchell, Esq; Here are also two charity schools, one for fifty boys, and the other for fifty girls.

New Park, in Surry, is situated between Kingston and Richmond. This is one of the best parks in England; it was made in the reign of King Charles I. and inclosed with a brick wall, said to be eleven miles in compass. In this park there is a little hill cast up, called King Henry’s Mount, from which is a prospect of six counties, with a distant view of the city of London, and of Windsor Castle.

The new lodge in this park, built by the late Sir Robert Walpole Earl of Orford, is a very elegant edifice. It is built of stone in a square form, with wings on each side of brick. It stands on a rising ground, and commands a very good prospect of the park, especially of that fine piece of water which is in it, and which might be enlarged and brought across the vista which is in the front of the house, through a wood. This park is the largest of any within the environs of London, except that of Windsor, and the finest too; for though it has little more than a wild variety of natural beauties to shew, yet these are such as cannot fail to please those who are as much delighted with views in their rudest appearance, as in all the elegance of art and design. The Princess Amelia resides in the old lodge; the new lodge is not inhabited.

RICHMOND _buildings_, Dean street, Soho.†

RICHMOND’S _Almshouse_, in Goose alley, Sea coal lane, was erected by the company of Armourers, in the year 1559, pursuant to the will of Mr. John Richmond, for eight poor old men and women, who, according to the discretion of the company, receive from five to fifteen shillings _per annum_ each. _Maitland._

RICHMOND _street_, 1. Old Soho.† 2. Prince’s street, Soho.†

RICKINGTON’S _court_, Coleman street.†

RICKMAN’S _rents_, Narrow street, Limehouse.†

RICKMANSWORTH, a town in Hertfordshire, 22 miles from London, is situated in a low moorish soil on the borders of Buckinghamshire, near the river Coln. It has a market on Saturday, and is governed by a Constable and two Headboroughs. The several mills on the streams near this town cause a great quantity of wheat to be brought to it. Here is a charity school for twenty boys and ten girls, with an almshouse for five widows, and another for four. In the neighbourhood is a warren hill, where the sound of the trumpet is repeated twelve times by the echo.

RIDER’S _court_, 1. Little Newport street.† 2. Rider’s street.†

RIDER’S _street_, St. James’s street, Westminster.†

RIDER’S _yard_, Kent street, Southwark.†

RISEBY’S _walk_, Limehouse.†

RISING SUN _alley_, St. John’s street, Smithfield.*

RISING SUN _court_, St. John’s street, Smithfield.*

RISING SUN _passage_, Clement’s lane.*

RIVERS _street_, Savage Gardens; so called from the Lord Savage, Earl Rivers.

ROBERT’S _dock_, Rotherhith Wall.†

ROBERT’S _rents_, Brick lane.†

ROBIN HOOD _alley_, Blackman street, Southwark.*

ROBIN HOOD _court_, 1. Bell alley.* 2. Bow lane, Cheapside.* 3. Grub street, Fore street* 4. Near Morgan’s lane.* 5. Shoe lane.* 6. In the Strand.* 7. Thames street.* 8. Tooley street, Southwark.*

ROBIN HOOD _lane_, Poplar.*

ROBIN HOOD _yard_, 1. Charles street.* 2. Leather lane.*

ROBINSON’S _yard_, Friday street, Cheapside.†

ROCHESTER _row_, Tothill fields.

ROCHESTER _yard_, 1. Dirty lane. 2. Stony street.

ROEBUCK _alley_, Turnmill street.*

ROEHAMPTON, in Surry, is situated between Putney Heath and East Shene, and is one of the pleasantest villages near London, having many fine houses of merchants scattered about, so as not to resemble a street or regular town.

ROGERS’S _Almshouse_, in Hart street, near Cripplegate, was erected by the Lord Mayor and citizens of London, in the year 1612, pursuant to the will of Mr. Robert Rogers, citizen and leatherseller, for six poor men and their wives, who have an annual allowance of 4_l._ each couple. _Maitland._

ROGUES WELL, Stepney fields.

