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iii

CONTENTS.

PAGE

LONG DITTON . i

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL ... 12
THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN,

DOVER 17

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COM-
PANY . . . 25

THE ORIGIN OF MARKETS AND FAIRS, AND
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THOSE AT

LUTON 38

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON . . . . .48

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION . 56

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX . 67

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY . 72
NOTES AND QUERIES .... .76

REPLIES . 78

REVIEWS ... 78

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THE HOME COUNTIES MAGAZINE
VOL. XIV

T,HE

HOME COUNTIES
MAGAZINE

Devoted to the Topography of London, Middlesex,

Essex, Herts, Bucks, Berks, Surrey,

Kent, and Sussex

EDITED BY W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A.

VOLUME XIV. 1912 '> ,

LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET, W.C.

CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND co.

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-^ C/3

LONG DITTON.

By C. L. LAYERS-SMITH.

LONG DITTON is a village and parish in the Deanery
of Ewell, comprising the two manors of Long Ditton
and Tolworth, which are separated, the one from the
other, by the parish of Kingston.

The principal buildings are the church, erected in 1880, of
which I shall speak later on, the National Schools, built in
1873, the Parish Hall and Workmen's Club, and the rectory.
The latter is a picturesque, half-timbered building of the
Tudor period ; to it was added by the Rev. Jervis T. GifTard
(who preceded the late Mr. Hughes in the living) a wing, the
architecture of which does not harmonize with the main
structure.

The living is a rectory in the Rural Deanery of Kingston,
with a rent charge, and about fifteen acres of glebe, and is in
the gift of Mr. Thomas B. Hughes, the brother of the late
Rector.

Ecclesiastically the parish has had a remarkable experience :
originally in the diocese of Winchester, it was transferred
years ago to Rochester, and is now in Southwark.

The name of Ditton1 is not uncommon in England, and
may perhaps be derived from the dykes along the banks of
the Thames ; this derivation, if correct, would point to
Thames Ditton being the earlier settlement. At the time of
the Domesday Survey, one Picot held Ditune of Richard
Fitz Gilbert, and answered for four hides ; Almar had been
the Saxon owner, who had answered for five hides. In the
time of Edward the Confessor it was worth 6os. a year ;
after the Conquest the value fell to 30^. ; but it was recover-
ing, and in 1087 was worth $os. In the reign of John the
manor of Long Ditton appears to have belonged to Geoffrey
de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, and to have been granted by
him to the Prior and Convent of St. Mary without Bishops-

1 Qy. Dyketon or town, derived from the Anglo-Saxon die, the root
word which supplies us with the word dig. Dyke, either a ditch or a
mound.

XIV I B

LONG DITTON.

gate, London, who, after an intermediate seizure by the
officers of the Crown, obtained possession of the estate. The
manor, with other monastic estates, was seized by Henry VIII
in 1537, and in 1553 Edward VI granted it to David Vincent,
Keeper of the Wardrobe, to whom the King left a legacy
of ;£ioo.

David Vincent1 died in 1565, leaving Thomas, his son and
heir, who in 1567 sold the manor to George Evelyn, son of
John Evelyn of Kingston, who had married his sister. This
gentleman, who first settled at Long Ditton, subsequently
removed to Godstone, and afterwards to Wootton, where he
died in 1603. He was largely engaged in the manufacture of
gunpowder, and established works in the three places
mentioned, those in Long Ditton being on the banks of the
Hoggs Mill River, a small stream at Worcester Park, the
remains of which, I believe, are still visible. This George was
the great-grandfather of Sir Edward Evelyn, who inherited the
Long Ditton property; the Wootton estate went to Richard,
George's fourth son, father of John, the celebrated diarist. Sir
Edward, who lived in the Manor House, occupies a prominent
position in the annals of Long Ditton.

His memorial stone, together with several others of the
Evelyn family, is to be seen in the ruins of the chancel of the
old church. He died in 1692, and left his property to his
daughter Penelope, who married Sir Joseph Alston. Their
second son, succeeding ,on the death without issue of an
elder brother, about 1721, sold the manor of Long Ditton to
Sir Peter King, afterwards Lord Chancellor, whose descend-
ant, Ralph, Earl of Lovelace, died in 1906, and left it to his
wife, the present owner.

The manor of Tolworth, forming part of the parish of
Long Ditton, also belonged to the Evelyns. Sir Edward
Evelyn left this portion of his estate to his eldest daughter,
wife of Sir William Glynn. It passed through many hands,
and is now in the possession of the Earl of Egmont.

The advowson belonged to the Priory of Merton at an
early period, and the right was fully established by the verdict
of a jury at Guildford in the reign of Edward I, when a trial
took place on an adverse claim by the Prior of St. Mary
without Bishopsgate, the owner of the manor. Afterwards the
patronage descended, with the manor, through the Evelyns

1 Ancestor of Sir William Vincent, Bart., of D'Abernon Chase, Leather-
head.

LONG DITTON.

to the Alston family. In 1719 Sir Edward Alston sold it to
the Rector, Dr. Joseph Clarke, by whom, under the authority
of an Act of Parliament passed in 1753, it was again disposed
of to Mrs. Pennicott. That lady in 1758 presented her son to
the living, and in 1770 sold the advowson to the Warden and
Fellows of New College, Oxford. They again sold it to Mrs.
Masterman in 1889, who sold it in 1903 to Mr. Thomas B.
Hughes, in whom the patronage is now vested.

I now come to that part of my story which more particu-
larly concerns the inhabitants of Long Ditton, viz., the
Minutes of the Vestry Meetings. The book in which these
are recorded was the gift of Sir Edward Evelyn in 1663, the
Rev. Robert Pocock being then Rector.

I may mention that extracts from these Minutes, with
explanatory notes, were published in the Parish Magazine, from
month to month, commencing December, 1893, under the
head of "Our Parish Records," but they have never been
collected and published in book form.

Before dealing with these records, which begin in 1663, it
will be well if I refer to the period immediately preceding the
Restoration, and more particularly as to the condition of the
church during the Commonwealth.

Richard By field, who was inducted to the rectory in 1627,
was a Presbyterian, the patron of the living being Sir John
Evelyn, who was probably also a Presbyterian, as he was
a member of the Long Parliament during Cromwell's
Protectorate.

Both Byfield and Evelyn appear to have been well known
to Cromwell, for a difference having arisen between the
Rector and his patron over the repairs to the church, Crom-
well effected their reconciliation.

The story is quaintly told by Calamy, the Puritan his-
torian and author of The Nonconformist's Memorial. He
says :

There once happened a great difference between Byfield
and his Patron, Sir John Evelyn, about repairing the Church.
Mr. Byfield complained to Cromwell, their Protector, who
got them both together to reconcile them. Sir John said
that Byfield reflected on him in his sermons. Mr. Byfield
most solemnly declared that he never intended any reflection
upon him. Oliver thereupon turning to Sir John said, " Sir, I
doubt there is something indeed amiss. The word of God is
penetrating and finds you out. Search your ways." This he

LONG DITTON.

spoke so pathetically, even with tears, that Sir John, Mr.
Byfield, and others present, wept also. The Protector, before
he dismissed them, made them good friends. To bind the
friendship the faster, he ordered his Secretary to pay Sir
John Evelyn ;£ioo towards the repairs of the Church.

In a later edition of the Memorials, Calamy, speaking of
Byfield, says : " At Long Ditton he became Reformer of the
Church of Superstitions (as he called it) plucking up the
steps leading to the Altar and denying the Sacrament to his
parishioners and to his patron unless they would take it in
any way except kneeling." No wonder that when the Act of
Uniformity was passed after the Restoration, by which he
was required to subscribe to the Thirty-Nine Articles and
use only the Book of Common Prayer, he refused to comply,
and was ejected.

Byfield had previously been appointed one of the Assistant-
Commissioners for Surrey, under the Ordinance of June 29,
1654, for the ejection of scandalous, etc., Ministers and School-
masters. On leaving Long Ditton he went to Mortlake, where
he died in 1664, and was buried in Mortlake Church. He is
described as a man of high character for personal piety. As
to his zeal there can be no doubt. He was the author of some
devotional works and treatises, one of which, published in
1641, was entitled The Power of the Christ of God. He
describes himself as " Pastor in Long Ditton, Surrey," not
as Rector. In his prefatory address to the reader he de-
nounces Bishops and Archbishops, Deans and Arch-
deacons, as usurpers, and applauds the Presbytery, "God's
own Institution."

Byfield was ejected from the Rectory in 1662, having held
the living thirty-five years. He was succeeded by the Rev.
Henry Hesketh,1 who was instituted on July 24, 1663, on
the presentation of Dame Anne Evelyn. What became of
him I do not know, but in 1665 Dame Anne presented the
Rev. Robert Pocock, M.A., who was instituted on October 26
of that year; he died in 1721, having been rector for fifty-six
years.

The principal source of information concerning the parish
at this period is the record of the Vestry Meetings, already
referred to. The first few years, from 1663 to 1679, contain

1 His name is omitted from the list of Rectors inscribed on a tablet in
the church.

LONG DITTON.

little more than the names of the various parish officers, who
were elected yearly on Easter Monday, their election being
confirmed by the Magistrates. These officials consisted of two
Churchwardens, two Overseers of the Poor, two Constables,
two Headboroughs or Assistant Constables, and two Surveyors
of the Highways, one each for Long Ditton and Tolworth, or
Talworth, as it was often spelt. The same persons were very
rarely elected for more than one year to the same office, the
Churchwardens even not forming an exception to the general
rule.

As regards their duties, the Churchwardens, although con-
fining themselves mostly to the care of the church and grave-
yard, occasionally gave relief to certain poor " passengers " l
and " travellers." a The Overseers had the charge of the poor,
although they gave very little to them, except in the case of
pauper children, who were boarded out and otherwise provided
for at the expense of the rates.

The duties of the Constables and Headborough were to keep
the peace; there is no record of their receiving any wages,
their expenses only being allowed them.

The Surveyors of Highways had, of course, to look after
the roads. How they were paid, if at all, does not appear;
their expenses (and perhaps salaries or fees) were probably
paid out of funds specially provided, which did not come into
the Vestry accounts.

It is somewhat curious that there is no mention of a Parish
Clerk ; the Minutes of the Vestry appear to have been entered
by the Rector or his curate.

The necessary funds for the maintenance of the church and
the services were raised by a Church Rate, which, at the time
of which we are now speaking, amounted to 2d. in the pound.

The Overseers' funds were provided by a Poor Rate. The
amount of the rate is not mentioned, but the total sum required
for both the poor and the church was inconsiderable, and

1 Poor " passengers " were labouring men, mostly of the agricultural
class, travelling in search of work, who were provided with passes, which
not only permitted them to seek employment outside their parish, a thing
otherwise forbidden, but entitled them to help from the overseers of the
parishes through which they might pass.

2 "Travellers" were unlicensed wayfarers or tramps, as we should call
them, who lived upon charity, and in many cases by robbery. They
existed in great numbers, and were the descendants of the "sturdy
rogues and vagabonds" of Henry VI IPs time, of whom that high-handed
gentleman is stated to have hanged 60,000 in the latter years of his reign.

LONG DITTON.

amounted in 1673 to £2$ i$s., equal in present money to
about £100.

Over these funds the Vestry kept a tight hand. There is
an amusing illustration of this in an entry made in 1670,
which runs as follows : " Given to Passengers at several times,
wherein the Parish thought him too liberal, five shillings " ;
which 5^. remained unpaid on the Churchwarden's accounts,
the rest being discharged. This seems rather hard on the
Churchwarden.

The total amount expended did not exceed 36^. a year, on
an average of thirteen years, which included the small payments
made to the poor passengers and travellers and other expenses.
There is no mention of a choir, which probably did not exist,
nor of a Parish Clerk ; the latter, if there was one in Long
Ditton, was always paid by fees.

No mention is made of an offertory, of the kind we are
accustomed to, excepting the alms of the communicants,
which were expended in the purchase of the bread and wine
used at the Holy Communion. In those days it was customary
only to hold the Celebrations four times a year, on the occasions
of the chief festivals.

For raising money for special purposes, the Bishop of the
Diocese issued a " brief extraordinary," under the warrant of
the Great Seal, a custom which originated in pre-Re formation
times. One such brief was in aid of a fund for rebuilding
St. Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire. The collection was
made in Long Ditton in 1678. Again, in 1681 the Bishop
ordered a collection for the Abbey Church of St. Albans,
Herts. The most curious instance of a brief extraordinary
was for the purpose of raising money for the redemption of
captives taken by the Turks. There were collections for this
object in 1670 and I68O.1

Collections were also made from time to time for more local
objects, such as the relief of a certain Nicholas Butler of East
Molesey, who was burnt out in 1677, and in the same year for
James Dawburn, "a sick man." The former amounted to
£2 us. 4</. and the latter to i$s. For an important object as
much as from £4. to £$ was raised. In every case the names
of the subscribers are given, with the amount of their con-
tribution. Sir Edward Evelyn generally headed the list with
the sum of £i. Then followed his wife, with a contribution of

1 Briefs were abolished in 1828.
6

LONG DITTON.

5-j-., and about half a dozen of his servants with 6d. apiece,
equal to about half-a-crown of our money. The economic
three-penny-bit was not then known.

The original church, mentioned in Domesday Book, was
probably erected in Saxon times, part of the foundations
being still visible; but the oldest building of which we have
any real knowledge, although there may have been several
between the Saxon church and the one I am now alluding to,
was pulled down in the year 1776, and replaced by a brick
structure. It is thus described by Mr. Champion Streatfield, a
grandson of Mr. Streatfield (who was a former Curate), in a
memorandum he gave to Mr. Hughes, the late Rector's father:

It is in the form of a cross, the length from east to west 63
feet, that of the transept 46 feet. The intersection of the
vaulting is crowned with a dome. Over the western door is a
gallery, and at the eastern end two Corinthian pillars. The
font and Communion Table were the gift of the Rector, the
Rev. Mr. Pennicott. The representatives of the Evelyn family
not choosing to incur the expense of their repair, the ancient
monuments were disposed of in the pavements of the church,
and are now all covered by the pews, except the two brasses.1
There are four bells, but not one of them is hung. The
building (owing to the lack of funds) was never completed,
and is at present disfigured by a temporary roof.

I remember the church well, having attended Divine Service
there shortly before its demolition. It was a somewhat gloomy
structure, very massive, and being surrounded by trees had a
rather picturesque appearance.

The following are the principal monuments remaining in
the ruins of the old church.

On the north wall of the chancel, a marble tablet to the
Rev. Bryan Broughton, a former Rector, who died in 1838.
Another to his son Charles. One to Mrs. Elizabeth Harrison,
1806, and one to Mrs. Maria Coaps, 1853. There is one other
of stone, carved in the form of a scroll, with a name on it that
looks like John Lind, Barrister, but the inscription is not
decipherable.

On the floor of the chancel are the tombstones of Sir
Thomas Evelyn, who died in 1659; his son, Sir Edward
Evelyn, who died in 1692, and of their widows. There is also
a mutilated stone over the grave of Anthony Bulam, who

1 Now in the new church.

LONG DITTON.

married the daughter of Sir Edward Evelyn, and died in 1695,
but as the inscription is imperfect, nothing can be learned
about him. It is a curious fact that the arms on the tomb, or
as much as can be seen of them, are the same as the arms of
the Evelyn family.

Some years ago the late Mr. Evelyn of Wootton applied for
a faculty for the removal of the remains of his ancestors to
Wootton, but it was refused.

Other ancient tombstones are to Maria Glynn, who was a
daughter of Sir Edward Evelyn, and died in 1692; Captain
Richard Blake, 1671; Anthony Dowdeswell, 1710; James
Clarke, 1726; John Ferris, 1728; two to two Napiers, 1742
and 175 1 ; and Colonel Wm. Oglethorpe, 1706. This last states
that he served three Kings, besides her present Majesty
(Anne). The three Kings would of course be Charles II,
James II, and William III.

There was great difficulty in raising the money for building
the old church, the previous one being condemned by the
Vestry in 1776. The contract price was £1,600, but that was
for the shell only, and did not include the pewing and other
matters, not to speak of the tower which was never completed.
The total amount spent on the church was £2,936, which was
met by subscriptions amounting to £470, a donation of £21
from New College, Oxford, the proceeds of a brief, which
yielded £444 igs. 9</., and a loan of £800 at 8 per cent., which
was ultimately supplemented by a further borrowing of £1,200.

The following is a copy of an inventory made in 1680 of the
property of the church:

Two flaggons of pewter; i chalice of silver with cover: two
pattens of pewter; a pair of surplices; a table cloath of
Holland; a large coffin, the gift of the Rector; a large carpet
of green cloath for the Communion Table, the gift of Mrs.
Sarah Pocock, the wife of the Rector; a faire green velvet
cushion for the pulpit; a faire piece of plate to put the Com-
munion bread on, in the fashion of a patten or passifer, also
the gift of Mrs. Pocock.

In 1715 an anonymous donor presented the parish with a
large silver flagon, which is still in use. This was in the time
of Dr. Clark, who succeeded Mr. Pocock as Rector.

The present edifice was built in 1880, from the designs of
the late Mr. Street, the architect of the Law Courts. It is a
vast improvement upon its predecessor, and is a very pleasing

LONG DITTON.

and commodious structure. The total cost with the land was
about ;£6,ooo, towards which the Church Building Society
contributed £200 in 1878, upon condition that all the seats
were free. It has accommodation for 438 persons. The chancel
was built at the cost of the late Mr. Bates.

The lych-gate was erected in 1901 to the memory of
Mrs. and Mr. Trollope, of the Manor House. The church is
adorned by many beautiful stained glass windows in the north
and south transepts. The windows recently placed in the
chancel are by Kemp, and are admirable specimens of his
art The ornamental ironwork dividing the nave from the
sanctuary was erected to the memory of the Rev. Mr. Lloyd,
a former curate. The most recent addition to the church is
the decoration of the walls of the chancel; the work was
designed and executed by Messrs. Clayton and Bell at the
expense of Mr. and Mrs. Pryce Mitchell in memory of her
mother, Mrs. Godfrey of Rythe House.

The main principles of the modern Poor Laws date back to
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when a statute (43 Eliz., cap. 2)
practically conferred the right of every destitute person in
England to be supported by the parish in which he was born,
or had been settled for three years, and directed the appoint-
ment of Overseers of the Poor in every parish, who were to
administer special funds raised locally. The Overseers consisted
of the churchwardens and from two to four substantial house-
holders, nominated by the justices at their discretion; there
was no central authority to control their actions, and no
Government audit of their accounts. In Long Ditton it was
the custom to submit the accounts annually* to the Vestry, who
allowed or disallowed the various items, as they saw fit, and
sometimes dealt with them in a very arbitrary fashion.

It is impossible in the space at our disposal to do more than
mention the principal charges. The largest expenditure was
for boarding out poor children, presumably orphans. The
customary allowance was 2s. a week for keeping a pauper
child, in addition to which there was the cost of clothing. A
shift cost 3^. 6d., a shirt 3^., a pair of shoes 2s. 6d. Children
were also apprenticed at the charge of the parish, but no men-
tion is made of their education. In rare instances weekly
allowances were made to poor widows; small payments to
" poor passengers and travellers " occur constantly.

It cannot be said that the treatment of the poor was such
as to offer special inducement to them to put themselves to

LONG DITTON.

much trouble in order to obtain the relief granted, as the
following entry shows: " Goody Snooks only to receive is. per
week and half her rent, or i s. 6d., she paying the whole rent."
One can imagine the poor old soul, after much cogitation and
thumbing of a ready reckoner (if such a thing existed in
those days) painfully arriving at the conclusion that her best
plan was to accept the former terms, the total value of the
benefaction amounting to £4 2s. yearly, as against £3 8s. by
the latter terms, the amount of her rent being $os.

It was a common practice at that time, there being no work-
house, to make allowances towards rent, or else to lodge the
poor in cottages hired for their reception, as the following
entry testifies: " It was reported that the house at Tolworth
belonging to Thomas Scowan Esq. in which three poor men
resided, was very much out of repair, but that it might be fully
repaired and rendered fit to receive all such poor as were in
real want of houses, for £20." The rent of the house in ques-
tion was £i a. year. The treatment of poor children was
upon the same economical scale, the amount paid for one
year for the board of five being only £i 5 I2s.y or at the rate of
£3 2s. $d. per child. There were no casual wards in those
days, and Long Ditton did not possess a workhouse until
later on.1

In addition to the poor rate, a source of income was Smith's
Charity. Henry Smith, Silversmith and Alderman of London,
was born in Wandsworth in 1548. He amassed a vast fortune
and gave large sums of money to many of the chief towns of
Surrey during his lifetime, and at his death left the income
of certain property to be divided amongst the principal villages.
The share which fell to Long Ditton amounted, in the time of
the Stuarts, to about £4. a year. The present income is about
£33 a year. The money was left for the " relief of aged poor
and infirm people, married persons having more children than
their labours can maintain, poor orphans, and such poor people
as keep themselves and families to labour, and to put forth their
children as apprentices at the age of 1 5." That portion assigned
for the relief of the impotent and aged poor was to be distri-
buted in apparel of one colour, branded with the name of the
donor, or else in bread, flesh, or fish upon each Sabbath day in
the parish church. From time to time modifications in the
form of distribution have been made, with the sanction of the

1 Union workhouses were established by the Poor Law Amendment
Act in 1834.

LONG DITTON.

Charity Commissioners, and the method now adopted in Long
Ditton is to confine the charity to widows and persons of sixty
years of age and upwards, who shall have resided in the parish
for five years at least, to whom is given clothing, materials for
clothing, or blankets, as they may elect. Any balance is
divided between Long Ditton and Tolworth Schools, for the
purpose of providing prizes for the scholars. This is the only
endowed charity which benefits Long Ditton.

In Queen Anne's days Tolworth was the most populous
part of the parish, if we may judge from the assessments, the
Poor Rate in 1703 amounting to £23 43. $d. in Tolworth and
to £22 Ss. gd. in Long Ditton.

From 1708 to 1712 no accounts were rendered by the
Churchwardens or Overseers, but on the i6th April of the
latter year: "The officers and several of the Parishioners
met at the Church, when all and each of them were paid
their claims and debts, neglected to be done for several
years."

Detailed accounts appear in the Minutes of the Vestry at
sundry times, but from 1755 onwards they are mere summaries,
and fail therefore to supply any particulars of how the money
was spent. The names of the elected officers, however, con-
tinue to be recorded year by year.

In 1729 the Overseers, Headboroughs,and Constables ceased
to be elected by the Vestry, which thereafter nominated them
to the County Magistrates, in whom the actual appointment
became vested. The right of choosing their own Surveyor of
Highways, formerly exercised by the parish, was taken away
from them several years before then, but at what precise date,
and under what circumstances it is difficult to determine. The
first Parish Clerk that we read of (one William Steele) was
appointed in 1748. His salary was £2 a year. The following
entry shows the rigid economy practised by the Vestry in
those days: "An agreement of the Vestry 1722. Whereas
Robert Collins, Churchwarden, had given to vagabonds and
other passengers, more than was thought reasonable at the
Parish expense, it is agreed that no other officer but the
churchwarden shall relieve any such person at the Parish ex-
pense, and that neither of the Churchwardens for the time to
come shall dispose of more than 6^. apiece a year on such
account." In the following year the allowance of beer to the
men working on the roads was stopped ; twenty years later,
however, the men were allowed one pint of beer each.

LONG DITTON.

In 1745 an attempt was made by the Overseers to confine
the payment of poor relief to church-goers.

It being represented by the Rev. Mr. Pennicott that several
poor people of this parish were becoming shamefully remiss
in their attendance on the public worship, it was resolved
that the several allowances now paid or at any future time
granted to the poor, shall be paid at no other time or place
but in the Parish Church, on every Sunday immediately after
morning service, and to such only of the said poor who shall
attend the said service, unless in extraordinary cases of
disability.

One way of securing an outward observance of the forms of
religion, leaving the spirit untouched. With this characteristic
specimen of the religious intolerance of the time these notes
must come to an end.

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL:

A Forgotten London Race-course.

BY T. BUTLER CATO, F.S.A.

"'TTAVE you been to the Hippodrome?' said a man
I — I who rode up as I was crossing from Grosvenor Place

-*"- -*- into the Park. I had never heard of such a place.
' Indeed! Well, it is an excellent hour's lounge — let us ride
there together!'"

Such was a scrap of the conversation which took place in
the year 1837 between two sporting gentlemen of the period;
and maybe at the present time there are many who have never
heard of a place which for the short space of four years was
the resort of fashionable and sporting London.

The two friends having decided to visit the course set out
on horseback, and, making the " cours aristocratique of Routine
Row," passed out at Cumberland Gate, and thence to Bays-
water.

A ride of a mile or thereabouts brought them to Kensington
Gravel Pits — the first hamlet west of Tyburn on the Oxford
Road, and which was picturesque enough to be painted by
Mulready— and a little further on they paid their tolls at and

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL.

passed through Netting Hill Gate. A few hundred yards
further they arrived at the Terrace of Netting Hill, close to
which was the entrance to the Hippodrome, and within the
enclosure there appeared " the most perfect race course you
ever beheld." We must leave our two friends, lost in admira-
tion of the view of the course, in order to trace very briefly the
history of this short-lived but interesting sporting venture.

Early in the year 1837, or possibly in the previous year, it
occurred to a Mr. John Whyte that the valley below Netting
Hill would be a most suitable spot for a race-course. Nego-
tiations were accordingly entered into by this gentleman with
the ground landlord, Mr. Ladbroke, and a course of two and a
quarter miles was forthwith laid out. The course was of a some-
what oval shape, as can be seen in the plan, the turns were easy,
the ground uniformly even and of considerable width. The
steeple-chase course was on the outside of the race-course, in a
circle about two miles round, intersected by natural fences and
brooks. Both courses were railed in all round with strong
railings, so that the horses in running could not be crossed or
their riders molested or endangered by the company attending
the races.

From the accompanying plan the direction of the course
can be seen. Starting in what is now Portland Road, it went
in a straight line for about 600 yards, then branched off in a north-
west direction, forming a large loop, returning to the starting-
point. The " Hill for Pedestrians " is the Netting Hill, on
which stood the grand stand, which is shown in the illustra-
tion, and on which the church of St. John was afterwards built ;
it was known as " The Hippodrome Church " for some years.
From this eminence it was said that a view was to be obtained
as spacious and enchanting as that from Richmond Hill,
almost the only thing you could not see was — London!
Every yard of the course could be seen from the top of the
hill, besides miles of country on every side beyond it, " a
racing emporium more extensive and attractive than Ascot or
Epsom, with ten times the accommodation of either, and where
carriages are charged at three-fourths less."

Previous to the formation of the Hippodrome there had
been steeplechases over " made " fences in different parts of
the country, commencing with a meeting at Bedford in 1810;
but these early meetings were in the nature of specially
arranged matches between the sportsmen of the day, who each
subscribed a certain sum, and it was not till the year 1830

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL.

that organized steeplechases intended to be renewed every
year were inaugurated by the meeting at St. Albans. This
was followed in 1837 by the first meeting at the Hippodrome,
which was duly advertised in the newspapers as follows:

THE HIPPODROME SITUATED AT BAYS-
WATER. The Nobility, Gentry and the Public are respect-
fully informed that this establishment is in such a state of
forwardness as to allow it to be now opened to subscribers.
It is available for every kind of equestrian exercise and
amusement. A very large space is railed in and allotted to
persons on foot where they can enjoy the various amusements
without danger of molestation. It is particularly adapted for
Ladies, Invalids, and Children enjoying Horse Exercise. The
first day's public racing is fixed for the 3rd June. Every in-
formation respecting Terms, Rules and Regulations may be
had at the Hippodrome office from ten till five o'oc. where
subscriptions will be received and receipts and tickets issued.

