Chapter XII: London from Mediæval to Modern Times (1)

Mediæval London was almost entirely within the walls; but outside the walls, to the west, there was a connecting line of mansions on the river front leading to the village of Charing and on to Westminster, which is almost of equal antiquity with London itself. When the body of Queen Eleanor arrived at its last stage the funeral procession stopped a fair way from Westminster Abbey. One might have expected that the body would have remained under the shadow of its last resting-place, and we are, therefore, led to inquire why the village of Charing was chosen. The only answer to the question that can be given is, that here, on the site of Northumberland House, now occupied by Northumberland Avenue, there then stood a Hospital and Chapel of St. Mary, belonging to the Priory of Rouncevall (Roncesvalles), or De Rosida Valle, in the diocese of Pampelon, in Navarre. At the death of Eleanor this house was a comparatively recent establishment, having been founded by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in the reign of Henry III., but it probably afforded sufficient accommodation for the funeral procession for one night. The house was suppressed as an alien priory in the reign of Henry V., but restored in that of Edward IV. for a fraternity. In the Year Books of Henry VII. the master, wardens, brethren and sisters of Rouncevall are mentioned, and these continued until the general suppression.

The Cross, which gives its name to the place, was erected in the years 1291-1294, and is supposed to have been the handsomest of the series. As good a copy of the original as our imperfect information allows is to be seen within the railings of the South-Eastern Railway terminus. Westminster is of unknown antiquity, and was long known, from its wild growth of underwood, as Thorney, before the Abbey and the Palace arose to give the place a name which marked its position in relation to London and St. Paul's. There is but little authoritative history before Edward the Confessor and the consecration of the Abbey Church in 1065, but the history since that time is so considerable, and of so important a character, that it is impossible to do more than refer in these few words to what is universally acknowledged by all Englishmen to be the most hallowed building in the country.

On the opposite shore of the Thames is Lambeth, where is situated the Manor House of the Archbishops of Canterbury (now called Lambeth Palace). The site was originally given to the See of Rochester by the Countess Goda, sister of Edward the Confessor, and wife of Eustace, Count of Boulogne, but in the year 1197 the Bishop of Rochester made an exchange with the Archbishop of Canterbury of this place for other property, and Lambeth has ever since been the London residence of the Archbishops. From here we pass over Lambeth Marsh to Southwark, a place whose history has been intimately associated with that of the City of London, and is now an integral part of the county.

The chief glory of the borough is the grand church of the Augustinian Priory of St. Mary Overy, dating from the beginning of the twelfth century, and now known as St. Saviour's.

Southwark has been from the earliest times the chief thoroughfare to and from London and the southern

counties and towns, and the cities of the Continent. From this cause it was for centuries the quarter for famous old inns, beginning in order of importance with the Bear at the Bridge Foot, the Tabard of Chaucer, and following on with the King's Head, the White Hart, and the George--a portion of the latter hostelry only remaining to the present day.

Southwark was also notorious for its prisons--the King's Bench, the Marshalsea, the White Lion, the Borough Compter and the Clink. The last-named was on the Bankside, so intimately associated from the earliest times with the rough sports of the Londoners, and in Elizabeth's reign the chief home of the dramatic displays of that great period. The "Bank" was then a long straggling street, extending from the manor of Paris Garden on the west to the liberty of the Clink on the east. Near Paris Garden was the Falcon Inn, which was once supposed to have been the resort of Shakespeare. This apparently is an error, for at the time of the great dramatist's death there appears to have been no inns on the Bankside. Little or nothing actually exists now that was there in the sixteenth century, but the contour of the street and nearly every name have lasted in their integrity, and probably will last for many a long year more.

Although during the reigns of the Tudor sovereigns the Renascence became triumphant, the men and women of London still continued to live in a town which retained its mediæval characteristics.

Two striking scenes in the history of London during the reign of Mary I. may be alluded to here.

When the Queen made known her intention of marrying Philip of Spain, the discontent of the nation found vent in the rising of Sir Thomas Wyat, and the city had to prepare itself against attack. Wyat took possession of Southwark, and expected to have been admitted into London, but finding the gate of the Bridge closed against him and the drawbridge cut down he marched to Kingston. Having restored the bridge there, which had been destroyed, he proceeded towards London. In consequence of the break down of some of his guns he imprudently halted at Turnham Green. Had he not done this he might have obtained possession of the city. He planted his ordnance on Hay Hill, and then marched by St. James's Palace and Charing Cross. Here he was attacked by Sir John Gage with a thousand men, but he repulsed them, and reached Ludgate without further opposition. He was disappointed at the resistance which was made, and after musing a while "upon a stall over against the Bell Savadge gate," he turned back. His retreat was cut off, and he surrendered to Sir Maurice Berkeley.

To picture another striking scene, we must move from the west side of London to the north. Outside Cripplegate was built a barbican or watch-tower, as an outwork for observance, and the little village, with its Fore Street, which grew up outside the walls, was sheltered behind it. The care of this important position was naturally given to trustworthy persons. Edward III. appointed Robert Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, Keeper of the Barbican, and from him it descended, in course of time, to Catherine, daughter of William Lord Willoughby de Eresby, who married, firstly, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; and secondly, Richard Bertie. Bertie and his wife were Protestants, and in Queen Mary's reign their lives were in such danger that they were forced to arrange in secrecy for their flight.

Between four and five o'clock in the morning of 1st January 1554-1555 the Duchess began her adventurous journey in a thick fog. She could place no confidence in the bulk of her dependants, and there was great difficulty in arranging for company and baggage. As she was leaving, one Atkinson, a herald, issued from the house bearing a torch in his hand, and evidently bent on discovering the cause of the unusual bustle at this early hour. Fearing to be discovered as she stood up under a gateway, she moved on quietly and left her baggage at the gatehouse. Finding that the herald still followed, she bade her servants to hasten onwards to Lion Key, where she proposed to embark. Taking with her only two servants and her child, "she stept into Garter House, hard by."[384] She dared not pass into the city through Cripplegate but walked on to Moorgate. Thence she proceeded across the town to the port of embarkation. Eventually she joined her husband, who had preceded her, in Flanders. Soon after her escape she gave birth to a son at Wesel. He was named Peregrine, from the circumstance of his being born in a foreign land and during the wandering of his parents. This name was long continued in the family. The child grew up to be one of Queen Elizabeth's greatest generals, popularly known as the "brave Lord Willoughby."

