Chapter II

Turning the page, we see the old City as it was before the Fire, made up of gable-ended wooden houses with overhanging stories, crowded close together, and diversified by the numerous pinnacles and spires of the City churches, many of which were never rebuilt. The embattled line of the wall hems the City in on the north, and Cheapside cuts it laterally in a broad highway. Almost in the centre of the picture is the Guildhall. The interest reaches its culmination in the spectacle of Old London Bridge, with its irregular houses, its archways, and its chapel. Note that the engraver has not omitted to indicate the decaying heads on poles, a succession of which adorned the bridge throughout the centuries (see _The Thames_ in above series).

On the south side of the water is St. Mary Overies (see _Mediæval London_, vol. ii., p. 297). It has as neighbours Winchester and Rochester Houses, the residences of the respective Bishops of those sees; while the proud cupolas of Suffolk House--built _circa_ 1516, and later used as the Mint--are clearly shown. The houses running from it up to the foreground of the picture are beautifully delineated, and may be taken as models of Elizabethan architecture; while the man with the harp and the horseman are quite clearly enough drawn to show their period by the style of their dress. From some point behind here must Wyngaerde have made his survey, as it is manifestly impossible it could have been done from Suffolk House, as stated by one authority.