Subscribers on Horseback or Foot will on public days enter
by the gates at Ladbroke Terrace — and all others on foot or
Horseback and Carriages, etc. will enter at the Gates at
Portobello Lane.

Hippodrome Office, 2 Opera Arcade, Pall Mall.

E. Mayne, Secretary.

On Saturday, June 3, 1837, the first meeting was duly held,
and drew together a very brilliant company. " Splendid Equi-
pages" occupied the space set apart for them, while gay
marquees, " with all their flaunting accompaniments," covered
the hill. The Meeting certainly started under promising
auspices, for among the Stewards were those leaders of society
and fashion, Lord Chesterfield and Count d'Orsay, "the
Phoebus Apollo of Dandyism." The whole neighbourhood
seemed to have turned out to see the sport, and the takings
at the Toll Gate at Notting Hill must have been considerable.
The racing was for plates of ;£ioo and .£50 given by the
Proprietor, but although the meeting was doubtless a great
social success, the racing hardly came up to expectations.
The sporting press described it as " good," but, being in its
infancy, " feeble." The fact, no doubt, was that the soil was of
too clayey a nature for a really good race-course, however
well suited it might be for horse exercise. The consequence
was that the leading jockeys refused to ride there. But though
the new race-course, so conveniently near London, was un-
doubtedly popular with the racing fraternity, the proprietor

£?t

ifi

s.
a.

ffi
H

.&•

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL.

met with a considerable amount of local opposition. The main
cause of this opposition was due to the fact that there was a
right of way which ran from Uxbridge Road across Netting
Hill to Kensal Green. The race-course owners set up bars
and gates, and endeavoured to block the footpath, which ran
across the course. This not unnaturally led to disturbances,
during which certain parishioners of Kensington, jealous of
their right of way, went on to the course and with hatchets
and saws tore down the obstructions. They were doubtless
aided and abetted in their opposition to the race-course by a
section of the press, which, referring to the meeting on May 25,
1838, stated that " the scum and offal of London was assembled
in the peaceful hamlet of Notting Hill" on this occasion.
Local feeling ran very high, and a petition against the con-
tinuance of the course was widely signed by the inhabitants
of the neighbourhood.

Readers of Douglas Jerrold's Brownrigg Papers may re-
member the clever skit on this opposition — how it was said
that the moral contamination of the race-course affected even
the scholastic establishments for young ladies and gentlemen
on the Bayswater Road — that a spirit of gambling amongst
the young was engendered — and that the young gentlemen
spent their leisure time in breeding caterpillars for racing,
and arranging handicap races for snails of all weights — how,
in fact, since the introduction of vicious racers near the
school, not one of the children would receive even the most
moderate physical remonstrance without considerable kick-
ing, and how one urchin, more contaminated than the rest,
emptied a pint of brandy in his schoolmistress's tea, which
resulted in her being found senseless on the hearthrug, and
on being remonstrated with replied that "he understood
flats were to be served in that way at the Hippodrome."

This " foolish spirit of opposition to the race-course " was
the beginning of the end of the undertaking. For two years
the quarrel between the proprietor and the parochial authorities
continued, till at last the former gave up the contest and
enclosed other ground ; the pathway in dispute thus re-
mained for the public use. In 1839 the title was changed to
" The Hippodrome Victoria Park," as a compliment to the
young Sovereign, and the whole course was surrounded by
high fences.

On May 25, 1839, the opening meeting of the year was
held. Royalties were present in the persons of the heir to

THE HIPPODROME, NOTTING HILL.

the Russian throne and Prince Frederick of the Netherlands
(the former giving a cup as an additional prize), and amongst
others attending were Prince Dolgourouki, Prince Bariatinski,
Count Orloff, and other illustrious foreigners. They arrived
on the course in royal carriages, and were joined by the
Duke of Cambridge, the Marquises of Anglesea and
Worcester, the Stewards, and Mr. Whyte, the proprietor. An
immense number of people thronged the course, and the hill,
from which a perfect view of the sport was obtained, was
crowded with pedestrians. In every way this meeting seems
to have been one of the most successful of the series.

The next year, 1840, saw a Captain Becher as manager of
the ground, and a " Produce Stakes of 50 so vs., with 1,000
sovs. given by the proprietor," to be run triennially, was
announced. This generosity was perhaps not unnaturally
short-lived. In 1841 Mr. Whyte announced that he could not
continue to give such heavy stakes and maintain the proper
character of the ground, were he to continue his low price of
admission. The charges were thereupon raised to 2s. 6d. for
pedestrians, 5^. for equestrians, *js. 6d. for two-wheeled and
los. for four-wheeled carriages.

There were two meetings in 1841, with racing for the
" Hyde Park Derby Stakes," the " Netting Hill Stakes," the
"Kensington Free Plate," the "Netting Barnes Handicap,"
the " Hyde Park Oak Stakes," on the first occasion, and for
the " Hammersmith Free Plate," the " Willesden Stakes," the
" Hippodrome Paddock Stakes," the "London Handicap" (of
" 30 sovs. each, with a subscription from the City of London,
guaranteed by the proprietor to be not less than 300 sovs.,"
added), and the "Westminster Handicap." Alas, after such
high-sounding titles, that the end of this undertaking should
be nearing !

The meeting of June 2, 1841, proved to be the last. The
picture by Alken shows the race-course in that year, and to
this day can be seen the last of the Pottery Kilns shown in
this view. In May, 1842, the proprietor announced that the
ground had been taken possession of by the mortgagees, for
the purposes of building, and that it would be out of his
power to run the races advertised.

So ended this " spirited undertaking," which only four
years before had been described as "an enterprise which must
prosper, it is without a competitor, and is open to the fertili-
sation of many sources of profit ; in fact, it is a necessary of

The Gate- House, St. Martin's, Dover.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

London life, of whose absolute need no one was aware till the
possession of it taught us its paramount value."

Part of the course, with a few hedges, was kept open for
horse-exercise as late as 1852, and was well patronized. At
the present day the existence of the old race-course is
recalled by the " Hippodrome Place " in Notting Dale.

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN
DOVER. (Known as St. Martin New-Work.)

BY J. TAVENOR-PERRY.

[Continued from vol. 13, p. 254.]

HE works had been stopped, or at least hindered, in
their progress while the more serious disagreements
-*~ were pending, but these being settled, and Archbishop
Theobald having interested himself in the matter, the work
was pushed on, so that by the time of his death in 1161 the
more important parts of the church and some other of the
necessary conventual buildings were completed. Although in
later years additional works were carried out from time to
time as circumstances required, and great structural repairs
were necessitated by the French raids, the Priory as com-
pleted by Theobald was never much altered ; and it was no
doubt in a fit state to house, in due magnificence, Louis of
France and Henry II when they passed through Dover to
the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury in 1 179.

One very important historical event which occurred in
Dover in 1191 has been generally associated with the Priory,
and therefore requires to be mentioned here, although, having
regard to all the circumstances, it is somewhat difficult to
understand how it can have been the scene of the occurrence.
Of the chroniclers who are chiefly responsible for the details
of the story, Ralph de Diceto, John Bromton, Roger of
Howden, and Gervase of Canterbury, the last is the only one
likely to have had a personal acquaintance with the place ;
and even he may unintentionally have confused the two
establishments, the Collegiate Church of St. Martin-le-Grand
and the Priory of St. Martin, at that time generally dis-
tinguished as the " New- Work."

The story runs thus : Geoffrey Plantagenet, the youngest
xiv 17 c

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

son of Henry II, had been appointed to the Archbishopric of
York in his father's lifetime, but had been unable to obtain
the necessary Papal recognition. After Henry's death, the
new Pope, Celestine III, acknowledged him, and sent him
with a mandate to the Archbishop of Tours to consecrate
him as Archbishop. Having received consecration in the
Abbey of St. Martin of Tours, Geoffrey at once made for
England. William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, who was
holding the kingdom for Richard I, then at the Crusade, sent
instructions to the Constable of Dover Castle, James, Lord
Fienes, to look out for the Archbishop, and to arrest him if
he landed. Geoffrey, having disguised himself, eluded the
guards and landed, and, mounting a horse,rode to St. Martin's ;
after having donned his ecclesiastical vestments, he proceeded
to take his part in the celebration of the Mass, when the
soldiers burst in and, all arrayed in his archiepiscopal robes
as he was, dragged him through the dirty streets of Dover,
and committed him to ward within the Castle.

Such is the story, and it may seem to hang well enough
together to those who have not been over the ground, but to
those who know their Dover it is somewhat difficult to credit.
To follow it in detail it is necessary to remember that Dover,
at the end of the twelfth century, was a closely walled town
of (roughly speaking) quadrilateral form, with its north-west
angle rounded off where it impinged on the western heights.
Its south side was towards the sea, the west lay close under
the overhanging cliffs, the north side was towards the open
country, while the east side faced the Castle, from which it
was divided by very swampy ground through which ran the
little river Dour and some other brooks. This open ground
was, however, defended by a curtain-wall towards the sea,
stretching along from the Postern Tower, commonly called
the Fishermen's Gate, at the south-east angle of the town, till
it joined the foot of the cliff of the Castle Hill by the ancient
church 01" St. James Wardendown. In the town wall towards
the sea there were four gates, the Postern, already mentioned,
and the Snar-gate at the other end of the sea front, and
between these two others of less importance, known as
Butchery and Severus Gates ; in the curtain-wall were two
gates, St. Helen's and Eastbrook Gates, through which one
of the little streams of the marshy ground ran into the sea.
The boggy character of the ground hereabouts in olden time
was shown by the discovery a few years since of about 100 feet

The Gate-House, St. Martin's, Dover.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

of an oak-framed roadway, apparently of Roman construction,
which had been made to form a " hard " from a landing-place
towards the Castle.

When, therefore, Geoffrey landed, eluding by his disguise
the vigilance of the guard sent by Lord Fienes to arrest him,
it must have been in one of three places, either on the open
sea front westward of the town, at one of the town gates, or
one of the two gates in the curtain-wall nearest the Castle.
Had he selected the open sea front he could not have reached
St. Martin New- Work without scaling the western heights —
for the railway tunnel through them was not even yet a
dream — or without riding into the town at Snar-gate, travers-
ing its entire length, and riding out again on the other side.
Had he entered through the curtain-wall, he would have had
to get across the marshy land, intersected by brooks, and
where there was no road, between the Castle and the town ;
while in the third case, he would have had to ride through
the town and out through the carefully guarded gate across
the London Road. But this is to suppose that an unknown
stranger, for such the disguised Archbishop must have been,
could dash through an important fortified city, as one might
dash through an open village nowadays in a motor-car, un-
challenged and unarrested ; and the supposition seems some-
what gratuitous when one remembers that to do this he had
to pass the gates of three churches within the town, one of
which, and the first he came to, was the royal chapel of St.
Martin-le-Grand, whose special sanctuarial privileges were un-
doubted, and whose great tower and lofty apse he could not
fail to see.

It may be further urged that one of the Archbishop's
complaints later on against the Constable was, that he was
dragged in his archiepiscopal vestments through the dirty
streets of Dover ; but had he been captured in the New-
Work there was no need to take him into Dover at all, and
thus risk either a rescue or his seeking refuge in one or other
of the town sanctuaries ; and moreover there was no gate in
the town wall on the Castle side which would have made that
a short cut. It is to be remembered further that though the
place of his sanctuary is expressly stated to be the Priory of
St. Martin, the Royal Chapel of St. Martin-le-Grand at this
time belonged to the Priory, and so loose is the description
in the Chronicles that Thiery, in his Conquest of England by
the Normans, with Roger of Howden evidently before him,

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

says that Geoffrey reached a monastery of the City of Canter-
bury, where the monks hid him in their house.

However much open to question this episode of Archbishop
Geoffrey's sanctuary-seeking in St. Martin's Priory may be,
the unwelcome visits of the French in the next century are
undeniable, and they left behind them but too evident traces,
which may be seen to this day, of their hostile intrusion.
These visits commenced in 1213 and lasted three or four
years, during which time the army of Philip under the
Dauphin, with William Longsword and forty-nine other
English barons, unsuccessfully besieged Dover Castle, held
for his country by Hubert de Burgh. For this Hubert gained
but few thanks from his King, and through the unrelenting
malice of Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester and
Treasurer of St. Hilary of Poitiers, he also was driven to
seek sanctuary under the outspread cloak of St. Martin.
During 1296 the French again landed twice at Dover, raiding
the town and the religious houses, doing much superficial
damage and carrying off a good deal of plunder. It was, how-
ever, during the first of their visits that the principal damage
was done to the Priory ; the gateway was to a great extent
thrown down, and the Refectory and adjoining buildings were
burnt, so that much of the stonework had to be renewed at a
later date, and some of the calcined ashlar which was then
left untouched had to be removed in the restoration during
the last century. How far the church suffered we cannot say,
as it, with all its reparations, has long since disappeared.

From the time of the French inroads until the time when
the last Henry evicted them, much as the first Henry had
evicted their predecessors in title, the monks of St. Martin's
Priory passed, in two hundred and fifty years of external
peace, their uneventful history; and with but slight additions
or reparations occupied the buildings as they were left by the
original founders ; and these we will now proceed to describe.

By reference to our plan of the Priory (vol. 13, p. 246), it will
be seen that the church has essentially in all its chief character-
istics the Austin Canon and not the Benedictine arrangement ;
the nave is wide and spacious, suitable for the large congrega-
tions who were expected to listen to the Augustinians. Its
dimensions, from the west front to the crossing of the transepts,
and from the south to the north walls inclusive of the aisles,
were about 145 by 65 feet, or nearly 9,500 square feet for the
nave alone, and it was formed into nine bays. The piers of

The Refectory, St. Martin's, Dover.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

the nave arcades were square, with nook-shafts of Bethesden
marble, some of which have been found amongst the ruins ;
and as these piers were comparatively slight, being only five
feet square, and as there were no buttresses capable of with-
standing any thrust, the roofs must have been of wood. The
west front was not prepared for towers, as it would have been
with a Benedictine church, and the piers at the crossing, which
had a clear internal space of 30 feet, were not sufficiently
strong to carry any lofty tower at that point. The transepts
were aisleless,' and stretched 160 feet from north to south,
and each had on its eastern side two semicircular apsidal
chapels, 12 feet wide and deep. The square-ended choir and
sacrarium had together a length from the crossing of 95 feet,
and the same width as the nave; the nave aisles were con-
tinued for three bays along the sides of the choir, with circular
piers to the arcade, and apsidal terminations. Traces of a single
doorway in three orders were found at the west end, and
another in the third bay of the south aisle which no doubt was
the entrance used by the townspeople, and its door may have
borne the usual sanctuary ring to mark the church as the
successor to or the sharer in the benefits and protection of
St. Martin's cloak.

Of the aspect of the church in its primitive beauty, internal
or external, it is difficult now to form a conception, since,
although enough remained in the last century to make it
possible to take an accurate plan, scarcely one stone remained
above another; and now, all that was left then has either
been destroyed or buried under the modern houses. For its
size it might have been comparable with Rochester, Southwell,
or Tewkesbury, and as far as we can judge from existing
remains must have equalled them in architectural decoration.

The conventual buildings at Dover were placed on the
north side, which, though not the customary position, was by
no means rare, and was, by peculiarities of the site, sometimes
made necessary. In this particular case the church, having
been designed with special reference to popular preaching, it
was set on the townward side of the site, and the buildings
for the canons' use on the further side ; in this the example of
Canterbury was followed, where the church was placed nearest
to the city and the conventual buildings between it and the
city wall. Thus we get here the Chapter House at the end of
the north transept, without any intervening slype, and of the
same form as, though rather smaller than, the beautiful con-

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

temporary one, built by Galfrid Rufus at Durham, which the
Dean, Lord Cornwallis, having found it chilly, ordered to be
pulled down in 1795. Beyond the Chapter House, and stretch-
ing still northward, was a range of buildings, measuring over
all 40 feet in width by 145 feet in length. This is generally
assumed to have been used by the monks as their dormitory,
with perhaps an undercroft for various domestic offices ; but
it had no access to the church, such as was usually provided
for the convenience of attending early services, unless the roof
of the Chapter House was made so low that a gallery to the
transept passed over it.

To the north of the nave and to the west of the last-
mentioned buildings was the cloister, the outlines of which are
still apparent, and which measured about no feet square,
including the walks. How far the building of the original
cloister had been carried before the French attacks we do not
know, but in the considerable ruins of the west walk, till
recently remaining, were found fragments of thirteenth century
vaulting ribs, which may have formed portions of the groining
on that side. Towards the end of the fifteenth century it had
evidently become dilapidated, for in 1484 the will of a Robert
Lucas was proved, by which the sum of i$s. 4^. was left for
the making of a new cloister. Whether the whole or any part
of this bequest was expended is unknown; no remains of work
of so late a date have been found among the debris, but the
gift seems to show that some rebuilding was necessary and
contemplated.

On the north side of the cloister stands the refectory, the
most interesting and the best preserved of the Priory buildings,
measuring 102 feet in length, 27 feet in width, with a height
to the top of the walls and springing of the roof of 30 feet.
Round the upper part runs a graceful arcade of semicircular
arches, carried on pilaster piers with nook shafts, and this
arcade is irregularly pierced with simple round-arched windows,
two being arranged together at the dai's end, those on the
south side having their sills raised to a higher level so as to
clear the cloister roof. The original capitals showed Norman
scallops, but a large number of these with their abaci were
destroyed by the French, and others of later design were
inserted in their places. Very little of the ancient roof
remained, and it was found necessary at the recent restoration
to put an entirely new roof to the building. Having regard to
the fact that for more than two hundred years the refectory

The Refectory, looking East, St. Martin's, Dover.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

had been used as a barn, it is wonderful that on the east wall
below the arcading there still remain considerable traces of
a large painting of the Last Supper, stretching right across
the full width of the dai's. The figures are life size, and the
nimbi have been moulded or stamped into the plaster back-
ground. At some time subsequent to the first painting it has
been considerably " restored," and the position of St. John's
head slightly altered, and as the stopping of the old nimbus
has now fallen out, the Apostle presents the somewhat ludicrous
appearance of bearing two nimbed heads. Though not so
beautiful or so well preserved as Da Vinci's painting of the
subject in the refectory of the Grazie at Milan, it is equally
interesting and almost unique in England. Towards the east
end of the south wall, at the end of the dais, was an aumbry,
which appears to have been empty when the inventory of
utensils and furniture found in the refectory at the Dissolution
was taken, an inventory which does not suggest that the monks
kept a luxuriously appointed table. This is a copy of it :

In the Vawte where the moncks do dyne, j olde table,
j fourme, j cusshon of verder, j booke of the Bybyll, written.
In the Buttrye, next to the same Vawte where the moncks do
use to dine, j salte of sylver parcell gylte, with a cover to the
same, vj old playne towells, iij napkyns playne, j bason and
j ewar of pewtar, iij bell candill-sticks, j smalle lampe,
v chaffyn dishes of latten.

The entrance to the refectory was from the cloister at the
west end, but the stone dressings, except those showing the
outline of the arch, had all been removed; and though by
some the sculptured vouissoir of a lintel arch found in the
cloisters has been assumed to belong to this door, its place
was more probably in the west door of the church. To the
east of this doorway is an arcade of three pointed arches,
showing beautiful mouldings, inserted in the wall perhaps in
the fourteenth century, which was most likely the lavatory.

In houses of Austin Canons the Prior's lodging was
generally placed at the south-west angle of the nave, but
there are no indications at Dover of there ever having been
any buildings in this position. When William de Longville
and the other Canons from Merton came hastily to seize the
New-Work for their order it was in a very unfinished con-
dition, and they were most likely expelled before proper
accommodation had been found for them. The position,

THE PRIORY OF SS. MARY AND MARTIN, DOVER.

moreover, having regard to that of the town, would have been
very inconvenient, and the chances are that the Benedictines
erected this important building nearer the main Canterbury
road and the Maison Dieu, and that all traces of it have been
lost.

Farther along westward of the church, and facing towards
the Folkestone road, stands the Priory Gateway, which
appears to have suffered more from the French devastations
than any other part of the Convent. At the time of the attack
it could have been but barely completed, and a considerable
part of it seems to have been thrown down ; but it was re-
constructed at a subsequent date by using up, as far as they
would serve, the undamaged ruins, with the result that in its
details it shows many anomalies. The gateway entrance was
originally groined, and fitted with a portcullis, which was
omitted at the rebuilding. At the side of the gate was a small
chamber reached by an external staircase, and lighted from
the gateway by a small window ; this formed a chapel, with
a niche at the entrance for the holy-water stoup, and to the
east a piscina and a recess for the altar. The only access to
the upper floor must have been from adjoining buildings now
destroyed ; it contains some fireplaces, with wooden lintels
of a very late date, and has a turret staircase in one angle
intended to give access to the roof.

Still further to the west, at the angle of the Priory enclosure,
stood a great stone-built barn, which appears in the fore-
ground of a plate representing the ruins in Groses Antiquities
of England, from which it would seem to have been a fine
example of thirteenth century work. To the north of the
site, under the rise of the hill and at some distance away from
the church, are extensive remains of buildings the exact
purposes of which are unknown ; and among them, in a fairly
perfect condition, is one which was most likely intended to be
the Guest House. It consists of a hall, 80 feet long, with a
narrow aisle on the north side, which together are about 35
feet wide, with an arcade of six pointed arches on cylindrical
shafts, having particularly graceful scallop-capitals of an
unusual form, but to be found ini the neighbouring church of
St. Margaret-at-Cliffe. At the south end of the hall was a
great fireplace, the chimney recess of which remains, and at
the south-west angle was a turret. The windows are all of an
early lancet form, but the doorways have been obliterated by
the other openings which have been cut in modern times.

The Guest-House, St. Martin's, Dover.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

There were a large number of walls and ruins mixed up
with modern farm-buildings scattered about the site, the use
of which could not be determined, many belonging to ex-
tensive works carried out in the fourteenth century, when we
know that, among others, a bake-house and a brew-house
were erected.

The seal of the Priory, as figured in Hasted, shows St.
Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar of Amiens, accord-
ing to the old legend. The arms of the Priory are given by
Dugdale as : Sable, between 4 leopards' faces, or, a cross,
argent, which Makensie Walcot says were the paternal arms
of the Prior Robert.

The report of the King's Visitors at the time of the sup-
pression was to the effect that the house was in a decaying
condition, bad management and diminished revenues having
brought it to the verge of bankruptcy. Apparently the Prior
had been forced to borrow of the inhabitants and had mort-
gaged the goods of the convent for security ; and in one case
at least, where he seems to have run a long bill with his
butcher, one Thomas Mansell, he had to take the very coat
off the back of the image of the Blessed St. Thomas, a coat
garnished with divers brooches, rings, and other jewels, and
give it in pledge for the payment of the account. The house
was voluntarily surrendered by the Prior and Brethren on
November 16, 1535 ; the buildings and revenues were granted
to the See of Canterbury. The altars were not removed until
1549. The stalls were given to St. Mary-the- Virgin, Dover,
and must have been destroyed when that church was restored
early in the last century. The materials of the church were
given to the town of Dover for the repair of the town walls
and gates ; and so, piece by piece, one of the finest monastic
churches in the country was utterly swept away.

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA
COMPANY.

BY WILLIAM FOSTER.

"AT Mr. Thomas Smythe's house in Philpot Lane " — such

/-\ was the first address of the Honourable Company of

4- •*- Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies ;

and it says much for the thrifty ways of our ancestors that for

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

upwards of twenty years (with one short break) this rich and
powerful association should have been content with the use of
a few rooms in the city mansion of its first Governor. How
astonished would the earliest members have been had they
been told that three centuries later the Company would be
the owners of a magnificent building standing on a site of an
acre and a half, employing hundreds of clerks and, in its
numerous outlying warehouses, thousands of labourers! Still
more would they have marvelled to learn that the association
they had helped to found would one day oust the Great
Mogul from his throne, and win for Britain an empire far
more populous than that of the Romans at the zenith of their
power.

Where, then, is Philpot Lane, the scene in which the first
act of the drama is laid ? It is easily found. Going from
Gracechurch Street along Fenchurch Street, it is the first
turning on the right, running down into Eastcheap. There
is nothing remarkable in its present-day aspect ; it is just an
ordinary, rather mean-looking, City street, lined with plain
solid buildings, occupied chiefly by wine merchants, tea-
dealers, and fruit-brokers. By day there is the usual scurry of
business life ; at night the place is as silent and deserted as a
graveyard. But at the time when Queen Elizabeth gave the
East India Merchants their first charter, the appearance of
the Lane was very different. Narrow as it now is, it was even
narrower then; and in lieu of the modern pavements and
asphalted roadway we must imagine an uneven surface,
possibly cobbled, with a kennel running down the centre to
carry off the rain-water. Of the quaint, gabled houses that
stood on each side some idea may be gained from Aggas's
well-known map of Elizabethan London, though, of course,
we must not for a moment impute formal accuracy to his
details. The materials used were almost exclusively timber,
lath, and plaster, and the buildings had small windows arid
high-pitched roofs. Internally, save for a large living-room
in the better class of house, they were cut up into a number
of small, dark, smoky apartments, sparsely furnished, and to
modern eyes singularly comfortless. Still, picturesque the
architecture of the time undoubtedly was ; and the irregu-
larity of the street alignment, and the frequent breaks caused
by tree-cumbered gardens, added yet further to the charm.

Where exactly Smythe's house stood we cannot now
determine ; but apparently it was not far from the Fenchurch

The Honourable Sr Thomas Smith, Knight, late Embasador
from his Mastie to ye great Emperour of Russie, Governour of
ye Honble and famous Societyes of Marchants tradinge to ye
East Indies, Muscovy, the French and Somer Islands Company,
Tresurer for Virginia, etc.

Pub. Mar. i, 1797, by W. Richardson, York House, 31 Strand.

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

Street end of the lane, for occasionally it is spoken of as
though it were in Fenchurch Street itself. We may also infer
that it was on the western side, with a back entrance from
Gracechurch Street. Thomas Smythe, the Governor's father
(generally known as " Customer Smythe," because for many
years he farmed Queen Elizabeth's customs) had a house
which is described as being in the latter thoroughfare, and
which contained a hall of considerable size, where a mathe-
matical lecture was delivered by Dr. Hood in the year of the
Spanish Armada. As the son's house, which in any case
stood close to this spot, also included a large hall,1 where the
general assemblies of the East India Company were mostly
held, we may fairly conclude that the building was the same
in both cases, and that it extended, with its courtyard and
approaches, from the one street to the other. It is quite
possible that, after his father's death in 1591, Smythe made
alterations and additions on the Philpot Lane side, which
henceforth became the principal frontage. How large the
mansion was may be inferred from the fact, stated by Dr.
Maclean in his Letters of Lord Carew, that in 1619 the
Marquis Tremouille, special envoy from the French King,
found accommodation there for himself and a train of 120
persons.

Such was the house in a corner of which the East India
Company commenced its long and splendid career. Some
historians, misled, it may be, by the large amount subscribed
for the first voyage and by the subsequent importance of the
Company, have pictured it as starting business on a grand
scale. It has been stated, for instance, that, in addition to
the ordinary staff of a commercial body, Richard Hakluyt
was appointed Historiographer, to hand down to posterity
a minute record of its great achievements ; but this is a
misreading of an entry in the Court Minutes for January 29,
1 60 1, where Hakluyt is spoken of as " the historiographer
of the voyages of the East Indies," referring, of course, to
his well-known work, just published. In point of fact the
promoters of the new venture went to work in a much more
sober and economical fashion. They did not forget that
the enterprise was still in the experimental stage ; that the
Company's charter was liable to determination at two years'

1 Hanging in this hall, Purchas tells us, was an Esquimaux canoe
brought home in one of the North-west voyages, of which Smythe was an
untiring promoter.