"But the bravest man in battel
Was brave Lord Willoughby."

There is a special fascination to us now in a picture of Elizabethan London, for with its history are bound up some of the most interesting incidents in the lives of the statesmen and other great men of the spacious days of the great Queen; and have we not Shakespeare and Ben Jonson among those who have portrayed the various places for us.

London has always appealed to the imagination of the adventurous country youth to be the home of golden promise. If he can only get there he believes that his successful career has commenced, but it appears that in Elizabeth's reign there was pretty much the same difficulty in obtaining employment as there is now. This is illustrated by a curious account of the early life of John Sadler, a native of Stratford-on-Avon, and one of Shakespeare's contemporaries, which has come down to us. "He joined himself to the carrier, and came to London, where he had never been before, and sold his horse in Smithfield, and having no acquaintance in London to recommend him or assist him he went from street to street, and house to house, asking if they wanted an apprentice, and though he met with many discouraging scorns and a thousand denials he went on till he lighted on one Mr. Brokesbank, a grocer in Bucklersbury, who, though he long denied him for want of sureties for his fidelity, and because the money he had (but ten pounds) was so disproportionate to what he used to receive with apprentices, yet upon his discreet account he gave of himself and the motives which put him upon that course, and promise to compensate with diligent and faithful service whatever else was short of his expectation, he ventured to receive him upon trial, in which he so well approved himself that he accepted him into his service, to which he bound him for eight years."

The outdoor life of his time, with the men and women who frequented the streets, is brought vividly before our eyes in Ben Jonson's plays. The useful and useless members of society pass across the stage. The water-carriers who congregate around the conduits are represented by Cob in _Every Man in His Humour_.

Before Sir Hugh Myddelton made the New River and brought to men's houses, all water that was wanted had to be fetched from the conduits. The men who supplied the town drew off the water into large wooden tankards, broad at the bottom, but narrow at the top, which held about three gallons. This vessel was borne upon the shoulder, and to keep the carrier dry two towels were fastened over him, one to fall in front and the other to cover his back.

The narrowness of the old London streets is strikingly shown in _The Devil is an Ass_, where the lady and her lover speak gentle nothings to each other from the windows of two contiguous buildings.

All the fashions of his time--the rapier fighting of the gallants, the smoking madness of all classes at a time when tobacco was supposed to be the panacea for all the ills of human nature, the custom of garnishing conversation with oaths--are introduced into the books of Ben Jonson. The poet's love of good liquor and social intercourse made him a frequenter of inns. His acquaintance with the two rival taverns of Cheapside--the Mermaid and the Mitre--must have commenced early, because the names of both occur in the first quarto of _Every Man in His Humour_ (1601); in the later folio edition the Mitre is changed to the Star and the Mermaid to the Windmill. The ever-memorable Mermaid was situated on the south side of Cheapside, between Bread Street and Friday Street. From the mention of this tavern in the first draft of _Every Man In His Humour_ it may be inferred that Jonson was a frequenter before the famous club, consisting of Shakespeare, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Carew, Donne, Selden and others, was established by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603.

The Mitre was a rival house, and some writers tried to write it up at the expense of the Mermaid. Thus Middleton has the following dialogue in his comedy, _Your Five Gallants_ (1608):--

"_Goldstone._ Where sup we, gallants?

_Pursenet._ At Mermaid.

_Gold._ Sup there who list, I have forsworne the house.

_Pur._ Faith! I'm indifferent.

_Bungler._ So are we, gentlemen.

_Pur._ Name the place, Master Goldstone.

_Gold._ Why, the Mitre, in my mind, for neat attendance, diligent boys, and--Push! excels it far.

_All._ Agreed. The Mitre then."

The Windmill, in the old Jewry, which occupies so prominent a position in the revised edition of _Every Man in His Humour_, was a house with a long history. It was first of all a synagogue for the Jews of the neighbourhood; then it was granted by Henry III. to the prior and brethren of the Order of friars called the Fratres de Sacca, and in 1439 it was occupied by Lord

Mayor Robert Large. In 1492 Sir Hugh Clopton, the worthy who built Clopton Bridge at Stratford-on-Avon, kept his mayoralty in the mansion, which, a hundred years afterwards, was turned into a tavern.

The Devil, in Fleet Street, was one of the most famous of the places of entertainment of the time. It is not known when Ben Jonson started the "Apollo" Club here, but it was probably not long before 1616, when the _Devil is an Ass_ was acted.

Herrick, in his well-known ode, mentions several other taverns to which Ben and "his sons" resorted:--

"Ah, Ben!
Say how or when
Shall we thy guests
Meet at those lyric feasts
Made at the Sun,
The Dog, the Triple Tun?
Where we such clusters had
As made us nobly wild, not mad;
And yet each verse of thine
Outdid the meal, outdid the frolic wine."

It was in Jonson's day that the suburbs, which (as previously referred to) had long been treated with disfavour, were gradually asserting themselves, and the poet was particularly at home in the understanding of their peculiarities. Of the northern suburbs the fullest mention is to be found in _A Tale of a Tub_, where we read of Totten Court, Kentish Town, Maribone, Kilborne, Islington and Belsize, and the fields near Pancras.

If we look for Hoxton in a modern map of London we shall find it near Old Street, St. Luke's, not far from the centre of the present London, but in Jonson's time it was a country place, cut off from the city by Moorfields. Knowell's house (_Every Man in His Humour_) was at Hogsden, which was then, according to Stow, "a large street with houses on both sides." Master Stephen describes his uncle's property as "Middlesex land," and he himself is called a country gull, in opposition to Master Matthew, the town gull. Ben had reason to remember Hoxton, for it was in the fields close by that he fought and nearly killed Gabriel Spenser. Moorfields remained for several years in an almost impassable condition, but in 1511 regular dykes and bridges of communication over them were made, in order partially to drain the rotten ground.

In the play so frequently referred to we find Turnbull mentioned by Bobadil, among other disreputable places, as one of the "skirts of the town." Turnbull, or, more properly, Turnmill Street, was situated near Clerkenwell Green, and was known as the haunt of ruffians, thieves and disorderly persons. Justice Shallow boasted to Falstaff of the wildness of his youth and the feats he had done in Turnbull Street.

