Geraldine Edith Mitton

“ In the eighteenth-century reproductions of this map, oddly enough, in one instance this detail has disappeared, and in the other it is turned into a man driving cows into the water with a whip; thus doing away with all its significance. Far to the north in Spitalfields men are practising archery; while Aldgate, for long the home of Geoffrey Chaucer, is conspicuous a little north of the Tower.
As became a man living in days of the Reformation, Agas does not point out the religious houses then falling into decay or occupied by laymen, yet what a number of them must have been still in existence! ”

“ There are many pleasure-gardens, for the Surrey side was for long the recreation-ground of the Londoner. On the river there are innumerable wherries, and below the bridge at Billingsgate many ships cluster; one has even managed to get above the bridge. Off the Steelyard and at the Tower are men and horses in the water. This is a most interesting point. In those at the Tower it may be clearly seen that the man is filling the water-casks on the animals' backs with a ladle. ”

“ But within the wall there are still some fine gardens and open spaces, one of which remains to this day in Finsbury Circus. Many roads meet in the heart of London, where now the Bank, Mansion House, and Royal Exchange stare across at each other. It is difficult to make out from the medley of buildings in the map if Gresham's first Royal Exchange is there or not, but it seems to be so. This was opened in 1570 by the Queen in person. St. Christopher le Stock's square tower may be seen on the ground now absorbed by the Bank of England. ”