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Article A STROLL IN BARBICAN AND ITS VICINITY. Page 1 of 2 Article A STROLL IN BARBICAN AND ITS VICINITY. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Stroll In Barbican And Its Vicinity.
A STROLL IN BARBICAN AND ITS VICINITY .
THJJ GKOKGE TAVERX , AUSTRALIAN AVEXUK . EVEN those who can only carry their recollection of the City and its principal thoroughfares some twenty or five-andtwenty years back , can hardly repress a feeling of surprise at the changes which have been wrought in that brief period of time . Where wore close and stifling alleys , ill-bnilt ancl ill-paved streets , lined
on both sides with—for so wealthy and important a City as Londonvery ill-conditioned houses , there now will bo found broad and wollpaved thoroughfares , lined with blccks of buildings which certainly deserve the description of p-. ilatial . So rapidly aro these changes being made , that a few years hence thoso who can remember what the City was , say as recently as the year of tho Great Exhibition , will
hardly recognise it for tho same . True , it took a long time for tho worthy Londoners to bestir themselves , bnt tho Spirit of Improvement once aroused , has exerted itself most vigorously , till thero is a reasonable chance that little of the old streets and houses will remain mnch longer unimproved ; or , to pnfc the matter differently , what still remains of old London—not so very old either , it must be
remembered—will bo pulled down and rebuilt on a , grander and moro imposing scale . Perhaps , no neighbourhood has witnessed greater changes in this respect than that included in tho Ward of Cripplegate , and especially in those parts of it which verge on Aldersgate-street and tho Barbican . These and snch other familier names as Red Cross-street , White Cross-street , Jttwin-streot , & c , & c , remain , bnt ,
to use a common mode of expression , wero any of their former inhabitants to resume their mortal coil , and appear onco again amid the scenes of thoir busy livelihood , it is certain the } - would be unable to recognise tho streets and houses of to-day as those with which they were so familiar . And these changes which a fow years havo brought about , aro a sufficient reason for preserving some knowledge
of different City localities , as thoy were in former days . Even the most matter of fact and prosaic person must ; take some delight in hearing or reading of the people who lived where now thoy toil and strive to mako their fortnnes , and this feeling is likely to be tho stronger , the more considerable aro tho improvements which have been made . There is something more than mere sentiment—or ab all
events tho sentiment is highly creditable to those who indulge in itwhen peoplo recall that this great noble or statesman , that poet or soldier , passed a portion of his life in this qniet unpretending street , or , that now important and imposing thoroughfare . Most peoplo , indeed , delight in knowing something of tho place in whioh they dwell , and thero is perhaps no kind of literature so generally
popular as that which treats of tho former history of localities and districts . Thus little or no apology is needed fur the sketch wo have presently compiled . The Georrje , $ o ably administered by mine host , has no history of its own to boast of , but it is in the centre of a district which has , aud a very interesting record it is . A few years since , and Australian-avenue , iu
which it stands , was a mere blind alloy , with a not particularly attractive pawnbroker ' s shop at its entrance ; now thoro are on either side of it large and commanding premises , and the hostelry itself is by no moans tho least attractive building in the avenue . Nor is it tho least important ; for a well-conducted tavern , if not exactly " a thin " of beauty and a joy for ever , " is certainly , 1 most desirable place , and
likely to be frequented by sensible men of business at the inevitable hour of the day , when tho "inner man" asserts himself , ancl only a " grill" or" cut from the joint" will briug him to his senses again . But of this part of onr subject we shall speak anon . The time for a jniey steak has not yet come , ancl iu tho meantime , let ns take a turn in the neighbourhood , and see not only what ib is now , but trv and recal
something of its former history . The aveune is on tho sonth side of the Barbican , and nearest to where- that street meets Aldersgate-street . Hero afc once we have something to interest us . Barbican , according to Stow , and tho other London Antiquaries , derives its name from the " Burgh Kennin , " or " postern tower , " which stood ou the north side of the street