On the west the Oxford Road, commencing at the village of St. Giles, was in the country, and where Stratford Place now stands was a cottage among trees and hedges called the Lord Mayor's Banqueting House, which was used by the city magnates when they hunted at Bayswater and Hyde Park. This is alluded to in _The Devil is an Ass_:--

"But got the gentlewoman to go with me
And carry her bedding to a conduit-head,
Hard by the place towards Tyburn which they call
My Lord Mayor's banqueting house."

"Eastward for Ratcliff!" is a cry in the _Alchemist_. Ratcliff, which Stow remembered as a highway, with fair elm trees on each side, in later times became the synonym of all that is dangerous and disreputable in London streets.

The actor William Kemp, in describing his remarkable morris dance from London to Norwich (1600), writes: "Being past Whitechappel and having left fair London, multitudes of Londoners left not me, eyther to keepe a custome which many holde, that Mile-end is no walke without a recreation at Stratford Bow with cream and cakes, or else for love they beare towards me, or perhaps to make themselves merry if I should chance (as many thought) to give over my morrice within a mile of Mile-end."

Shakespeare lived outside the city walls, and although we cannot exactly tell the position of his houses it is pretty certain that he lived both in the parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, and in the Clink on the Bankside.

Stuart London followed Tudor London, but with the death of James I. in 1625 the older history may be said to close, for there was a considerable change during the reign of Charles I. The upper classes moved westward to Lincoln's Inn and Great Queen Street and Covent Garden. The great architect, Inigo Jones, built houses for them in both these districts.

There was a certain stagnation in the movements of the population during the period of the Commonwealth, but at the Restoration of Charles II. a new life came into existence. The exiled Cavaliers returned to their country and found their fathers' houses in the City of London either occupied by others or unfitted for their reception. In consequence, they migrated to a district far from the city. The builders were busy in covering fields with houses, and Pall Mall, where the game of that name had been played, was planned out as a fine street, which it remains to the present day. Lords Clarendon, Burlington and Berkeley erected mansions in Piccadilly, and Lord St. Albans created St. James's Square. Many others followed the example of these leaders of Society, and the upper classes were completely cut off from the city. The contemptuous references to the traders of London, which are first noticed in Elizabeth's reign, became common. The cits were laughed at, and the courtiers poured out a torrent of abuse upon all those who lived in the east.

The Great Fire of 1666 made an enormous change in the topography of London, and caused great misery, but it is supposed to have been a blessing in disguise as it cleared out many a centre of plague and disease.

When we read of the heroism of the homeless Londoner we must feel proud of our ancestors. They had lost everything, but they did not sit down and wring their hands. When the streets were destroyed by fire the river became more than ever a highway, and boats filled with the goods of the sufferers covered the waters. Moorfields formed a handy open space, and soon streets of huts were raised to shelter the homeless families. Wren, England's greatest architect, John Evelyn, the most accomplished man of his time and the model of a Royalist gentleman, and Robert Hooke, the great philosopher, were all three, ready within a few hours of the fire with plans for the rebuilding of the city, but none of the plans were adopted although all had their good points, and Wren's especially would certainly have given us fine avenues and convenient thoroughfares.

The difficulties in carrying out these schemes would no doubt have been very great, and it is useless now to regret that a great opportunity was lost.

Wren and Hooke were appointed to superintend the progress of the work of making London arise anew out of its ashes. The Act of Parliament passed to regulate the work of rebuilding was a very practical, and altogether excellent, statute. In fact, the way in which all concerned in the complicated business of raising a new city worked in unison is worthy of every praise. At the same time that they proceeded with their labours they did not allow the trade and business of the country's

centre to fall out of gear, and this does the greatest credit to all concerned, both governors and governed.

While the burnt town remained a waste there must have been overwhelming inconveniences, but no time was allowed to be lost, and in the end a new city arose infinitely superior in comfort and convenience to that which had gone before, although certainly it was not so picturesque.

Before passing on to take a rapid view of the later periods of London life some mention may be made of a few of the interesting buildings that escaped the fire and have not previously been alluded to in these pages.

Outside the confines of the city to the west grew up from early times a district with many various associations. Curious traditions and odd customs gather round the history of the parish of St. Clement Danes, where Westminster and London met, which still suggest many points of special interest well worthy of fuller investigation than they have as yet received.

The accompanying view shows Temple Bar and the old-world houses of Butcher Row. The first mention of Temple Bar is in a grant of land "extra barram Novi Temple" in 1301. At that time there was no building, but merely posts, rails and chain to mark the extent of the liberties of London. In course of time a gate was erected, and the one which existed at the time of the Great Fire was pulled down, and a new gate was erected in 1670-1672 from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. This, after existing for two centuries as one of the best-known objects in London, was removed in the winter of 1878-1879. The stones remained exposed to the weather for ten years before Temple Bar was re-erected at the entrance to the late Sir Henry Meux's private grounds at Theobalds, Waltham Cross. The erection was completed on 3rd December 1888, and the gate in its new position and restored condition presents a very handsome appearance, showing it to be worthy of its great architect.

The history of Butcher Row is crowded with incidents in the lives of authors and the unfortunate hangers-on to literature. The timber-framed house, with projecting upper storeys and barge-boarded gables, the front decorated with _fleurs-de-lis_ and coronets, was known as Beaumont House, and it is said that Sully, then Marquis of Rosny, supped and slept there on his arrival in London (1603) as Ambassador to James I.

Butcher Row was pulled down in 1813, and Pickett Street was erected in its place. This street was pulled down to make way for the new Law Courts, and now nearly the whole northern portion of St. Clement's parish has been cleared away. A great improvement has been made, but in order to obtain this many picturesque houses of interest have had to be destroyed.