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

notice, and in any case, unless renewed, would expire in
1615; and that at any moment the discovery of the long-
sought North-west Passage to the Indies might turn the
trade into another channel. They were glad enough, therefore,
to accept the offer of their Governor to carry on their business
in his house ; and their whole staff at starting consisted of a
Secretary, Richard Wright, who was one of S my trie's own
servants and had other work in hand as well, and a Beadle to
take round the subscription book and give notice of Court
meetings. Nearly all the real work was done by the " Com-
mittees " themselves (Directors we should now call them) ;
they collected the funds, purchased goods, ships, and pro-
visions, interviewed factors and seamen, checked the accounts
and wrote all letters of importance; while again and again we
read that Master So-and-So was " entreated " to undertake
some piece of work which a modern director would indig-
nantly declare to be the duty of the staff. In Elizabethan
days, it is evident, London merchants believed thoroughly in
the maxim that if you want a thing well done you should do
it yourself.

Within a few weeks from the formal grant of the charter
the preparations for the Company's first voyage were com-
pleted, and by the beginning of February, 1601, the ships,
under Captain James Lancaster, were almost ready to put to
sea. Suddenly a most unexpected thing happened. Smythe,
who was the heart and soul of the enterprise, found himself
caught in the vortex of politics, and was committed to the
Tower on a charge of complicity in the rebellion of the Earl
of Essex. That hot-headed nobleman had been for months a
centre of disaffection. Having by his own folly and arrogance
forfeited the Queen's favour, he had chosen to turn his personal
grievance into a national one and to pose as the champion of
Protestant patriotism, aiming only at foiling the machina-
tions of Cecil and Raleigh, who, it was hinted, were scheming to
secure the succession to the throne of the Spanish Infanta. He
had m any friends — or perhaps we should say, the dominant party
had many enemies — and the gatherings at Essex House were
watched by the Government with the closest vigilance. Amongst
other wild talk, a plan had been mooted for making a sudden
attack upon the palace, with the object of securing the Queen's
person and forcing her to dismiss the obnoxious councillors ;
but before any decision was reached, the Earl's hand was
forced by an order to appear before the Privy Council. This

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

summons he refused to obey, on the ground that there was a
plot against his life. Obviously, such an open defiance would
not remain unpunished ; and that night was spent in agitated
consultations between Essex and his friends, who included
the Earls of Rutland, Southampton, and Bedford, the Lords
Monteagle, Sandys, and Chandos, and many others of note. On
the next morning (Sunday, February 8) several members of the
Council, amongst them the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord
Keeper, appeared at Essex House. They were admitted, but
only to be made prisoners, while Essex and his party, about 200
in all, issued forth into the Strand. To attempt Whitehall was
hopeless, for Cecil, who had long had in his hands the threads
of the plot, had taken all necessary precautions. A barricade
of overturned coaches at Charing Cross and the placing of
guards at other likely points were sufficient security until
further aid could arrive. Essex did not hesitate, but turning
eastwards rode rapidly into the City. He was popular with
the citizens, and in his desperation he staked everything on
the chance that they would rally round him and enable him to
make terms with his enemies. In particular his hopes were
fixed on Smythe, who as Sheriff had great influence with
the trainbands, and who, the Earl had been made to believe,
was willing to assist him to the utmost of his power. Early
that morning he had dispatched a messenger to Smythe's
house; but Wright, the latter's factotum, had refused to admit
him. Another servant was sent later with a copy of a letter
which Essex had drawn up for presentation to the Queen;
the Sheriff, however, was with the Mayor hearing morning
service at Paul's Cross, and the messenger was obliged to
content himself with delivering his missive to Mrs. Smythe,
who had gone to the sermon at St. Gabriel Fenchurch. As soon
as possible she hurried home and showed the document to
her husband, who had likewise returned in haste from the
Cathedral, where the service had been interrupted by a
message from the Court, warning the Mayor and Sheriffs to
secure the City and send aid to Westminster.

There is no reason to doubt Smythe's subsequent protesta-
tions that he was absolutely innocent of the Earl's intentions,
and had given him no grounds for relying on his assistance.
It is quite possible that, like most of the Puritan party, he
was personally well disposed towards him ; but it was quite
another thing to support him in open disloyalty, and Smythe
never wavered in his determination to take no part in the

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

movement. He resolved to go at once to the Lord Mayor;
but at the gate of his house he was met by an advance party
of the Earl's followers, on whose heels came Essex himself
and the rest. Clattering into the courtyard, in spite of the
Sheriff's protests, they dismounted and called for beer; while
the Earl, going into the parlour, declared that he had come
to Smythe for protection, as his life was in danger. Smythe
urged that in that case the Mayor's house was the fittest
asylum, and earnestly begged him to place himself in the
hands of that functionary. Essex thereupon said he would
send for the Mayor, and desired Alderman Watts to under-
take that duty. By some contrivance Smythe managed to
slip away at the same time, and the two, getting out at the
back gate, hurried off together to their colleagues.

Meanwhile the Sheriff's unwelcome visitor, after resting a
few moments, went out into Fenchurch Street and harangued
the crowd which had gathered there, bidding them arm them-
selves and follow him, for the Queen was betrayed and the
crown sold to Spain. But already in the neighbouring streets
the heralds, protected by a strong guard under Lord Burghley,
Cecil's elder brother, were proclaiming him a traitor; and
though the citizens showed some signs of sympathy, none
ventured to join him. Finding his efforts useless, Essex drew
off his followers into Gracechurch Street, where he encountered
not only the heralds but also the Mayor and Sheriffs. With
the Mayor's approval, Smythe advanced to parley with the
Earl, whom he again entreated to surrender to the civic
authorities. The only reply he got was a fresh appeal to
himself, " if he feared God, loved the Queen, or cared for
religion " ; and, seeing that he could do no good, he turned his
horse and rode back to the Mayor. Baffled at all points, and
scarce knowing what to do for the best, Essex made his way
up Lombard Street into Cheapside and so to Ludgate, appar-
ently intending to get back to Essex House. At Ludgate,
however, he found himself in difficulties. The gate was shut,
and a guard placed there by the Bishop of London bent their
pikes against him. His followers' rapiers — they had no other
weapons — were of little use in such a contingency, and after
a short skirmish they dispersed in confusion. The Earl him-
self, with his principal supporters, took boat from Queenhithe
to Essex House, where they were quickly besieged by the
royal troops. After defending themselves till the evening, a
threat of blowing in the walls with gunpowder forced them

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

to yield, and Essex and his chief confederates were hurried to
the Tower.

To all appearance Smythe had come safely through the
crisis. On the Monday, the Queen, after making some in-
quiries concerning Essex's messages, expressed her thanks to
him for his exertions; and on the following day he presided
as usual over a meeting of the East India Committees. But
ugly rumours were circulating about the Earl's allusions to
promises received from Smythe; and soon the latter was
summoned to the Council-table, and, after a strict examination,
was committed, first to the custody of the Archbishop of
Canterbury and then, a fortnight later, to the Tower. He was
at the same time dismissed from his office of Sheriff, Alderman
(afterwards Sir William) Craven being elected in his stead.
For a time things looked serious for Smythe, and his agitation
brought on a fever which threatened dangerous consequences.
However, the position slowly improved. On May 5 he was
examined by a commission which included the Chief Justice
and Mr. Francis Bacon, who, as everyone knows, showed
himself strangely zealous in hunting down his friend Essex
and his reputed partisans. Apparently Smythe was able to
convince his interrogators that he was innocent of the plot ;
for when, a few weeks later, he was brought up again at the
Lord Keeper's house, he had " little said to him." He was
not, however, liberated, for as late as December 23 we find
him appealing to Cecil for release (Calendar of the Hatfield
MSS., part xi, p. 530). At what date he succeeded in obtain-
ing his freedom does not appear.

After Smythe's arrest the East India Committees continued
their work for a time under the Deputy Governor. On April
n, however, as the Deputy was about to leave town for his
health, and there was no sign of Smythe's release, Alderman
(afterwards Sir John) Watts was elected Governor. Even
when Smythe was once more a free man, the Company did
not venture to reinstate him ; and Watts was succeeded, in July,
1602, by Alderman (afterwards Sir Thomas) Cambell. As
Wright continued to be secretary, it is possible that the clerical
work was still done at Smythe's house. The meetings of the
Committees, however, were probably held at the residence of
the Governor for the time being, while the General Courts
took place at Founders' Hall.

At last the course of events took a more favourable turn for
Smythe, and with the accession of James I fortune once more

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

smiled upon him. To have been suspected of a partiality for
Essex was no bar to the new sovereign's favour, and in May,
1603, Smythe received the honour of knighthood in that very
Tower in which, two years earlier, he had lain a prisoner.
Close upon the heels of this came the news that the East
India venture had proved successful. Early in June a Mr.
Middleton of Plymouth flung himself off his horse at the
Governor's door with letters from the Ascension, announcing
that the fleet had reached Achin, in Sumatra, and had there
founded a factory. By the i6th the Ascension was in the
Thames, and the Committees were hurrying to engage ware-
houses in which to stow her cargo of pepper.1 The success of
the voyage, which he had done so much to promote, naturally
increased the estimation in which Smythe was held by his
fellow adventurers, and at the annual court of election (July)
he was triumphantly restored to the Governor's chair. In the
autumn the rest of Lancaster's fleet arrived, with more pep-
per and news of an establishment at Bantam, in Java. The
Dragon and Hector, especially the former, had been sorely
buffeted on the homeward voyage, and at one time Lancaster,
giving up all hope, sent instructions to the master of the
Hector to leave him " at the devotion of the winds and seas " ;
but that is not the English way, and in defiance of all orders
the Hector stood by her disabled consort till the weather
moderated and repairs could be effected.

Of the period between June, 1603, and January, 1607, we
know very little, as the Court Minutes are unfortunately
missing, but we glean a few facts from other documents of
the time. When the ships arrived, the plague was desolating
London; trade was at a standstill, and money was scarce.
The shareholders were obliged to take out their dividends in
pepper and dispose of it as best they could. Yet notwith-
standing all these difficulties matters were pushed forward
with such energy that in six months from the date of their
arrival the ships were again at sea on a second voyage under
Henry Middleton. Apparently Smythe was not re-elected in
July, 1604, but this is accounted for by his departure for
Russia about this time, as Ambassador from King James to
" the Emperour of Moscovye." On his return in the following
summer he was again made Governor. In 1606, probably on

1 They were careful not to lead their servants into temptation. The
porters engaged to land the pepper were provided with " suits of canvas
doublets and hose without pockets."

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

account of his many other occupations, he yielded the chair
to Sir William Romney; but in the next year he was once
more elected, and thenceforward held the post for fourteen
years. For that period, at all events, Smythe's house was the
centre of the Company's activities.

At the beginning of 1607 the Company's officers were still
only three in number — a secretary, a book-keeper, and a
beadle. In the course of the year three more — a solicitor (at
4<D.y. per annum and fees), a cashier, and a husband — were
appointed. The first and third of these would not require
special office accommodation ; so that the amount of additional
space actually needed by the Company was small. Smythe's
mansion appears to have been built round a central courtyard,
and probably one or two rooms on the ground floor, opening
into the yard, were given over to their use. Occasionally we
hear grumbling at the inconveniences resulting from the limited
space available, and by 1619 at least three rooms had been set
apart for the Company's sole use, including one specially
fitted as a strong room. This is shown by the following
amusing extract from the Court Minutes of November 19 of
that year. The " General Auditors," it may be premised, were
shareholders specially appointed to examine the accounts, in
consequence of some dissatisfaction (of which more anon) with
the way in which affairs had been managed by the regular
committees ; hence, possibly, the unwillingness of the latter to
go out of their way to oblige those indefatigable gentlemen.

Master Deputye, being importuned by the Generall Audytors,
made knowne their desire to this Court to have a new roome
at their commaund, to which they may come at their pleasure,
and not to be tyed to the howers that the thresourye [treasury]
is open ; and do motion for the ynner roome, wherin Master
Thresourer doth dispose the mony, because they may be
accomodated with a fire and be at libertye to come in by
five of the clock in the morning and sit tyll seven or eight at
night (as they have done). But it was remembred that they
approved at first of the roome which they now have and were
well satisfied with the conveniencie thereof, and may have a
fire either in the outward thresurye or in the counting house;
and the ynward roome which Master Thresourer useth, being
fitted and lyned both within and without (for securitie of the
thresure) could not be spared, in the judgment of this Court,
who held it a seasonable tyme to beginne and end with the
daylight, and judgd it very inconvenyent and daungerous to
XIV 33 D

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

have the gates opened at such earlye unseasonable howers,
before most of the househould be stiring; and not fit to have
fire and candle used so long together wher such great charge
remayneth.

One special grievance of the Company's book-keepers was
that in their narrow quarters the sailors could not be prevented
from looking over the books when receiving their pay. Though
no scholar, Jack could generally understand figures, besides
having a pretty shrewd notion of the amount he ought to
receive ; and it was particularly awkward to have to argue the
question with him unprotected by any sort of screen. Disputes
and threats of violence must have been fairly common ; for it
was not often that unruly mariners were awed into silence by
such an apparition as that described in the following extract:

One Mr. Smyth being in Mr. Governours house to presse
up marryners for His Majesties service, some were of opinion
that yt was not fitt to suffer him to doe yt in the house,
because of terrifyinge saylours from comminge. Some con-
trarilie ymagined that yt was the better for the Company,
because he prest none but such as the Company refusde, or
stoode upon too highe tearmes with them. But to free all
occasion of doubt, yt was thought that some small matter
bestowed upon him by the Company would cause him to
leave the house and seeke elsewhere; and therefore desired
Mr. Offley to cause Mr. Smyth to speak with Mr. Governour
when the Courte is ended; and entreated Mr. Governour to
bestowe a matter of 4.0$. upon him (Court Minutes^ December
18, 1613).

In October, 1617, an attempt was made to remedy the
annoyance of having the building thronged with sailors, as
shown in the following entry:

A greate inconvenyence beinge found that the marryners
are enterteyned [i.e., engaged] soe farre within the house,
wherby itt is soe much the more annoyed and some other
officers cannott bee soe private as is fittinge, it was therefore
mociond to have some more convenyent place made up for
thatt use neerer unto the gate, which was supposed might bee
in the lower warehowse next the streate. Butt some disswaded
from bestowinge any charge in thatt nature, conceyveinge
that the house in Bishoppgate Streete will shortlie bee had,
and therefore to endure some inconvenyences a while longer
with a little patyence. Butt because itt may bee effected with

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

a very little charge, with deales thatt wilbee still fitt for service,
they therefore entreated Mr. Leate and Mr. Offley to take
the care and paines to effect soe much as they shall thinke
fittinge for thatt present service.

Even when Jack himself was at sea, his wife (or someone
claiming to be his wife) was giving trouble. In July, 1615, it
was decided that all petitions from manners' wives should be
referred to one of the Committees, as the Governor was much
pestered by such applications and " cannot have that libertie
and freedome in his howse which is needfull for preservation
of his health but that he is troubled with their clamours and
petitions." Every Christmas the Company distributed alms in
Stepney to relatives of their sailors; but often, when winter
was sharp, a body of wild-eyed women would invade Philpot
Lane, demanding part of their husbands' wages to keep them-
selves and their children from starving. Officialdom could of
course pay nothing without legal proof of authority to receive,
and was, besides, unwilling to disburse any money on account
of wages which might not be really due, for Jack might have
died the day after leaving port; so Jill must trudge home
again unsatisfied. One unhappy creature, failing to get relief,
so far " exceded the boundes of modestie and humanitie " as
to leave her baby at the Governor's door; an act for which she
was promptly committed to Bridewell. Poor Martha Bedell!
She must have repented right heartily her indiscretion, for in
those days a prison was a veritable Inferno.

The alarm inspired by these Amazon raids was amusingly
shown when in 1614 the Committees were debating whether
Captain Saris, on his return from his successful expedition to
Japan, should be accommodated with a lodging at the
Governor's house. After some discussion it was resolved that
he should ; but one of the objections urged against this course
was that Smythe would be inconvenienced by "the clamor
that will be made by the woemen of Radcliffe against the
Captaine at his retourne, whoe will exclaime against him for
his rigor used against there husbands."

The two or three rooms occupied by the staff of course did
not represent the whole of the accommodation afforded to
the Company by its Governor. No doubt the Committees
held their courts in oneof the parlours; while general assemblies
took place in the large hall, recourse being had to the Mer-
chant Taylors' Hall when an unusually large meeting was

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

expected. In Smythe's hall, too, the Company gathered at
times with festive intent. Thus in 1609, the Earl of South-
ampton having sent them a brace of bucks " to make merry
withall, in reguard of their kindnes in acceptinge him of their
Company," some of the Committees were told off to arrange
that " some dynner be made for the whole Company to have
their parts thereof ... at Mr. Governours howse." When in
1619 the Dutch sent commissioners to smooth over the
differences which had arisen between the two Companies, the
delegates were entertained both at Smythe's house and in the
Merchant Taylors' Hall; while a dinner was also given at
the former place to the lords who had been appointed to act
as the English commissioners. Doubtless there were other
similar entertainments, but of a more private nature, to which
the principal members were bidden by the Governor in order
to honour such distinguished servants as Lancaster or Roe or
Dale, or to meet the many noble lords who had been admitted
into the fellowship. Civic hospitality has become proverbial,
and we may feel sure that the famous London Tavern banquets
of later days had their prototypes under the rule of the first
Governor.

It was obviously a prudent policy on the part of the Com-
pany to keep on good terms with the principal members of
King James's Court; and the latter on their side were by no
means unwilling to oblige so wealthy and important a body.
Alliances, matrimonial and otherwise, between the nobility
and the magnates of commerce were as common then as now.
We have already mentioned the admission of the Earl of
Southampton to the freedom of the Company in the summer
of 1609; and the Court Minutes record that the Governor was
empowered at the same time to offer a similar compliment to
the Lord Treasurer (the Earl of Salisbury), the Lord High
Admiral (the Earl of Nottingham), the Earl of Worcester,
and other noblemen. Early in 1618 Lord Chancellor Bacon
solicited, and was accorded, the same privilege. In the same
year one of the Committees boasted that the Company com-
prised the greater part of the nobility, judges, and gentry;
and the list of actual subscribers to the Second Joint Stock
includes the names of fifteen dukes and earls, and thirteen
ladies of title. Largely as a matter of necessity — for he was
not loved in the City — James's favourite, the Earl of Somerset,
was used by the Company as a go-between when they had
favours to solicit from the King; and on the occasion of his

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

marriage to the infamous Countess of Essex, they presented
him with gold plate to the value of £600.

These relations, however, were not without their drawbacks,
for often a petitioner for employment would back up his suit
by procuring the intercession of some personage whom the
Committees were loth to displease. Sometimes, when the
candidate was a passable one and the office sought was unim-
portant, they would give way; but at other times they stood
sturdily to their guns. Thus when, at the very outset of the
trade, the Lord Treasurer " used much persuasion " for the
appointment of Sir Edward Michelborne to the command of
the fleet, they deputed one of their number "to move His
Lordship to be pleased noe further to urge the imployment of
this gent, to the Companie, and to geave them leave to sort
ther busines with men of ther owne qualety, and not to expecte
that they should make any further motion of this matter to
the generalyty, lest the suspition of the imployment of gents
being taken hold uppon do dryve a great number of the
adventurers to withdrawe ther contributions." And when again,
in November, 1615, another suitor brought letters from the
Earl of Nottingham (Lord High Admiral), it was resolved to
" entreate His Lordship either to forbeare to write any more
in the behalfe of any, or else not to take it ill from the Com-
pany that they doe not yeild unto his motions."

Admission to the freedom of the Company, we may note in
passing, was by no means an empty compliment. For one
thing, it was an essential preliminary to the holding of any
stock. As is still the case with the City Livery Companies,
admission could only be obtained (i) by patrimony, that is to
say, in right of a father who has been a member; (2) by service,
i.e., after a regular apprenticeship either to a freeman or to the
Company; (3) by redemption, the would-be member making
a cash payment ; (4) by the gift of the Court, as in the cases
already mentioned. In the first two classes, a fine was levied
on every admission, but this was little more than nominal,
say los. to the poor-box, and the usual fee to the Secretary.
Once admitted, the new member could exercise certain privi-
leges, such as attending the general meetings and sales, with-
out necessarily investing a penny in the Company's stock;
but, as already mentioned, no one could hold stock without
being or becoming a freeman. As time went on, the obvious
desirability of widening the market for shares led to measures
for facilitating the grant of the franchise. When in 1693 the

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

Company's capital was doubled, the new charter decreed that
all fresh subscribers should be admitted without charge, and
that subsequent purchasers of stock should obtain the freedom
for a payment of £5. Even this was abrogated nine years
later, doubtless because the new Company, founded in 1698,
had wisely adopted the plan of accepting anyone as a member
who bought its scrip. By the working agreement concluded
between the two bodies in 1702, and ratified by the Queen,
the old Company was authorized to admit without payment
all purchasers of its stock ; and when, seven years later, it ex-
pired, the position of " freeman of the East India Company "
expired with it.1

[To be continued.]

THE ORIGIN OF MARKETS AND FAIRS,
AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF THOSE
AT LUTON.

BY WILLIAM AUSTIN.

SIR EDWARD COKE, in his Institutes, tells us that
every fair is a market, but every market is not a fair.
The explanation of this is simple when we consider
what is meant by markets and fairs. Viewed in their strictly
legal aspect they are identical in all their essential qualities.
They are both duly authorized concourses of buyers and
sellers of commodities, held at places more or less limited,
and at appointed times. Both have generally, but not neces-
sarily, attached to them the right to levy tolls and other dues;

1 The admission of merchant strangers, aliens, and denizens to the
freedom was sanctioned by a royal grant in November, 1610; and
evidently women were occasionally permitted to enter the Company. In
November, 1614, we hear of a widow who had paid £20 for her freedom.
She had married again, and hersecond husband (a non-member) claimed
to have the stock transferred to him without further payment. The point
was debated, but the Court at last gave up the conundrum and decided
to leave the couple to settle matters between themselves. Again, on
January 29, 1679, Mrs. Borough, another widow, was admitted as an
adventurer on payment of .£5, and it was agreed that her sons should
have the right to claim the freedom on the same terms as if their fath er
had been a freeman.

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

both are presumed to have been the subject of a grant or
charter from the Crown ; and there was incident to both a
local court of summary jurisdiction, to punish offences and
enforce contracts. In what then consisted the difference? It
was that whereas a market was held at least once every week,
a fair was held but once or perhaps twice in a year. And
there was yet another and a fundamental distinction in this
respect, that markets had their origin in the earliest stages
of our civilization for the purpose of supplying the com-
monest necessaries of life, from week to week ; while fairs
were derived from religious festivals, and in their inception
had no connection with trade or business. They, however,
afforded facilities for trade to such an extent that in the
course of time the religious element receded, and the fair
became a great concourse of traders and pleasure-seekers only,
and ceased to be a religious festival.

The religious origin of fairs is, I think, extremely interest-
ing ; they were older than Christianity, and existed in all parts
of the civilized world. They were known to the Greeks in
connection with the Olympic games. Cicero states that in the
time of Pythagoras a great number of people attended the
religious games in various cities of Greece for the purpose of
trading. It was from the Greeks that the practice of selling
slaves at fairs spread to the north of Europe, to England, and
to Luton. Fairs were common among the Eastern nations, as
we learn in the instance of the great city of Tyre, mentioned
by the Prophet Isaiah ; read also that splendid piece of
writing, the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, where you will
find graphic references to both fairs and markets. In Rome,
from the earliest days of the Republic, we find mention of
fairs, and in both Greece and Rome the existence of a local
court in connection with both markets and fairs. After the
conversion of the Romans to Christianity, fairs were asso-
ciated with the great " Saints festivals," and were in most
instances survivals of fairs connected with pagan festivals.

The Roman markets were held every ninth day, when the
people came together to hear new laws declared, but after the
adoption of the seven day week and the Christian Sunday,
markets were commonly held on Sunday.

Coming to Northern Europe and England we find that
fairs were derived from tribal and national usages. At stated
times in the year the people assembled in great numbers at
certain centres to celebrate their pagan rites, with much feast -

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

ing and indulgence in sports and pastimes. These occasions
were held in such estimation by the English that, after the
people had been converted to Christianity, rather than give
up these festivals, they either returned to paganism or else
mixed together Christian and pagan rites, to the great scandal
of the missionaries from Rome. Complaint being made to
Pope Gregory the Great, he wrote in the year 60 1 a famous
letter which has often been quoted. It is an interesting piece
of history if only as showing that the preparations for those
festivals were in many respects similar to the preparations for
holding fairs ten or twelve hundred years after he wrote.
The Pope's letter says :

After due consideration of the habits of the English nation,
that because they have been used to slaughter many oxen in
their sacrifices to devils, some solemnity must be provided
for them in substitution for their ancient festivals. Therefore
let them continue to have their feasts and sacrifices, but let
them be on the anniversary of the dedication of those build-
ings which have been turned from pagan temples into Christian
Churches, the Church's day for the celebration of the par-
ticular saint to whom such Church has been dedicated will be
most appropriate for such purpose. Then let them build
themselves booths of the boughs of trees about those Churches
as of yore, and no more offer beasts to the devil but rather
kill and eat cattle to the praise of God. It is impossible to
efface everything at once from their obdurate minds; he who
tries to rise to the highest place, rises by degrees and not by
leaps !

The church at Luton was dedicated to the Virgin Mary,
and accordingly the annual fair began on the vigil or eve of the
feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (August I5th)
and lasted for a week ; it was held in the churchyard, and
for more than eight hundred years the people built themselves
booths of the boughs of trees about the precincts of the
church, and thereafter in the market-place, for the purposes
of the annual fair, " as of yore." Thus we see that the oldest
of our Luton fairs, which used to be held in the month of
August, had its origin in some pagan festival of our Saxon fore-
fathers, but at what period trade and commerce were introduced
as adjuncts to the ancient festival is not known.

As our English weekly market seems to be derived from
the Roman market held every ninth day, so the grant or
creation of the franchise of a weekly market may be traced

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

to the Civil Law. The Roman Senate, before the close of the
Republic, claimed and exercised the right to grant or refuse
a market. The same practice obtained under the Empire,
and it is clear, from one of the letters of the younger Pliny,
that upon the hearing of an application of a Roman landowner
for a grant of a market, a neighbouring town might oppose,
by counsel, such a grant, on the ground that it would be
prejudicial to an existing market. A precisely similar practice
has existed in England from Saxon times. Every grant of a
market or fair in England, from time immemorial, was made
by the Crown, conditionally, that it did not prejudice the
rights of any existing market, and counsel might be heard in
opposition to a proposed grant. In the days of our Plantagenet
kings it was sought to fix a definite limit, and a distance of
six and two-thirds of a mile was adopted, upon this reasoning,
that an ordinary day's journey on foot was twenty miles;
that a man attending market should have time to go and
return, and also sufficient time to do his business in the
market.

An examination of our Saxon laws in relation to markets
and fairs shows great anxiety to secure fair dealing between
buyer and seller, and it was repeatedly ordained that contracts
must be made before "unlying" witnesses and within the
precincts of duly authorized markets. Some of us might
think that these laws had for their object the protection of the
rights of the owners of markets, but I do not think that was
so ; the object of these laws seems to me to have been to
provide securities against fraud. Even with all the advantages
of open markets, the presence of witnesses and a court on the
spot to try disputes, we find, from the publications of the
Selden Society of the records of some of these Courts, how
many attempts there were to establish absolutely fictitious
contracts. Hardly any sitting of the Court passed without
one or more of such cases being tried.

