Philip Norman

“ On the river front beyond Lindsey House, no great distance from the site of Cremorne Gardens and next but one to a tavern called the Aquatic Stores, stands a small cottage, one of a pair now joined together and numbered 118, Cheyne Walk, to which in his old age J. M. W. Turner, the great artist, used to retire from his house in Queen Anne Street. He must have loved the Thames, for he had previously resided first at West End, Upper Mall, Hammersmith, and afterwards, from time to time, at Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham. ”

“ The swans on the upper reaches of the Thames are owned respectively by the Crown and the Dyers' and Vintners' Companies of the City of London, and, 22 according to ancient custom, the representatives of these several owners make an expedition each year up the river and mark the cygnets. The Royal mark used to consist of five diamonds, the Dyers' of four bars and one nick, and the Vintners' of the chevron or letter V and two nicks. The word "nicks" has been corrupted into "necks," and as the Vintners were often tavern-keepers, the Swan with Two Necks became a common sign. ”

“ The old galleries on the north and east sides were let out in tenements. In the inner yard were some quaint old houses crowded with lodgers (vide No. 6) . From here, looking back, one often saw the smoke of the bacon curer's furnaces curling out of the windows of the main building (as shown in drawing No. 3) . The remains of the old White Hart were pulled down in July 1889, and hop factors' rooms built on the site, the yard being very much curtailed. The modern tavern on the south side was closed some time ago. It is now used for the storage of goods. ”

“ The church of Allhallows the Great, Upper Thames Street, is mentioned in a will of 1259. The patronage of the living was anciently in the hands of the Le Despencers; it afterwards came to Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick, "the King maker." This church had a large cloister on the south side. The whole was destroyed or very much injured in the great fire, and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, who, according to his custom, worked in such parts of the walls and foundations as were available. ”

“ Dividing the gardens of Devonshire House and Lansdowne House is Lansdowne Passage, a short cut for walkers from Curzon Street to Hay Hill. Thomas Grenville records that the iron bars at the two ends were put up late in the 18th century, because a mounted highwayman who had committed a robbery in Piccadilly escaped through this passage by riding down and up the steps. Lansdowne House, like that last described, is interesting from its connection with historic personages, as a specimen of the dwelling of a great 35 nobleman in the 18th century, and from its having a considerable garden. ”

“ The spectator may here suppose himself to be standing near the site of Paul's Wharf, which Stow describes as "a large landing place with a common stair upon the river Thames, at the end of a street called Paul's Wharf Hill, which runneth down from Paul's Chain." The bridge in the middle distance is Southwark Bridge. In the immediate foreground is a curious riverside dwelling, squeezed in between two great warehouses; its quaint bay window projecting over a wide doorway for the passage of goods, which opens on to the Thames. ”

“ In the Great Southwark Fire of 1676, the house was totally destroyed, and was again rebuilt by the tenant, a further reduction of the rent and an extension of the lease being granted. The present structure dates from this rebuilding. It was a great coaching and carriers' inn; only a fragment, but a picturesque one, now exists, the rest having been pulled down in 1889-90. The yard is used for the purposes of the Great Northern, the Great Central, and the Great Eastern Railway Companies. ”

“ There has been more than one hostelry with this sign in the City of London. The most famous was the Swan with Two Necks in Lad Lane, at one time owned by Mr. William Chaplin, perhaps the greatest coach proprietor that ever lived. After the advent of railways, in partnership with Mr. Horne, he established the great carrying business which still flourishes on the old site in Lad Lane, now absorbed by Gresham Street. The Swan with Two Necks, in Carter Lane, was also a coaching house, but although picturesque, of comparatively small importance. ”

“ These very handsome doorways, of a style which was not unusual in the reign of Queen Anne, are situated in so narrow a lane that it was difficult to get an effective view of them. An important brick mansion, built on this site immediately after the Great Fire, and occupied by one, "Justus Otgher," so named in an indenture, was taken down at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and replaced by the two houses of which these doorways form part. ”