Returning within the Bar to the city, and walking up Chancery Lane, we come to Lincoln's Inn Gateway, one of the three historical gateways of importance in London; the other two being St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, and the entrance to St. James's Palace. This gatehouse of brick was built by Sir Thomas Lovell, K.G., son of the executor of Henry VII., and bears the date upon it of 1518. This interesting building, although perfectly sound and in good condition, was shored up a few years ago when old chambers by the side of it were pulled down and rebuilt, and it then narrowly escaped destruction. Efforts were successfully made to save the gate, and it is to be hoped that it may remain to give distinction to Chancery Lane for many years. Returning to Chancery Lane, and crossing Holborn, we come to Gray's Inn. The fine hall, which is full of associations of the deepest interest, was built between the years 1555 and 1560. Of the hall which it replaced there is no record, save that in 5 Edw. VI.

(1551), it "was seiled with fifty-four yards of wainscot, at 2s. a yard."

The present hall has the great distinction, according to Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, of being "one of the only two buildings now remaining in London in which, so far as we know, any of the plays of Shakespeare were performed in his own time."[385] The other, of course, being the Middle Temple Hall, where _Twelfth Night_ was acted on February 2, 1601-2.

_The Comedy of Errors_ was played on the evening of Innocents' Day (December 28), 1594, in the hall, before a crowded audience; some of the guests from the Inner Temple created a disturbance because they were not properly accommodated, and this led to an official inquiry. Mr. Sidney Lee thinks it probable that Shakespeare himself was not present, as he was acting on the same day before the Queen at Greenwich. Another performance of the play was given in the hall by the Elizabethan Stage Society on December 6, 1895.[386]

George Gascoigne's _Jocasta_, adapted from the Phoenissæ of Euripides, was acted in the Refectory in 1566. Gray's Inn was famous for its masques and revels, and on July 7, 1887, in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee, the Benchers of Gray's Inn presented in the hall, to a distinguished audience, the _Masque of Flowers_, which had been performed before James I. on Twelfth Night, two hundred and sixty-four years before.

Gray's Inn had a brilliant roll of members in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but it is Bacon's spirit that seems to haunt the whole place. He helped the students in preparing their revels, probably wrote a masque or masques, and planted trees in the gardens, the arrangement of which he is believed to have super-intended. His name remains in Verulam Buildings.

Returning to Holborn, and walking a little to the west, we come to the impressive front of Staple Inn, the most remarkable street front of old houses still in existence in London. The origin of the place is unknown, and nothing satisfactory has been discovered respecting the meaning of the name, or as to what it was before it came into the occupation of the Inn of Chancery. There is a tradition that it originally belonged to the merchants of the Staple. It was purchased by the Benchers of Gray's Inn in 1529, and in Elizabeth's reign there were 145 students in term, and 69 out of term. It was bought in 1884 by the Prudential Assurance Company for £68,000, and the Holborn front was restored and cleared from plaster covering the timber beams.

There are now very few old street fronts of interest in London, one or two in the Strand, and some in the great roads out of London, but a few years ago there were many still remaining in the Whitechapel and Mile End Roads, and in Bishopsgate Street Without. In the latter street (No. 169) there was until lately the remains of the mansion of Sir Paul Pindar, an eminent English merchant (who died in 1650), distinguished for his love of architecture, and the magnificent sums he gave towards the restoration of old St. Paul's Cathedral. In 1617-1618 the house was occupied by the Venetian Embassy. In its last days it was used as a public-house, with the sign of "Sir Paul Pindar's Head." When it was pulled down the front was obtained for the South Kensington Museum, where it was re-erected.

The London of Johnson and Hogarth was not a handsome city, but it was a social one, and we owe to these two men many vivid pictures of the life lived in it. They were both true Londoners, but they were not alone in their love for their city, for a marked feature in the character of the eighteenth-century Londoner was his intense feeling that here only was life to be lived with true enjoyment. Much of the life was frivolous, and some of it worse than that, but among the respectable classes the opportunities for social intercourse were greater than now, when large numbers of the workers live out of London, some in the north, and some in the south, and it takes as long to get from Hampstead to Croydon as to travel a hundred miles into the country.

During the eighteenth century London continued to grow, but it became uglier every day. The original growth was along the course of the river, but near the middle of the century a little building was commenced to the north of Oxford Street, when Cavendish Square and the surrounding streets were laid out. Soon afterwards the New Road from the Angel at Islington to the Edgware Road (now re-named Pentonville, Euston, and Marylebone Roads) was planned. The opening of this road greatly facilitated the locomotion of the town, but it was disliked by the dwellers in what was then thought

to be the north of London, who had their view of the country cut off. When Queen Square was built in the reign of Queen Anne it was left open to the north, as it has remained to this day, in order to enable the inhabitants to have a view of Hampstead and Highgate. The gardens of Bedford House, which stood on the north side of Bloomsbury Square, had an uninterrupted view of the country, and the Duke of Bedford strongly opposed in the House of Lords the Bill for making the New Road. On this opposition Horace Walpole cynically remarked to Conway (March 25, 1756): "A new road through Paddington has been proposed to avoid the stones; the Duke of Bedford, who is never in town in summer, objects to the dust it will make behind Bedford House, and to some buildings proposed, though if he was in town he is too short-sighted to see the prospect."

The gardens of Bedford House were famous for their beauty and for the trees which flourished there, "the ancient stems" of "the light and graceful acacia" being specially mentioned by Walpole.

Behind Montagu House (now the British Museum) was Capper's Farm, which extended to Tottenham Court Road. The old farmhouse still exists behind Messrs Heal & Son's shop, No. 195 Tottenham Court Road.

Near where University College in Gower Street now stands was a wild district known as the Field of Forty Footsteps, which had a bad repute as the scene of a sanguinary duel about the time of the Monmouth Rebellion between two brothers who were both killed.

No grass would grow over the footsteps trodden by the duellists, which were said to be recognisable until the year 1800 when the ground was built over.

A little further east, where Cromer Street now stands, was a wayside inn named "The Boot," which is made by Dickens in his _Barnaby Rudge_ the meeting-place of the Gordon Rioters of 1780.

The site of this inn is still occupied by a public-house with the same sign.

Even after these fields were built upon, the air continued so good that the gardens round about produced excellent fruit. When Lord Eldon lived at No. 42 Gower Street at the beginning of the nineteenth century his peaches and vegetables were famous. Nectarines were grown at 6 Upper Gower Street in 1800, and grapes were also successfully cultivated there.