The advantage of requiring bargains to be made in open
markets was that in every town there was to be found a
special class of men called to witness transfers of property;
men who were known as the probi homines villae, the good or
credible, " unlying," lawful, that is to say, law-abiding, men of
the town. William the Conqueror found that the sale of
horses and cattle was in his day especially a business at
which his English subjects were always at law : he therefore
ordained that such transactions should take place only in

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

cities and towns, and then only before three faithful witnesses ;
" and let no fair be held except in cities and in boroughs en-
closed and walled or in castles and very secure places, where
the customs of our realm and our common right and the
royalties of our crown, as they were constituted by our good
predecessors, may not perish, nor be defrauded, or infringed,
but all things be done rightly, and in public, and by judgment
and justice."

Another excellent principle in the Saxon laws was the
prohibition of Sunday marketing. A law of Edward, about
906, provided that if anyone engage in Sunday marketing,
let him forfeit the chattel, and 12 "oras"1 among the Danes,
and 30.9. among the English ; there was a law of Athelstan, in
925 to the same effect. The law was relaxed about 940, but
re-enacted in 1008 and again in 1014. The frequent repetition
of these laws suggests that they were ineffectual, and that,
notwithstanding these edicts, Sunday markets were common
in England. The Conqueror sanctioned still greater laxity by
expressly naming Sunday as the market day in some of his
charters. Luton market was not only held on Sunday, but
round about the church ; in some places the market was actually
held inside the church. That some pious Englishmen deplored
this irreverent practice may be learned from an incident that
happened on April 23, 1172, at Cardiff. Henry II was return-
ing from hearing mass, when a man addressed him in English,
saying :

God keep thee, O king! Christ and his Holy Mother,
John the Baptist and Peter the Apostle greet thee, and by me
order thee to forbid all fairs and markets on the Lord's day,
and all unnecessary labour; and take heed that the sacred
offices be devoutly administered, So shalt thou prosper !

There was a movement for doing away with Sunday
markets in the reign of King John, and by the time of
Edward III the practice had ceased, so far as Bedfordshire
was concerned, but it was not until the reign of Henry VII
that the legislature interfered, and even then exception was
made in favour of four Sundays during harvest, a reservation
that was not removed from the statute book till the reign of
Queen Victoria.

It is remarkable that only one fair is mentioned in Domes-
day Book, and that the number of markets of sufficient value

1 A coin worth from i6d. to 2od.
42

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

to be subject to taxation was comparatively few; only three
are mentioned in Bedfordshire, namely Luton, Leighton, and
Arlesey. Luton, with its tolls, was worth loos. ; Leighton
was worth 140^. ; and Arlesey was valued at only lOs.

I do not think it is to be inferred that fairs were unknown,
or that the markets named were the only ones then in exist-
ence. It seems to me that a fair, being a market, was included
in the valuation of the market, and that some markets were
not of sufficient value to be taxed. Professor Cunningham
states that the silence of Domesday is not absolutely con-
clusive, " nor do Charters prove the date of the origin of a
fair; fairs which were granted to particular persons may have
existed before that time, either as mere usurpations or in the
king's own hands." In the case of Luton we know that the
manor and the market were in the King's own hands, and had
been Crown property for centuries. When Domesday was
compiled there were very few towns as we understand the
term. In such towns as were existing, at that time, there were
no shops stored with goods ready for sale. If we take the two
commonest classes of modern shops, grocers and butchers,
these were absolutely unknown; in many places they are of
comparatively recent introduction. I do not believe per-
manent butchers' shops were known in Luton earlier than the
middle of the nineteenth century. In every village in England,
at the time of the Survey, there was to be found a larger pro-
portion of craftsmen than can be found in villages in these
days ; each household, or possibly each group of households,
had sufficient skill for supplying the main articles of clothing
and domestic use, not only at the time of the Conquest but
for many centuries later. The weekly markets provided all
that was needed of the commonest necessaries that were not
produced by the people themselves; and the annual fairs,
with their temporary shops erected for the occasion, supple-
mented to some extent by the travelling chapmen, sufficed for
the greater part of the internal commerce of the country.
Even when we come to the reign of Edward I and the records
of the Hundred Rolls, 200 years later than the Domesday
Survey, we find that such shops as were then in existence
were mostly primitive structures of wood erected in the
market-place, having let-down fronts to serve for a counter,
such as may be seen in use in various parts of England at the
present time. I have myself seen them in use in parts of
Norfolk and Suffolk.

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

While we gather from Domesday the fact that the manor
of Luton was Crown property, we learn from the same source
that the church and the lands attached to it, forming the
church manor, had also been part of the manor, but at
some remote period had been separated from it. In the
reign of Richard I the manor was given to Baldwin de
Bethune, Earl of Albemarle, and in the reign of Henry II
the church and its manor had been given to the Abbat of
St. Albans. When Earl Baldwin came to Luton to take
possession of his manor, he was met by a claim of the Abbat
to certain rights in Luton, that included a share in the
annual fair and a status in the weekly market, which, the
Abbat alleged, were appurtenant to Luton Church. Earl
Baldwin was a good Churchman, and it was characteristic of
the man that, instead of going to law with the Abbat, he held
an inquisition at Luton, and as a result of that inquiry he
executed a very important deed of confirmation of the rights
of the Abbat.

The Abbats of St. Albans had enjoyed their franchise con-
nected with the fair at Luton for over a hundred years, when
they were called upon to prove their title. The inquisition
came about in this way: When Edward I returned from the
Crusade, two years after he succeeded to the throne, he set
about reforming many abuses. Some say that he was not in-
fluenced by a higher motive than the replenishment of an ex-
hausted exchequer, and he certainly fined a number of his
judges and other public officers very heavily for irregularities ;
but the subject that most seriously engaged his attention was
the encroachments that had undoubtedly been made on the
royal estates and revenues. For many years there had been
going on, all over the country, a practice of sub-infeudation,
by which innumerable manors had been created within manors,
as for instance in the great royal manor of Luton, where nearly
thirty minor manors had been created since the middle of the
reign of Henry I within a period of about 150 years. The
effect was to deprive the King or his tenants-in-chief of many
of their most valuable assets, in the shape of military services,
wardship of minors, the right of disposing of heirs in marriage,
etc., some of which by the creation of these smaller manors
had passed from the King or his immediate tenants into the
hands of the lords of such smaller manors to such an extent,
that the King's tenants-in-chief declared they were unable to
render the obligations and services on which they held their

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

estates. The franchises of markets and fairs had also been the
subject of similar divisions and sub-divisions, to the great loss
of the King's revenue. The King appointed Commissioners,
whom he charged to inquire into these matters in each county.
The survey was conducted in very much the same way as that
of the Conqueror, but was much more elaborate and exhaust-
ive; in many cases the inquiries as to proof of title were
carried back for several generations. The result of these in-
vestigations is embodied in what are known as the Hundred
Rolls, some of which may be seen at the Record Office at the
present time. The facts set out in these Rolls were obtained
from sworn jurors from each manor, taken on the spot. From
the information thus obtained extracts were made of all
matters which called for further inquiry, a work which occu-
pied several years, as it was not until four years after the
making of these extracts commenced that the Commissioners
were ready with the facts upon which might be founded fur-
ther proceedings against those persons whose titles were sup-
posed to be defective. These proceedings began in 1278,
before the King's judges in the Assize Courts, but the issues
tried were of such a complicated nature that the judges had
not completed their work in the fourth year of King Edward 1 1 ,
thirty-three years after the proceedings commenced.

No exception was taken to the title of the lord of the manor
of Luton in his manor of Luton, or to his right to the market
and fair, but the Abbat of St. Albans did not get off so easily.
Proceedings were commenced against him, but were not dis-
posed of until the assizes in January, 1287. The following is
a translation of these proceedings :

Pleas of the Lord the King de quo warranto before John de
Mettingham and Thomas de Bray, Justices appointed for that
purpose, on the morrow of St. Hilary 15 Edw. I [1286-7].

The Abbat of St. Albans was summoned to answer the king
of a plea by what warrant [quo warranto] he claimed to have
view of frankpledge, fair and waif in Luton, etc.

And the Abbat by his attorney comes and says that in a
certain hamlet which is called Bishopescott he has six tithing
men who come to his view of Luton, and he says that he
claims to have held the said view of all his immediate tenants
in the said vill twice a year and without the king's bailiff, and
he gives the king nothing for having that view. And he proffers
a charter of Henry II, in which charter is a clause to the effect
that the king gave to the Abbey of St. Albans the church in
45

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

the district which is called Bishopescott, which also pertains
to the soke of Luton and to his demesne. And as to the fair,
he says that his predecessors in the time of Henry aforesaid,
and in the time of King Stephen and in the time of King
Richard, had the said fair, etc.

The record further states that the Abbat claimed that his
right in Luton Fair lasted " from the eve of the Assumption
of the Virgin Mary to the hour of vespers on the day of the
feast, with all customs pertaining to a fair, excepting toll of
horses and tanned hides." He founded his claim to the church
upon a charter of Henry II, but claimed the fair by prescrip-
tion, as appurtenant to his manor of Luton Church. Counsel
for the Crown pleaded that a fair could not be appurtenant to
the manor, but the matter being left to the jury they gave a
verdict in favour of the Abbat.

His rights were again called in question some forty or forty-
three years later in the reign of Edward III, but as he was
again successful I need not go into the details of those pro-
ceedings, which are recorded on the Assize Roll. I learn from
these Rolls that the titles to seventeen markets and as many
fairs were investigated in Bedfordshire, and I note that none
of those markets were at that time held on Sunday.

Professor Cunningham, with reference to the information
contained in the Hundred Rolls, remarks how greatly the
trade of the country had grown since the time of the Conquest,
and that though the Hundred Rolls had a legal rather than a
directly financial bearing, they preserved details which throw
an immense amount of light on every side of industrial and
commercial life. He adds that by far the greater part of the
internal trade of the country was carried on at the occasional
fairs rather than at the regular markets, and that an examina-
tion of the Hundred Rolls leaves on the mind an impression
of most rapid growth of home and foreign trade since the
Conquest; a considerable increase in the population, both
rural and urban ; that the number of free tenants had increased
enormously; and that many towns had become not only agri-
cultural but industrial and commercial groups. How far this
picture was true as applied to Luton we can only conjecture.
In towns such, for instance, as Nottingham, there was in the
year 1330 a movement in the direction of "protection" for
the trade guilds by reducing the time of the local fairs four
days, but in Luton it is evident that the people were still

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

mainly dependent on the fair for their supply of home and
foreign manufactures. So far from curtailing the existing fair
I find that in 1337 Hugh de Mortimer, the then lord of the
manor of Luton, petitioned Edward III not only for another
annual fair, but also for an additional weekly market. The
usual inquiry was held as to whether such a grant would be
prejudicial to other existing fairs and markets, and there being
no opposition, a charter was granted. The new market day
was Thursday, and the new fair was to last three days, namely,
on the vigil, on the day, and on the morrow of St. Luke the
Evangelist, October 17, 18, and 19.

I thought possibly this new Thursday market might be in
substitution for the ancient Monday market, but such was not
the case. There is a curious piece of evidence that the Monday
market had not been superseded, which may be seen in the
Chronicle of Thomas of Walsingham, a monk of St. Albans.
Thomas was a contemporary writer, and he tells us that during
the time of Thomas de la Mare, who was Abbat from 1351 to
1367, one Philip de Limbury was living at Limbury in Luton,
a famous knight, of extreme pride and haughtiness,and a friend
of John of Gaunt. Not only Philip, but several of his ancestors
have left on record in Luton history that they were men of a
turbulent and tyrannical disposition, and much given to violent
acts of disseisin of their neighbours' rights. As the Abbat of
St. Albans owned lands at Biscot and Dallow, and was there-
fore a neighbour of Philip of Limbury, it is not surprising to
us to learn that Philip had a deep-seated quarrel with the
Abbat.

One Monday, during the market at Luton, John Moot, the
cellarer to the Abbey, a man of no mean consequence, was
riding through Luton with his attendants, on his way from
Hexton to St. Albans. Unfortunately Philip de Limbury and
a number of his men were in the market at the same time,
and an altercation between the parties could hardly be avoided.
The knight and his men laid violent hands on John Moot,
pulled him from off his horse, and clapped him in the pillory
standing in the market-place, " in hatred of the Abbat and in
utter contempt of religion," says Walsingham; and indeed
anyone who showed disrespect to even the meanest servant of
a religious house was always deemed a specially grievous
sinner against Holy Church. The Abbat brought an action
for assault and imprisonment against the knight which was
likely to have gone seriously against him had not John of

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

Gaunt interposed and brought matters to an agreement, on
condition that the knight made an offering on the altar of the
Martyr. The monks always alleged miraculous evidences of
the displeasure of the Proto-Martyr on such occasions, and we
are therefore prepared to learn that the Martyr would not
permit Philip to approach the altar, but that when he did at
last step forward the blood gushed from his nose with such
violence that he was forced to retire. On advancing a second
time the same thing happened to him, whereupon Philip
requested to be permitted to deposit his offering in a box,
but this also the Martyr refused to accept, and after some
time the knight departed. " The memory of this event " (con-
tinues the Chronicler) " struck many with admiration; the
number of witnesses was very great; and it was considered as
a vengeance from the martyr; and by all the sober-minded
and pious, as an event that should caution bold men against
offending God or those who administer in his worship."

[To be continued.]

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON.
HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

Bv J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL, author of The Story of Charing
Cross.

[Continued from vol. 13, p. 280.]

CHAPTER V.

SINCE Stow mentions Paulet's Ordinary as being at the
corner of James Street, and since Paulet's Ordinary is
described in Lucas's Lives of the Gamesters as being at
the Blue Posts in the Haymarket, it may be surmised that
this historic tavern was originally on the east side of the
Haymarket at the corner of James Street, and that the site
is now occupied by Clarence Chambers. But I have seen it
elsewhere described as at No. 59, Haymarket, in which case,
unless the numbering has been altered, the site is occupied now
by the premises of Messrs. Waukenphast, the bootmakers, on
the west side of the street. The sign may, of course, have been
transferred to a house opposite. But whatever its vicissitudes

THE HAYMARKET.

the Blue Posts was a famous resort, before there were any
clubs to speak of, for more than two centuries, on account of
the excellence of its dinners. Since writing the above I have
become acquainted with a valuable old street-plan, which
has kindly be.^n lent to me by an old Haymarket firm, where
the " Blue Post Chop House and Travellers' Hotel, E. Bond,"
is distinctly numbered 59, Haymarket, and is the third house
past Norris Street, going towards Pall Mall.

The close of the last week, one Mr. Morn and one Mr.
Hurst, quarrelled at the Blue Posts in the Haymarket ; and
as they came out at the door they drew their swords, and the
latter was run through and immediately died. It appears that
he began the Fray and drew first, pressing the other gentleman
to fight.1

In February, 1685-6, Henry Wharton, brother of the states-
man, Thomas, Marquis of Wharton, killed Lieut. Moxon by
way of putting a period to some tipsy altercation. At this
time the Haymarket was remarkable as a place of residence,
or at all events temporary sojourn, for " people of quality."
The Earl of Scarborough, the Duchess of Devonshire, the
Duke of Dorset, Sir Samuel Garth, and Sir William Wynd-
ham, occupied houses in the thoroughfare that so often
rejoiced in the scent of the imported hay.

In the diary of Dr. Thomas Cartwright, Bishop of Chester,
under the date October 4, 1686, is the entry: " I entertained
the Bishops of Oxon and St. David's [i.e., Dr. Samuel Parker
and Dr. John Lloyd], Mr. Ashton, Mr. Brookes, my son,
Mr. Callis, &c., at the Blue Posts in the Haymarket." 2

When Colonel Mottley, who was a great favourite with
James 1 1, came over on a secret expedition from the abdicated
monarch, the Government, who had by some means intelli-
gence of it, were very diligent in their endeavours to get him
seized. He, however, eluded their search, but several others
were at different times seized in mistake for him. Among
these, one Mr. Tredenham, a Cornish gentleman, frequently
supped at the Blue Posts, and particular orders were given
for searching the house. Colonel Mottley, however, not hap-
pening to be there, the messengers found Mr. Tredenham
alone, and with a heap of papers before him. These and
himself they carried away before the Earl of Nottingham,
then Secretary of State. His Lordship, who could not fail

1 The Postboy, ending July 23, 1695. a Ed. 1843 P- 3-

XIV 49 E

THE HAYMARKET.

to know him as he was a member of the House of Commons,
and nephew to the famous Sir Edward Seymour, asked him
what all those papers contained, Mr. Tredenham said they
were only the several scenes of a play which he had been
scribbling for the amusement of a few leisure hours, upon
which Lord Nottingham requested just to look over them,
which having done, he returned them again to the author,
assuring him that he was perfectly satisfied ; for " Upon my
word," he said, " I see no plot in them." l

There is an entry in the diary of Henry, Earl of Clarendon,
January 4, 1687-8, to the following effect :

I dined with Sir Richard Bellings. In the afternoon a
friend came to see me, who told me that yesterday there had
been a meeting of several Papists at the Blue Posts in the
Haymarket; that some in the company seemed dissatisfied
that Mr. Culliford was made one of the Commissioners of the
Customs; to which Sir Nicholas Bubler replied, that it could
not be helped, for there was still a Rochesterian faction in the
Court, who will sometimes find means of carrying some
things. This is very pleasant, when (if I am rightly informed)
Sir Nicholas Bubler himself was the occasion of bringing
Culliford out of Ireland, and making him a commissioner
here. Most certain it is, the King hearkens more to Sir
Nicholas Bubler than to any one, in all things relating to the
affairs of the Customs.2

On the dissolution of Parliament, November n, 1701, the
Tory scribes, Dr. Drake, a poor physician without patients,
and Dr. Davenant, perhaps a Chancery lawyer without briefs,
took the field as Tory pamphleteers, along with others, to
prop up, if possible, the French or Pretender interests in this
country, especially among the electors. The Whigs also had
their writers in support of their party; so that the whole
country was inundated with pamphlets, lampoons, squibs,
satires, truths, and falsehoods in all forms of prose and verse.
By chance the Whigs had detected Dr. Davenant, Mr. A.
Hammond, and Mr. John Tudenham, three members con-
spicuous for their zeal in the French interests, supping with
M. Poussin, the French electioneering agent, at the Blue
Posts in the Haymarket, immediately after the dissolution of

1 Creed's Tavern Signs ; a miscellaneous collection in ten or twelve
volumes in the British Museum Library.

2 Correspondence and Diary of Henry ^ Lord Clarendon^ 1828, vol. 2,
P- 153.

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

Parliament had been proclaimed. These three names were
taken, along with 160 more members who always voted for
the French or Pretender interest, and were supposed to be in
the pay of the King of France. Their names were printed on
a placard, and the most obnoxious in black letters ; and the
placard, called " the Black List," was circulated by thousands
through the country; M. Poussin, the Frenchman, was
ordered to leave the country in a few hours.1

He (Captain H ) was not ignorant of Grand Trick-
track, a French Game, most commonly us'd by Persons of
the first Quality from whom he won on one night i45o/. at
Paulet's Ordinary at the Blue Posts in the Hay market.2

Paulet appears from this to have been the landlord of the
Blue Posts.

No. 1 2 the Haymarket was the home of the Archaeological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, until, like the Micro-
scopical Society, it removed to 20, Hanover Square. It was
established in December, 1843, under the title of the British
Archaeological Association, for the investigation, preservation,
and illustrating of all ancient monuments of history, customs,
arts, etc., relating to the United Kingdom.

On Friday, March 21, 1800, a furious fire broke out in a
" brothel " in James Street, opposite the Tennis Court, when
the Eidophusikon, in a house adjoining, was destroyed at the
loss of 6oo/., and no insurance. The proprietor of the Eido-
phusikon, Mr. Chapman (husband of Mrs. Chapman of
Covent Garden Theatre) went over the whole of his premises,
but could discover no signs of an approaching conflagration,
otherwise than by a strong burning smell which appeared to
come from James Street. Searching the house alluded to at
the back of the exhibition he discovered one of the bed-
rooms on fire, which in a few minutes burst into flame. At
twelve o'clock three houses were involved and half an hour
later the Hole-in-the-Wall in Panton Street, having caught
fire, was destroyed in the space of an hour, also a tallow-
chandler's next door. The tallow caused the fire to rage with
renewed violence ; but, at last, owing to the unwearied
exertions of the firemen, the fire was got under. A sergeant
of the 2nd regiment of Foot Guards, of the name of Poole,
who was assisting the landlord of the Hole-in-the-Wall in the
removal of his furniture over the tops of the houses, found
his sight impeded by the smoke, and stepped upon the sky-

1 Life of Daniel Defoe. 2 Lucas's Lives of the Gamesters, p. 645.

THE HAYMARKET.

light of a chemist's in the Haymarket, named Falwasser.
Precipitated through this upon a flight of stairs, he broke two
ribs and his neck, and was dead before there was time even
to apply the ridiculous remedy of bleeding. The deceased
soldier was a freemason and universally respected.1

It is apparently the Fives Court in James Street which
John Hamilton Reynolds mentions in his sonnet " On Hear-
ing St. Martin's Bells on my way Home from a Sparring
Match at the Fives Court " :

Beautiful bells ! That on this airy eve
Swoon with such deep and mellow cadences, —
Filling, — then leaving empty the rapt breeze ; —
Pealing full voic'd, — and seeming now to grieve
In distant dreaming sweetness ! — ye bereave
My mind of worldly care by dim degrees ; —
Dropping the balm of falling melodies
Over a heart that yearneth to receive.
Oh, doubly soft ye seem ! — since even but now

I've left the Fives-Court rush, — the flash, — the rally,
The noise of " Go it, Jack," — the stop — the blow, —
The shout — the chattering hit — the check — the sally; —
Oh, doubly sweet ye seem to come and go ; —
Like peasants' pipes, at peace time, in a valley ! 2

One of the oldest surviving among the multifarious trades
of London is that of the Italian warehousemen. And of these
probably the oldest are Messrs. Barto Valle, now at No. 60,
Haymarket, who still preserve on their stationery the old
original sign of " The Orange Tree and Two Jars." A curious
fact concerning the latter half of this sign is that the firm still
import their oil in jars — the oil jar which is still so familiar to-
day as a sign over the premises of the oilman — the rule to
which this is an exception being that it is now universally
the custom to import it in casks. The wholesale dealers
used to deposit the oil in large quantities in what were called
" oil-cellars," of which there was one under a brazier's shop in
Tower Street, between Seething Lane and Mark Lane and
another "great oil cellar" under the new warehouse in St.
Mary Axe, both in the year 1741. This was olive oil, the
most popular and universal of all the oils, being chiefly used
in medicine, foods, salads, and in manufactures. The best was
made in Provence ; but that which was received in this

1 Gentlemarts Magazine, March, 1800, pp. 271-2.

2 The Fancy. A Selection from the Poetical Remains of the late Peter
Corcoran, of Gray's Inn, 1820, p. 93.

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

country was brought from Lucca and Florence in jars, half
jars, and half-chests. The last were wooden packages con-
taining flasks.

Perhaps it will be of interest to give here a list of the com-
modities, some of them curiously named, in which the Italian
warehousemen dealt, through their having been in vogue
among the fashionable classes between 1740 and 1820. There
were Genoa vermicelli, and barley vermicelli of all sorts;
sweet biscuits, made of almonds, eggs, and sugar, known as
Macaroons, which were considered a very fashionable food
among Italian fops, whence the name was applied to them as
well as to the biscuits;1 Andarina and Cagliari pastes, for
thickening soups and for converting veal broth into " delicious
white soup, the flavour being much improved by the addition
of lean ham fried " ; essence of lobster and of anchovies, zoob-
ditty mutch, and sauce royal ; Japan soy,2 lemon pickle, walnut
and mushroom ketchups, oyster ketchup, Hanoverian sauce
for game, Quin's sauce, Camp sauce, Harvey's sauce, coratch
[? corage made from bugloss], red and white French vinegar,
Tarragona and garlic vinegar, Cayenne, Chili vinegar, essences
of parsley, celery, mint, thyme, marjoram, etc., for flavouring
soup; millet, semolina, Patna rice; Parmesan, Gruy ere, Chap-
sigre, and Stilton cheese; Venice treacle; 3 Morell's foreign and
English truffles, dry, green, and preserved; Gorgona an-
chovies; French sirrup of Capillaire, fine double distilled
Orange-flower-water; true Monte Oliveto Naples soap [fancy
the bath-biassed Britisher going to Naples for his soap!];
true Castile and Venetian soap; fine Sans Pareil water and

1 They were but a diminutive form of the " march pane " or almond
cake mentioned in Romeo and Juliet^ act i, sc. v.

2 Soy, when genuine, is an extract of the Soy bean, but it frequently
consists entirely of molasses, and is of Oriental origin. The beans are
boiled until the water is nearly evaporated, and they begin to burn, when
they are taken from the fire and placed in large wide-mouthed jars, ex-
posed to the sun and air; water, and a certain portion of molasses, or very
brown sugar, are added, and the jars are stirred well every day, until the
liquor and beans are completely mixed and fermented ; the material is
then strained, salted, boiled, and skimmed, until clarified ; and will, after
this last process, become of a very deep brown colour, and keep any
length of time. The composition is entirely a vegetable one, of an agree-
able flavour, and said to be wholesome. Possibly a present-day sauce
that the writer wots of is either founded on it, or identical.

3 Taylor, the water poet, in his metrical account of Old Parr, says:

" And Garlick he esteemed above the rate
Of Venice treacle, or best Methridate."

THE HAYMARKET.

Carmelitan water; mushrooms and champignons, dried or in
powder; dried artichoke bottoms ; " that highly prized luxury,
sauerkraut"\ Roman capers; Bologna "sausidges" [Hogarth's
spelling] ; Mortadele, Bayonne, and Westphalia hams ; Dutch
beef; fine green citron, and French apricots; lavender and
Hungary water from Montpellier ; artificial flowers; Genoa
velvet; lustrings,1 " sattins," padesois, damasks, lute and
violin strings; fans, "Legorne" hats; the best "jessamin"
oil, essences of bergamot, lavender and lemon; French prunes;
new prunelloes, Chianti Florence wine ; St. Loran wine ; Mos-
catel and Nessa wine; Malta brakets; Malvoisia Candia,
Sicily and other wines.

Barto (Bartholomew) Valle's is said to be mentioned in
Don Juan. Although the family of Barto Valle has long be-
come extinct, at all events in connection with this interesting
firm, the present proprietors have wisely decided to retain the
name. It was established in 1736, and until 1903, I think, it
was at 21, Haymarket, now at No. 60. Having already dis-
cussed the latter half of their sign of the " Orange Tree and
Two Jars," the former part, the " Orange Tree," also invites a
little attention.

The patriotic sign of the " Highlander, Thistle and Crown "
was used, presumably, to distinguish the shop of David
Wishart, of late years removed from 41, Haymarket, to 25,
Panton Street. Fairholt says that the employment of the
Highlander as a sign is traceable to Scottish events during
the year 1/45; but Wishart's old shop-bill, of which the
writer possesses an example, bears the date 1720 beneath the
Crown, Thistle and Highlander, so that if the shop-card was
thus adorned, the Highlander probably figured at the same
time as an exterior shop-sign. The Highlander is said to have
had reference to Charles Edward Stuart, the younger Pre-
tender, and at Wishart's house in Coventry Street the Jacobites
are said to have secretly assembled in support of his claims.
The shop, opened on the 3ist December, 1720, the very day
on which the Young Pretender was born, is believed to have
been the first to place a figure of the Highlander at the door
of a tobacco-shop in token of such houses having been affiliated
to the Jacobite party. Wishart and Lloyd's establishment
obtained additional fame by supply ing both Lord Lytton and

1 Pronounced " lutestrings." For promoting the manufacture of this, a
shining glossy silk, invented by the French, a corporation was formed in
the reign of William and Mary, as appears by 4 and 5 W. and M.

t>"

Richard Lee's Bill-head.
Engraved by Hogarth.

