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33 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
In the following pages I have attempted to describe the numerous artistic treasures and beauties of London. These attractions are so abundant and varied, that I have not been able to do more than select specimens, as it were, of each class; but enough has been given to inspire the reader with an eagerness to set out, and make these discoveries for himself. The aim throughout has been to show that the Metropolis is as well furnished with “the picturesque” as any foreign city, and that there is mu
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
T HE subject of London, old and new, has ever offered a charm and even fascination, attested by the countless works which crowd the shelves of the library. The entries under the word “London” fill nearly a volume of the British Museum catalogue. These old folios and quartos, grey and rusted like the churches and halls they celebrate, have a dilapidated, decayed tone, as though they also wanted “restoring”; and there is a welcome quaintness and sincerity in the style of such antiquaries as Northu
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CHAPTER I. ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH, WESTMINSTER.
CHAPTER I. ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH, WESTMINSTER.
W E shall commence our pilgrimage at that striking and imposing scene, the old “Broad Sanctuary,” Westminster. Few may have noted the quaint obelisks which at intervals help to form the inclosure! Lately the churchyard was laid down in grass, and the flagging removed; but it may be doubted if this be a real improvement. The air of space seems diminished. A sward of this kind is becoming in a genuine close, as at Salisbury, where the cathedral is in the country; but here the minster is in the hea
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CHAPTER II THE WESTMINSTER TOBACCO-BOX—THE WESTMINSTER PLAY.
CHAPTER II THE WESTMINSTER TOBACCO-BOX—THE WESTMINSTER PLAY.
I N other ways our “Parish of Westminster” offers much that is still quaint and old-fashioned and picturesque. A stranger seeing the view from the Sanctuary for the first time will be moved to surprise and admiration. The very irregularity, the straggling shape of the ground, is original and pleasing. What a number of striking objects are here congregated! Standing at the bottom of Victoria Street we see to the right the Gothic Westminster Chambers, with the not ungraceful commemorative pillar t
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CHAPTER III. ASHBURNHAM HOUSE—THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, ETC.
CHAPTER III. ASHBURNHAM HOUSE—THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, ETC.
P ASSING from Dean’s Yard, through a Gothic arch which leads through the Canons’ houses, we find ourselves in a large court, round which run the old buildings of the Westminster School and its familiar dormitory. Facing the school is a low building, within an inclosure, known as Ashburnham House, an old Tudor structure of much interest, which a few years ago was in serious peril. The valuable ground was coveted, and it was proposed to level it and erect large modern buildings in its stead. Happi
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CHAPTER IV. WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
CHAPTER IV. WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
F OR the casual sightseer, however eager, the visiting of the “official shows”—whether in public picture galleries, museums or cathedrals—is often a weary business enough. After the first surprise he passes from object to object, staring , and gradually subsiding into a kind of dumb indifference, and troubled with the feeling that so much more remains to be seen and reviewed. He really knows not what is to be admired or distinguished from its fellows. But if, by a happy chance, there were at his
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CHAPTER V. THE ADELPHI AND THE STRAND.
CHAPTER V. THE ADELPHI AND THE STRAND.
T HE little streets that descend from the Strand to the Embankment are mostly old-fashioned and picturesque in their way—perhaps from the contrast they offer to the noise and “sea-shell roar” of that busy thoroughfare. Many end in a cul de sac with an open aërial gallery as it were, whence we can look down on the silvery Thames below, with all its noble bridges. All these quiet alleys have some interesting or suggestive memorial to exhibit; their houses seem of the one pattern—sound and snug—of
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CHAPTER VI. THE ROMAN BATH.—COVENT GARDEN.
CHAPTER VI. THE ROMAN BATH.—COVENT GARDEN.
B UT in this exceedingly modern Strand, where we are so eager to clear off the only bit of antiquity left us—the graceful church of St. Mary—what Monkbarns would think of looking for his “ancient Romans,” or anything connected with them? It is an astonishing surprise to find that we have only to turn out of the Strand hard by St. Mary’s Church, and see staring at us an invitation to come and look at a genuine, recognizeable, Roman work, in sound condition. We pass under a sort of archway, down a
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CHAPTER VII. THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
CHAPTER VII. THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
T HIS great collection really holds the first position among the galleries of Europe, not for the number of pictures, but for their choiceness and value. The building which contains the collection has been assumed to be rather a failure, and many a jest has been made upon what are called its “pepper casters,” an article which its cupolas suggest. Yet upon the whole it is a classical, well-proportioned building, with a fine, imposing façade. Of late years a new gallery has been added in the rear,
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CHAPTER VIII. SIR JOHN VANBRUGH AND ST. MARTIN’S LANE.