ROLLS OFFICE AND CHAPEL, in Chancery lane, a house founded by King Henry III. in the place where stood a Jew’s house forfeited to that Prince in the year 1233. In this chapel all such Jews and infidels as were converted to the Christian faith, were ordained, and in the buildings belonging to it, were appointed a sufficient maintenance: by which means a great number of converts were baptized, instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, and lived under a learned Christian appointed to govern them: but in the year 1290, all the Jews being banished, the number of converts decreased, and in the year 1377, the house with its chapel was annexed by patent to the Keeper of the Rolls of Chancery.

The chapel, which is of brick, pebbles and some freestone, is sixty feet long, and thirty-three in breadth; the doors and windows are Gothic, and the roof covered with slate. In this chapel the rolls are kept in presses fixed to the sides, and ornamented with columns and pilasters of the Ionic and Composite orders.

These rolls contain all the records, as charters, patents, &c. since the beginning of the reign of Richard III. those before that time being deposited in the Record Office in the Tower: and these being made up in rolls of parchment gave occasion to the name.

At the north west angle of this chapel is a bench, where the Master of the Rolls hears causes in Chancery. And attendance is daily given in this chapel from ten o’clock till twelve, for taking in and paying out money, according to order of court, and for giving an opportunity to those who come for that purpose to search the rolls.

The Minister of the chapel is appointed by the Master of the Rolls, and divine service is performed there on Sundays and holidays at about eleven and three.

On the walls are several old monuments, particularly at the East end is that of Dr. Young Master of the Rolls, who died in the year 1516. In a well wrought stone coffin lies the effigies of Dr. Young, in a scarlet gown; his hands lie across upon his breast, and a cap with corners covers his ears. On the wall just above him, our Saviour is looking down upon him, his head and shoulders appearing out of the clouds, accompanied by two angels.

The office of the Rolls is under the government of the Master of the Rolls, whose house is by the chapel, and has been lately rebuilt in a handsome manner at the public expence.

The place of Master of the Rolls is an office of great dignity, and is in the gift of the King, either for life, or during pleasure. He is always the principal Master in Chancery, and has in his gift the offices of the Six Clerks in Chancery; of the Two Examiners of the same court, and of the Clerk of the Chapel of the Rolls, who acts immediately under him in that office. He has several revenues belonging to the office of the Rolls, and by act of Parliament receives a salary of 1200_l._ _per annum_ out of the hanaper. _Stowe._ _Maitland._ _Chamberlain’s Present State._

ROLLS _buildings_, Fetter lane; so called from their belonging to the Rolls office.

ROLLS LIBERTY, a small district out of the government of the city. It begins at the corner of Cursitor’s alley, next to Chancery lane, taking in the south side to the Rose tavern, where it crosses into White’s alley, which it takes all in except two or three houses on each side, next to Fetter lane; and there it crosses into the Rolls garden, which it likewise takes in; and from thence running into Chancery lane, by Serjeant’s Inn, extends into Jack-a-napes lane, about the middle of which it crosses into Pope’s Head court, which it takes all in, as it does the east side of Bell yard, almost to the end next Temple Bar, except a few houses on the back side of Crown court, which is in the city liberty; and then crossing Bell yard, near Temple Bar, runs cross the houses into Sheer lane, taking in all the east side; and again crossing over to Lincoln’s Inn New Court, runs up to the pump by the iron rails, where it crosses over into Chancery lane, and thence to the corner of Cursitor’s alley. _Stowe._

ROOD _lane_, Fenchurch street; thus named from a holy rood or cross there.

ROOMLAND _lane_, Thames street.

ROPEMAKERS _alley_, Little Moorfields.

ROPEMAKERS _field_, Limehouse.

ROPER _lane_, Crucifix lane, Barnaby street, Southwark.

