(10 × 1212) D. 40-1896.

The fine old mansion in which these drawings were done stood back from the street, and was approached through a paved yard with a lodge on each side of the entrance. Outside, its chief characteristics were a somewhat high pitched roof, and wings projecting forward. Within, the staircase with its plaster decorations, was handsome. The well-proportioned room of which a drawing is here given (No. 39) was on the first floor. There were other panelled apartments, and the kitchen range (No. 38) was very old-fashioned. After the dissolution, the house and gardens of the Augustine Friars had passed into the hands of William Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester, hence the name Winchester Street. From a date carved on a grotesque bracket, formerly to be seen at the north-east corner, it appears that the street was constructed, partly at least, in the year 1656, during the government of Cromwell. Strype, writing in 1720, says that here was "a great messuage called the Spanish Ambassador's house, of late inhabited by Sir John Houblon, Knight and Alderman, and other fair houses." Even down to our time it was a remarkably picturesque specimen of a London street. No. 23, Great Winchester Street was destroyed in 1890.

(1018 × 1212) D. 39-1896.

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in the City Road, near Finsbury Square, described by Southey as the "Campo Santo" of the Dissenters, was one of the three great fields, namely "Bonhill Field," "Mallow Field," and the "High Field or Meadow Ground, where the three windmills stand, commonly called 'Finsbury Field.'" As early as the year 1315 it seems to have been let to the City authorities, and in 1553 a lease was granted to the Corporation of this with other land, being a part of the church property of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, and the lease was again and again renewed. In 1661 the ground was underlet to a person of the name of Tindal for fifty-one years. In the deed it is described as meadow land, and the citizens are to be allowed to use it for purposes of recreation. Up to that date, therefore, it does not appear to have become a burial ground; but it was probably set apart for the burial of victims of the Great Plague, although not so used. It is a mistake to connect it with "the Great Pit in Finsbury" mentioned by Defoe in his Memoirs of the Plague, which was situated near the upper end of Goswell Street. However, about this time Tindal turned it into a burial ground. For many years called by his name, it was adopted as their place of interment by several Dissenting sects, and from 1665 to 1852, when all City cemeteries were closed, no fewer than 123,000 burials took place here. For some years after this the place was neglected, but in 1867-68 it was put in order and opened to the public October 14th, 1869. In Bunhill Fields there are now about six thousand tombs; a record of them is kept in the Surveyor's Office, Guildhall. Among eminent persons here buried are General Charles Fleetwood (Cromwell's son-in-law), Defoe, Susannah Wesley, mother of John and of Charles, Dr. Isaac Watts, Joseph Ritson, the antiquary, William Blake, painter and poet, Thomas Stothard, R.A. But perhaps the most widely known is John Bunyan, who wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress." He died at the house of his friend, Mr. Strudwick, a grocer at the Star on Snow Hill, and was buried in that friend's vault. The monument was restored by public subscription, under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1862; a drawing of it is here given.

(612 × 818) D. 79-1896.

The Two Brewers Public-house, at the entrance to Fox and Goose Yard, London Wall, destroyed a few weeks after the completion of this drawing, was evidently a very old building. The sign was in former days a common one, being usually represented by two brewers' men carrying a barrel of beer slung between them on a pole. It is curious that a sign of a similar description was used by the Romans; one representing two men carrying between them an amphora was found at Pompeii. It is figured in Larwood and Hotten's "History of Signboards," that of the Two Brewers being placed alongside for comparison.

(7 × 9) D. 41-1896.

This house, on the south side of Noble Street, from the style of the brickwork must have been built in the early part of the eighteenth century, but little is known of its history. The sign was comparatively modern, suggested, no doubt, by the proximity of the General Post Office, which was moved from Lombard Street to St. Martin's-le-Grand in 1829. The Royal Mail Tavern was destroyed in May, 1897.

(834 × 538) D. 42-1896.

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.

(814 × 1078) D. 45-1896.