opposite to Redcross-street , and the remains of which were still in existence towards the end of last century . In this tower , Bagford tells ns , " tho Romans kept watch and ward at night that they might give notice of conflagrations or the approach of an enemy , ancl here on the top of the turret they lit bonfires to guide travellers to the City . " Iu Edward III . ' s reign it was entrusted to Robert UfTord , Earl
of Suffolk , and it remained in his family till the reign of Mary , when it was in the keeping of the Baroness Katherine Wiilonghby d'Eresby , a baroness in her own right , and widow of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk , who lived in a siately mansion close by . This lady narrowly escaped being burnt at the stake for calling her lap-do . ? Gardiner , after the bishop of that name , and dressing him up in episcopal rochet
and surplice . For this she and her second husband , Richard Bertie , had to flee the country , and they sought refuge in Poland . Ou thssito of Bridgwater-sqimre stood the mansion of tho Enrls of Bridgwater . It was burnt down in 1 GS 7 , when Charles Viscount Bracklcy and his brother Thomas perished in the flames . Sir Thomas Spefman , author of tho " Glossaiinm , " died at his house in Barbican in
1640 . Beech . lane , according to Stow , was so named after Sir Nicholas de la Beech , lieutenant of tho Tower , who was deprived of his olliceby Edward III . An old house in Barbican , once belonging to the Abbot of uamsay , was called afterwards Drewrio House , from Sit Drew Drewrio , an owner thereof , and this was inhabited subsequently by the gallant old cavalier chief , Prince Rupert . To another house
tho great John Milton migrated from Aldorsgate-strcofc , remaining till 1 G 47 , when he went to live in High Holborn . In time , however , the street lost its gentility , and it is mentioned by Strype as inhabited chiffly by clothes-salesmen , while in his day ou the site of thj oli watch tower stood a watchhonse for the brawling mohocks of tho day . It was also along this street that the authorities of Cripplegate were
A Stroll In Barbican And Its Vicinity.
wont to go in procession when beating the parish bounds , and when thoy reached tho south-western end , they set np a post opposite to the Boar's Head , now known as the Brown Bear , and kept by that gonial ancl obliging host , Mr . Frederick Wykes , ancl then crossing to tho north side , proceeded np Goswell-road . It will farther interest members of tho great Masonic Fraternity
—and mine host of tho Georgo is a brother—to know thafc tho present Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , met afc tho Red Cross , Barbican , during the years 173 ( 5-45 . It is also worthy of noto thafc in Edward I . ' s time tho Barbican was Crown property , for an Inquisition mado in tho third year of that monarch ' s reign , re Purprestnros in tho City , showed that some twelve years
before , one Thomas Juvenal had appropriated some ground without " le Earbchin , " and inclosed it with an earth wall , and it was held at the timo of the Inquisition by the Sheriffs by Master Nicholas Brabanzonne , who was summoned at command of the King ' s justices , and said ho had nothing to do with it , and laid no claim to the Purpresture , being tenant to Thomas Fitzsimon do Burgh . Aud the said
Thomas came , and prayed ho might arrent ifc afc threepence per annnm , which was granted , because the twelve sworn men swore the enclosure was no annoyance . It was further adjudged that tho King might recover the arrearages , to wifc , three shillings , but no forfeiture , because it was not tho said Thomas ' s doings . Between Whitecross-street and Golding-lane , stood fche Fortune ,
one of the earliest aud most important of the bllizabtitluiu theatres . Ifc was opened about 1 G 00 by Philip Heuslowo and Edward Alleyne , founder of Dulwich College , aud what till quite recently was an adjoining passage , but is now a broad street , still retains the namo of Playhouse-yard . In Golding-lane was tho Nursery , mentionod moro than onee by Pepys in his Diary , and also by Drydon ,
a seminary established in the reign of Charles II . for training children to tho profession of tho stage . Nor must wo forget mention of a certain building in Whitecross-street , which till quite a recent date was used as a Debtors' Prison , while it was in this street that Dr . Williams established his Free Library for Dissenting Ministers , now removed to Grafton-street , Fitzroy-sqnaro . Eedcross-sfcreet , so