The district north of the New Road is of a clayey soil and without a sufficient water supply, so that the ground remained unbuilt upon until at the beginning of the nineteenth century several new Water Companies came into existence and the building operations were commenced. Since that time the suburbs have continued to increase, and a great start was given to the increased growth of the town after the holding of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Before the middle of the nineteenth century the growth of London had been continually increasing, but it was not until after 1851 that the abnormal growth set in.

The Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 bought a large property at Brompton and the district of South Kensington sprang into existence. The glass and iron forming the Exhibition buildings were transferred to Sydenham, and the Crystal Palace was erected there. Soon this rural district, where gipsies once told fortunes, was covered with houses.

This was the beginning of the onward march of bricks and mortar, which is going on still so rapidly that on all sides we have to travel by rail for miles before we get out of the labyrinth of buildings.

When we see on all sides of us modern buildings where interesting old buildings once stood, we are apt to jump to the conclusion that all signs and relics of Mediæval London have passed away, but this is not so, for there is still much to see in out-of-the-way places if we go about the search with intelligence. From what we see we may reconstruct much of the old topography in our mind's eye. The first thing to do is to follow the course of the wall, and mark out the position of the gates. This can easily be done by studying an old map. Some remains of the wall are still to be seen.

Many most interesting remains of Roman London will be found in the Guildhall Museum.

There are few remains left of the Saxon period, but some bits are to be seen at Westminster. Of Norman buildings we have portions of the Tower, of Great St. Bartholomew's Church, the 'Round' of the Temple Church, and the Crypt of Bow Church, Cheapside.

Of later ages there are a few relics of the religious houses which have already been referred to. All the churches which escaped the ravages of the Great Fire have their points of interest. Lambeth Palace, although much of it is comparatively modern, has a most venerable appearance and is certainly one of the most important relics of past ages that the present London has to boast.

Westminster Hall, Abbey, Church and School are of transcendent interest, and some relics of the old Abbey buildings still exist in connection with the School.

Of secular buildings there are Crosby Hall, Middle Temple Hall, Gray's Inn Hall, and some others.

It is impossible to print a detailed list of all the places that should be visited, but these few notes will give some slight indication of what little is left of Mediæval London.

INDEX

A

Aldermen of London, 249-257;
distinct rank accorded to, 255;
to reside in the city, 255;
use of the title, 250;
connection with the Wards, 252-255.

Aldgate, Chaucer tenant of, 34, 81, 82;
Stow's etymology, 25;
earliest form of name, 28.

Arderne (John), an early surgeon of mark, 172, 173.

Arms of London, 261-263.

Austin Friars in London, 364.

B

Bachelors, class of unmarried members of Livery Companies, 321.

Bachelors' Alley, near Goldsmiths' Hall, 321.

Bakers of London, 305-307.

Bankrupt, etymology of, 327.

Bankside, 380.

Barbican, or watch tower, 26.

Bartholomew's (St.) Hospital, 179-191;
founded by Rahere, 180;
repaired by Whittington, 185;
Wat Tyler died there, 185;
law officers, 188;
Thomas Vicary, first governor, 189;
Dr Roderigo Lopus first physician, 191.

Baynard Castle, 31;
privileges associated with its possession, 264.

Bedford House, Bloomsbury 401;
gardens, 401.

Bell Tower of St. Paul's, 337.

Benedictine Monastery of Black Monks, Westminster, 352.

---- Reforms of the Benedictines, 352-356.

Bishop of London, his prominent position, 19.

Bishopsgate, site marked by tablets, 27.

Black Death, the first great plague, 197.

Black Friars in London, 360.

Boot (The), in Cromer Street, immortalised by Dickens, 401.

Bow Church, Cheapside, 348, 349.

Brembre (Nicholas), feud with John of Northampton, 236.

Brewers of London, 313-315.

Building, Assize of, 36, 37.

Butchers of London, 307-309.

Butchers' Row, Temple Bar, 391, 392.

C

Canons regular, Order of St. Austin, 351.

Canons secular, 350-351;
Barking College, 351;
Holmes's College, 351;
Collegiate Church of St. Martin-le-Grand, 350;
College of St. Michael, Crooked Lane, 351;
Collegiate Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster, 351.

Caorsins, company of Italian financiers banished from London, 324.

Capper's Farm, Tottenham Court Road, 401.

_Carta Mercatoria_, 1303, 289.

Carthusian Order in London, 355.

Castellan and Bannerer of London, 264.

Chamberlain or Comptroller of the King's Chamber, 271, 272

Charing Cross, 138, 375, 376.

Charterhouse, remains of, 369.

Chaucer (Geoffrey) a representative Londoner, 80-89.

---- tenant of Aldgate, 34, 81, 82.

---- his portrait of the "doctor of physick," 166, 167.

---- and poets of his time, round the town with, 71-89.

Cheapside, the market-place, 25, 286;
the cross, 138.

---- streets running out of, appropriated
to sale of different commodities, 25.

Christ Church, Newgate Street, 24.

---- town ditch ran through grounds, 24.

Christ's Hospital, deaths from plague, 209 (note).

Church and education, 330-374.

Churches, 347-351.

---- St. Bartholomew, 348;
St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, 348;
St. Martin's-le-Grand, Collegiate Church of, 348;
St. Mary le Bow, 348;
St. Michael le Querne, 348;
St. Peter's, Cornhill, 348.

Cistercian Order in London, 355.

Clergy forbidden to practise surgery, 168.

Clerkenwell, crypt of St. John's, 369.

Clothing trades, antagonism to victualling trades, 235-238, 304, 305.

Clothworkers' Company, 301-303, 317.

Cluniac Order in London, 352.

Cnut's trench on the south side of the Thames, 12.

Cobblers of London, 317.

Commerce and trade in London, 277-329.

Common Council of London, 259-261;
court of, 259;
election of, 260.

Common Hunt of London, 272.

Common Sergeant, 270.

Commune of London, origin of, 223-230;
character, 225;
oath, 227;
mayor and skivins, 227.

Cordwainers' Company, 317.

Coronation banquets, Mayor of London's position at, 246-248.

Craft gilds, 293, 294.

Cripplegate, etymology of, 26.

Crutched Friars in London, 366.

Custom-House first built in 1385, 29.

E

Eating-houses and taverns, 157-160.

Eleanor crosses, 138.

F

Fabian (St.) and St. Sebastian, gild of London, 297.