The present cathedral of St. Paul is the third dedicated to that Saint and built more or less on the same site. The first was founded in the early part of the seventh century by Ethelbert, King of Kent; the second, known as old St. Paul's, was begun A.D. 1087. This, having been destroyed by the Great Fire, was replaced by the present marvellous building, which we owe to the genius of Sir Christopher Wren. It will thus be seen that St. Paul's Churchyard has had hallowed associations for about 1,300 years. The name, in its fullest sense, is applied to the irregular area surrounded by houses encircling the cathedral and including the burial-ground. These houses, before the Fire and for some time afterwards, were largely inhabited by booksellers and publishers, who by degrees worked their way into Paternoster Row, where they still flourish. For many years after burials had ceased, the burial-ground attached to St. Paul's was in a somewhat neglected condition. In 1877 an agreement was entered into between the City Corporation and the Dean and Chapter, by which the former pledged themselves to lay out a considerable sum on the enclosed space if they were allowed to convert it into a garden for the benefit of the public, and on September 14th, 1879, the north-eastern part, which is here represented, was publicly opened by the Lord Mayor. Here the weary may sit amidst trees and flowers beneath the shadow of the great cathedral, and enjoy seclusion from the turmoil of City life. The scene here represented is, however, a thing of the past. The fountain has disappeared, and with it most of the pigeons, its place being taken by a cross erected under the will of the late Mr. H. C. Richards, as a memento of the old St. Paul's Cross.

(614 × 858) D. 75-1896.

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. The house, containing nineteen rooms and two staircases, was, in 1891, still occupied as a private residence, being let in apartments, and was one of the last of its kind on the Thames bank in London. It was popularly supposed to be 300 years old, and to have been occupied by James I., an adjoining wharf being used as a barrack for his soldiers, but, from the architectural point of view, there was nothing to indicate that it dated from before the end of the seventeenth, or beginning of the eighteenth century. East Paul's Wharf, immediately beyond, had been rebuilt in 1890, but the large warehouse adjoining it on the west, known as Paul's Wharf, and sometimes called the "barracks," looked as if it had been built about a hundred years. It ran back some distance, having twelve gables alongside the way to Paul's Pier. Shortly after the completion of this drawing, a subterranean brick tunnel (partly under the old house) was discovered. It began at a distance of about 50 feet from the Thames, and extended in a northerly direction for about 110 feet. It was 14 feet wide with a clear way of some 8 feet, after allowing for a deep deposit of mud along the floor. The arch within was covered with stalactites, in some cases a yard long; the two ends had been bricked up. The writer of an article in the "Builder" for August 2, 1891, suggests that "this tunnel may possibly have been made to carry off some of the torrents that used to run down the steep inclines in this part of the town after great and sudden rains, sometimes to the peril of human life, as witness the story told by Stow apropos of Dowgate (1574)." The old house, the "barracks," and the tunnel were all destroyed in 1898. During the work of reconstruction, ancient timber piling came to light, which had been used for the embankment of the river. Paul's Pier has of late years been abolished. A seventeenth century trade token, issued from Paul's Wharf, reads as follows:-

(1058 × 814) D. 46-1896.

This picturesque old house, here shown from Green Dragon Court, had no special history, but, to judge by its style, must have dated from immediately after the Great Fire. St. Andrew's Hill was first called Puddle Hill, and then Puddle Dock Hill, after the neighbouring wharf of that name. Shakespeare owned a house in Ireland Yard hard by, where, in 1900, remains of the Blackfriars Priory were brought to light. The Green Dragon was the badge of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who died in 1570. This house was pulled down in 1896. Its better known namesake in Bishopsgate Street, an old galleried coaching inn, had disappeared in 1877.

(91116 × 5) D. 47-1896.

(1338 × 16916) D. 70-1896.

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. The tower and north aisle or ambulatory of this structure (which seems never to have been open to the nave) were removed in 1876 for the widening of Upper Thames Street. Under the Union of Benefices Act, the church itself was sold by auction March 31st, 1894, and shortly afterwards pulled down, the ground being bought by the neighbouring brewery. It is now an open space with its fragment of churchyard. The interior was of singular beauty, and retained its original fittings to the end, among them the fine open screen shown in drawing No. 53 and now at St. Margaret's, Lothbury. This screen is sometimes said to have been made at Hamburg, and given by the Hanseatic merchants, so long connected with the neighbouring Steelyard. It is, however, undoubtedly English work. The earlier documents bearing on the subject make it almost certain that both screen and pulpit were presented by Theodore Jacobsen, who in 1680 succeeded his brother Jacob as house-master of the Steelyard, an office which the latter had held at the time of the Great Fire. It was chiefly through their efforts that the Steelyard was rebuilt, and the Jacobsen family thereby acquired claims over it, which, after protracted litigation, were bought up by the Hanseatic towns in 1748. These retained the Steelyard and some slight connection with the church until after the middle of the nineteenth century. It may be observed also that the screen has on it an eagle "displayed." The beautiful sounding board of the pulpit also has an eagle. This is now at St. Margaret's, Lothbury; the pulpit itself has been removed to a church at Hammersmith.