called from tho Cross opposite Golden-lane , has associated with it one curious anecdote related by Sir Thomas More in his Life of Edward V ., in which he tells how that on the night after tho morning thafc Edward IV . died , a man called at the house of one Pettier , a servant of Richard Duke of Gloucester , who resided in the street , and Pettier , when he heard tho news , said , " Then will my master , the
Duke of Gloucester , be King , and that I warrant thee . And we know he did become King as Richard III . If we turn to Aldersgate-street wo shall find ample matter to satisfy our craving for historical associations . Wo have already mentioned that Milton lived here , until he moved to a house in Barbican . On tho east side of tho street , Nos . 35 to 33 , stands Shaftesbury or Thanot
House , built by Inigo Jones , formerly the residence of tho Tuftons , Earls of Thnnefc , ancl subsequently of Ashley Cooper , Earl of Shaftesbury , one of the famous Cabal Ministry of Charles II . ' s reign . Nearly opposite to it was Petro House , tho residence of tho Potro family in the Elizabethan days , and of Pierrcpoint , Marquis of Dorchester in the days of tho Commonwealth . It was also used as a State prison in
these latter clays , and subsequently as the temporary residence of the Bishops of London , when tho Great Fire had burnt them out of their house in St . Paul ' s Churchyard . Ib was to this house that tho Princess Anne , after she had deserted her father James II ., in 1688 , was brought by Bishop Comptou , in a hackney coach . At the northease corner , and not far from Shaftesbury-streot , stood Lauderdale
House , the mansion of the Earl of Lauderdale , another member of the Cabal Ministry , who was afterwards scut , in lG 60 , as Lord High Commissioner to tho Scottish Parliament , where he put down Conventicles , ancl was guilty of those cruelties which caused snch desperation , and led to the rebellion of tho Covenanters . Close by was Bacon House , the residence of Sir Nicholas Bacon , Lord Keeper in Queen Elizabeth's
time , and father ot tho immortal Francis Bacon . In this street lived tho warlike Earl of Peterborough , who in 1705 took Barcelona , and tho famous Duke of Montagu , father of the Duke of Montagu who in 1721 was Grand Master of Freemasons . Two doors from the Barbican stood once tho Bell Inn , " of a pretty good resort for wagons with meal , " whence the waterman-poet , John Taylor , temp . James I .,
set out on his pilgrimage to Scotland . Opposite St . Botolph ' s was the Cooks' Hall , which escaped tho Great Fire , but was destroyed by an insignificant conflagration in 1771 , since when tho Company , incorporated in 1180 , have transferred their business to tho Guildhall . Trinity-court , a little beyond the church , is so called from a brotherhood of the Holy Trinity , first founded in 1377 as a Fraternity
of St . Fabian and St . Sebastian , licensed by Henry VI ., and suppressed by Edward VI . The HaU was still standing iu 1700 . Another distinguished inhabitant of Aldersgate-street was Brian Walton , Bishop of Chester , who died there in 1 ( 561 . He was a man of great erudition , and in 1057 published the first English Polyglot Biblein Hebrew , Syriae , Chaklee , Samaritan , Arabic , Ethiopic , Persian ,
Greek , and the vulgar Latin languages . On tho west side of tho street stood tho London residence of the Nevilles , Earls of Westmoreland , still indicated by Westmoreland-bnildings , and near the sito of Bull and Mouth-street stood the mansion of tho Earls of Northumberland , whore dwelt among others tlie fiory Hotspur . Henry IV . gave it to his Queen Jane , aud ib was then known as her
Wardrobe . This was close to the Aldersgate itself . Io was iu her house in this street that , in 1621 , died Mary , Countess of Pembroke , the " Sydney ' s sister , Pembroke's mother , " immortalised by Bon Jonson in his noble epitaph . Where now is The Queen ' s Hotel , St . Martius-le-Grand , was the old Bnll ancl Mouth—corrupted from " Boulogne Month , " in allusion to tho siege of Boulogne by Henry VIII . It stocd
in Bull and Mouth-street , aud the south side , iu Angel-street , still retains the name , though only a luggiige depot of Chaplin and Home . A statuette of a Bull , with tlie arms of Edward VI . and Christ ' s Hospital above , and a tablet , probably taken from the old inn oolow , on the front of the Queen ' s Hotel , mark the ancient hostelry . The tablet bears fche following quaint inscription : —
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Stroll In Barbican And Its Vicinity.