ROPE _walk_, 1. Near Cut throat lane, Upper Shadwell. 2. Near Elm row, Sun tavern fields. 3. Goswell street. 4. St. John street, Smithfield. 5. King David’s lane. 6. Knockfergus, near Rosemary lane. 7. Near Nightingale lane. 8. Petticoat lane. 9. Rotherhith. 10. Near Shad Thames. 11. Sun tavern fields. 12. Near Whitechapel.

ROSE _alley_, 1. Bank side, Southwark.* 2. Bishopsgate street without.* 3. East Smithfield.* 4. Fleet lane, Fleet market.* 5. Golden lane, Barbican.* 6. High Holborn.* 7. St. Martin’s lane, Charing Cross.* 8. Rose street, Long Acre.* 9. Saffron hill.* 10. Shoreditch.* 11. Sugarbaker’s lane, Duke’s Place.* 12. Tooley street, Southwark.* 13. Turnmill street.* 14. Widegate alley, Bishopsgate street without.*

ROSE AND BALL _court_, Addle hill, by Great Carter lane.*

ROSE AND CROWN _alley_, near Whitechapel.*

ROSE AND CROWN _court_, 1. Church lane.* 2. St. Catharine’s lane.* 3. Cock lane, Shoreditch.* 4. Fashion street, Artillery lane, Spitalfields.* 5. Foster lane, Cheapside.* 6. Gray’s Inn lane.* 7. Holiwell street.* 8. Houndsditch.* 9. Moorfields.* 10. Rosemary lane.* 11. Shoe lane, Fleet street.* 12. Sutton street.* 13. Whitechapel.*

ROSE AND CROWN _yard_, 1. St. Giles’s street.* 2. King street, St. James’s square.* 3. Long alley, Moorfields.* 4. Rotherhith.*

ROSE AND RAINBOW _court_, Aldersgate street.*

ROSE _court_, 1. Aldermanbury.* 2. Beer lane, Tower street.* 3. Bishopsgate street.* 4. Goddard’s rents.* 5. Rochester street.* 6. Thieving lane.* 7. Tower street.* 8. Bow lane.* 9. Wheeler street.*

ROSE _lane_, 1. Spitalfields.* 2. Whitehorse street.*

ROSE _street_, 1. Brick lane.* 2. Gravel lane.* 3. Hog lane, Shoreditch.* 4. Long Acre.* 5. St. Martin’s lane.* 6. Newgate street.* 7. Newport market.* 8. Spitalfields.*

ROSE _yard_, 1. Catharine wheel alley.* 2. Newington Butts.* 3. Whitehorse street.*

ROSEMARY BRANCH _alley_, Rosemary lane.*

ROSEMARY _lane_, extends from the bottom of the Minories to Wellclose square, and is chiefly taken up with old cloaths shops.

ROSEWELL’S _court_, Great White Lion street, Seven Dials.†

ROSEWELL’S _yard_, Barnaby street, Southwark.†

ROTHERHITH, vulgarly called Rederiff, was anciently a village on the south east of London, though it is now joined to Southwark, and as it is situated along the south bank of the Thames, is chiefly inhabited by masters of ships, and other seafaring people.

ROTHERHITH _School_ was founded in the year 1612, by Mr. Peter Hills and Mr. Robert Bell, who endowed it with 3_l._ a year, for the education of eight poor seamens children. _Maitland._

ROTHERHITH _wall_, Jacob street, Rotherhith.

ROTHERHITH WATER WORKS, situated at the upper end of Rotherhith Wall, and the lower end of Mill street, where the engine is wrought by water from the river Thames, which being brought in by the tide is contained in the canals in the neighbouring streets. By this engine a sufficient quantity of water is raised to supply two main pipes of a six inch bore, whereby the neighbourhood is plentifully supplied with Thames water.

ROTTEN _row_, Goswell street.