CHAPTER VIII. SIR JOHN VANBRUGH AND ST. MARTIN’S LANE.
I T is curious that most of the great London architects should have come from Scotland. Among these the most distinguished are Chambers, the designer of Somerset House, Campbell, Rennie, Gibbs, and the Brothers Adam. All these have left their mark upon the great city. The Barry family were Irish; Pugin and Vanbrugh of foreign extraction; while Inigo Jones was a Welshman. Wren, however, outweighs the rest, and he was an Englishman. Vanbrugh was an interesting character, and his scattered works ab
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CHAPTER IX. PICCADILLY, BOND STREET, AND ALBERT GATE.
CHAPTER IX. PICCADILLY, BOND STREET, AND ALBERT GATE.
W ONDERFUL changes have been made at Hyde Park Corner within a few years. Many have considered that this was one of the most effective architectural bits in London. For here was the great archway with the avenue beyond, while facing it was the elegant screen or colonnade, through which was seen the Park and the procession of carriages and promenaders. A dreadful and ungainly alteration has been made. A sort of unmeaning triangular slope has been cleared, the arch has been carted away and placed
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CHAPTER X. LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS.
CHAPTER X. LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS.
I N no part of London is there felt such a mixture of sensations as when we enter Lincoln’s Inn Fields. There is a tone of old-fashioned repose mixed with quaintness, and a “large air of neglect” too. There are ancient houses enough and decayed chambers. The Square itself has a certain pleasant old fashion, and is not trimmed up as are the modern ones. It is rather an old garden run to seed. There is a tradition that it is the exact area of the base of one of the Pyramids; but this has been foun
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CHAPTER XI. THE OLD INNS—CLIFFORD’S, STAPLE, BARNARD’S, ETC.
CHAPTER XI. THE OLD INNS—CLIFFORD’S, STAPLE, BARNARD’S, ETC.
A S we turn from the bustle and hurly-burly of Fleet Street, hard by St. Dunstan’s—an effective modern church—we see a retired alley, leading by a curious little archway into Clifford’s Inn. It is difficult to conceive the sudden surprise as we find ourselves in this forlorn inclosure. It might be a fragment of some decayed country town, or of some of those left-behind corners we come upon in an old Dutch or Flemish hamlet. Here are a few ragged, blighted trees, a little railed-in square without
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CHAPTER XII. DICKENS IN LONDON.
CHAPTER XII. DICKENS IN LONDON.
D ICKENS, indeed, is so bound up with the old places of London that it may be said that he has lent a peculiar flavour and charm to all town peregrination. He certainly must be considered to have been the best interpreter of the City to us. He supplied the tragic and comic grotesque meaning of the old courts, shops, alleys, “all-alones,” “rents,” etc. “The reminiscences of his stories,” says a late visitor, “meet us at every turn, in the ancient churches, hemmed in on all sides by gigantic wareh
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CHAPTER XIII. WATERLOO BRIDGE, THE LAW COURTS, ETC.
CHAPTER XIII. WATERLOO BRIDGE, THE LAW COURTS, ETC.
D ESCENDING now to the river’s side we may think what amazing progress has been made in developing and adorning this noble stream, and all within twenty years! Three or four great monumental bridges, the almost Roman Embankment; the railway running under ground, the red-brick terraces at Chelsea, the palatial hotels at Charing Cross and Waterloo Bridge; Northumberland Avenue now built over on both sides, the many statues; the large and flourishing plane trees, and the gardens! What a change from
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CHAPTER XIV. OLD SUBURBAN MANSIONS.
CHAPTER XIV. OLD SUBURBAN MANSIONS.
I T is always pleasant to see some old, well-preserved mansion, with its pictures and doorways in good condition, the attendant housekeeper directing attention in her prim “show-woman” way to the carvings by “ Grumbling Gibbons ” (a phrase once actually uttered). More grateful, however, is it to come by chance on some neglected, unsung mansion which is celebrated by no flourishings of housekeepers, and which lingers on in its modest seclusion. Such used to be Hoghton Tower in Lancashire, with it
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CHAPTER XV. OLD TOWN MANSIONS.
CHAPTER XV. OLD TOWN MANSIONS.
T HE old mansions of nobles and gentlemen in Grosvenor Street, Brook Street, Hill Street, Cavendish Square and Portman Square are generally of a fine and dignified pattern. There is an imposing air about the halls. The staircase is laid out in a noble style. The reception rooms are grand, and disposed in an original way, a surprise to us who are accustomed to the modern pattern of “front and back drawingrooms.” Some of these old mansions offer a pleasing study, and excite admiration from their g
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CHAPTER XVI. OLD SQUARES.