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

the late Poet Laureate, Lord Tennyson, with smoking re-
quisites.1

On the evening of Thursday, June 9, 1803, at 5 o'clock, a
most singular phenomenon took place in Panton-street, Hay-
market. The inhabitants were alarmed by a violent and a
tremendous hail and shower storm, which extended only to
Oxendon-street, Whitcombe-street, Coventry-street, and the
Haymarket, that is to say over a space not more than about
200 acres. The torrent was so great that it could only be
likened to a wonderful cascade from the brow of the most
tremendous precipice for seven minutes, so that the cellars of
all the inhabitants in Panton Street and Oxendon Street were
filled with water. And in the midst of this hurricane, an
electric cloud descended in the middle of the street, fell in
the centre of the coach-way and sunk to a great depth, with-
out leaving a vestige or any particle of matter, but instead,
forming a complete pit. The smell of the brimstone, for some
considerable seconds was so strong, that the inhabitants ex-
pected every minute to be suffocated. A Mr. Madden, who
kept a public-house near the spot, had water and beer butts
thrown flat from the stillions, and no other damage done.2

This is to give Notice, That the Feast of the Natives and
Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, will be
kept in the Tennis Court in Panton-Buildings in the said
Parish on Thursday, the i4th day of October, His Majesty's
Birth-day; and that Tickets may be had for the said Feast at
Mr. James Pawlett's at the Blue Posts in the Haymarket"; etc.3

There was a " Py'd Bull " tavern in Panton Street/
William Hogarth engraved a " Midnight scene in the style
of the Modern Conversation," as a shop-bill for Richard Lee
at the Golden Tobacco Roll, in Panton Street, near Leicester
Fields.

Tho8 Townshend, Chymist in Ordinary to his Majesty, at
the King's Arms and Golden Head near Panton Street in the
Haymarket, Makes and Sells all manner of Chymical and
Galenical Medicines.5

This advertisement seems to relate to a chemist's which is
probably identical with an earlier chemist whose still more

1 Mr. E. L. Blanchard in The Glasgow News, Dec. 18, 1880.

2 Gentleman! s Magazine, June, 1803, p. 587.

3 London Gazette, Sept. 30, 1686.

4 Ibid., July 29 and Aug. 9, 1686.

5 Elaborately engraved shop-bill in the Guildhall Library.

THE HAYMARKET.

elaborate shop-bill, apparently the work of Hogarth, relates to
Richard Siddall at the Golden Head only, in Panton Street.1

Thomas Dermody, the Irish poet, who died at the early age
of twenty-seven, in 1802, lived at No. 30, Oxendon Street.2

Cunningham, in his Modern London, has inserted on the
clue map to the Haymarket the notice of Addison having
written his Campaign in a garret in Panton Street. Taking
this for its authority The Builder thinks that the house was
very possibly one of those that were demolished about 1880,
to make way for the Alexandra Theatre in Panton Street.3

[To be continued.]

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS
FOUNDATION.

By ALEX. J. PHILIP.

DOMESDAY Book was not compiled until twenty years
after the coming of William the Conqueror, but it de-
scribes to some extent the condition of the country at
the end of the Saxon and Danish period. A translation of the
Gravesend entry reads as follows:

Herbert son of Ivo holds Gravesham of the Bishop [of
Bayeux]. It answers for two sulings and one yoke. There is
land for four ploughs. In demesne there is one [plough], and
four villans, with eight slaves, have two oxen.4 There is a
church and one hythe. In the time of King Edward it was
worth ;£io; when he received it, as much; now, j£n* This
manor was three manors; in the time of King Edward,
Leuric, and Aluuin, and Goduin held [them]. Now it is in
one.

Milton, now one of the two parishes forming the modern
borough, is thus described:

Ralph son of Turold holds Meletune of the Bishop [of
Bayeux]. It answers for one suling and three yokes. There is
land for four ploughs. In demesne there is one [plough], and
21 villans, with two bordars, have two ploughs. There is a

1 Newspaper cuttings, uncatalogued, City Library, vol. xi.

2 Wheatley's Cunningham. 3 The Builder, July 2, 1881.
4 That is, a quarter of a plough-team of 8 oxen.

O £ -S

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

church, and one mill of 49^., and a hythe of 205. and three
slaves. In the time of King Edward, it was worth ^4; and
afterwards, ^3 ; now £6. What Richard holds, in his lowy,
five shillings in one wood. Earl Leuuin held it.

Denton, next Milton, is described as being held by the
Bishop of Rochester.

The same Bishop holds Danitone. It answered for two
sulings in the time of King Edward, and now for half a suling.
There is land for two ploughs. In demesne there is one
[plough], and 6 villans have there one plough. There is a
church, and 4 slaves, and 4 acres of meadow. Wood for 15
hogs. In the time of King Edward, and afterwards it was
worth IOQS.J and now ^£7 155.

Northfleet was in the possession of the Archbishop of Can-
terbury :

The same Archbishop holds Norfluet in demesne. It an-
swered for 6 sulings in the time of King Edward, and now for
5. There is land for 14 ploughs. In demesne there are two
[ploughs], and 36 villans have 10 ploughs. There is a church,
and 7 slaves, and one mill of icxr., with one fishery, and 20
acres of meadow. Wood for 20 hogs. In the whole value, in
the time of King Edward it was worth ;£io; when he received
it, £12-, and now, £27. And yet it renders ^37 los.

What Richard de Tonebrige holds of this Manor, in his
lowy, is worth 30^.

Southfleet and Higham, the only other places intimately
wrapped up in Gravesend's history, must also be described as
they appeared at that time in order to complete the picture of
the district described as Roman Gravesend, although later on
the boundary must be, to some extent at least, curtailed.

The Bishop of Rochester holds Sudfleta [Southfleet]. It
answered for 6 sulings. There is land for 1 3 ploughs. In de-
mesne, there is one plough, and 25 villans, with 9 bordars,
having 12 ploughs. There are 7 slaves, and 20 acres of
meadow. Wood for 10 hogs. Now, it answers for five sulings.
There is a church. In the time of King Edward, and after-
wards, it was worth £11; now, -£21. And yet, it renders
£24, and one ounce of gold.

Of this Manor, there is in Tonebrige, as much of wood and
of land as is appraised at 205.

The same Adam holds Hecham [Higham] of the Bishop

[of Bayeux]. It answers for 5 sulings. There is land for 1 2

ploughs. In demesne, there are 3 ploughs, and 24 villans, with

12 bordars, have 6 ploughs and a half. There are 20 slaves;

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

and 30 acres of meadow. There is a church, and one mill of
io5., and a fishery of 35-. And, in Exesse, pasture for 200
sheep. In the time of King Edward, it was worth £12-, and
afterwards, ^6; now, ^15.

In the time of King Edward, Godouin son of Carle and
Toli, held this land, for two manors.

Whatever may have happened in the early years of the in-
vasions of the Jutes, of the Angles and the Saxons, and later
of the Danes, to reduce the importance of Gravesend and its
surroundings, or to destroy it, there is no room for doubt that
in the eleventh century it was flourishing and the centre of a
prosperous district and comparatively well populated. The
Church has its foot in each of the places, and each place has
its own church. Most of the terms in the Domesday returns
are intelligible, but it may be explained that a suling is the
land that could be tilled yearly by one plough.

Some doubt has been expressed regarding the mill at
Milton; but it appears to be generally agreed that it was
worked by water, and was not the forerunner of the mills that
crowned the top of Windmill Hill for so many years in the
later centuries.

The history of Gravesend from this time is practically un-
broken, though the material is somewhat scanty in its details
for the next three centuries. Nevertheless, there is sufficient
data to guide the student in his reconstruction of the town in
the different phases of its history. As might be anticipated, it
is largely ecclesiastical in tone.

Cruden discusses at some length the hythe at Milton men-
tioned in Domesday Book. And there is little doubt that in
the main his conclusions are correct, viz., that the hythe or
landing-place at Milton was the forerunner of the existing
town landing-stage beneath the pier. The parishes of Graves-
end and Milton join at Windmill Street, and it is probable
that the landing, being a little to the east of an imaginary line
down the street, was within the Milton boundary. At all
events, the Milton hythe was of much greater importance than
that of Gravesend, as shown by the three servi or slaves
attached to it.

At an early date the town gave its name to a family, which
in the reign of Edward III had possessions here; in the reign
of Edward I some of them are owners of Notsted [Nursted?],
and accompanied the king in his war against Scotland.
Richard de Gravesend was Archdeacon of Northampton, and

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION,

in 1280 Bishop of London. Stephen de Gravesend, his heir,
was also Bishop of London in his turn. That the family was
an important one is shown by the extent of their possessions
in various parts of Kent and Essex. Sir Thomas de Gravesend
is given as the heir of Stephen, and after that the family dis-
appears from prominence, though the name occurs in a docu-
ment of the reign of Richard II.

The manors of Gravesend and Milton have so far engaged
our attention, but within these was the manor of Parrock. In
1261 Henry III granted free warren, a yearly fair, and a
weekly market, to Robert de la Parrok, with the usual proviso,
unless such markets and fair shall be to the prejudice of the
neighbouring markets and fairs. Cruden supposes from his
armorial bearings that this Robert de la Parrok was one of a
branch of the noble family of Sey of Birlinge.

From records of illegal practices it is obvious that a trade of
some considerable extent was carried on in the town, besides
the water-carrying to Essex and London. It was a hundred
years later, however, before this water traffic was secured to
the town. Cruden traces the long ferry direct to the hythe at
Milton in Domesday Book, and supposes that the water traffic
with London was in a flourishing state before the Norman
Conquest. He gives at the same time a picture of a boat of
the period, which he surmises was that in use.

To discover the cause of the royal grant that secured the
right of the Long Ferry to the townsmen in 1401, we must
look to the invasion of the Thames in 1379 by the French
[and Spanish], while Lord Neville was invading France; they
harried and burned the town, and carried away many of the
inhabitants prisoners. This reduced those who were left to
sore straits for making a living, so much so that the Abbatof
St. Mary Graces, at Tower Hill, London, who, Seymour says,
was lord of the manor of Parrock, prevailed upon Henry IV
to grant the royal charter. Lambarde appears to say that
there was an earlier grant made by King Richard II.

The king to all whom it may concern . . . know ye that
we are informed that, from time whereof the memory of man
is not to the contrary, the Men of the Town of Gravesend
who in their times have successively inhabited the Town afore-
said have been accustomed and were used without any inter-
ruption freely, quietly and peaceably, to carry in their own
vessels whatsoever persons coming to the Town aforesaid and
willing to go thence by water to our City of London : until
59

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

now lately certain persons . . . have come from our said City
of London with their vessels to the said town of Gravesend,
and there have shipped persons willing to go to our City afore-
said by water, and have converted the money therefrom
received to their own use, contrary to the will of the inhabit-
ants in the said Town of Gravesend . . .

The charge for each passenger at this time appears to have
been 2d., which covered the carriage of his baggage or pack
and his " fardel " also. The total fares of the boat reached 4^.

The Long Ferry during these early years was not so free
from danger as it is now. There was still the fear of war and
invasion, the river was infested with robbers and pirates,
adverse winds had to be contended with. On the other hand,
the journey was much more pleasant, between green and
wooded banks, through clear water with abundance of fish,
from the lordly salmon to the "sprot" In the winter of
1434-5 the discomforts were increased by an abnormal frost,
and from Christmas to February 10, all traffic to London was
diverted to the road.

The royal grant of the Long Ferry was confirmed by
Henry V and Henry VI, and Edward IV also confirmed the
grant for " the good . . . service which our dear lieges, the
inhabitants of Gravesend, have done for us," showing that they
had successfully trimmed their sails during those troublous
and factious times.

We are able to glean a good deal of information regarding
the Long Ferry in this reign from the expenses of Sir John
Howard, who, in January, 1466-7, met the ambassadors of the
Bastard of Burgundy (Count de la Roche) at Gravesend.
The Duke of Burgundy and Lord Scales had agreed to a feat
of arms in London, and the Garter King of Arms came down
the river to meet the Burgundians, who were travelling under
a safe conduct.

The entries by Sir John's steward are as follows :

Item, the ij of Janevere, my mastyr paid the mastyr of the
King's barge, for bryngenge my mastyr to Gravesende, and
ageyn to London with the ambasetors, XXX.T.

Item the same day my mastyr paid to Gartar, fore heryng
of a barge to London with the embasators staffe, v]s.

Item the same day my mastyr paid for Coles, v\i]d.

Item the same day my mastyr paid to Mastyr William
Atclyffe, that he laid [out] at Gravesende for the bargemen's
mete, vs.

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

The Duke of Burgundy himself arrived on May 29, with a
gay company, accommodated in four ships which cast anchor
off the town, he and his four hundred knights and their
squires. On the return journey Sir John Howard paid "for ij
sheppe at Gravesende, for to have into the shippe, iiij^."

Further interesting details regarding the river traffic may
be gleaned from the same accounts :

Paid to a bark, for bryngyng downe of vj pipes floure, ix
pipes beere, iiij pipes fleshe, xiiij fishe, to Gravesend, vs.

To yonge Spense and his felishipe, for having [taken] doune
x pipes bere fro Redclif to Gravesend, vs.

Paid to a man at Gravesend that brought the bred abord
The John, \}s.

Paid to a man at Gravesend that shall brynge uppe tymber
to Redclif, xvj^.

Paid for barge-hyre of iij of your men frome Gravesende
to Blakwalle, v']d.

From the Privy Purse expenses of Elizabeth of York,
consort of Henry VII, we learn more about the charges. It
must be remembered, however, that these were no doubt
" royal " charges, or at least something more than would be
charged the commonalty, most of whom would be content to
be passengers in a general boat.

To James Nattres for his costes going into Kent for
Doctour Hallysworth, phisicon, to come to the Quene by the
Kinges commaundement, Furst for his bote hyre from the
Towre to Gravysende, \i]s. \\i]d.

To twoo watermen abiding at Gravysende unto such time
as the said James come again, for their expenses, v\\}d.

For horse hyre and to guides by night and day, i]s. iiij^.

And for his owne expenses, xvjV.

On the occasion of Wolsey travelling as ambassador from
Henry VII to the Emperor Maximilian in 1500, we learn
that " with a prosperous tyde and wynde . . . with such happy
speede, he arrived at Gravesend within little more than three
houres." Wolsey, in fact, made such " happy speede " on his
journey, both going and returning, as to lay the foundations
of his future greatness.

One of the earliest courts of the Conservancy meeting at
Gravesend of which we have any record was held before the
Lord Mayor of London in 1421. The duties of the Con-
servancy then were much the same as they are now, and the
inquiry was held to ascertain "whether any persons had

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

erected weirs, kiddels or engines, or had knocked any posts,
piles, or stakes, within the river, which might in any sort
hinder the stream or the navigation, or passage of ships,
barges, boats, or vessels within the same ; and whether any
person had cast any soil, rubbish or other filth into the
river." The jury was charged also to inquire concerning all
" encroachments upon the river and the banks thereof, and of
all bridges, floodgates, mill-dams, and such annoyances,
erected upon or near the banks, and whether any fishermen
had been found fishing during prohibited seasons." These
prohibited seasons, no doubt, referred to the close time for
salmon ; more than forty years before an Act was passed by
Parliament prohibiting the catching of salmon in the " kipper
time" (that is, from the Invention of the Holy Cross, May 3,
to the Epiphany, January 6), between Gravesend and Henley.

As early as 1293 it is recorded that the watermen at the
Milton hythe were fined for overcharging their passengers.
The fare from Gravesend to London was, at that time, a half-
penny ; but these watermen who were fined had endeavoured
to turn it into a not very honest penny.

We have already seen that by 1515 the legal fare had in-
creased to 2d. for each passenger. This was the result of an
Act (6 Henry VIII, c. 7) regulating the fares not only between
Gravesend and London, but intermediate places also. The
following are the more important points :

Whereas by the laudable custome and usage within this
realme of England, tyme out of mynde used, that every of
the Kynge's subjectes and all other persons passynge by the
river of Thames or Midway, and repayring to the same by
water in barge or wherybote, that is to saye, from London
to Gravesende, and from Gravesende to London, one person
or more, to have a barge of the owners or occupiers of the
same to passe themselves with their males, or fardelles be-
tween the said places, for the summe of iiij^., or els every
person passyng in the said barge, to pay for him selfe, or for
him selfe, his male, or fardell ij^., so that the same somme of
i]d. of every person amounte to the somme of iiij^. And a
wherybote betweene the sayde places, for the summe of i]s.
hath been compelled to passe forth at every tide, between the
said places.

This fare of twopence appears to have remained legally
recognized until 1737, when it was raised to sixpence. After
this the boatmen decked their vessels, and for this additional

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

comfort custom raised the fare to ninepence, except for
soldiers, who continued to travel at the former fare of six-
pence. Apparently still without any legal right, the boatmen
increased the fare to is. in 1790. Pocock naively states that
the passengers gave it voluntarily ; but as the accommodation
given was better, the additional 3^., although illegal, was
justified. During these years, however, the size of the boats
had increased as much as the fare, until at the end of the
eighteenth century the number carried was sometimes as
many as 100 in one boat : " and on an average 300 persons
pass and repass this easy and safe ferry every day . . .
they go every flood and return every ebb upon the ringing of
a bell, and the passage is often made in three or four hours
as the wind and tide happen to suit."

Perhaps one of the most useful works Pocock did in his
History was to make accessible the Charter of Incorporation
of the town, which he transcribes " from a copy, translated
and examined ... the 2Oth of December, 1762, by Henry
Care, of Symonds Inn, London, Attorney, and William Hunt."
At present, however, sections 26 and 27, the two relating to
the ferry, are all that need be given :

(26) And seeing that the Passage and Ferry upon the
River of Thames by the aforesaid Villages and Parishes of
Gravesend and Milton even to our City of London, and the
Liberties and Profits of that Passage and Ferry for the space
of divers Years now already past, have been enjoyed by the
Foreman [Mayor], Jurats, and Inhabitants of the Villages
and Parishes aforesaid, nevertheless divers Strifes, Quarrels,
Discords and Controversies about the Passage and Ferry
aforesaid daily arise, to the disturbance and grievance of our
subjects : therefore we are willing that the aforesaid Con-
troversies, Discords and Contentions hereafter may be taken
away and removed, and that the aforesaid Mayor, Jurats and
Inhabitants of the Villages and Parishes of Gravesend and
Milton aforesaid, and their Successors, hereafter and for ever
shall have and enjoy the Government of the Passage or Ferry
aforesaid, quietly and peaceably with the Profits, Immunities
and Liberties thence arising : and we do further out of our
gracious favour . . . grant to the aforesaid ... the whole
Passage or Ferry . . . and the only liberty of that Passage or
Ferry, to the carrying, transporting, and transferring all and
all manner of Persons, Fardels, Burthens, Merchandizes and
other things whatsoever upon the said water and River of
Thames aforesaid, to any place and places, between the
63

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

Villages and Parishes aforesaid, and the City aforesaid ... to
be holden of us ... in Fealty only, freely and in common
Soccage and not in Capite, or per servitum militare, paying
for it yearly to us ... six shillings and eight pence of good and
lawful money of England ... to be paid yearly at the Feast of
All Saints . . .

Section 27 gives the Mayor, Jurats, etc.,

power and authority to erect, constitute, ordain, make, and
establish from time to time, such reasonable Laws, Institu-
tions, Rights, Ordinances and Constitutions ... as shall seem
safe, good, profitable, honest, convenient, and necessary . . .
for the good government and gubernation of all ... the
Mariners, Rowers, Officers, and Ministers of the said Passage
or Ferry ... as also of all ... Artificers whojare occupied . . .
in the making of sails, oars, or any other necessary ornaments
or utensils for the Barges, Boats or any other necessary
vessels . . . and also for the possessors of the aforesaid
Barges, Boats, Oars and Vessels . . . how and in what time
they shall have and take their turns one after another,
according to the course and turn of the tides.

The powers given under the remainder of this section were
wide and absolute.

The river passage for many centuries was at least as dan-
gerous as the road, because not only were there the profes-
sional river thieves, pirates, and " extortioners," but the boat-
men themselves were not always above enriching themselves
by actual murder, by terrorizing their fares, and by ostensibly
accidental drowning.

Many serious accidents are recorded in the various Chron-
icles, some caused by storms, others by capsizing or collision.
The boats appear to have been systematically overcrowded,
and in 1737 an Act was passed limiting the number of pas-
sengers to 40. This Act, however, was not altogether success-
ful, as less than ten years after it was passed a tilt-boat was
lost with 50 passengers, of whom only one man was rescued.

To return, however, to the efforts being made to remedy
some of the more crying evils of the river traffic, of which the
revision of the fares was only one.

Nefarious practices were not confined to the watermen of
Gravesend, but were found also among those of London, who
increased in numbers enormously well into the I7th century;
and to deal with the whole matter a court was established in

1555-

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

The picture of Gravesend as it appeared in its riverside
aspect is an intensely interesting one. At all times it has
been a busy one, increasing in activity as the trade and size
and influence of London increased, until in the i8th century
it reached the zenith of its riparian prosperity — comparatively
speaking. During the last century it shone forth in glorious
splendour as a seaside resort, and it is now rapidly becoming
a residential suburb. It is doubtful if it will ever again see
such times as those in the i/th and i8th centuries, when
ocean-going boats " in " and " out " stopped, and perhaps
anchored, off the town; when merchandise came down the
river to be met by wagons and passengers by coaches for dis-
tribution over all the county, to Canterbury, and Folkestone,
and even west, to the county of Sussex; when passengers
and late goods came post from London to catch the outward
bound packet that had slipped down the river on the tide the
night before; all together making the little town the scene of
as moving and busy a throng as it was possible to find.

The boats themselves had undergone great changes during
the seven centuries or so that passed between Domesday
Book and this period of prosperity. Information as to the
river craft of the I ith century is almost non-existent, although
there is a considerable body of data relating to the war vessels
and sea-going craft.

The early boats of the Thames, that is, the boats in use up
to the 1 6th century, are believed to have been called barges,
and to have been similar in design and size to those vessels
used in the shorter but more important ferry between Kent
and the Continent. If this is correct — and there is no evidence
to the contrary — the barge would be a rather large type of
ship, probably more like one of those tar-covered coasters that
one sees loading in every port — in hull, that is, but with a
square sail. This class of ship dates from the beginning of
the 1 4th century, and is one of the earliest types to carry the
rudder at the stern ; previously the steering had been done by
an oar at the side.

The barge was followed by the " tilt-boat," which has been
thus described : — " before the mast sat five rowers, open and
exposed to the weather, and from the mast to the steersman
in the stern were bales covered with a tilt, and open at the
sides; under the tilt or slight deck sat the passengers, who
were accommodated every tide with clean straw laid in the
bottom of the boat, upon which was a large rug or blanket to

XIV 65 F

THE LONG FERRY AND ITS FOUNDATION.

cover themselves in cold or bad weather." Wherries and
" light horsemen " were also in use. What the Gravesend
light horseman was it is impossible to say, although it is
supposed to have been akin to the modern "gig." Wherry
may have been simply the name applied to a class of boat
allied to the barge of the time. The tilt-boat, much enlarged
and improved, held its sway until the iQth century; Pocock
tells us that in his time a quarter share in one was considered
adequate for the maintenance of a frugal family.

Stringent bye-laws were passed governing the conduct of
the masters of the wherries, tilt-boats, and light-horsemen,
from which it appears that a tilt-boat in 1701 was capable
of carrying forty passengers and a wherry ten. Thirty years
later the size of the two classes would seem to have been
fifteen tons for tilt-boats, and three tons for wherries. Besides
the bye-laws just referred to, there was a court, Curia cursus
aquae, for the regulation of the river traffic, under the juris-
diction of the Duke of Richmond and Lennox.

I have endeavoured briefly to sketch the development of
Gravesend's staple industry or employment and one of the
most important home features of the early port of London.
At the same time I have tried to depict the changes in the
river scenes, from the time when the three servi seem to have
formed the staff of the Long Ferry from Milton pier or hythe,
to the eighteenth century, when there were numerous boats
carrying 40 passengers each, their goings and comings care-
fully regulated and watched by responsible officers. The
signal for their starting was the ringing of a bell, and the
penalty for neglect was a fine of 40$"., half of which was paid
by way of reward to the informer.

The picture would be incomplete without some account of
Gravesend's relationship to the Navy and the mercantile
marine, but this must form another chapter of the town's
history.

Rettendon Church.

tr>o-t-ar>V,c Kw r \\T TT^U,.,

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex
Archaeological Society.

[Continued from vol. xiii, p. 301 .]

RETTENDON.

RETTENDON, or Ratendune, as it is spelt in old records
is a village some three miles to the north-west of Wick-
ford. The chief manor is said to have been the property
of the nuns at Ely as far back as the year 673, and we have
documentary evidence of it being their property in the time
of Edward the Confessor. When the bishopric was founded in
1108, this estate became part of the endowment of the See,
and continued as such until alienated by Henry VIII. The
patronage of the church, however, continued in the hands of
the Bishops of Ely, with the exception of two or three intervals
between 1541 and 1662, until the beginning of the eighteenth
century ; it is now in the hands of the Lord Chancellor.

It is thought that, as the Bishops of Ely possessed a large
amount of land in this parish, they had a residence here, that
the church was built by them, and that they were chiefly
responsible for the later additions of the fourteenth and
fifteenth century.

The site of the church is very elevated, and its lofty tower
a Conspicuous object for many miles round. The church,
built principally of Kentish ragstone, probably dates from the
end of the twelfth century, and originally consisted of a nave
and chancel only ; there is no trace of an earlier structure. The
church, as we see it at present, has a nave, chancel, north aisle,
a fine embattled tower with small turret at the west end of the
nave, containing five bells, and the remains of an old timber
porch over the south door. Built on to the north wall of the
chancel is a parvise or priest's house of two stories, the lower
one now being used as a vestry.

It is assumed that the original building, as stated, was a
small church with nave and chancel only, and that about the
end of the fourteenth century the north wall of the nave was
taken down and the aisle added. Between this aisle and the

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

nave are four arches supported by three octagonal incurved
pillars, similar to those at Barling, described in a previous
article [vol. xii, p. 55]. The priest's house attached to the
chancel was erected some fifty years later ; a fine perpendicular
square-headed doorway, with spandrels, was cut in the chancel
wall to form an entrance into it. In the lower room is a spiral
stone staircase, now much dilapidated, to gives access to the
upper floor, which can also be reached by another flight of
stone steps from the exterior; a fireplace has been built in
each room.

In the south wall of the upper room an opening has been
made through which a view of the altar can be obtained ; this
room has two windows, one on north and one on east side, the
lower room has a window on the east side only.

As the church for many years belonged to the Bishopric of
Ely it is probable that the various priests who served this
church lived here, at any rate at certain periods. A similar
priest's house, erected about the same period, is attached to
the west end of the church at Great Wakering, which belonged
to Beeleigh Abbey [vol. xii, p. 302].

These extremely interesting priest's houses attached to
certain churches formerly belonging to religious houses or
bishoprics prove, I think, that at times the priests sent to serve
there certainly lived in them while they were so serving; the
fireplaces seem conclusive evidence that the houses were
intended to be lived in. There is another one at Laindon,
which will be described later.

The massive stone tower has walls nearly five feet thick at
the base and massive buttresses at each corner, set at an angle ;
from the appearance of the windows, etc., it was probably
erected about the middle of the fifteenth century, at the same
time as the priest's house.

Considerable alterations appear to have been made to the
windows at this period, and again about the end of the
eighteenth century. Apparently no windows are now left of
the original Early English period. The earliest remaining is a
three-light Decorated window in the north aisle, which I think
is evidence that the aisle could not have been added later than
the end of the fourteenth century. On each side of this is a
two-light square-headed Perpendicular window, and there is
another of similar design at the west end, over which was
another, now blocked up.