“ The next turning to the west leads into Bartholomew Close. The wooden building to spectator's right is the back of the Admiral Carter, which faces this latter precinct. About the year 1889 it was modernised. The house took its sign from Admiral Richard Carter, who was killed at the battle of Barfleur, May 19th, 1692. We may suppose that it was built shortly afterwards. The Swan and Horseshoe Inn, with its incongruous double sign, beyond being old and somewhat picturesque, was of no special interest. Of late years it has been rebuilt, and is now absolutely commonplace. ”

“ Here, too, Sir John Fastolfe's servant, Payne, was despoiled and threatened with death. Cade's success was of short duration: his followers wavered; he said, or might have said, in the words of Shakespeare (2 Henry VI., act iv., sc. 8) , "Hath my sword therefore broke through London gates that you should leave me at the White Hart in Southwark?" The outbreak collapsed, and our inn is not heard of again for many years. In 1529 a message was sent to Thomas Cromwell, the notorious minister of Henry VIII., by some one asking for an interview at the White Hart. ”

“ In 1634 a return was made that the inn had been built of brick and timber (no doubt rebuilt) in 1622. Soon after the middle of that century, in a book called Musarum Deliciæ or the Muses' Recreation, compiled by Sir John Mennes (admiral and chief comptroller of the navy) , and Dr. James Smith, appeared some lines "upon a surfeit caught by drinking bad sack at the George Tavern in Southwark." Perhaps the landlord mended his ways; in any case the rent was shortly afterwards £150 a year, a large sum for those days. Two seventeenth-century trade tokens of the house exist ”

“ In 1669 the back of the inn was burnt down; and on May 26, 1676, a most destructive fire occurred in Southwark, when according to the best authorities, no fewer than 500 houses were either burnt or blown up. The White Hart was quite destroyed, but was rebuilt shortly afterwards on the old foundations, at a cost of £2,400. In 1720 Strype describes it as "very large and of a considerable trade, being esteemed one of the best inns in Southwark," and it so continued until the early years of the 19th century. ”

“ I warrant I smell of smoke, like the Nag's Head chimney in the Borough." The inn was well spoken of in a little book called the Epicure's Almanac, published in 1815; there were balls here sometimes in the earlier half of the last century. The tavern business is no longer carried on, the yard and premises being in the hands of the Great Western Railway Company. The building over the entrance to this yard remains, but all those on the north side, that is to spectator's right, including the inn, disappeared some years ago. ”

“ It was also memorable as an early specimen of brickwork in London, and as dating from a period before the formal conclusion of the Civil War, when building operations were almost at a standstill. No. 9 had, in a room on the first floor, a wooden seventeenth century mantelpiece, behind which, on its removal, were found traces of an older mantelpiece of marble, and evidence of the former existence of a large open fireplace. The beautiful staircase, or portion of a staircase, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, of which a slight drawing is here given, may from its style be Elizabethan. ”

“ This house was built by Wren, after the Great Fire, on the site of the former Deanery, but shorn of the chief part of its garden stretching down to the river, which was portioned off in building leases to defray the cost of the new structure. In our drawing the high gates almost concealed the porch, which is ornamented with carved festoons of flowers. There is also a handsome staircase. Many years ago rooks used to build in the plane-trees in front. The drawing was taken from the steps of No. 5 Dean's Court, now destroyed, where was the Vicar-General's Office for Marriage Licences. ”

“ This was considered to be the last thatched cottage in London, though at the time of writing one in Camberwell still survives. It stood on the west side of the old burial ground of St. Mary's Church (now a public garden) , and behind No. 12, St. Mary's Terrace, Paddington Green, and in 1895 was occupied by Welsh-speaking people connected with a temporary Welsh chapel which stood hard by. The walls of this cottage were composed of pebbles and broken flint plastered over, and its rural look was enhanced by the surrounding ground with trees growing thereon. ”

“ Soon, however, the farce was played out, and in 1786 Graham was succeeded by Richard Cosway, the miniature painter, and his handsome wife. They lived here for some years, and society flocked to their parties, which were not unfrequently attended by the Prince of Wales, who had access to them through a private door from the garden of Carlton House. The western wing of Schomberg House was from 1774 occupied by that great artist, Thomas Gainsborough, and here he died in 1788. ”