A STROLL IN BARBICAN AND ITS VICINITY .
THJJ GKOKGE TAVERX , AUSTRALIAN AVEXUK . EVEN those who can only carry their recollection of the City and its principal thoroughfares some twenty or five-andtwenty years back , can hardly repress a feeling of surprise at the changes which have been wrought in that brief period of time . Where wore close and stifling alleys , ill-bnilt ancl ill-paved streets , lined
on both sides with—for so wealthy and important a City as Londonvery ill-conditioned houses , there now will bo found broad and wollpaved thoroughfares , lined with blccks of buildings which certainly deserve the description of p-. ilatial . So rapidly aro these changes being made , that a few years hence thoso who can remember what the City was , say as recently as the year of tho Great Exhibition , will
hardly recognise it for tho same . True , it took a long time for tho worthy Londoners to bestir themselves , bnt tho Spirit of Improvement once aroused , has exerted itself most vigorously , till thero is a reasonable chance that little of the old streets and houses will remain mnch longer unimproved ; or , to pnfc the matter differently , what still remains of old London—not so very old either , it must be
remembered—will bo pulled down and rebuilt on a , grander and moro imposing scale . Perhaps , no neighbourhood has witnessed greater changes in this respect than that included in tho Ward of Cripplegate , and especially in those parts of it which verge on Aldersgate-street and tho Barbican . These and snch other familier names as Red Cross-street , White Cross-street , Jttwin-streot , & c , & c , remain , bnt ,
to use a common mode of expression , wero any of their former inhabitants to resume their mortal coil , and appear onco again amid the scenes of thoir busy livelihood , it is certain the } - would be unable to recognise tho streets and houses of to-day as those with which they were so familiar . And these changes which a fow years havo brought about , aro a sufficient reason for preserving some knowledge
of different City localities , as thoy were in former days . Even the most matter of fact and prosaic person must ; take some delight in hearing or reading of the people who lived where now thoy toil and strive to mako their fortnnes , and this feeling is likely to be tho stronger , the more considerable aro tho improvements which have been made . There is something more than mere sentiment—or ab all
events tho sentiment is highly creditable to those who indulge in itwhen peoplo recall that this great noble or statesman , that poet or soldier , passed a portion of his life in this qniet unpretending street , or , that now important and imposing thoroughfare . Most peoplo , indeed , delight in knowing something of tho place in whioh they dwell , and thero is perhaps no kind of literature so generally
popular as that which treats of tho former history of localities and districts . Thus little or no apology is needed fur the sketch wo have presently compiled . The Georrje , $ o ably administered by mine host , has no history of its own to boast of , but it is in the centre of a district which has , aud a very interesting record it is . A few years since , and Australian-avenue , iu
which it stands , was a mere blind alloy , with a not particularly attractive pawnbroker ' s shop at its entrance ; now thoro are on either side of it large and commanding premises , and the hostelry itself is by no moans tho least attractive building in the avenue . Nor is it tho least important ; for a well-conducted tavern , if not exactly " a thin " of beauty and a joy for ever , " is certainly , 1 most desirable place , and
likely to be frequented by sensible men of business at the inevitable hour of the day , when tho "inner man" asserts himself , ancl only a " grill" or" cut from the joint" will briug him to his senses again . But of this part of onr subject we shall speak anon . The time for a jniey steak has not yet come , ancl iu tho meantime , let ns take a turn in the neighbourhood , and see not only what ib is now , but trv and recal
something of its former history . The aveune is on tho sonth side of the Barbican , and nearest to where- that street meets Aldersgate-street . Hero afc once we have something to interest us . Barbican , according to Stow , and tho other London Antiquaries , derives its name from the " Burgh Kennin , " or " postern tower , " which stood ou the north side of the street