In the nave, beginning from the west end, we have a three-

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

light and a two-light perpendicular window, and further on
another three-light one, with eighteenth century wood frame
work ; continuing into the chancel is a similar modern window
of three lights; the east window has been modernized on
similar lines; traces, however, of an original early English
window can be seen on examination.

There are three doorways, north, south, and west ; the north
doorway and the priest's doorway in the chancel are bricked
up; the west door leading into the tower is closed. The south
doorway is now the only entrance into the church ; it is original
Early English work of the twelfth century.

The east wall of the chancel and the south wall of the nave
are portions of the original structure; the south wall, owing
to a subsidence, or faulty workmanship, is slightly out of the
perpendicular, and is now supported by four massive brick
buttresses. It has also been patched with brickwork, and from
the appearance of this I should say that it was done at the
same time as some of the windows were altered, somewhat
near the end of the eighteenth century.

In the chancel is a beautiful piscina and double-seated
sedilia. The piscina has a trefoil head with the early English
dog-tooth ornament. The sedilia have plain trefoil arches. On
the south side of the chancel is an aumbry, over which is the
remains of a large window now completely cemented up.

Fitted into the sides of the present choir stalls are some
finely carved panels which doubtless formed portions of the
original rood screen. There are also some very fine old bench
ends with beautifully carved heraldic designs ; they are very
curious, amongst them being a monkey, a bear with a staff, an
eagle and child in a cradle, etc. Whether they belonged origin-
ally to this church it is difficult to say, as the families which
they represent, such as the Nevilles, Beauchamps, Stanleys,
etc., do not appear to have possessed any land in this parish.

The font is a plain octagonal, probably the original of the
twelfth century.

At the east end of the aisle is a large handsome marble
monument to Edmund Humfrey Batchelor, who died in 1727.
There is also in the aisle a mutilated brass to a civilian and
his three wives still affixed to the original slab. The inscrip-
tion is lost, but by the dresses, etc., it is put down as being
circa 1535. A brass effigy of Richard Humfrey and his three
sons, dated 1607. There are also in the church other minor
monuments and slabs.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

The list of rectors dated from 1333; the Register begins in
1678.

LAINDON.

Laindon, spelt in early records Layndon, or Langdon, is a
parish some eight miles to the south-east of Brentwood; so far
as is known it has always, for ecclesiastical purposes, been
joined with Basildon.

The church is situated some distance from the village, about
a mile to the north of the railway station, on the London,
Tilbury, and Southend line. The edifice was evidently built
about the end of the twelfth century ; portions of the outer
walls and the buttresses at the east end of the chancel belong
to this period. In the north wall of the nave can be seen the
remains of a blocked up Early English window, and the font
also belongs to this period. The church appears to have been
largely rebuilt in the fifteenth century, the windows and the
rest of the building being in the Perpendicular style.

The present building consists of a chancel and nave, with
south aisle, south porch, and western tower, with an oak
shingled spire; attached to the west end of the nave is a
timber priest's house of two stories.

In the belfry are five bells, two of which are dated 1588 and
1619 respectively.

At the west end of the nave is built up a massive timber
structure, consisting of five arches joined together by cross-
bracing, with a platform at the top, about the height of the
nave walls, on which are constructed the belfry and spire. It
is a very fine specimen of work of this nature, and worthy of
study by all who are interested in mediaeval church wood-
work. There are similar timber structures in many of the
smaller Essex churches, but in some cases they are erected
outside and attached to the west end of the nave ; they nearly
all date from about the middle of the fifteenth century.

The most interesting feature of Laindon Church, however,
is the priest's house, built close up to the west end of the
nave, the stone wall having been partly taken down for this
purpose. It is constructed entirely of wood. There are two
stories, while under the gabled roof is a small attic which
leads into the belfry. The first floor has an opening in the
east wall looking into the church, having wooden shutters or
panels. A short flight of stairs in the lower room on the north
side leads to the upper floor; the original entrance into the

~
V

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

house is by means of a wooden door on the south side. The
lower room now forms the vestry; in it can be seen the old
altar table. After the dissolution of the monasteries, this
priest's house appears to have been used as the village school,
and it continued as such until a few years back.

At the west end of the nave are two old panels with in-
scriptions giving particulars of two charities. One of these is
of special interest as it has reference to the village school.

It reads as follows:

Soli Deo Gloria

John Puckle of this parish by his last will dated the 6th
May, 1617, Gave all his Copyhold lands to the maintenance
of a school master, for teaching a competent number of poor
children of Basseldon or Layndon; The Salary to be paid
half yearly by the trustees, viz., Five pounds upon the feast of the
Annunciation, and five pounds upon the feast of St. Michael.
This charity is to be commemorated yearly upon the feast of
St. John, upon which day the pious Founder of happy memory,
hath appointed an annuall sermon and the fee of a mark to
the preacher.

The property now produces about £6$ yearly, and the fund
is still used for educational purposes. The sermon also is still
preached by the Rector on St. John's day, and the stated fee
paid by the trustees.

The other panel is somewhat obliterated; it refers to certain
lands at Fobbing, left in 1703 for charitable purposes.

In the south wall of the aisle is a piscina, and close to this
is an arched opening with the remains of a tomb, believed to
be that of the original founder of the church.

In the aisle was a chantry, founded in 1329, when Ed-
ward III granted licence to Thomas de Berdefield to give one
messuage, 95 acres of arable, and i$s. ^d. rent in Layndon and
Est Ley to a chaplain to celebrate mass for his soul for ever,
at the altar of the Virgin Mary and St. Thomas the Martyr
in the church at Layndon. In the book of chantries the yearly
value was stated to be £8 1 1 s. %d.

The font is a square basin with plain arcading on each side,
supported on a plain circular pillar with a smaller one at each
angle.

The register dates from 1653; the following entry relates to
the priest's house. "That side of the Church Yard House
which is on the south side towards the King's highway was
made new in the year 1732 at the charge of the parish."

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

On the floor of the chancel are two brasses, the inscriptions
of which are lost ; there are also the slabs of two others.

BASILDON

Basildon (Basledon or Barsyldon) is a chapelry in the parish
of Laindon, about two miles east. The present church consists
of a chancel, nave, south porch and western stone tower, con-
taining three bells, two of which are dated 1672 and 1756
respectively. The greater portion of the nave, and the whole
of the chancel with the exception of the roof were rebuilt in
the early part of the eighteenth century; owing to the shrink-
ing and cracking of the clayey soil further rebuilding of the
east end of the chancel took place about ten years ago.

The timber porch on the south side, the stone tower, a few
of the nave windows, and the roof of the chancel, are in the
Perpendicular style, and date from the fifteenth century; the
rest of the structure is modern work. There is no trace of any
earlier building.

The font also is modern, and there are no monuments in
the church of any interest.

[To be continued.]

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from vol. xiii, p. 316.]

SIBERTSWOLD

(Anciently in Sandwich Deanery)

1560

THAT the Vicar is parson of Barston [Barfreston], and
there liveth.
These whose names do follow do withhold certain
kine and ewes, being stock of the church, and for relieving of the
poor: — Mrs. Moninge, Mrs. Portway, Thomas Giles, Stephen
Wickham, . . . Andrew of Barham, John Bailye, late of Lydden.
John Deacon is an evil-man, and that he doth misuse him-
self very unseemly towards the Priest, telling him that he lied,

3
5

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

openly before all the people when he was in the pulpit. —
(Fol. 18; vol. 1560-84.)

1565. That the body of our church is very amiss, and also
the steeple is in great decay.

The chancel where the Communion-table should stand is
unpaved.

That we have no Paraphrase, the farmer of the rectory is
the goodwife Stoddard, who ought to give half the money to
the providing thereof.

1567. William Curie of Eastrey doth owe unto our church
three ewes, and he hath had them to farm this sixteen years,
and denieth both the stock and the farm. — (Vol. 1566-7.)

1569. (Archbishop Parker's Visitation.)
Rectory: — appropriator the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Vicarage : — in the patronage of the same.
Vicar: — Dom. Robert Bannister, who is married, resides
there, and is hospitable as far as he is able. He has also the
vicarage of Coldred in the same Deanery; not a preacher, nor
licensed to preach; not a graduate.

Householders, 21.
Communicants, 83. — (Fol. 23.)

That they have not the Paraphrase of Erasmus, and that
Mr. George Bingham of West Court about two years ago
received of Master Edward Merywether and of the widow of
Stannard, parishioners, the sum of 12s. or thereabouts, and
promised to lay out the rest ; and at his next going to London
to buy us one, but they have neither book nor money.

That John Stodard's widow hath in occupying two acres of
land called Wassell-land, out of the which there hath been
paid two bushels of wheat yearly, to be made in wassail-bread
and given to the poor, as there is divers now hath distributed
the same, and it is with-holden, and they are examined before
Master Denne of the payment thereof.

That our Vicar is Vicar of Coldred. — (Vol. 1 569.)

1570. That we lack in our Church the Paraphrase; and the
parish did give their money to Mr. George Bingham to buy
us one withal, then being one of our parish, and we can
neither get of him the Paraphrase nor our money ; for if we

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

might have the one we were answered. Our Vicar, with other
of our parish, have often required the same, but he delays us
from day to day. Wherefore we crave your speedy aid and
help therein. — (Vol. 1570-71.)

1574. The floor of the body of the church is to be repaired
and amended, for it is in sore decay. The porch of the church
is in great decay and unrepaired. — (Fol. 58; vol. 1574-76.)

1577. That we lack a cover for our Communion-cup, and
the gate of the churchyard is broken.

1605. That part of the wall of the church is decayed and
fallen down, and also the gate of the churchyard wanteth
repairing and amending.

1606. We have a parchment book, but for the keeping of
the book we have no such coffer, neither is it otherwise kept
than by our Minister.

The last churchwarden would not buy the Book of Canons,
and that our Minister did not read the same this year, because
we have them not in the church.

The Communion-table is not kept in such manner, it is not
covered in the time of Divine Service with any carpet of silk
or other decent stuff or cloth at the time of administration ;
neither have we the Ten Commandments set up in the church ;
nor seat very convenient for our Minister.

We have a decent pulpit, well placed in our church, yet not
seemly kept for the preaching of God's word.

We have no strong chest in the church for the alms of the
poor.

Our church and chancel are well maintained with glazing,
but not sufficiently repaired ; the floors are not paved at all,
nor possibly can be kept clean and seemly as becometh the
house of God.

The churchyard lieth open to the highway, and so hath
been left with the church a long time by the last church-
warden, the gates and walls not being sufficiently maintained,
kept, and shut up.

We have no table of degrees of marriages forbidden.

No pulpit-cloth or cushion of silk, neither would the last
churchwarden all his time buy any. — (Vol. 1602-9.)

1613. Abbias Pownall, William Neame, and Edward Gibbon,

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

with others of the parish, did take away or cause to be taken
away out of the churchyard, four trees growing in the church-
yard, and felled by the Vicar towards the reparation of his
vicarage-house, which was so by them done since Christmas
1612.— (Fol. 53.)

That the steeple of the parish-church is very much out of
repair and wanteth shingling. — (Fol. 77.)

1615. John Marsh, for not paying five several cesses to-
wards the necessary repairs of our parish church and steeple,
being lawfully cessed at such times 23^. ^d. towards the
repairing of our church and steeple. — (Fol. 1 1 3.)

1617. All is well, saving that we want a sufficient chest with
three locks and keys, and that our churchyard is not suffici-
ently repaired. — (Fol. 191.)

1618. John Marsh, for refusing to pay his cess towards the
reparations of the parish church there, for 280 acres of land
which he occupieth in the parish, being cessed at three farthings
the acre. — (Fol. 207; vol. 1610-37.)

1629. Our churchyard lieth unfenced, but it shall be done
so soon as possibly it may be. — (Fol. 1 56.)

1632. Thomas Philpot, gentleman, farmer of the parsonage
of our parish, for not repairing the chancel of our parish-
church, which is open on the top thereof for want of tiles, so
that the pigeons do come in there and defile our seats, neither
can our parishioners sit dry thereunder when it raineth. —
(Fol. 1 8 1.)

1637. A Book of Homilies we have, but no Bible of the
largest volume. — (Fol. 234; vol. 1610-37, Part "•)

1679. The bells belonging to the parish church wanteth
new hanging, and there is no font within the church. The
churchwardens were to provide a font, and place it in the
church between this and the next court day after Michaelmas,
andtthen to appear and certify thereof, and also what had been
done about the hanging of the bells. — (Fol. 22; vol. 1675-89.)

[To be continued.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

UNPUBLISHED MSS. RELATING TO THE HOME COUNTIES
IN THE COLLECTION OF P. C. RUSHEN.

1618, 16 Jas. I, 18 June. — Mortgage in fee by Sir Francis Goodwyn, lent., of
Over Winchendon, Bucks, to Richard Archedale, Citizen and Draper of London,
to secure £700, of a moiety of two closes of pasturage, at one time one close
known as Common Leys of 120 acres, and a moiety of a meadow adjoining,
known as Blackenhole, lying in Over Winchendon and Waddesdon, Bucks, then
or then late in the occupation of Thomas Deane ; Also the upper part next to
Over Winchendon of a pasture, then lately divided, called Nashes Piece, which
part extended from the then late planted hedge which divided it from the nether
part, towards the mansion house of the said Goodwyn in Over Winchendon.
Covenant by Goodwyn that the entirety of the lands mentioned were of the
clear yearly value of £80. Repayment provided for ^735 on 20 Dec. then next,
at Archedale's house in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster in the Old Royal,
London.

1655, Nov. i. — Mortgage by demise for 500 years by Elizabeth Stevenson of
Westerham, Kent, widow, and George Stevenson of Home, Kent, currier, and
Robert Stevenson of Westerham, currier, two of the sons of the said Elizabeth, to
George Ashton of Home, yeoman, to secure ;£8o, of a messuage called Roops,
wherein the said Elizabeth and Robert then dwelt, in Westerham, together with
the barns, &c., closes and orchard belonging thereto, and a piece of land of 2
acres, adjoining upon the highway leading through Westerham town on the south,
to Westerham church on the west, to lands late of Sir John Gresham, knt. on the
north, and to lands then or late of Humphrey Styles, gent., on the east. Repay-
ment provided for by 40^. every May I and Nov. I, until May I, 1662, and then
£82 on Nov. i, 1662.

THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LONDON. — All serious students are pain-
fully aware of the enormous amount of time and labour literally
wasted in searching for facts that ought to be easily accessible.
Readers of the Home Counties Magazine will be pleased to learn that
an attempt is now being made to minimize this wastage, so far as
students of the history, archaeology and natural features of London
are concerned, by the compilation of a bibliographical index to the
literature of London. A few enthusiasts, under the presidency of
Mr. K. H. Vickers and with Miss H. Hadley as honorary secretary,
have commenced a card-index, which will be stored for the time
being in the London County Hall, by kind permission of Sir Laurence
Gomme. Each entry will be annotated in such a way as to convey
the scope and mode of treatment of the matter indexed, periodicals,
transactions of learned societies, etc., will be included, as well as
books distinctively treating of London. The area covered will be
conterminous with the London Postal Area, with the addition of
Epping Forest, Richmond and Kew. The inclusion of these latter
can be justified, as they are the happy hunting grounds of London
naturalists, apart from their antiquarian interest. The scheme is fully
outlined in The Library for January, 1912, where a list of the work
undertaken is printed. — THOMAS WM. HUCK, Saffron Walden.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

LONDON HOUSES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST. — The London County
Council have placed a lead tablet at 12, Seymour Street, Portman
Square, to commemorate the residence of M. W. Balfe, the musical
composer, who lived there from 1861 until 1864.

WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, SURREY.— In the little parish church of
Walton-on-the-Hill are several objects which must have appealed to
any stray antiquaries who may have found themselves among the
concourse attracted to its breezy heath by the Golf Championship
contests recently waged there. The most striking is the font, which
Mr. J. E. Morris, in his capital handbook on the Churches of 'Surrey ',
has described as a "magnificent circular Norman font" — one of
about thirty examples of leaden fonts in England. The basin is a
cylinder about 13 in. high, soldered to a circular flat bottom about
20 in. in diameter. It was evidently cast as a flat strip, and then
curled round to fit the bottom, for its ornamentation is divided into
an arcade of nine arches, in two series of four slightly different
designs ; the ninth, repeating the fourth and fifth, is incomplete, the
seated figure in it being cut through the middle by the vertical joint.
After reading of its ascription to the Norman period I was puzzled
to find that none of its ornamental features appeared to be peculiarly
characteristic of that style, except the heads, which are round and
very salient, with short-cropped full hair, eyes wide apart, and small
mouths. The garb of the figures might be equally well described as
Ecclesiastical or as pseudo-Classic. The semicircular arches (of two
concentric narrow bands) are supported on pilasters, whose slender
spiral shafts and foliated capitals do not suggest the architecture of
the eleventh or twelfth centuries, while the enrichment of the
spandrels and of the borders consists of such treatment of leaves
and tendrils, spreading, coiling and uncoiling, in circular and ogee
curves, as is familiar in the " Arabesque " decorations of the Renais-
sance period. Of " cable," " dog-tooth," " zig-zag," or other typically
Norman moulding there is not a trace on font or base.

Just across the aisle from the font stands a Jacobean piece of
carved oak furniture, a cabinet with a lectern top, on which rests a
Bible attached to it by a long chain. Mr. Morris remarks that the
cover of this book "is dated 1803, but that he will not vouch for
the antiquity of the chaining ! " The antiquity of the chain is, how-
ever, vouched for by the Rector of the parish, who permits me to
make public his statement that it was given by his father, the late
Mr. Greenhill, in 1803, having been given to him by the Dean of
Salisbury, who had taken it, in his presence, at a time when such
antiquities were less appreciated than they are now, from the
cathedral crypt, where many old tomes were chained. The Bible
which it now secures is modern. There are some fragments of fine
old stained glass in the windows. — ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

REPLIES.

CANONBURY TOWER (vol. xiii, p. 308). — Mr. Thomas, in his article
on Canonbury Tower, gives a copy of the curious inscription, includ-
ing an illegible word with the initial letter F. It has been suggested
that the complete letter was E, and the complete word EAMQ. The
inscription would thus read:

WILL. CON. WILL. RUFUS. HEN. STEPHANUS. HENQ. SECUNDUS.
RI. JOHN. HEN. TERT. ED. TERNI. RIQ. SECUNDUS.
HEN. TRES. ED. BINI. RI. TERTIUS. SEPTIMUS. HENRY.
OCTAVUS. POST. HUNC. EDW. SEXT. REGINA. MARIA.
ELIZABETHA. SOROR. SUCCEDIT. EAMQ. JACOBUS.
SUBSEQUITUR. CHAROLUS. QUI. LONGO. TEMPORE. VIVAT !

— E. BASIL LUPTON, Leeds.

REVIEWS.

URREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS, vol. 24; pp. 212.

Mr. R. A. Roberts completes the series of Inventories of Church Goods
from the Loseley MSS., and adds certain miscellaneous documents dealing
with the subject. Of these the most interesting is a petition from the parishioners
of St. Nicholas, Guildford, to be allowed the amount of their expenditure on repairs
and alterations to the church to defray which they had sold " serteyne plate as
crosses and censors which were not to be used by reason of the godly alter-
acion of our relygyon." They mention the " coman robbynge of churches " in the
neighbourhood, and rather innocently state their belief that the inventories of goods
were made " only as a restraynt that churche wardens and others the parishioners
should not imbesell the same to ther private uses." Such thefts are alleged fre-
quently at other places. At St. Martin's, Epsom, the vicar and clerk had " per-
loyned and embesylled " a silver chalice and paten ; at Farley is a list of goods
"stolin out of the church syns the tyme of makyng of the fyrst inventory"; at
Ashstead several articles were " stollen out of the churche in the nyght tyme ";
at Feltham the church was "broken in the nyght at towe sundrye tymes " and
various goods stolen ; and so on. Among the articles recorded in the inventories
are many of considerable interest. At Farley we read of " a Lent cloth staynyd
with blew payns of canvas and redde spottes " and "a sepulchre cloth of party
rede and grene sylke," neither of which seem to fit in very well with the colour-
schemes laid down by modern "authorities." The college at Lingfield was speci-
ally rich in plate, vestments and books; one cope of red velvet cloth of gold,
embroidered with gold ostrich feathers, must have been particularly fine.1

Now that the series of inventories is completed, we should like to suggest that
an article dealing with them as a whole, with a full glossary, would form a very
useful supplement.

Mr. Eric Gardner contributes an admirable article on the British Stronghold of
St. George's Hill, Weybridge, and its relation to neighbouring earthworks and
fords. No implements have been found on the site, and the use of the " British "

1 In this list the word yest, which occurs several times, appears to be a misread-
ing foiyeft, i.e., gift.

REVIEWS.

is therefore perhaps somewhat misleading. Numerous relics of the Bronze Age
have been found in close proximity, including some exceptionally fine cinerary
urns, plates of which are given, and weapons of ordinary types. We must protest
against the use of the word " rapier," on Plate V, to describe a sword.

We hardly know what to make of Mr. P. M. Johnston's explanation of the
heads on the south door at Wootton Church. These tiny carvings are said to
represent a pope, a bishop, a king, a queen, a priest, a layman, a doctor and a
peasant. Some of these are obvious enough, while others seem rather specula-
tive. Mr. Johnston sees in them a record of the dispute between King John
and Pope Innocent III ; he argues his case with great ingenuity, which we do
not find entirely convincing.

Messrs. Banister Fletcher and J. M. Hobson contribute a careful architectural
study of the Archbishop's Palace at Croydon, well illustrated by photographs,
plans and elevations. May we urge the editor of the Collections to set his face
sternly against the "freak" letters which some architects to indulge in. If the
lettering on these plans and drawings has been designed to make it difficult to read,
the object has certainly been accomplished ; if not so designed, it is simply idiotic.

Mr. Cecil Davis continues the transcript of the Wandsworth Churchwardens'
Accounts, dealing with the period 163010 1640. There are many interesting entries;
the church steeple was rebuilt; " pewes and pillers " were bought from the parish of
Creechurch ; one of the bells was re-cast ; the pulpit was painted and gilded. The
church bells were rung for the births of two children of Charles I, Mary (mother
of William III) in 1631, and James (afterwards James II) in 1633. There is an
interesting series of notes on the town armour ; "a new armor and a new head
peece for the other armor" were provided; "2 cosletts" are mentioned, and a
payment was made to two men "that caried the church armes," showing that there
were two sets, including body- and head-pieces; "two feathers for the towne
armes " were probably to decorate the helmets. The stocks and whipping-post
were repaired, and a ducking-stool was bought. The May-pole was dug up in
1639 or 1640.

Miss Stokes continues her valuable extracts from Surrey wills, the present
instalment covering the year 1610. Richard Breame mentions his son's christening
presents of bowls and spoons. There is an interesting use of the word "standards,"
in the sense of fixtures; "my joined cupboards and presses shall remain in my
house as standards, there to continue from heir to heir." Saba and Venys are two
unusual Christian names for girls, and students of surnames will note " Richard
Sowter alias Salter." Robert Swayne, a South wark surgeon, was much in advance
of his time ; he provided for the isolation of any of his children who should be
taken ill, by their removal "into my little howse being in the backside of my
dwelling howse, there to remayne untill it shall please God to recover them."

Mr. Frank Lasham writes with great energy on Eolithic Man in West Surrey, a
thorny subject, not to be settled by a plethora of adjectives. Mr. Charles R. Baker
King records some interesting features discovered in the tower of St. Mary's Church,
Blechingley, and some needless destruction of ancient features against his strongly
expressed wishes.

THE MIDDLESEX DISTRICT IN ROMAN TIMES, Part I, by Montagu
Sharpe. Brentford Printing and Publishing Co. ; pp. 20; 8^. net.

Mr. Sharpe's further instalment of The Antiquities of Middlesex contains
sections on the Second Roman Invasion (A.D. 43), the Rise of London, the
Government of the Catuvelaunian Territory, Boadicea's Insurrection and Defeat,
Early Development of the Civitas, Roman Roads, Early Christianity, a Mint and
a Public School, and the Prosperity of the Civitas. These are all treated in his
usual careful way, with copious references to classical and other authorities. The
most interesting, and perhaps the most valuable, of these sections is that dealing
with the site of the great battle between Suetonius and Boadicea in A.D. 61.

REVIEWS.

This decisive and sanguinary action Mr. Sharpe places on Hampstead Heath.
Other places have been suggested, such as Battle Bridge, near King's Cross
Station, and the valley between Hampstead and Highgate, for it is certain that
it was on the north of the City and not very far away. Mr. Sharpe's legal acumen
enables him, by a minute analysis of the account given by Tacitus, to show that
neither of these spots can be made to fit in with the text. The position was this.
Boadicea raised the tribes in the districts known later as Norfolk, Suffolk, and
Essex, Suetonius being in Anglesea at the moment. Leaving his army to follow,
he hastened to London with only a small force of cavalry. London -\vas not then
protected by a wall, and could not be held by the Roman forces on the spot ; the
General therefore retreated to the north-west and awaited reinforcements from
North Wales and Verulamium. Boadicea, coming in from Essex, could not resist
the temptation of sacking London, which for the moment was left defenceless;
the delay was fatal, for, by the time she turned north again to give battle,
Suetonius had nearly 10,000 men to meet her. Now it is clear that the Romans
would choose a place near to the St. Alban's Road along which their reinforce-
ments would come ; it is clear also, from Tacitus, that the spot they selected for
the coming fight was a wide sandy open space, intersected by narrow valleys on
the south (the Roman front), and protected by woods on the north (the rear).
The only place fulfilling these strategical and physical conditions is Hampstead
Heath, and the description of the battle becomes terribly realistic to anyone
familiar with the spot. The Roman cavalry and light-armed troops were posted
at the wings to prevent any flanking movement, while the main body of heavy-
armed foot took up their position along the higher ridges. The Britons charged
up the narrow valleys, which still exist in many parts of the southern slopes, and
were met with a hail of javelins at close quarters ; in the confusion thus created
the Romans charged down hill, with the result that nearly 80,000 Britons, both
men and women, are said to have been slain. Mr. Sharpe's argument is both
graphic and convincing, and he is to be congratulated on having added a new
interest to Hampstead Heath. Curiously enough, he declines to accept the tradi-
tion that the well-known mound and ditch on Parliament Hill have anything to
do with the grave of the ill-fated British Queen.

INDEX TO THE CONTENTS OF THE COLE MANUSCRIPTS in the
British Museum, by George J. Gray, with a portrait of Cole.
Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes; pp. 170; 15^. net.

The Rev. William Cole, F.S.A., who died in 1782, bequeathed his MS.
collections to the British Museum ; they are well known to all interested in town,
county, University and colleges of Cambridge, as an invaluable storehouse of in-
formation. A list of the contents was printed in an Index to additional MSS.,
but nothing in the shape of a handy index volume has hitherto been published.

OUR HOMELAND CHURCHES and how to study them, by Sidney
Heath. Homeland Association ; pp. 198; 2S. 6d net.

In reprinting this Handbook it has been so re-modelled and re- written as to
make it practically a new work. The result is an enormous improvement, and
we have a really sound and useful general guide to ecclesiastical architecture and
furniture. The tourist in England will find it a mine of information, which the
well-arranged indexes will enable him to get at quite easily. The illustrations
are well chosen and not confined to any particular district. Mr. Leathart's ex-
planatory drawings are admirable, and add greatly to the value of the book. The
chapter on " Church Restoration and Preservation " is excellent; we commend
its careful study to all custodians of churches, and, if possible, before they turn
loose the fashionable architect.