“ YE SEV = a sieve.
R.—IN . TRINITY . MINORIES = HIS HALF PENY. R. R. H.
It is mentioned among public-houses of note in the "Vade Mecum for Malt-worms" (1715?) . The sign is a rare one; in 1669, however, there was also a Sieve in Aldermanbury, from which a trade token was issued. In the eighteenth century the Sieve in the Minories appears to have been much curtailed, for in a deed of 1762 it is described as "all that messuage or tenement now divided into three," and an old drawing shows adjoining shops similar in style, which no doubt originally formed part of it. ”

“ There is a quiet dignity about the old place, which bears the stamp of having seen better days. This site was for some years to let on building lease, but at the time of writing the house was no longer threatened. Further east, on the opposite side of the way, were one or two buildings of still earlier date. These houses just escaped the Great Fire ”

“ When we add that a few boys in smock frocks were lying asleep on heavy packages, woolpacks, and other articles that were scattered about on heaps of straw, we have described as fully as need be, the general appearance of the yard of the White Hart Inn, High Street, Borough, on the particular morning in question."
In 1865-66 the south side of the building was replaced by a modern tavern, which appears to the right of drawing No. 2. Some years previously the yard had been disfigured by a penthouse or lean-to (also shown in this drawing) , which was used for the business of a bacon dryer. ”

“ Emanuel Hospital (sometimes called Dacre's almshouses) , on the west side of James Street, Westminster, was founded pursuant to the will, dated December 20th, 1594, of Anne, Lady Dacre, widow of Gregory, last Lord Dacre of the South, and sister of Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, the poet, "towards the relief of aged people and bringing up of children in virtue and good and laudable acts in the same hospital." ”

“ Whatever may have been their defects, the noblemen's mansions built in the eighteenth century were mostly distinguished by fine staircases and reception rooms. A notable specimen is Chesterfield House, which was planned by Ware, an architect of no mean merit, for Philip, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, who wrote the famous Letters to his Son. ”

“ One of the most historic mansions in London is No. 10, Downing Street, facing the Foreign Office, which has been the official home of the first Lord of the Treasury ever since Sir Robert Walpole moved into it from St. James's Square in 1735. It had belonged to the Crown, and had been granted by George I. to Baron Bothmar, the Hanoverian minister, for life. The residence really consists of two houses, with a covered way between them. That which faces the street is a plain Georgian structure, resembling No. ”

“ The decorated plaster ceiling from the first floor is also in the Museum. There is a view of the room which contained this ceiling, drawn by J. T. Smith in 1810, which also shows a fine though somewhat grotesque chimney-piece, having on it the date 1600. With other decorative work, it was removed early in the last century, when the room was made what the possessors called "a little comfortable." Doubtless the original mansion included the adjoining house, or its site, and much more besides. ”

“ Barnard's Inn had latterly no more than a nominal connection with Gray's Inn, the houses being let out as chambers, and not occupied by students of the law. In 1854 the Society consisted of a Principal, nine Ancients, and five Companions. The advantage of being a Companion was stated to be "the dining," and the advantage of being an Ancient, "dinners and some little fees." In 1888 the whole was advertised for sale, and early in the nineties it was bought by the Mercers' Company and adapted for the purposes of their school, which was removed thither from College Hill in 1894. ”

“ For many years the house belonged to the Byng family, and at last came into the hands 8 of the Metropolitan Railway Company, by whom it was closed in 1886, but not entirely destroyed until 1890. The parish of Holy Trinity is now annexed to that of St. Botolph, Aldgate. The church, within a few yards of the old Sieve, is a plain little structure, but has various interesting features and associations, which have been described in two publications, by the last vicar, the late Rev. Samuel Kinns. ”

“ Spirit and St. Mary. He was buried in St. Michael's Church hard by, which was destroyed in the Great Fire and rebuilt by Wren. A view of its tower is given in this drawing, and here in the foreground appear two gateways with sculptured pediments which are quite in the style of the same great architect. It is worthy of remark that on College Hill was the house and courtyard of "Zimri," the second and last Duke of Buckingham of the Villiers family, who, as Strype tells us, lived in this street for some time "upon a particular humour." ”