CHAPTER XVI. OLD SQUARES.
T HE old, smaller squares in London are very interesting from their tranquil, retired air and antique pattern, and venerable trees. None is more characteristic than Queen Square in Bloomsbury, with its pleasant Queen Anne and Georgian houses running round. Most of these inclosures were laid out originally after the Dutch manner, which is still apparent. It must be a curious solitary sensation to live in one of these retreats, and they are affected by students and literary men. Old fashion, indee
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CHAPTER XVII. THE OLD TAVERNS.
CHAPTER XVII. THE OLD TAVERNS.
O LD inns in London may perhaps owe their repute to the share they have in the scenery of Pickwick and Nickleby. The London inns and inn-yards, still used as houses of entertainment, are among the last few survivals which link us to the antique customs of old London. These are now being swept away with a pitiless rapidity, and in a dozen years more not one will be left. The enormous, sheltering, tiled roofs, the galleries, balustrades, crannies, winding stairs, joined to make these singular stru
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CHAPTER XVIII. TAVERNS.
CHAPTER XVIII. TAVERNS.
T HE old London taverns and chop houses are disappearing year by year, but there are a few quaint survivals which are interesting. Take it that on some winter’s evening, we have passed through old Holywell Street, where the gas is flaring wildly over the doors, and emerge at the foot of the picturesque St. Clement Danes’ tower, in whose belfry windows are red lights, while its bells are clanging away noisily, worked by the strong arms of “the College of Bell Ringers.” We hurry on, passing throug
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CHAPTER XIX. CITY WALKS.
CHAPTER XIX. CITY WALKS.
T HE charm of exploring the City is ever novel—to me at least. Not every one has thoroughly fallen under the spell; for an occasional visit is not enough. One should linger, and come again and explore, and be led hither and thither by the humour and attraction of the moment. At the different seasons of the day, morning, noon, and evening—nay, on the Sunday even, when it becomes an astounding wilderness—it offers quite different aspects, and a succession of surprises. It is in truth another city,
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CHAPTER XX. THE OLD CITY HALLS
CHAPTER XX. THE OLD CITY HALLS
O NE of the pleasantest surprises in our City wanderings is when we stray into some unfrequented street with a bizarre name, and pass by an antique but sound old doorway, porte-cochère -like, but with an air of solemn desertion which suggests a back street in some old-fashioned French town. It seems a nobleman’s “Hôtel,” relic of former magnificence. Thus we pause in Addle Street (odd name!) arrested by the Brewers’ Hall, a really interesting place. Here is a fine, solid, old-fashioned structure
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CHAPTER XXI. ALLHALLOWS, ST. OLAVE’S, ELY CHAPEL, ETC.
CHAPTER XXI. ALLHALLOWS, ST. OLAVE’S, ELY CHAPEL, ETC.
T HE old City Churches offer an inexhaustible field for a London explorer. There is nothing more touching than the air of utter abandonment of some of these forlorn structures, appropriately situated in some fast-decaying quarter. They seem closed for ever; and with many are associated strange histories. The gloomy, ancient church of Allhallows Barking impresses the visitor in an extraordinary way. It is difficult to give an idea of the blighted, solemn desolation of this woe-begone fane. The na
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CHAPTER XXII. OLD ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S, ST. HELEN’S, AND OTHER CHURCHES.
CHAPTER XXII. OLD ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S, ST. HELEN’S, AND OTHER CHURCHES.
DOORWAY, ST. HELEN’S. A FTER walking beside the handsome and imposing Smithfield markets for a short distance, we reach the open square where, close to Bartholomew’s Hospital, stands one of the most extraordinary old churches in London, second only in interest to the other antique memorial whereof the worthy Dr. Cox was lately incumbent, viz., St. Helen’s. All that is connected with this venerable fane is characteristic; the approaches and surround ings are piquant, and will surprise the antiqua
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CHAPTER XXIII. WREN’S CHURCHES.
CHAPTER XXIII. WREN’S CHURCHES.
F EW who pass through the City or travel by the river pause to think and compare the innumerable spires and towers that rise in all directions, and lend a Flemish grace to the prose of City life. The most conspicuous are the work of Sir Christopher Wren. No little charm, it may be said, is found in the effective grey of the Portland stone, with its black staining in the shadows—due to deposits of London smoke. But while all praise is due to Wren for his excellence and versatility, it must be rem
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CHAPTER XXIV. MODERN CHURCHES.