Fairs and markets, 282-288;
Bartholomew fair, 282;
Cloth fair, 282;
Nane fair, 282;
_la novele feyre_, 282;
prohibition against being held in churchyards, 285;
Stocks Market, 286.

Faith (St.), Church of, 344, 345.

Field of Forty Footsteps, 401.

Fire of London, 1666, 388-391;
schemes for rebuilding, 388-391.

Fires in London, 36, 37;
precautions for their prevention, 37, 38.

Fishmongers of London, 309-311.

Fitz-Ailwin (Henry), Mayor of London, 230;
his seal, 231;
assize of building, 36, 37;
second assize, 37.

Fitzstephen's picture of London, 32, 90, 96, 131, 163, 373.

Fitz-Walter, Castellan and Bannerer of London, 264;
his seal, 269.

Football in the streets of London, 133.

Friars in London, 359-368;
Austin, 364;
Black, 360-363;
Crutched, 366;
De Areno, 367;
Grey, 363, 364;
Maturine, 368;
Penance of Jesus Christ or _de Sacco_, 367;
Pied, 367;
White, 365, 366.

Friday Street, Chaucer in, 86.

Friscobaldi, Company of Italian financiers, 325.

G

Galley Quay by the Tower, 29.

Garlekhith, gild of, London, 296.

Gates of London, their position should be marked, 27;
as dwelling-houses, 34.

Gilbertus Anglicus, first English writer on medicine, 167.

Gild merchant, 291-293.

Gilds and Companies of London, 290-323;
bakers, 305-309;
brewers and vintners, 313-315;
fishmongers, 309-311;
grocers, 312, 313;
poulterers, 311, 312.

Giles's (St.) and the leper hospital, 195.

Girdlers' Company, London, 319.

Gloucester (Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of), her penance, 91.

Goldsmiths' Company, 319-322.

Goldsmiths' Row, Cheapside, 320.

Governors of the city, 218-263.

Gower (John), Londoner, 76-78.

Gray's Inn, 392-395.

Grey Friars in London, 363, 364.

Grocers of London, 312, 313.

Guildhall of London, 273, 274.

H

Haberdashers of London, 315.

Health, disease and sanitation of London, 161-217.

Heptarchy, changes in the so-called, 16.

Hermitages, 368;
Monkwell Street, Cripplegate, 368.

Hoccleve (Thomas), Londoner, 74, 75.

Hogarth, a true Londoner, 398.

Hospitals of London, 179-195; St. Bartholomew's, 179-191; St. Thomas's, 191, 192; for lepers, 192, 197.

I

Inns of London, 384, 385;
Devil, Fleet Street, 385;
Mermaid, 384;
Mitre, 384;
Windmill, 384.

Inns of Southwark, 379;
Bear at Bridge Foot, 379;
George, 379;
King's Head, 379;
Tabard, 379;
White Hart, 379.

Italian bankers in London, papers by Bond, Rhodes and Whitwell, 325 (note).

J

Jack Cade's Rebellion, 48, 49, 63-70.

Jews in London, 165, 323, 324;
as practisers of surgery, 165;
hardships of, 323;
expelled from England, 323.

John of Gaddesden, doctor of physick, 167, 168.

Johnson (Samuel), a true Londoner, 398.

Jonson's (Ben) London, 383.

Justiciar of London created by Henry I.'s charter, 221, 222.

K

Katherine's (St.) Gild, 296.

King's household, their right to lodgings, 40;
London exempted from this charge, 40-42.

King's Palace (the Tower), 108-130.

L

Lambreth Palace, 376.

Lazar houses, 192;
"The Loke," Kent Street, Southwark, 192;
at Hackney, 192;
hospital of St Giles's, 195.

Leathersellers' Company, London, 318.

Lepers, regulations respecting, in London, 192-197.

Life, expectancy of, in the Middle Ages, 162.

Lincoln's Inn gateway, 392.

Lithsmen, their position in London, 19.

Livery Companies and the Gilds, 299-301;
feuds of the companies, 235-238, 304, 305.

Lombards, Italian financiers in London, 324-327.

London, a distinct political unit during the Saxon period, 17;
Arms of London, 261-263;
British remains, 1, 2;
centre of early commerce, 277;
Church and education, 330-374;
commerce and trade, 277-329;
Commune, 223;
condition of houses, 35;
Danish invasions, 8;
disputes as to the rebuilding by Alfred, 8;
early history of, to Norman Conquest, 1-20;
eating-houses and taverns, 157-160;
education, 372-374;
exempt from billeting of soldiers, 40, 41;
fairs and markets, 282;
feuds of Livery Companies, 235-238;
fire of 1666, 388;
fires, 36, 37;
foreign element in, 20, 222;
foreigners and strangers not permitted to reside in, 289;
free citizens of, subject to onerous laws under
the Normans, 21, 22;
gates closed at curfew, 23, 24;
Governors of the city, 218-263;
growth in eighteenth century, 398;
health, disease, and sanitation, 161-217;
Jack Cade's rebellion, 48, 49, 63-70;
large portions of town left desolate at dissolution
of religious houses, 368;
lights to be extinguished at curfew, 23;
line of the walls, 23-28;
Ludgate, chief entrance of, 23;
manners, 131-160;
Mayors of, 231-235;
first use of the title Lord Mayor, 239-241;
migration of upper classes westward, 387;
narrowness of streets, 383;
Newgate, western approach, 23, 24;
officials of the city, 264-274;
older than Middlesex and Surrey, 17;
overcrowding, 213;
pageants, processions and tournaments, 136-153;
peasants' rising under Wat Tyler, 47-63;
"Pui" brotherhood of, musical society French merchants, 153;
plans for rebuilding after Great Fire, 388;
population, 46, 47, 207;
recognised capital under Edward the Confessor, 19;
references to, in _Piers Plowman_, 71, 72;
right to a voice in selection of king during the Saxon period, 13;
round the town with Chaucer and the poets of his time, 71-89;
sanctuary, 370-372;
schools, 372-374;
seal, 261;
seat of trade in Eastern luxuries, 280;
sports, 131-136;
streets first lighted by lanterns in 1415, 23;
stringent regulations relaxed under Henry I., 23;
suburbs, 385, 386;
tower of, as a fortress, 112-114;
as a palace, 113-125;
as a prison, 125-130;
victualling and clothing trades' antagonism, 235-238;
walled town and its streets, 21-70;
water fetched from conduits, 383;
westward growth of, 387;
London and Londonburgh, use of the names in the Saxon Chronicle, 4;
Roman, 3;
Saxon Chronology, 3-20;
from mediæval to modern times, 375-403.