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. Within one of these shell-shaped canopies is the date of erection, 1703; in the other is a representation of two boys playing at marbles. On July 15th, 1704, the two houses were sold to Thomas Denning, citizen and salter, for £3,190. The Rev. H. B. Wilson, D. D. and F.S.A., who wrote a history of the parish of St. Laurence Poultney, was residing in 1831 at No. 1 (which still has a handsome staircase), while No. 2 was occupied by Mr. Justin Fitzgerald.

(1038×734) D. 90-1896.

Montagu Court is situated almost at the junction of Little Britain and Duke-Street. 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.

(812 × 4316) D. 48-1896.

This old wooden house, with its quaint gable and barge-board, was destroyed early in 1887 for the widening of the entrance from Little Britain. It was occupied by a greengrocer, whose family had lived there for nearly half-a-century.

(878 × 61316) D. 50-1896.

This picturesque little ale-house had absolutely no history as far as the writer could discover, but it must have dated from the latter part of the seventeenth century. It was rebuilt about 1889. Stow says:—"On the left-hand side of St. John Street lieth a lane called Cow Cross, of a cross some time standing there, which lane turneth to another lane called Turnmill Street."

(1114 × 578) D. 51-1896.

On the eastern side of St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell, near the old Priory Gate, a stuccoed public-house with the above sign stood until about the year 1895. Though outwardly modern and commonplace, a fragment of it had once formed part of a mansion which, early in the sixteenth century, belonged to Sir Thomas Forster, a judge of the Common Pleas, who died in 1612. The chimney-piece, here portrayed, was in the taproom. It is of fine Reigate stone, the frieze being ornamented with fruit and flowers. In the centre are arms, and on each side a crest, thus heraldically described by Cromwell in his History of Clerkenwell:—"The arms are quarterly; first and fourth argent; a chevron vert between three bugle-horns sable, for the family of Radclyffe with which that of Forster intermarried, the crescent being introduced as the filial distinction of a second house. The Buck at one end was the original crest of the Forsters; the Talbot's head at the other, with the crescent, might be that of this branch of the Radclyffe's." The frieze was supported by pilasters in the same style, and one side of the room had panelling of the linen pattern. This was apparently all that remained of the original house, which, in the days of its splendour, must have covered a good deal of ground, for it had another frontage in St. John Street; it was then ornamented by grotesque carvings, and had bay windows with painted glass. The sign may have been selected out of compliment to Sir Baptist Hicks, afterwards Lord Campden, who built a Sessions-house hard by. In the 18th century the Baptist's Head was doubtless resorted to by some of the literary men who worked for Cave; it also afforded solace to a very different class, as we learn from a print in the "Malefactor's Register," which represents prisoners, on their way to Newgate, halting here for refreshment; the view of the old house is interesting. For further information on the subject of this chimney-piece and of the Forster family, see Archer's "Vestiges of Old London (1851)," where it is also figured. It has now found its way into an upper room of St. John's Gate, which is occupied by the St. John's Ambulance Association.

(614 × 8316) D. 52-1896.

(15516 × 1238) D. 54-1896.

Barnard's Inn, on the south side of Holborn, was originally called Mackworth's Inn, from having been the residence of Dr. John Mackworth, Dean of Lincoln in the reign of Henry VI. His successor and the Chapter of Lincoln leased it to Lyonel Barnard, from whom was derived the name by which it has so long been known. As early as the middle of the fifteenth century it was let to legal students, for Stow tells us that anno 1454 there was "a great fray" in Fleet Street between "men of court" and the inhabitants there, in the course of which the Queen's attorney was killed. For this act the principal governors of Clifford's Inn, Furnival's Inn, and Barnard's Inn, were sent prisoners to Hertford Castle. Barnard's Inn, like its neighbour, Staple Inn, was a place of legal study—an Inn of Chancery attached to Gray's Inn. The establishment was governed by a Principal and various Ancients. A Reader also was appointed from Gray's Inn, and great respect was shown to him. The Principal, accompanied by the Ancients and gentlemen in commons in their gowns, used to meet him on his coming and conduct him into the hall. 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.