SOME COLD HARBOURS : and what has be-
come of them. I: LONDON.

BY R. A. H. UNTHANK.

WHATEVER may be the balance in favour of
adventurous wanderings, there are inconveniences
which cannot always be reckoned as increasing
excitement. Turn over the pages of Eastern excursionists,
and you find yourself most commonly regaled with the record
of how they passed the night warding off the attacks of
legions of cimex lectularius, which routed the welcome thought
of rest and made night hideous with their anything but
dismal bites. Fortunately one is informed, perchance as their
experience grows, how to avoid the desperate vermin, by
carrying one's own night-gear — but a small encumbrance, we
need not be reminded, in Eastern lands — with one, and put-
ting up at one of the frequent kans to be found upon the
road.

The kans (or khans) in their accommodation are extremely
simple ; they provide neither beds nor food, but merely a
common shelter for the wayfarer and stabling for his horse. Of
practically identical character the old-time " Cold Harbours "
of this country, the leanest shadows of our cheerful inns, are
adjudged to have been. It has been observed * that a great
number of the cold harbours stood upon the ancient lines of
road, and that most, if not quite all of them, occupied spots
on or near to relinquished Roman settlements. To the Saxons
it may have been that we owe these naked shelters, when in
the vacant stations of their predecessors they found a ready
means to implant a proved and useful institution of their own.
Unfortunately the kalte Herbergen of Germany, which have a
most suspicious appearance of being identical with the Cold
Harbours here, have slipped as completely out of the Teutonic
mind, or analogy might have helped us in tracing out their
history. Herbergen were simply medieval inns.

If, however, as some suggest, cold harbour is a " popular "

1 Canon Isaac Taylor, Words and Places.
XIV 8 1 G

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

abbreviation of the Latin col\ubris~\ arbor, the mast, or
station, of the serpent, and hence of the emblem of Mercury,
there is some ground to contend that the harbours may have
served as post-stations — compare the modern dak bungalows
of India — or as points in a system of military block-houses
where wayfarers might have been made welcome if only for
the sake of news that they brought. We shall add some re-
marks on this hypothesis in another paper.

The best known Cold Harbour was that of the City of
London, in Dowgate Ward, situated on the river front about
midway between London Bridge and where the now-hidden
Walbrook empties itself into the Thames. Hard by, at Dow-
gate Ferry, the Roman Hermin Street joined the Praetorian
Way, while within 100 yards was London Stone, the centre of
the Roman City.

Several of our chief topographers, Herbert amongst them,
have alleged that the Cold Harbour was tenanted by the
merchants of Koln in the year 1220, but the present writer
humbly doubts the statement. Certainly the Koln merchants
— afterwards merged in those of the Hanse — held, by charter,
premises adjoining, familiarly known to the citizens as the
Steelyard,1 where Cannon Street railway bridge is now
thrown across the river.

Whatever may have been the fortunes of this ancient
manor — for as a manor it first appears — prior to the year
1317 must for ever remain obscure, since it is scarce probable
that any records are likely to be brought to light to inform us
of its earlier history. In 1317 Robert, the son of William de
Hereford, holder of the "capital tenement called Coldherberghe,
in the parish of All Hallows at the Hay," demised the same,
together with easements on his wharf near by, to Sir John
Abel, knight, and Margery, his late wife, mother of me said
Robert, for a term of ten years. Abel, however, after two
years managed to get quit of the agreement by passing the
lease on to one Henry de Stowe, a draper and citizen, the
latter covenanting to take the house for eight years from
Michaelmas, at an annual rent of 33^. ^d.

Ere the lease had expired, the interest in the mansion had
passed to the Bigot family, through Sir Ralph Bigot's mar-
riage with Hereford's daughter Idonea. In the short lapse of
twenty years the son of this marriage, John, sold it to Sir
John Poultney — another prosperous draper — who, as everyone

1 Corruption of German Stael = market.
82

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

knows, held the office of mayor on as many as four occasions,
Poultney, the new owner, rebuilt the property, making his
new mansion so magnificent, indeed, as to deserve the envious
glances of royalty. In size and grandeur it could compare
well with the neighbouring palaces of the great and take its
place amongst the finest private buildings of that century.
Its massive walls were of stone, and presented in all likeli-
hood the appearance of a feudal castle, with battlements,
turrets, and loopholes, and possibly portcullis. Such was
Poultney 's Inn, as it came to be called later. The eastern
front ran the length of Cold Harbour Lane, from All Hallows'
church to the river. Within the quadrangular pile we can
scarcely doubt, was a courtyard, while down beneath the lofty
arch yonder, a flight of steps descended to the gleaming,
and as yet unsullied, river. A chapel was added, which in
later times became the parish church of All Hallows the
Less.

Poultney, however, never lived here, but in the neighbour-
ing parish of St. Lawrence. A memorandum in the State
Papers furnishes us with the name of the tenant, the Earl of
Salisbury. The reference touches some dispute at law in
1346 between John de Moleyns and Richard Talbot, Steward
of the King's Household, from whom the former was trying to
recover lands that had been forfeited while he was in prison.
Apparently the Earl was appointed arbiter, for he " prayeth
deponent to come to his house called Coldeherburgh, in
London " : what the issue was does not concern us. The
Earl appointed to deliver judgement was doubtless William
Mountagu, the husband of Joan of Kent, " the Fair," grand-
daughter of Edward I. The will of Sir John de Pulteney,
dated November 14, 1348, directs his tenement called here
" le Coldherberug," and anon " le Choldherberwe," to be
sold, and Henry Pycard (Lord Mayor in 1356) to have the
first refusal for 1000 marks sterling. But Pycard lost the
opportunity after all, for Poultney frustrated his own intention
by disposing of the tenement to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl
of Hereford, at a quit-rent to be discharged by the payment
of " a rose yearly at Midsummer."

Hereford's interest eventually passed to the Earl of Arundel,
who had wedded the former's niece. Being attainted of con-
spiracy in 1 397, this nobleman lost the estate to the Crown,
not to mention surrender of his head. Once possessed of this
so princely mansion the royal family occupied it on and off

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

for several generations. In the year (1397) that it adverted to
the Crown, John Holland, Duke of Exeter, Richard ITs half-
brother, held the manor, and on one occasion Richard feasted
within its halls. In the same year it became the home of
Edmond, Duke of York, its royal tenant staying four years.

According to Stow, the churchyard of All Saints the Less
was enlarged in 20 Richard II by the gift of Philip St. Clear
of two messuages pertaining to Cold Harbour, in the Ropery.

In 1410 the merry Prince Hal came of age and received
from his father Cold Harbour as a present fit to the occasion,
with an order upon the Collector of Customs for twenty casks
and one pipe of red wine of Gascony, duty free.

The year 1444 saw Cold Harbour the property of the
Dukes of Exeter again, Henry Holland's first, and next, his
son's. Through supporting the Lancastrian cause, the younger
Exeter's tenure was shortened by the success of the Yorkist
arms. The Duke recovered from wounds received on Barnet
Field, only to be attainted and to have the usual penalty of
confiscation enforced against him. For the rest of the reign
of Edward IV the " right fayre and statelie house " remained
in the hands of the King.

Richard III, in the last year of his reign, granted Cold
Harbour, or Pulteney's Inn, as it is variously mentioned, ab-
solutely to the College of Heralds, who were then suing for a
charter of incorporation, and likewise a home wherein to pur-
sue their art. Their occupation was of short duration, for there
arose a king who knew not the acts of his predecessor, and
who evicted them in favour of his mother, Margaret, the
Countess of Richmond. According to Herbert, her residence
here was short. On the occasion of Prince Arthur's marriage
with Catharine of Aragon, a feast, at which the Countess of
Richmond was hostess, was given to the City fathers. Of the
sumptuousness of the entertainment the Chroniclers leave no
doubt. First, we are told, the Lord Mayor and his brethren
were amused with a variety of "sportes and devyses," and
afterwards were " ensyrvid after the right goodly manr bothe
of their vitalls, deynties, and delecates, and w* dyvers wynes,
abundante and plentuously." "The house was hung with
nche clothes of Arras," and the hall was furnished forth with
a resplendent array of gold and silver plate.

Cold Harbour's next tenant was George, Earl of Shrews-
bury, whose depositions in Henry's divorce proceedings
against Catherine were sworn there.

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

Next it became the town hostel of Tunstal, Bishop of Dur-
ham, who came to have it through an enforced exchange
of his Durham Place in the Strand with Henry VIII's offer of
Cold Harbour. While he remained there, it is thought by
some that the house afforded a means of sanctuary to fugitive
offenders. The adversions of sub-contemporary dramatists to
the refuge will be considered later. In 1553, when Bishop
Tunstal was relieved of his see, the Boy King's Protector,
Somerset, granted the unoccupied mansion to Francis, fifth
Earl of Shrewsbury. Francis enjoyed it for seven years and
died, leaving title and estates to George, who was by Elizabeth
the appointed guardian of the unfortunate Mary Stuart and
her friends. Here for a while, according to Miss Strickland,
within this City palace of Lord Shrewsbury, the Earl and
Countess of Lennox were confined. She quotes, for evidence,
a letter of the Countess dated from "Cole-harbour" in 1568,
but none can say how long they were jailed in its narrow
ward.

The change of the old order in the 1 6th century witnessed
the migration westward of the nobility : for this reason Cold
Harbour was vacated by the succeeding Earl, and afterwards
it was let by him to a graceless lot of tenants, as we shall
presently see.

The earliest print extant of the bygone palace shows it as
it appeared during Tudor times — a great edifice four storeys
high, with a front of five bays crowned by gables. In the
lowest storey a comely arch breaks the stone facade, beneath
which a flight of steps ascends within. So much for the front,
which looks upon the river; on the north, access was only
possible through a massive gateway, over which was built the
choir and steeple of All Hallows.

It was not many years after the incorporation of the
Watermen's Company that they chose Cold Harbour for their
Livery Hall, leasing that portion of the block towards London
Bridge, together with the quays and water-gate appertaining.
About this time the western bays were rebuilt (1593) by the
Earl of Shrewsbury and arranged to form sets of tenements.
These tenements, little known as Shrewsbury House, were let
out at exorbitant rents expressly to debtors, sharpers, and bad
characters of every sort, and well earned Middleton's nick-
name of the Devil's Sanctuary. Seventeenth century drama-
tists teem with allusions to the ill-reputed place; a few
examples from their pages must suffice.

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

Its knighthood shall do worse, take sanctuary in Cole
Harbour, sanctuary and fast. — BEN JONSON'S Silent Woman,

i> 3-
Dekker's Westward Hoe (1604), the Earl says:

What art thou that dost cozen me thus?

Parenthesis. A Marchaunt's wife, I say, Justiniano's wife.
She, whome that long burding-piece of yours, I meane that
Wicked mother Bird-lyme, caught for your honor . . . Why,
my Lord, has your Lordshippe forgot how ye courted me last
morning?

Earl. Thediuel, I did!

Par. To me, upon mine honestie, swore you would build
me a lodging by the Thames-side, with a water-gate to it, or
els take me a lodging in Cole-harbour.

Healy's Discovery of a New World, p. 182, is very informing :

Here is that ancient modell of Cole Harbour bearing the
name of the " Prodigall's Promonterie," and being as a sanc-
tuary for banquerupt detters : hether flie all they for refuge
that are cast at lawe, or feele themselves insufficient to satisfy
their deluded creditors : any of whome, if they pursue their
debters hether, and force them from their protection whether
they will or no, they are immediatelie accused as guiltie of
sacriledge and so are throwne head-long from the highest
tower in all the territorie; and when they rise from their fall,
can no way complaine of any iniustice but haue undergone
the ancient law of the whole Marquisate.

Thos. Hey wood and Rowley in Fortune by Land and Sea
(1655), II, ii:

. . . Unless to Cold Harbour, where, of twenty chimnies
standing, you shall scarce in a whole winter see two smoking.
We harbour her? Bridewell shall first.

Middleton in The Black Book:

What! Is not our house, our own Cole Harbour, our
Castle of Come-down and lie?

And in A Trick to Catch the Old One a whole scene is
made of " an apartment in Cold Harbour."
Bishop Hall's Satires, V, i :

Or thence thy starved brother live and die,
Within the cold Coal-harbour sanctuary.

Thos. Powell's satire, The Misterie of Lending and Borrow-
ing (1636), epigrammatically explained by the sub-title,
" Wheresoever you see mee, trust unto yourselfe," says :

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

That (refuge) of Cold Harbour, where was an excellent
block-house to correspond with that of the close on the other
side; both whiche together cleered the passage of the river
betweene them, so that no water bayliffe durst come within
their reach at point-blanke. And this (as they write) was taken
by the sword in time of their securitie.

In the sixth year of King James I the Crown rights in
Cold Harbour were made over to the City Corporation, and
to the plain discomfiture of its renegade inhabitants, since by
the act were destroyed the extra-territorial privileges of which
it had hitherto been possessed. Still, it would not seem that
the rookery of rakes and rascals was denuded of its tenants at
once, for on March 22, 1614, Sir Edward Phelipps of the
Middle Temple wrote to the Lord Mayor, informing him that
the King had given orders for the apprehension of one Richard
Smarte, "the greatest spoiler of his deere in the forest of
Waltham that ever lyved," who had been found in or near
Cold Harbour, and requiring him to give an order for his
apprehension.

The next incident is supplied by Pepys. In his Diary he
tells, under date of Oct. 31, 1662, the story of an apparent
hoax played upon the King, how ,£7,000 was supposed to lie
hidden in some vaguely defined spot, the kernel of the mystery,
and how his Majesty set out to find the buried treasure. The
search began in the vaults beneath the Tower, guided by Pepys
himself and accompanied by the Lieutenant of the Tower and
the Lord Mayor. After the Tower had been searched in vain
the party struck a fresh trail at Cold Harbour,1 and went to
work there under a mittimus from the Lord Mayor. Here
again the searchers failed in their quest, and so returned to
renew their investigations at the Tower.

The year 1608 saw the Thames hard frozen for three months,
by which the watermen and bargees were severely distressed.
The first ferry to be cut through the ice plied between the
Cold Harbour Stairs and Bankside. Alongside the passage
fellow-watermen earned scanty fees in whatever service they
could. From ice to fire is a long cry, yet the Great Fire is the
next item to be noticed. Situated but a short quarter-mile
from the conflagration's start Cold Harbour was soon com-

1 There is some possibility that it may have been the Cold Harbour
within the Tower, yet the order from the Lord Mayor seems to point to
the Cold Harbour in Dowgate, now within the civic jurisdiction, as being
the place meant by Pepys.

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

pletely gutted. With unlimited supplies of their element at
hand the watermen worked gallantly to save their Hall and
its treasures, yet, in spite of their efforts, all that was left was
a wilderness of debris •, out of which peered here and there a
pinnacle of blackened masonry. Three or four years later
Waterman's Hall was rebuilt, this time of brick, after a plain
but substantial fashion, without much pretension to dignity.
In front of the hall ran an embankment forty feet wide (in
accordance with the Act of Parliament relating to the re-
building of the City) which appears in the maps of the period
as the " New Key." '

When in 1719, that is, forty-nine years after rebuilding, the
lease expired, the Hall was again rebuilt, a more imposing
structure. Certain trustees renewed the agreement with Lord
Barrington, then the freeholder, for an extension of sixty-one
years, covenanting to pay £575 down and a rent of £4.0
annually, besides promising to spend .£600 on a new hall,
over and above the value of the old materials. In the terms
of the agreement the property consisted of " a messuage, or
tenement, called Watermen's Hall and the warehouse, or
cellar, under the same and premises adjoining, together with
the free use of the wharf and stairs adjoining the said wharf,
called Cold Harbour Stairs." The work of the new hall was
put in hand at once and cost the full £600 stipulated in the
contract. The prints show a large building of three storeys,
erected in brick, and of the shape of the letter L reversed. The
windows in each range are long, narrow, and round-headed ;
the main pavilion is supported on either side by lesser flanks,
and is crowned by a triangular pediment, in the panel of
which are displayed the royal arms.

In 1772 the Watermen held their first regatta on the
Thames. It was a busy, thriving day for the sons of the
great river-god, all the town, court, city, and suburbs flock-
ing down to the water's edge to witness the novel event.
Half a guinea was asked and readily given for a seat in a
barge, and points of vantage on the banks were profitably
turned to account by such as were blest with positions.
From Westminster Bridge to Watermen's Hall and back was
fixed upon for the course, and competition was restricted to
members of the Company. The race was started by the Lord
Mayor upon the turn of the tide, the boats, distinguishable
by respective colourings of red, white, and blue, being drawn
up in flotillas beneath the arches of the bridge. The first

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

boats to pull home were those of the red display, and were
accordingly awarded the premier prize of £10 ios., besides
new coats and a gold lettered ensign to fly, as it were a
certificate of merit. The other contestants were also appro-
priately awarded, and afterwards as many as might adjourned
to finish the gala amidst the illuminations at Ranelagh
Gardens.

The Watermen's Company in 1778 removed their head-
quarters elsewhere, and save for an obstruction at Cold
Harbour Stairs, into which a committee of the livery was
appointed to inquire (in 1814), their doings no longer concern
us. And what of the rest of the Cold Harbour premises?
Since the Great Fire information as to its uses is rarely
recorded. Strype, in 1720, speaks of " a lane at the eastern
end of All Hallows' church, called Hay Wharf, where there
had lately been builded a brew-house by one Pot. Henry
Campion, Esq.,1 a beer brewer, used it, and Abraham his son
since possessed it." The intimate details of the transference
of the property have not been disclosed, but the next owner
was Henry Calvert, who founded the great brewery firm
which has held the premises down to the present day.

In 1744 a big fire did damage to the buildings and plant,
as then owned by Sir William Calvert. The Prince of Wales
happened to be an interested spectator of the conflagration,
and afterwards made the firemen a present of 100 guineas for
their work. A view of 1820 shows us a group of high buildings
with Wren's tower of All Hallows rearing skywards in the
background ; Watermen's Hall has been gone forty years and
more, but the old gateway leading down the lane to the
water is still visible.

Fifty years ago the private interests were transformed into
a limited liability company, when the title of The City of
London Brewery was taken, the Calvert family retaining still
a controlling interest. In place of All Hallows' church, pulled
down through its dwindling Sunday worshippers, are the
counting-house and offices of the firm, a goodly pile of red
brick set off with stone dressings. Nearer the river are the
makings and the vat-house. On the walls of the board-room
hang many pictures and old prints illustrative of past prin-
cipals and the buildings at various periods of the firm's
development.

1 Campion was a posthumous benefactor to the united parishes of All
Hallows, bequeathing a sum to produce £10 annually. — Hatton.

COLD HARBOUR, LONDON.

A licensed house for the retailing of what may be " con-
sumed on or off the premises " is the "Hour-Glass " in Thames
Street, belonging to the firm. Here, we cannot forbear to
remark, shades jostle shades, seeing that it is fenced about by
the twin graveyards of All Hallows. The inn being com-
paratively modern, though not so new as its exterior implies,
lacks historical reminiscences; it is frequented principally by
carmen, whose vans do much loading and unloading at the
various warehouses around.

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.
BY J. TAVENOR-PERRY.

THE Royal Engineers were engaged in 1870 on restoring
the internal stonework of the south-eastern angle of the
fore-building of Dover Castle ; considerable reparations,
even to the extent of replacing decayed and destroyed carving,
were carried out, and a restoration was effected perhaps even
" fiercer " than might have been indulged in by any celebrated
ecclesiastical architect of the period. At that time, by the
special permission of the Colonel commanding at Dover, the
author of this paper was permitted to take advantage of the
opportunity these circumstances afforded, in the way of
scaffolding and assistance, to take measurements and to make
careful drawings of the whole of this ancient work ; the in-
formation thus obtained, on which the following paper is
based, has become the more valuable since some of the most
interesting parts of the building are now quite inaccessible,
and all photographing and drawing within the fortification
are very strictly forbidden.

Dover Castle, on account of its magnificent position, its
historic associations and its architectural charms, has been, as
might be expected, the theme of many writers ; and many
legends connecting it with our British ancestors and with the
Romans pass current in the guide-books as authentic history.
But it has now been fairly established that the Romans only
used the castle-hill for the erection of one of their great twin
lighthouses to mark the port; and that William the Conqueror,
who was so anxious to obtain possession of the castellum or

'O
•_-.
<u
>

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

fortified town of Dover, then separated from the eastern
heights by the inlet of the sea which formed its port, found
no trace of fortification, Roman or Saxon, on the site of the
present Castle, other than some slight earthworks round the
Pharos.

Among the more important descriptions of the Castle
which may be specially mentioned are the Rev. W. Darell's
History of Dover Castle, written in the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth and of but little value from an architectural point of
view ; the accounts given by G. T. Clark in his Military
Architecture of Great Britain, and by Harold Sands in the
Memorials of Old Kent\ by Albert Hartshorne in the Architect
for 1869; and by Lieutenant W. Emerson Peck, R.E., in
volume 45 of A rchceologia. But all of these are in the main
made up of general statements and conclusions arrived at
from an examination of the existing remains, since the actual
history is, unfortunately, confined to a few entries in the
Great Roll of the Pipe. These entries inform us that con-
siderable works to the keep of the Castle were commenced
in 1180, the 2/th year of Henry II. In 1184 the sum of
£131 8.$-. lod. was expended on the keep; in 1185 a further
sum of ,£299 2s. \d., and to Maurice the Engeniator, pre-
sumably for his fees in connection with the work, £7 iqs. In
1 1 86 the sum of £207 9^. was laid out under the control of
the same Maurice, and the next year a further sum of
.£151 15.$-. 4^/. seems to have completed the work. In con-
nection with these statements it is worth while to mention
here for a comparison of the dates, though the subject will
be referred to at greater length presently, that the rebuilding
of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral after the great fire was
proceeding during the same period ; and though the works
were at a stand-still during 1183 for want of funds, William
the Englishman, the architect in charge of the works, had
completed them in 1 1 84.

To appreciate the value of this evidence it is necessary to
give a slight sketch of the history of the Castle to the end of
the twelfth century, condensed from the above-named authori-
ties. As we have already said, it is unlikely that the Normans
found any defensive works, or anything which could be re-
garded as a castle, on the eastern heights ; and at the time of
their advent the sea flowed inland along the present course
of the river Dour, washing the whole length of the eastern
Roman wall of Dover, forming its harbour, and cutting it off

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

entirely from the hills on that side. In 1085, at the time of
the Domesday Survey, no mention is made of any castle at
Dover, although William, during the eight days he remained
in the town, had formed, or at least strengthened, some de-
fensive earthworks round the Roman Pharos, all traces of
which have been destroyed in later alterations.

But although the defences erected by William on the
eastern heights may have been no more than ramparts of earth
or rough chalk, with ditches and wooden stockades, they
were of sufficient strength to resist the sudden attack made
on them next year by Count Eustace of Boulogne ; while two
years later they repelled an assault from the Danes. The
importance of the position became evident to William before
his death, and considerable additions were made to its strength
by the Constable, John, Lord Fiennes ; while early in the
reign of Henry I masonry was introduced and perhaps sub-
stituted for the earthen ramparts. Generally speaking, the
surrounding walls of the second baily, on the east, north, and
west sides, are of this peried ; and this portion of the works
suffered severely in the siege of 1137. The existing keep
may have been erected at the same time, and have likewise
suffered ; and, the weakness of the fortifications having been
thus demonstrated, Henry II commenced his great scheme
for their strengthening.

How far the existing keep can be regarded as forming
part of the works carried out in the time of Henry I it is now
difficult to determine, as the alterations it underwent towards
the end of the twelfth century, and the restorations and
modifications from which it has suffered in modern times,
render any recognition of the earliest work almost impossible.
But having regard to the dates of the other square keeps
remaining in England, it is fair to assume that that of Dover
had received its present form and dimensions before Henry II
commenced his important additions. According to the entries
in the Pipe Roll extensive preparations were in hand as early
as 1 1 68 in the collection of stone and other materials for the
contemplated works ; but this fact, together with the entries
already quoted, are practically all the historical data we have
on which to base the story now to be told of these important
architectural additions which form so interesting a feature in
the keep of Dover Castle.

There is one point mentioned almost incidentally in these
entries worthy of comment, which is perhaps rare in the

Dover Castle; Entrance Stairs to Keep.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

history of military construction during the Middle Ages, and
that is the name of the civil architect who was employed to
design and superintend the work, and the fees he was paid,
though it is to be trusted not the full amount which he
received for his professional assistance. That Maurice was
not a mere military engineer in the modern or even the
mechanical sense, will appear pretty evident when we come
to examine the details of his work ; and the probabilities are
that he had worked at Canterbury under William the
Englishman, who, on the completion of his work there, seems
to have been employed to erect the cathedral at Coventry,
where he gained the credit of being " one of the most re-
nowned architects in England." Maurice, indeed, may have
been one of the French artificers who were summoned to
Canterbury after the fire to consult as to the repairs or re-
building, and from whom, all as related in the history of
Gervase the Monk, William of Sens was selected to under-
take the work, " being most skilful in wood and stone."
Other civil architects had already been engaged on castle
building, for one Richard de Wolveston, ingeniator^ who is
also described as a prudcns architectus, was employed by
Bishop Puiset on his works at Durham Cathedral and, in
1154, in building the keep of his castle at Norham.

The gross sum laid out on the repairs and additions to
the castle by Henry II appears to have amounted to
£4,763 \js. Sd.y which was expended in rebuilding in great
part the cingulum or surrounding walls and towers of the
second baily erected by Henry I, and in considerable altera-
tions to the walls of the old or inner baily where the two
works adjoined. Except for some repairs to the old and outer
defences, the remainder of the money was expended on the
keep, and if, as may be assumed, this had been already
erected by Henry I, we have to look for the alterations and
additions then made, and distinguish between the works of
the two reigns.

It seems evident that a large part of the outlay on the
keep was expended on the fore-building erected to protect the
main entrance. This addition at Dover is remarkable for its
importance and extent as compared with any other example,
and is evidently not part of the original building. It is to be
remembered that these fore-buildings were no essential part
of the normal Norman keep ; there was none originally to the
Tower of London, or at Colchester, which was built on the

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

same model. The earliest castles in Normandy, which the
builders of the time of William I no doubt copied in England,
had no such arrangement, for the rule was with all these
square donjons, Romanesque in general as well as Norman,
to place the entrance at a considerable distance above the
surrounding ground, on a level with the principal floor, to
which access could only be gained by a movable ladder, or
by a drawbridge to a wooden staircase which could be easily
destroyed in time of war.

Of these examples of the normal type in Normandy may
be mentioned the square keeps of Domfront at the beginning
of the eleventh century, of Chambois early in the twelfth, and
the famous keep of Arques, also of the eleventh century,
which seems to have had a fore-building added later, with a
staircase and arrangements similar to Dover, although not so
extensive. In England, besides the cases of London and
Colchester already mentioned, there are the keeps of Guild-
ford, Scarborough, Norham, and several others, still without
fore-buildings, or to which these have only been added at a
later date.

The great tower of Dover Castle, apart from its fore-build-
ing, measures approximately, for the sides are not exactly
parallel, 90 feet by 96 feet. It was entered by a doorway
towards the north end of the east front at a great height
above the ground, and assuming it to be an erection of the
time of Henry I, it may always have been approached by a
permanent staircase. In consequence of the great height of
the doorway, this staircase had to be made so long that there
was not room for it all on the one side, but it had to be
turned round and continued along the south side in a manner
unique among English castles ; and the only parallel case is
that of Arques in Normandy, already cited, the staircase of
which may be of the same date.