ROUND _court_, 1. Black Friars. 2. Black Lion yard. 3. Blue Boar’s Head court, Barbican. 4. Butler’s alley. 5. Jewin street. 6. St. Martin’s le Grand. 7. Moses and Aaron alley, Whitechapel. 8. Old Bethlem. 9. Onslow street, Vine street, Hatton Wall. 10. Sharp’s alley, Cow Cross. 11. In the Strand.

ROUND ABOUT _alley_, Wapping dock.

ROUND HOOP _court_, Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*

ROYAL EXCHANGE, Cornhill. This edifice, which is dedicated to the service of commerce, was founded by Sir Thomas Gresham, a merchant distinguished by his abilities and great success in trade, who proposed, that if the city would prepare a proper spot, he would erect the building at his own expence. This proposal was accepted by the Lord Mayor and citizens, who purchased some houses between Cornhill and Threadneedle street, and having caused them to be pulled down and cleared away, the foundation of the new building was laid on the 7th of June 1566, and carried on with such expedition, that it was finished in November 1567.

This edifice was called the Bourse, but it soon after changed its name; for on the 23d of January 1570, Queen Elizabeth, attended by a great number of the nobility, came from Somerset house, her palace in the Strand, and passing through Threadneedle street, dined with Sir Thomas Gresham at his house in Bishopsgate street, and after dinner returning through Cornhill, entered the Bourse on the south side, where having viewed every part except the vaults, especially the gallery above stairs, which extended round the whole building, and was furnished with shops, in which were sold all sorts of the finest wares in the city, her Majesty caused this edifice to be proclaimed in her presence, by a herald and trumpet, _The Royal Exchange_.

Sir Thomas Gresham, at his death, left the building to his Lady, and after her decease to the Lord Mayor and citizens, and to the Mercers company, directing the rents to support, under their inspection, lectures on the sciences, at his dwelling house, now Gresham College, and some charities to the prisons.

The original building stood till the fire of London in 1666, when it perished amidst the general havoc: but it soon arose with greater splendor than before. The model of the present structure was first shewn to King Charles II. who was well pleased with it, it was however debated whether they should build after that model or not; for fear of launching out into too great an expence: but the majority desiring to have it a magnificent structure, and imagining, that the shops above and below stairs would in time reimburse them, had the present edifice erected at the expence of 80,000_l._

The ground plat of this building is 203 feet in length; 171 feet in breadth, and the area in the middle is 61 square perches. This area is surrounded with a substantial and regular stone building, wrought in rustic. In each of the principal fronts is a piazza, and in the center are the grand entrances into the area, under an arch which is extremely lofty and noble; on each side that of the principal front which is in Cornhill, are Corinthian demi-columns supporting a compass pediment; and in the intercolumniation on each side, in the front next the street, is a niche with the figures of King Charles I. and his son Charles II. in Roman habits, and well executed. Over the aperture on the cornice between the two pediments are the King’s arms in relievo. On each side of this entrance is a range of windows placed between demi-columns and pilasters of the Composite order, above which runs a balustrade. The height of the building is fifty-six feet, and from the center of this side rises a lantern and turret, 178 feet high, on the top of which is a fane in the form of a grasshopper of polished brass, esteemed a very fine piece of workmanship: a grasshopper being the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham’s arms.

The north front of the Royal Exchange is adorned with pilasters of the Composite order, but has neither columns nor statues on the outside, and instead of the two compass pediments has a triangular one.

Within the piazzas of these two fronts are two spacious stair cases with iron rails, and black marble steps; these lead into a kind of gallery that extends round the four sides of the building, and in which were about two hundred shops, that have been let from 20_l._ to 60_l._ a year each; and a very considerable trade was carried on here; but it has long declined, and all the shops are deserted.

One side of this gallery is employed as auction rooms for furniture, and in other apartments above stairs are the Royal Exchange Assurance office, &c. and in the vaults are the pepper warehouse of the East India company.