London Bridge, 100-107;
destroyed by Olaf, 11, 12;
wooden bridge, 100;
first stone bridge, 100;
built on piles, 102;
weight of buildings on, 105;
the chief sight of London, 105;
waterway obstructed by, 107.

London Stone, 230.

Lord Mayor, first use of title, 239-241.

Ludgate, 23, 31.

Lydgate (John), a visitor to London, 78, 79.

M

Mace-bearers of London, 272.

Manners of the Londoners, 131-160.

Markets; _see_ Fairs and markets.

Martin's (St.) le Grand, curfew tolled from the church, 24.

Mayors of London, 231-235;
position at coronation banquets, 246-248;
position in the city, 242-245;
summons to Privy Council on accession of sovereign, 245, 246.

---- pageants connected with election of, 248, 249.

---- skivins assistants to the mayor, 227.

Medical skill in the Middle Ages, 164.

Medicine and surgery, faculty of, 170, 171.

Mercers' Company, London, 315.

Merchant Taylors and Linen Armourers, London, 315.

Middle Temple Hall, 396;
_Comedy of Errors_ played in, 396.

Military orders, 356, 357;
Knights Hospitallers, 356, 357;
Templars, 356, 357.

Minoresses by Aldgate, 85, 364.

Minories, derivation of the name, 28.

Monks (Benedictines) in Westminster, 352-359.

---- Cluniac reform, 352-354;
Carthusians, 355;
Cistercians, 355, 356.

Montfichet, Tower of, 268.

Morestede (Thomas), King's surgeon, 176, 177.

Murage, a tax for keeping the walls in repair, 33;
Hanse merchants freed from payment of, 33.

Music on the ships in the Thames, 95.

N

New Road, formation of, 398.

Newgate erected in reign of Henry I., 24;
prison, 24;
its rebuilding, 24;
its earlier name Chamberlain's gate, 24.

Night-walkers in London, 43, 44.

Northampton (John of), feud with Nicholas Brembre, 236.

O

Officials of the City, 264-274;
Castellan and Bannerer, 264-270;
Chamberlain or Comptroller of the King's Chamber, 271, 272;
Common Hunt, 272;
Common Sergeant, 270;
Coroner, 271, 272;
King's Butler, 271;
Mace-bearers, 273;
Recorder, 270;
Remembrancer or State Amanuensis, 272;
Sword-bearer, 272;
Town Clerk, 270.

Olaf, London Bridge destroyed by, 11, 12.

Old Jewry, 324.

P

Pageants, processions and tournaments, 136-153.

Paul's (St.) Cathedral, 331-335;
tombs, 341;
choir, 342, 344;
nave, 341, 342;
reredos, 343;
altars, 343;
dean and chapter, 345, 346.

---- dimensions of the old cathedral, 332, 333.

Paul's (St.) Cathedral Close, buildings in, 335-338;
gates, 336, 337;
folkmoot held in the precincts, 10.

Paul's Cross, 337.

Paul's (St.) School, 337.

Peasants' rising under Wat Tyler, 47-63.

Penthouses in the streets, 39.

_Piers Plowman_, references to London in, 71, 72.

---- Professor Skeat's edition of, 73 (note).

Pile dwellings in London, 2.

Pindar's (Sir Paul) mansion, 398.

Pirates in the Thames, 280-282.

Pui, brotherhood of the, musical society of French merchants, 153-157.

---- regulations, 154-157.

Plagues in London, 197-209;
(black death, 1349), 197-200;
1361, 200;
1368-1369, 200;
1430-1440, 200;
regulations, 200-205;
statistics of deaths, 207.

Population of London, various estimates, 46.

---- of certain great towns, 47.

Port-reeve, derivation of, 219.

Poulterers of London, 311-312.

Prisons of London, 45, 379;
Borough Compter, 379;
Clink, 379;
King's Bench, 379;
Marshalsea, 379;
burnt by mob, 54;
White Lion, 379.

Privy Council, Mayor's summons to, on accession of sovereign, 245, 246.

Punishments and fines in London, 42.

Pursers or glovers of London, 318.

Q

Queenhithe, early history, 93, 94.

---- and Billingsgate, the chief wharfs, 30.

R

Rahere, founder of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 180-183.

Recorder of London, 270.

Religious houses, dissolution of, 368.

Remembrancer or State Amanuensis of London, 272.

River, the, and the bridge, 90-107.

Roman villa, foundations of, discovered on north
side of Upper Thames Street in 1847, 30.

Round (J. Horace) on the early governors of London, 220; views as to the justiciar, 221; on the character of the Commune, 225.

S

Sanctuary in London, 370-372.

Sanitation of London, 211-217.

Schools of London, 372-374.

Seals: London Common Seal, 261-262;
Mayoralty seals, 262-263;
Henry Fitz Ailwin, 231;
Robert Fitz-Walter, 269;
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 180.

Selds or warehouses in London, 39.

Serfdom, abolition of, 50.

Sheriffs of London, 219-221, 257-259;
elected by mayor, aldermen and commonalty of city, 258.

Shakespeare in London, 387, 395, 396.

Skeat (Professor), his edition of _Piers Plowman_, 73 (note).

Skinners' Company, London, 316.

Skivins, assistants to the mayor, 227.

Smithfield, tournaments held at, 25.

Southwark, chief thoroughfare from London to the South of England, 376;
St. Mary Overy, 376;
inns, 379;
prisons, 379.

Sports and pastimes in London, 131-136.

Staple, merchants of, 286; ordinance of, 287;
staple towns, 287.

Staple inn, 396.

Statute merchant of London, 328, 329

Steelyard, merchants of, 278, 279.

Streets, narrowness of, 383.

Suburbs of London, 385, 386.

Suffolk (William de la Pole, Duke of), 64.

Suffolk's (Duchess of) escape from London, 381.