opposite to Redcross-street , and the remains of which were still in existence towards the end of last century . In this tower , Bagford tells ns , " tho Romans kept watch and ward at night that they might give notice of conflagrations or the approach of an enemy , ancl here on the top of the turret they lit bonfires to guide travellers to the City . " Iu Edward III . ' s reign it was entrusted to Robert UfTord , Earl
of Suffolk , and it remained in his family till the reign of Mary , when it was in the keeping of the Baroness Katherine Wiilonghby d'Eresby , a baroness in her own right , and widow of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk , who lived in a siately mansion close by . This lady narrowly escaped being burnt at the stake for calling her lap-do . ? Gardiner , after the bishop of that name , and dressing him up in episcopal rochet
and surplice . For this she and her second husband , Richard Bertie , had to flee the country , and they sought refuge in Poland . Ou thssito of Bridgwater-sqimre stood the mansion of tho Enrls of Bridgwater . It was burnt down in 1 GS 7 , when Charles Viscount Bracklcy and his brother Thomas perished in the flames . Sir Thomas Spefman , author of tho " Glossaiinm , " died at his house in Barbican in
1640 . Beech . lane , according to Stow , was so named after Sir Nicholas de la Beech , lieutenant of tho Tower , who was deprived of his olliceby Edward III . An old house in Barbican , once belonging to the Abbot of uamsay , was called afterwards Drewrio House , from Sit Drew Drewrio , an owner thereof , and this was inhabited subsequently by the gallant old cavalier chief , Prince Rupert . To another house
tho great John Milton migrated from Aldorsgate-strcofc , remaining till 1 G 47 , when he went to live in High Holborn . In time , however , the street lost its gentility , and it is mentioned by Strype as inhabited chiffly by clothes-salesmen , while in his day ou the site of thj oli watch tower stood a watchhonse for the brawling mohocks of tho day . It was also along this street that the authorities of Cripplegate were
A Stroll In Barbican And Its Vicinity.
wont to go in procession when beating the parish bounds , and when thoy reached tho south-western end , they set np a post opposite to the Boar's Head , now known as the Brown Bear , and kept by that gonial ancl obliging host , Mr . Frederick Wykes , ancl then crossing to tho north side , proceeded np Goswell-road . It will farther interest members of tho great Masonic Fraternity
—and mine host of tho Georgo is a brother—to know thafc tho present Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , met afc tho Red Cross , Barbican , during the years 173 ( 5-45 . It is also worthy of noto thafc in Edward I . ' s time tho Barbican was Crown property , for an Inquisition mado in tho third year of that monarch ' s reign , re Purprestnros in tho City , showed that some twelve years
before , one Thomas Juvenal had appropriated some ground without " le Earbchin , " and inclosed it with an earth wall , and it was held at the timo of the Inquisition by the Sheriffs by Master Nicholas Brabanzonne , who was summoned at command of the King ' s justices , and said ho had nothing to do with it , and laid no claim to the Purpresture , being tenant to Thomas Fitzsimon do Burgh . Aud the said
Thomas came , and prayed ho might arrent ifc afc threepence per annnm , which was granted , because the twelve sworn men swore the enclosure was no annoyance . It was further adjudged that tho King might recover the arrearages , to wifc , three shillings , but no forfeiture , because it was not tho said Thomas ' s doings . Between Whitecross-street and Golding-lane , stood fche Fortune ,
one of the earliest aud most important of the bllizabtitluiu theatres . Ifc was opened about 1 G 00 by Philip Heuslowo and Edward Alleyne , founder of Dulwich College , aud what till quite recently was an adjoining passage , but is now a broad street , still retains the namo of Playhouse-yard . In Golding-lane was tho Nursery , mentionod moro than onee by Pepys in his Diary , and also by Drydon ,
a seminary established in the reign of Charles II . for training children to tho profession of tho stage . Nor must wo forget mention of a certain building in Whitecross-street , which till quite a recent date was used as a Debtors' Prison , while it was in this street that Dr . Williams established his Free Library for Dissenting Ministers , now removed to Grafton-street , Fitzroy-sqnaro . Eedcross-sfcreet , so