Much property in this neighbourhood was owned by the Earls of Clare of the Holles Family, and John Holles, second Earl, whose mansion was at the end of Clare Court, Drury Lane, founded the market soon after the middle of the seventeenth century. A stone bas-relief of the Holles Arms, surmounted by an earl's coronet with the date 1659, was formerly at the corner of Gilbert passage, and afterwards on the house numbered 8, Clare Street. The butchers of Clare Market were for years flourishing, and here "Orator" Henley erected his "gilt tub" commemorated by Pope, and used to preach on such Scripture texts or subjects as admitted of a burlesque treatment. By degrees the place degenerated, and in 1891 most of the buildings here were cleared away; among others, the old "bulk-shop," in the foreground. It stood at the north-east corner of Holles Street, and adjoining it on the north were other shops of a similar kind. For some time before their destruction they had been unoccupied. According to Oldys, Nat Lee, the dramatic poet, when one night returning overladen with wine from the Bear and Harrow in Butcher Row, Strand, through Clare Market, to his lodging in Duke (now Sardinia) Street, "fell down on the ground, as some say, according to others on a bulk, and was killed or stifled in the snow." He was buried in the parish church of St. Clement Danes, 6th May, 1692.

(638 × 812) D. 88-1896.

Passing out of Fleet Street through the Inner Temple Gateway, under the old room acquired some years ago by the London County Council, the first opening on the right leads us into Hare Court, which "Elia" has described with less than his usual sympathy as "a gloomy churchyard-like place, with trees and a pump in it." At this pump he had often drunk when a child, and the contents later in life he recommends as "excellent cold with brandy." The back of Dick's coffee-house is here to be seen, nestling against a fine old block of chambers, and overshadowed on the right by a high modern structure which seems to have got in there by mistake. Dick's, sometimes called Richard's, stood on the site of the printing office of Richard Tottel, law stationer in the reign of Henry VIII.; it got its name, however, from Richard Torner or Turner, who was landlord in 1680. From the days of Steele and Addison many eminent men frequented it. As is well known, coffee-houses for half a century or more had a great influence on the sale of books; every new poem or pamphlet of any importance was to be seen in them. Peter Cunningham records that he had several in his possession bearing in large letters on their title-page "Dick's Coffee-house." This picturesque old place of entertainment, like the Rainbow and other houses of a similar description, was approached from Fleet Street by a long passage. In front it was a wooden structure; the back was really half-timbered, the timbering concealed by plaster; inside the original staircase remained. It disappeared in 1899; the rest of the seventeenth century buildings in Hare Court had been swept away some years previously.

(11316 × 778) D. 56-1896.

Sion College, near the north end of Blackfriars Bridge, and next on the west to the City of London School, was founded in 1623, as a College and Almshouse, according to the will of Dr. Thomas White, who was Vicar of St. Dunstan's in the West, and held other clerical appointments. A library was added by the munificence of Dr. John Simson, rector of St. Olave's, Hart Street, and an executor of the will. Until of late years, the home of the College was in London Wall, between Aldermanbury on the east and Philip Lane on the west, the former site of Elsing Spittal. The old library was built along the east side of Philip Lane, the hall stood back in the College garden. Mr. W. Niven, in his volume on London City churches, gives a good etching of the picturesque gateway. New Sion College, here shown, was formally opened by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, December 15, 1886.

In 1900-01 all the picturesque but dilapidated old houses in Wych Street and the neighbouring Holywell Street were cleared away. Among them was the structure here represented on spectator's right which is at the south-east corner of Wych Street, with a front towards the church of St. Clement Danes. This public-house, then known as the Rising Sun, previously the Crooked Billet, stood nearly opposite to the entrance of Dane's Inn, which was built on the site of a more famous hostelry—the Angel—destroyed in 1854.

(9916 × 6716) D. 57-1896.