Surgeons, 171;
barbers as, 171, 178, 179;
military, 171;
gild of, 174-176;
sergeant, 177 (note);
fellowship of, 178.

Surrey, etymology of, 17, 18;
formerly an integral part of Kent, 19.

Sweating sickness in London, 209-211.

Sword-bearer of London, 272.

T

Tabard (The), at Southwark, 88.

Temple, right-of-way through the, 96.

Temple Bar, 391;
closing of, to sovereign, 241, 242.

Thames (River), 90-100;
attempts of landowners to close lanes leading to, 96-99;
infested by pirates, 280-282;
sports on, 90, 91;
as a highway, 90-92;
localities adjoining northern bank, 95;
use of unlawful nets, 99.

Thomas's (St.) Hospital, 191, 192;
destroyed by fire, 191;
rebuilt, 192.

Tower of London, origin of the name, 108, 109;
fortress planned by the Conqueror, 110;
alterations and additions by Henry III., 111, 112;
additions by Edward III., 117, 118;
menagerie of wild beasts, 123, 124;
prisoners, 125-127;
ceremony of locking the gates, 114, 115;
as a fortress, 112-114;
as a palace, 113-125;
as a prison, 125-130;
King's Palace, 108-130;
St. John's Chapel, 123.

Tower Green, names of celebrities beheaded there, 127, 128.

Town Clerk of London, 270.

Town populations, conditions of, 162.

Trade and Commerce, 277-329.

Traitors' Gate, Tower of London, 129, 130.

Trevelyan (G. M.), _England in the Age of Wycliffe_ referred to, 48, 370.

V

Vicary (Thomas), famous surgeon, 177, 189.

Victualling and clothing trades, feud between, 235-238, 304, 305.

Vintners of London, 313-315.

W

Walled town and its streets, 21-70.

Wat Tyler's rebellion, 48-63;
demands of the rebels, 56, 57, 60.

Water fetched from conduits, 383.

Weavers' gild, London, 303, 304.

Weights and measures, 288;
King's great beam or tron, 289.

Westminster, 376.

White Friars in London, 365.

William the Conqueror outside London, 15;
citizens repair to him at Berkhamsted, 15.

Windows, glass only used by the opulent, 39;
mere apertures, 40.

Woad merchants in Cannon Street, 279.

Women of bad repute restricted to certain garb, 44.

Wyat's (Sir Thomas) insurrection, 380.

* * * * *

THE END

EDINBURGH
COLSTONS LIMITED
PRINTERS

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Journal, Anthropological Society, vol. v. pp. lxxi.-lxxx.

[2] _Lake Dwellings in Europe_, 1890, pp. 460-464.

[3] Elton, _Origins of English History_, p. 360.

[4] Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson, _Chapters in the History of Old St. Paul's_, 1881, p. 3.

[5] _Archæologia_, vol. xxxii. pp. 298-311.

[6] _Norman Conquest_, vol. i. pp. 44-46.

[7] The Treaty was really made at Chippenham.

[8] _See_ Earle's edition of the Saxon Chronicle. Mr Charles Plummer, who edited a new edition of _Two of the Saxon Chronicles, Parallel_ (Oxford, 1892-99), does not altogether agree with Earle in these views. He holds that no distinction was meant between Lunden and Lundenburh.

[9] Quoted in _Archæologia_, vol. xxxix. p. 56.

[10] _Heimskringla_, done into English out of the Icelandic by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson, vol. ii. p. 14.

[11] _Norman Conquest_, vol. i. p. 418.

[12] This device of Cnut's is one of great interest, although we have no details of how it was carried out. The late Sir Walter Besant contended that it was not the great work which some had supposed, and he made an elaborate plan of his suggestion as to its construction. (See _South London_, 1899, p. 40.)

[13] A very instructive article on 'The Conqueror's Footprints in Domesday,' which contains an account of his movements after the Battle of Senlac, between Enfield, Edmonton, Tottenham, and Berkhamsted, was published in the _English Historical Review_, vol. xiii. (1898), p. 17.

[14] _See_ Dr. Reginald Sharpe's _London and the Kingdom_, to the contents of which valuable work I am pleased to express my great obligations.

[15] _Archæologia_, vol. xxxii. p. 305.

[16] Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_ (Rolls Series), 1859, vol. i. p. cx.

[17] _Political Poems and Songs_, ed. T. Wright (Rolls Series), 1861, vol. ii. pp. 157-205.

[18] _See_ Riley's _Memorials_, pp. 21, 93; also _Liber Albus_, p. 240.

[19] Records of St. Giles's, Cripplegate (1883).

[20] It is scarcely creditable to the city authorities that no mark of the position of the other gates has been set up. To place these memorials would be an easy thing to do, and this attention to historical topography would be highly appreciated by all Londoners. The mark of Aldgate should take the form of a statue of Chaucer, who lived at that gate for some years. The Corporation would honour themselves by doing further honour to the great Englishman, who was also one of the greatest of Londoners, if they placed at the great eastern entrance to London a full length effigy of the son of one of London's worthy merchants. This would be in addition to the gift of a bust to Guildhall by Sir Reginald Hanson. The line of the wall should also be marked, but this would be a more difficult operation.

[21] _Liber Albus_, p. 603.

[22] William Fitz-Stephen's invaluable work has been printed several times both in the original Latin and in an English translation. The most convenient form is the reprint in Thoms's edition of Stow's _Survey_, 1842 or 1876.

[23] Riley's _Memorials_, p. 79.

[24] Riley's _Memorials_, p. 489.

[25] _History of English Law before Edward I._, vol. i. p. 633.

[26] Riley's _Memorials_, p. 479.

[27] Stow's _Chronicle_, ed. 1615, p. 300.

[28] Quoted in Turner's _Domestic Architecture in England_, vol. i. p. 18.

[29] Quoted in Turner's _Domestic Architecture in England_, vol. i. p. 22.

[30] Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_, pp. xxxiii., xxxiv.

[31] Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_, p. xxxii.

[32] Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_, p. xxxiii.

[33] Translation of the _Liber Albus_, p. 263, and Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_, p. lix.

[34] Letter Book B, p. i.

[35] Riley's _Memorials_, p. 54.

[36] _Ibid._, p. 86.

[37] _Ibid._, p. 458.

[38] Riley's Introduction to _Liber Albus_, p. lii.