CHAPTER XXIV. MODERN CHURCHES.
A FTER passing in review these stately fanes, centuries old, we turn to survey what the genius of modern architecture has contributed in this way to the adornment of London. The contrast is extraordinary. In the churches built within a century or so, we find little expression or meaning; nothing that tempts us to linger—their builders seem uninspired. There are indeed but two or three that have any pretension. One, ambitious and vast, is Sir Gilbert Scott’s gigantic Gothic temple at Kensington,
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CHAPTER XXV. THE CHARTERHOUSE.—THE NEW RIVER.
CHAPTER XXV. THE CHARTERHOUSE.—THE NEW RIVER.
W ITHIN a few hundred yards of Smithfield will be found the Charterhouse, a visit to which “soothes” the mind with all manner of antiquarian associations. The old square in which it stands—Charterhouse Square—has quite an antique flavour; and here is to be seen many a quaint old house devoted to “boarding,” or to unpretending hotel life, and which looks snug and comfortable. We can fancy simple folk from the rural districts coming to town and putting up there. These places seem to belong to a mo
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CHAPTER XXVI. CANONBURY TOWER.
CHAPTER XXVI. CANONBURY TOWER.
T HE outlying districts of London have each a curiously marked colour and flavour of their own. Thus “the Borough,” the district about Bishopgate Street, the City itself—and Islington, all have a distinct and recognizable air. It would take long to define the elements of each, but the skilled denizen has no difficulty in distinguishing. Islington has a bustling, almost foreign air, and in some sense deserves its epithet “merry.” A little beyond Islington there begins a district of so special and
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CHAPTER XXVII. THE QUEEN ANNE STYLE—OLD DOORWAYS.
CHAPTER XXVII. THE QUEEN ANNE STYLE—OLD DOORWAYS.
T HE so-called “Queen Anne style” has within the past few years displayed itself in every shape of extravagance, running riot, as it were, in fantastic freaks of brick. Entirely new quarters, as in the regions close to Sloane Street, have sprung up, entirely covered with these singular edifices. They seem to be dark, uncomfortable tenements, with peaks and gables of the most elaborate kind, and are certain to require constant repairs. Considering that England has been the country of bricks, it i
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CHAPTER XXVIII. CHELSEA AND FULHAM.
CHAPTER XXVIII. CHELSEA AND FULHAM.
E VERY Londoner of taste should make himself familiar with his river, ever placidly winding on and offering a spectacle of grace that never palls. It supplies a constant suggestion of rural beauty, even if we go no further in search of it than to Battersea, where there is a quaint Dutch tone. At Chelsea its many fitful changings begin. But even here, within a few years, what violent alterations, and how much has been lost! Here, for instance, is a sketch which I made not very many years ago, whi
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CHAPTER XXIX. PUTNEY—FULHAM.
CHAPTER XXIX. PUTNEY—FULHAM.
T HE first glimpse of the river at Putney Bridge seems always new, with a never-failing charm. Indeed, all these clusterings on the river where a bridge crosses—Putney and Hammersmith—have for the Londoner walking out, say of a Sunday, an air of picturesque old fashion. The bridges at Kew and Richmond, with their graceful ascent and elegant arches, harmonize delightfully, and their tone and colour and delicate greys contrast with the green of the foliage and the patches of red brick. It is curio
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CHAPTER XXX. CHISWICK, KEW, RICHMOND, AND THEIR SUBURBS.
CHAPTER XXX. CHISWICK, KEW, RICHMOND, AND THEIR SUBURBS.
T HIS little town, or village, of Chiswick is charming in every way, from its church and pretty churchyard and its situation between river and road. The walks hard by have the sylvan air of green lanes. There is the “Mall,” and Chiswick Lane, up which as you glance from the river you can see the little red-rusted terrace of Queen Anne houses, with its antique railings and rural surroundings, a row of “pollarded” trees in front. Facing the church is an old roadside tavern, “The Burlington Arms,”
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CHAPTER XXXI. WILLIS’S ROOMS—THE PALACES.
CHAPTER XXXI. WILLIS’S ROOMS—THE PALACES.
R ETURNING now from these delightful suburban walks, we find ourselves once more at the West End. The London traveller, if he but learn the habit of diligently using his eyes as he walks, is certain to find at every turn something to entertain him, or something novel that he has not before observed. On the other hand, by cultivating incurious habits, the careless observer will come to look on the streets as merely tedious places of passage from one point to another—and the more speedily the mono
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