called from tho Cross opposite Golden-lane , has associated with it one curious anecdote related by Sir Thomas More in his Life of Edward V ., in which he tells how that on the night after tho morning thafc Edward IV . died , a man called at the house of one Pettier , a servant of Richard Duke of Gloucester , who resided in the street , and Pettier , when he heard tho news , said , " Then will my master , the
Duke of Gloucester , be King , and that I warrant thee . And we know he did become King as Richard III . If we turn to Aldersgate-street wo shall find ample matter to satisfy our craving for historical associations . Wo have already mentioned that Milton lived here , until he moved to a house in Barbican . On tho east side of tho street , Nos . 35 to 33 , stands Shaftesbury or Thanot
House , built by Inigo Jones , formerly the residence of tho Tuftons , Earls of Thnnefc , ancl subsequently of Ashley Cooper , Earl of Shaftesbury , one of the famous Cabal Ministry of Charles II . ' s reign . Nearly opposite to it was Petro House , tho residence of tho Potro family in the Elizabethan days , and of Pierrcpoint , Marquis of Dorchester in the days of tho Commonwealth . It was also used as a State prison in
these latter clays , and subsequently as the temporary residence of the Bishops of London , when tho Great Fire had burnt them out of their house in St . Paul ' s Churchyard . Ib was to this house that tho Princess Anne , after she had deserted her father James II ., in 1688 , was brought by Bishop Comptou , in a hackney coach . At the northease corner , and not far from Shaftesbury-streot , stood Lauderdale
House , the mansion of the Earl of Lauderdale , another member of the Cabal Ministry , who was afterwards scut , in lG 60 , as Lord High Commissioner to tho Scottish Parliament , where he put down Conventicles , ancl was guilty of those cruelties which caused snch desperation , and led to the rebellion of tho Covenanters . Close by was Bacon House , the residence of Sir Nicholas Bacon , Lord Keeper in Queen Elizabeth's
time , and father ot tho immortal Francis Bacon . In this street lived tho warlike Earl of Peterborough , who in 1705 took Barcelona , and tho famous Duke of Montagu , father of the Duke of Montagu who in 1721 was Grand Master of Freemasons . Two doors from the Barbican stood once tho Bell Inn , " of a pretty good resort for wagons with meal , " whence the waterman-poet , John Taylor , temp . James I .,
set out on his pilgrimage to Scotland . Opposite St . Botolph ' s was the Cooks' Hall , which escaped tho Great Fire , but was destroyed by an insignificant conflagration in 1771 , since when tho Company , incorporated in 1180 , have transferred their business to tho Guildhall . Trinity-court , a little beyond the church , is so called from a brotherhood of the Holy Trinity , first founded in 1377 as a Fraternity
of St . Fabian and St . Sebastian , licensed by Henry VI ., and suppressed by Edward VI . The HaU was still standing iu 1700 . Another distinguished inhabitant of Aldersgate-street was Brian Walton , Bishop of Chester , who died there in 1 ( 561 . He was a man of great erudition , and in 1057 published the first English Polyglot Biblein Hebrew , Syriae , Chaklee , Samaritan , Arabic , Ethiopic , Persian ,
Greek , and the vulgar Latin languages . On tho west side of tho street stood tho London residence of the Nevilles , Earls of Westmoreland , still indicated by Westmoreland-bnildings , and near the sito of Bull and Mouth-street stood the mansion of tho Earls of Northumberland , whore dwelt among others tlie fiory Hotspur . Henry IV . gave it to his Queen Jane , aud ib was then known as her
Wardrobe . This was close to the Aldersgate itself . Io was iu her house in this street that , in 1621 , died Mary , Countess of Pembroke , the " Sydney ' s sister , Pembroke's mother , " immortalised by Bon Jonson in his noble epitaph . Where now is The Queen ' s Hotel , St . Martius-le-Grand , was the old Bnll ancl Mouth—corrupted from " Boulogne Month , " in allusion to tho siege of Boulogne by Henry VIII . It stocd
in Bull and Mouth-street , aud the south side , iu Angel-street , still retains the name , though only a luggiige depot of Chaplin and Home . A statuette of a Bull , with tlie arms of Edward VI . and Christ ' s Hospital above , and a tablet , probably taken from the old inn oolow , on the front of the Queen ' s Hotel , mark the ancient hostelry . The tablet bears fche following quaint inscription : —