The staircase is divided into four flights, of which two are
on the south side and uncovered, and two on the east side
enclosed within the forebuilding. The lowest flight, which
starts from the south at right angles to the front, is modern
in its construction and arrangement, while the next flight of
twenty-two steps, with an intermediate landing, probably
occupies its original position. The upper part of this runs
between the south wall of the keep and an advanced portion
of the forebuilding containing a guard-room (see plan), and is
crossed by the first entrance arch. At this point there was in

Dover Castle; Entrance to Lower Chapel of Keep.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

all probability a pit covered with a drawbridge, as at Rochester,
and perhaps also a portcullis ; but the arches and so much of
the masonry of this and the other entrances to be mentioned
have been restored or rebuilt and all traces of such defences
obliterated.

Passing through a second archway to the left, which may
also have been defended by a portcullis, the staircase turned
up along the east wall of the keep, ascending in two flights,
and somewhat recalling the beautiful staircase of Castle Rising,
which was also erected early in the reign of Henry I. Between
these two flights is a broad landing where may originally
have been another drawbridge and pit ; a third archway at
this point was provided with special means of defence in a
turret built on the outer face of the fore-building, containing
a circular well-hole giving access to this gate from an upper
floor, which enabled the garrison, by means of a movable
ladder, to descend to the assistance of those defending the
gate if unduly pressed by the enemy. Opposite the top of
the stairs was a chamber which may have been only a guard
room ; and on the left of the top landing was the fourth arch-
way, which gave access to the principal floor of the keep.

The staircase we have described has passed in its course
through two practically separate fore-buildings ; the inner
one, which clings to the east wall of the keep, is of the normal
type to be seen at Newcastle, Rochester, Norwich, and Castle
Rising ; and the outer one, on the south side of the keep and
projecting considerably before the eastern face of the other
one, the like of which is not to be found in this country, and
it is this particular fore-building with which we have now
more particularly to deal. It measures from west to east about
5 1 feet, and from north to south 22 feet, and contains two
storeys of chambers having together an internal height of
35 feet, standing on a lofty and massive basement ; and the
first portion of the staircase gives access from the ground
level to the lower floor of this building.

The first stage of the building contains a vestibule at the
head of the stairs which gives access to the second doorway
leading up into the keep, and it is lighted by the great open
entrance archway and two small windows in the south wall.
To the west of it and entered through a narrow doorway is
the guard-room, 12 feet 6 inches by 6 feet, covered by a
barrel vault in concrete ; while to the east by a broad open
archway access is gained to an apartment measuring 15 feet

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

by 1 1 feet 6 inches, lighted by two narrow windows and the
open archway to the vestibule, which is generally known as
the lower chapel. It may, at first at least, have been intended
only to serve as a guard-room, but at some time slightly sub-
sequent to its building a trefoil headed niche which looks like
a piscina was inserted in the east wall to the south of the
window, hence the assumption that at one time it contained
an altar. The chapel and vestibule were enclosed above by
the underside of a floor, now removed, which consisted of
massive oak beams on which was laid fine concrete and red
tiles to form the flooring, the level of which was 18 feet above
that of the floor below.

The upper storey consisted of three rooms corresponding
in shape and size with those below, and of the purpose for
which they were intended from the first there can be but
little doubt. The two larger rooms formed together the
Chapel of the keep for the use of the royal or other dis-
tinguished persons living in the Castle, the third room being
a sacristy for the use of the priest. Access was obtained to
this floor from the keep by a small opening in the main south
wall opening into a passage formed in the thickness of the
wall over the first arch crossing the lower staircase, and at
the south end of this passage doors to the left and right
opened into the chapel and the sacristry. As this passage
was found to be inconveniently dark and narrow, being only
2 feet 4 inches wide, a fresh doorway was cut through in
Tudor times, formed with a four-centred arch in brickwork,
directly into the chapel in its north-western angle. The chapel
was vaulted over in two bays, divided unequally by a chancel
arch, as in the chapel of the fore-building at Rochester.

It has been suggested, and the idea is repeated in the
article in Archceologia already referred to, that the greater
part of this south-east fore-building was standing, though open
and roofless, before Henry II commenced his works, which,
so far as this particular part of the castle is concerned, were
confined to adapting the building, by refacing and ornamenta-
tion, to its altered uses, and vaulting it over in the manner we
now see. If such were the case it would be difficult to con-
ceive for what purpose the eastward extension of the south
work beyond the line of the staircase could have been in-
tended to serve, since nothing of the kind is to be found in
any castle of the eleventh or twelfth centuries in either
England or France. Having regard, however, to the extensive

Dover Castle; Upper Chapel of Keep.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

character and cost of the works undertaken at this time, it
seems much more probable that this portion, if not the whole,
of the fore-building owes its conception and completion to
the engineer of Henry II.

There is no doubt that a chapel was considered an essential
feature in a Norman keep ; and it was always placed in close
contiguity to and easily accessible from the principal apart-
ment. This was exclusively for the use of the lord and his
family ; but for the garrison generally there was another
chapel placed somewhere in the baily. The important charac-
ter of the chapel in the " White Tower " of London is well
known, but that was for royal use, for in the inner ward was
built, at least as early as the reign of Henry I the chapel of
St. Peter for the use of the garrison, and at Dover the church
of St. Mary-in-Castro served the same purpose. In the earlier
keeps, where there were no fore-buildings, or these were too
small to contain anything beyond the stairs, the chapel was
placed within the keep, as at Castle Rising and, perhaps,
Norwich, and this may have been the case at Dover before
the alterations of 1180, when the architect, following the
example of Rochester, arranged for a more worthy chapel in
his new works.

The drawings with which this article is illustrated will
give the best general idea of the architecture of this beautiful
little Chapel Royal ; but some description is required to
explain them. It is necessary, however, to point out, as an
explanation of one peculiarity, that the ancient floor of the
upper storey has been entirely removed, and all traces of it ob-
literated, except in the sacristy, where it rested on a solid
vault ; so that now the whole of the internal space of this fore-
building, from floor to roof, is visible at a glance. The rough
rubble main walls have been internally rivetted with ashlar
of Caen stone properly coursed in shallow beds, and the
whole of the work, carved or moulded, finished in the best
manner.

The first and most striking feature to be commented on is
the fine arched opening on the ground floor, repeated with
rather more lofty proportions on the floor above, between the
vestibule and the lower chapel. This has a semi-circular arch
of 6 feet 6 inches span, in two orders of mouldings, of which
the inner and enriched one seems of an earlier character than
the outer and plain moulded one ; and this has suggested the
theory that this, together with the other zig-zag decorated

xiv 97 H

THE CHAPEL ROYAL OF DOVER CASTLE.

arches on the eastern wall, belonged to an earlier building,
and were reset in the new work. This assumption is, however,
quite unnecessary. From the detail given in the plate it will
be seen that the mouldings of the inner order of this arch are
identical with others at Canterbury as figured in Willis's
Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral, except that the
small soffit rolls, marked B on the section, which are left
plain at Dover, are at Canterbury worked into a billet
enrichment.

Against the east wall occur arches of a wider span, which
cannot be identified with any at Canterbury, but are of an
even earlier character than the last mentioned. It will be
seen that their enrichments of the reversed zigzag and double
cone might be the work of the period of Henry I, and are the
only portion which could have been re-used or reproduced
from an older building. The mouldings which are so plenti-
fully used throughout are of a very French character, and
most of them can be directly referred to Canterbury. Take,
for instance, the moulded vaulting ribs, consisting of three bold
rolls with a dog-tooth ornament in the two hollows, used in
the two compartments of the chapel at Dover. This is identical
with the diagonal ribs of the side aisles at Canterbury erected
by William of Sens between 1 176 and 1 178, and also identical
with the vaulting ribs of the Chapter House of Ve"zelay erected
a few years before, with which William was doubtless familiar,
and which place was so curiously associated with the later
history of Thomas a Becket The very rich mouldings of the
wall arcades, which also occur on the sedilia of St. Mary-in-
Castro, have a most remarkable and effective arrangement of
the dog-tooth, by placing it on the side of the great roll so
that its points are silhouetted against the shadow of trie
hollow, and instead of being placed in the usual English
fashion in the hollow itself with the head projecting outwards.
This special feature is also to be found in the work of William
of Sens in the lower arcades of the eastern transepts at
Canterbury.

The repetition of the mouldings of one building in another
is by no means uncommon in medieval work ; and is often
the means of tracing the operations of the same architect in
various parts of the country. These mouldings, which played
so important a part in Gothic architecture, were set out by
the master-mason at an early stage of the work so that the
stones could be prepared ready for fixing when required ; and

VAULTING RIB
CANTERBURY

CORBEL TO VAULTING
IN SACRiSTv

ARCH MOLDINGS
A CHEVRONS B. BILLETS

DOVER CASTLE.

VAULTING RIB
DOVER

S . M ARV I N
CASTRO

ARCADE MOLDINGS

Dover Castle Keep; Mouldings and Details.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Ferry.

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.

these settings-out of the master hand were transferred to
"templates" or thin metal plates cut to the profile of the
moulding. All the principal templates for the work at Canter-
bury must therefore have been prepared by William of Sens
and handed over by him to William the Englishman when he
relinquished his office. It is not at all improbable that English
William in 1183, when the works at Canterbury were at a
standstill, and again in 1185, when they were completed, may
have gone to Dover and prepared designs for the work in
the chapel, and handed his designs and models over to his
assistant Maurice, whose name is first mentioned in that year,
when he went to undertake the more important work at
Coventry.

The vaulting of the chapel is quadripartite, a rib springing
from each angle of each chamber; the corbel which carries
the rib being placed on a line with the capitals of the wall
arcades and grouped with them. The ribs, on the moulding
of which we have dwelt, are in Caen stone, and the filling-in
is in tufa, not the volcanic, but a limestone tufa, to be found
in the valley of the Dour above Dover and of the Dore in
Herefordshire. The vaulting of the sacristy is of a similar
character, but the diagonal ribs springing from the corbels
are a simple roll as shown ; and instead of the low, richly
moulded arcades as at the sides of the chapel, it has blank
moulded arches occupying the full width of each wall and
carried on angle shafts.

Such was the Chapel which Henry II had prepared for
himself and his descendants in the keep of his royal castle ;
though not so extensive as that in the Tower of London, nor so
commodious and decorated as the later royal chapels of Paris,
Westminster, and Windsor, it was yet well worthy of Dover,
the Clavis et Repagulum totius regni.

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE: A RECOVERED
RELIC OF THE PAST.

BY C. H. ASHDOWN, F.R.G.S.

FOREMOST among the many ecclesiastical edifices that
claim our attention and respect, by reason of their
antiquity and historical associations, stands the vener-
able Abbey Church of St. Albans. Cresting the hill sanctified

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.

by the blood of England's Protomartyr, it rests in solemn
grandeur on a hallowed site whose far-off memories take us
back through hoary centuries to the age of Constantine the
Great. In those ancient times, when the tragedy of Calvary
was but as yesterday, a small church was built by the early
Christians of the Roman city of Verulamium, which stood on
the opposite slope of the valley. When the Roman power
declined the eagles left the land a prey to northern hosts,
whose savage barbarism swept the Gospel from the face of
English soil. But the seed was again sown and flourished,
and the Mercian monarch, Offa II, reared his great monastic
buildings around the time-worn church, and Saxon abbats
chanted within its walls until the time of Hastings. Then the
proud Norman, with Roman tile and stone, built the massive
pile whose tower and turrets still look o'er the landscape they
have watched for eight long centuries.

How strange the thought ! The substance of those Roman
tiles and stone, now vibrating under a paean from the powerful
organ, have echoed the shouts of Roman triumphs, trembled
under the roar of voices from thousands of Danish pirates,
thrilled with the grand Latin diapason of choirs of tonsured
monks, and shaken with the crash of sculptured monuments
and gilded statues overturned by Reformation iconoclasts !

Although the Abbey was comparatively stripped of its
grand memorials in those sad Tudor days, there yet remain
within its walls many interesting relics of bygone ages.
Chapels and chantries, tombs and brasses are there, while the
exquisite High- Altar screen, with its lace-like tracery and
figured niches, is the admiration of all who love the chaste
and beautiful in art. But what is undoubtedly the most
attractive memorial of the past is the far-famed Shrine of
Saint Alban, not only on account of its intrinsic architectural
value and ancient sanctity, but also by reason of the marvel-
lous vicissitudes it has undergone. It stands in the centre of
the Saint's Chapel, in the very heart of the old Abbey Church,
hidden by the great screen from the gaze of visitors in the
presbytery ; on one side of the Chapel may be seen the mag-
nificent chantry of that unquiet prince, Humphrey, Duke of
Gloucester ; on the other the ancient carved oak watching-
gallery, in which a silent brother kept vigilant ward in
monastic times over the richest shrine in England. Through
the lofty lancet arches of the remaining side a glimpse is
obtained of the rich work in those eastern chapels whose

100

St. Alban's Shrine, St. Albans Abbey.
Photograph by F. T. Usher.

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.

exquisite design so well deserves the praise bestowed upon
them by Sir Gilbert Scott. In its entirety the shrine origi-
nally consisted of two portions, the feretrum, or shrine proper,
that contained the bones of the martyr, and the sub-structure
or pedestal upon which it was placed. It is the pedestal only
which survives.

The bones of St. Alban were miraculously discovered by
King Offa in A.D. 793, and were placed by him in a reliquary
or shrine adorned with gold and silver and precious stones.
In the reign of King Stephen, Geoffrey de Gorham (the
abbat of the monastery) made a costly shrine of silver-gilt
and gems, apparently intended as a case for King Offa's
reliquary ; this shrine was despoiled by the next abbat, but
repaired and adorned by his successor. The shrine was
frescoed in silver and gold and had spires of crystal ; upon it
stood a monstrance of silver-gilt with the Resurrection repre-
sented in the lower part ; two reliquaries, shaped like suns,
with rays of silver and gold, jewelled, and containing relics,
also adorned it. It was carried in processions by means of
two poles.

Upon the occasion of King Edward II visiting the Abbey,
the twenty-sixth abbat caused the tomb and feretrum of St.
Alban to be removed from the place where it stood, and the
marble tomb which we now see to be constructed. So wrote
Thomas Walsingham in 1380, and thus we learn that the
pedestal now standing in the centre of the Saint's Chapel was
constructed nearly six centuries ago. At that period and for
more than two hundred years afterwards, the shrine must
have presented a gorgeous and imposing appearance. Upon
the gilded and richly decorated marble pedestal, in whose
niches the costly offerings of the pilgrims were placed, reposed
the golden shrine which enclosed the bones of the saint ; on
either side twisted marble columns supported six torches lit
on festivals, while over all a magnificent silken canopy hung
suspended from the roof.

To this shrine, accounted one of the holiest in England,
came kings and queens, princes, prelates, and nobles ; thither
flocked unnumbered thousands of humbler pilgrims, and many
a sufferer from disease or accident painfully dragged himself
to the sacred abode of the pitying Saint, in the hope that his
misfortunes would arouse the compassion of the first British
martyr. Apparently many a miracle was wrought at the
shrine, and with reference to one of these Shakespeare waxes

101

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.

humorous in the Second Part of Henry VI (Act II), where
the scene is laid at St. Albans.

But the great fabric of English Catholicism was tottering
to its fall, and when the fiat of Henry VIII went forth in 1539
the monastery ceased to exist. The unrestrained zeal of the
Reformers was let loose with unexampled vigour upon the
Abbey/and the shrine became a special object upon which
to wreak their righteous indignation. Of the costly upper
portion of the shrine, the feretrum, we cannot trace the fate.
Doubtless the gold, silver, and jewels were carefully removed
and sent to replenish Henry's ever-empty exchequer, while
the bones of the Saint, for so many centuries the object of the
most devout veneration, were probably scattered to the winds.
The iconoclasts then turned upon the pedestal of the shrine ;
sacrilegious hands were violently laid upon it ; with a mighty
crash it was levelled to the ground, and its various parts
irreverently scattered, to be subsequently thrown aside as mere
rubbish.

Thus perished the shrine of St. Alban, and during the
succeeding centuries visitors had the former site of the far-
famed shrine pointed out to them for their wondering regard.
But recently, as by a miracle, it has been restored to us after
a disappearance of 333 years. In 1847, while some workmen
were opening a built-up archway in the Saint's Chapel, a
former rector of the Abbey Church discovered a few pieces of
carved marble which he believed to be parts of the lost shrine.
At that time no further search was instituted, but twenty-five
years later, when some extensive operations were carried out,
four blocked-up arches were opened, and among the materials
removed were more than two thousand pieces of Purbeck
marble, which proved to be fragments of the long-lost relic.

Then occurred one of the most marvellous instances of
restoration ever known ; the heterogeneous mass of accumu-
lated debris •, under the dexterous hands of the late Mr.
Micklethwaite, architect to Westminster Abbey, slowly
assumed its present shape, as each piece with infinite care
and judgment was fitted to the position it had occupied so
long before. Remembering the fact that the shape and
dimensions of the shrine were utterly unknown to the restorer,
the masterly solution of so difficult a problem is worthy of
our sincerest admiration.

The height of this interesting memorial is nearly 9 feet,
the length also 9 feet, and the breadth a little more than

1 02

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.

3 feet. It stands upon two steps, and consists of a solid
oblong basement upon which is a series of canopied niches,
the whole surmounted by an elaborate cornice with cresting.
The basement is ornamented with large quatrefoils, and is of
much interest by reason of two peculiar apertures in it. One
of these openings pierces the shrine from side to side near
one extremity of the basement ; the second, at the other end,
only reaches half way through. It is supposed that these
small passages were intended for the admission of diseased
limbs, or of clothes or garments to be applied to them, or to
the bodies of sick persons ; a special sanctity accruing to
everything which had been placed beneath the remains of the
martyr.

The ten canopied niches which stand upon the basement
were probably intended for the reception of votive offerings
and are separated from each other by shafts and panelling ;
the interiors of these recesses show traces of elaborate gilding
and colouring in various devices, the lions of England and
the fleurs-de-lys of France being easily discernible. Groups
of finely carved foliage fill up the tympana, and between the
pediments at the sides were three figures, two of which, pro-
bably representing Offa of Mercia and Oswin of Northumbria,
have been found and replaced in position. The west end of
the pediment shows the beheading of St. Alban, the east end
his scourging. In the spandrel below the latter there is
another representation of King Offa, who is here seen holding
a church in his hand. On the north side is sculptured the
figure of St. Wulfstan, who died in 1095.

The richly ornamented cornice is surmounted by the final
cresting, which is undoubtedly more ancient in date than the
rest of the design, and probably formed the summit of an
earlier pedestal. Three twisted cable-pattern shafts stood
detached on either side of the Shrine, these having been in-
tended, it is believed, for the support of tapers or torches,
whilst a small altar stood at one end furnished with a frontal
of silver and gold, and before which a silver lamp was sus-
pended. Here Mass was daily celebrated, the adjacent stone
being much worn by the knees of the devout.

Such is the memorable history of St. Alban's Shrine ; as it
stands to-day in the Saint's Chapel of the Abbey Church
it forms a cynosure for the eyes of many hundreds of
visitors, who gaze with awed admiration and wonder at this
marvellously resuscitated relic of the long-past monastic ages.

103

THE ORIGIN OF MARKETS AND FAIRS,
AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF THOSE
AT LUTON.

BY WILLIAM AUSTIN.

[Continued from p. 48.]

THE chief business of Luton in the I4th and i$th
centuries was malting, and the principal dealings at the
fairs and market were in horses, cattle, sheep, and
grain. It is said there were as many as 60 makings in Luton.
The yeomen, or small freeholders, men who farmed their own
lands, and the farmers, who held leases of the abbey lands
and lands of non-resident lords of manors in Luton, were a
numerous and substantial body of men, and the class lowest
in the scale, the agricultural labourer, of Luton was steadily
but surely emerging from the condition of serfdom, to the
status of the free labourer.

The Black Death of 1 349 wrought terrible havoc amongst
all classes of the population, but especially amongst the
labouring class. Of the total population of England it is
computed that more than one half were swept away by the
repeated visitations of that plague. It completely dislocated
the labour market, and made the labourer for the first, but
only for a transient period of his history, master of the
situation. The subsequent " Peasants' Revolt " brought about
the Statute of Labourers, which gave birth to the Luton
Statute Fair. At these fairs labourers were required to
present themselves for the purpose of being hired by the
farmers and landowners for the ensuing year ; they were
usually held annually in the month of September, but I
believe in some places they were held twice a year. The
" Luton Statute " was held on the second Friday after the
first Monday in September, and was the great holiday and
annual saturnalia of the labouring class. It lasted two days,
and after the business of hiring labourers was over, the time
was given up to feasting, drinking, and more or less coarse
amusements. In my early boyhood I saw at the Statute Fair

104

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

at Luton men, boys, and even women standing on the
market hill in rows to be interviewed by the farmers that
terms might be arranged between master and man for the
ensuing twelve months ; the ploughmen sported plaited horse-
hair, carters a piece of whipcord, shepherds wore a tuft of
wool in their hair or on their hats, and all sported gaily
coloured ribbons during the time of the fair, like newly-
made recruits for the army. The men were dressed in the
now almost forgotten smock frock.

There are possibly many people who think these old
hiring fairs should still be kept up, but I fail to see any
good or sufficient reason for the retention of an institution
which was devised to keep the labourer more or less in a
condition of bondage, and which lent legal sanction to
drunkenness and " grievous immorality." These are not my
words, I quote them from the preamble to the Fairs Act of
1871. Only recently I read an account of a hiring fair at
High Wycombe, at which farmers and servants of all classes
came together from Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Oxford-
shire, and met in the ancient Guildhall of the town. From
the fondness of the people of those parts for this old institu-
tion I hope and believe that this particular fair is free from
the objectionable elements which have disgraced most of
these fairs and brought about their abolition. In October,
1910, at Stratford-on-Avon, in connection with the Statute
Fair there, 8 oxen and a dozen pigs were roasted whole in
the public streets. Is it decent to keep up such a barbarous
and disgusting custom simply because it is old ?

Our Luton Statute Fair was abolished in 1880, mainly at
the instance of the late Mr. John Cumberland. His proposal
met with strenuous opposition, but those most in favour of
retaining it ultimately rejoiced in its abolition.

I should have thought that Luton people had quite a
sufficiency of markets and fairs at the end of the i6th century,
they had :

1. A weekly market on Monday;

2. Another weekly market on Thursday;

3. A fair lasting a week, beginning on August 1 1 ;

4. A fair lasting three days, beginning on October 17 ;

5. The Statute Fair in September, lasting two days.

Yet early in the I7th century we find Sir Robert Napier,
the then lord of the manor, applying to the Crown for a
further grant. This gentleman was a wealthy merchant from

105

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

London, who in 1601 went by the name of Robert Sandy.
In that year he purchased Luton Hoo, and about 1612 he
purchased from Sir John Rotherham the manor of Luton,
with the markets and fairs appurtenant to it. Our Luton
registers begin with the year 1603, and we find in that year
and in 1605 and 1607 entries relating to three of the children
of " Robert Sandie," but in the record of the burial of his first
wife, in 1609, she is mentioned as " Mrs. Sandie alias Napir,"
and from that time the family appear under the name of
Napier.

In 1611 when, it is said, King James I visited the Rother-
hams at Luton, the King knighted Robert Napier, and in the
following year, doubtless in consideration of a substantial
loan, as such offerings were termed in those days, the King
advanced the knight to the newly invented dignity of baronet.
It was in 1620 that Sir Robert made his application for two
more fairs for Luton. The usual and ancient writ on such
occasions, the writ of ad quod damnum, was issued to the
Sheriff of the county, who held an Inquisition at Luton on
May 5, 1620 ; there being no good reason shown to the con-
trary, King James granted to his " beloved and faithful sub-
ject " two fairs in Luton, one to be held on April 24, 25, and
26, and the other on October 17, 18, and 19. It is difficult to
understand why Sir Robert should have asked for the fair in
October seeing that his predecessor, Hugh de Mortimer, had
received from Edward III in 1337 the grant of a fair on
those same three days. It is possible that the fair had been
discontinued and the charter forgotten.

The charter of King James was characteristic of the man,
it was extremely verbose. I have a copy of it and it is six
times as long as any of the older charters. In it we have
the first express mention of a Court of " Pie Poudre," or, as it
is more commonly written, " Piepowder." In the earlier
charters it was never thought necessary to mention this court,
as it was always considered a necessary adjunct to both
markets and fairs, but King James thought he knew more
than his Chief Justice, Sir Edward Coke, or any other lawyer,
and in his legal documents he decided that nothing was to be
assumed, but all details must be fully set out. Sir Edward
told him "he might be King of England, but he did not
know English law."

The Court of Piepowder was so general throughout the
country that it deserves some consideration. It was the most

106

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

inferior but at the same time the most expeditious and sum-
mary court known to our English system; and although it
was the lowest court, its jurisdiction was unlimited in the
amount at issue. The name of the court has had two deriva-
tions assigned to it, one signifying " the court of the dusty
footed," and the other " the court of the pedlars." Blackstone
says it was derived from the dusty feet of its suitors, while
Coke says it was so named because justice was done as
speedily as dust can fall from the foot. The better derivation,
however, is that it came from an old French word signifying
a pedlar, and goes back to the time when much of the internal
trade of Europe was done by the pedlars. The court was
instituted to administer justice for all commercial and other
injuries connected with a market or fair, and at one time it
was essential that the injury should have been done, com-
plained of, heard and determined, within the time of the
duration of the market or fair. Blackstone says that the
reason of the institution of these courts seems to have been
to do justice expeditiously among the variety of persons from
distant places that resort to the market and fair, since it is
certain that no other inferior court might be able to serve its
process or execute its judgements on the parties there and
then. The jurisdiction of these courts extended to all con-
tracts, covenants, debts, trespasses, assaults, disturbances, and
even slanders spoken in the market or fair concerning wares
exposed for sale, but not slanders of the person. The person
who presided over the court was the steward of the manor, or,
in places where the market was not appurtenant to the manor,
the steward of the owners of the market.

In these courts was administered the Lex Mercatoria^ or the
" custom of merchants," a vast body of unwritten laws, rules,
and observances, the acquisition of a knowledge of which
formed part of the necessary training of every person engaged
in trade in any considerable degree. It is small wonder that
the term of apprenticeship in old times was seven years. The
law merchant was recognized all over Europe, with, of course,
variations peculiar to certain districts. It was not until the
time of Lord Chancellor Eldon that the principal features of
the Lex Mercatoria were incorporated in the Statutes of
England.

I do not know of any other country where records of the
proceedings of these courts have been preserved so well as in
England. The Selden Society has published some extremely

107

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

valuable and interesting specimens of such records, a transcript
of the original record in Latin on one page and the transla-
tion into modern English on the opposite page. I have ex-
tracted a few, which, if they cannot be said to be important,
are, at any rate, curious, and, I think, interesting.

In 1320 Alice Balle was fined 3^. for that she "defamed"
the lord's corn so that the lord could not find a market for
the same.

Some 30 years earlier John Trukke was fined 45-. because
he bought a drowned cow and sold it in the market in little
pieces.

The Chandlers of Norwich were fined for making an agree-
ment among themselves that none of them should sell a
pound of candles at less than another.

In 1313 eighteen cooks were fined in the fair for having
" warmed up meat, fish and pasties after the second or third
day."

In 1288 men were convicted of selling "sausages and
puddings made of measly pigs, unfit for human bodies."

In 1275 Thomas of Wells complained of Adam Garsop for
unjustly detaining a coffer which the said Adam sold him for
6d.j whereof he paid Adam zd. and a drink in advance, and
when he offered the balance Adam would not take the
balance but kept the coffer. Adam was ordered to make
restitution and to pay a fine of 6d. and as security for payment
his overcoat was detained as a pledge.

This element of providing pledges was almost indispensable,
and, failing any other pledge, the man himself was detained
in many cases, but not infrequently, if the offender was very
poor, the court remitted the penalty and let the man go " be-
cause he is poor." It was also a common practice in cases of
dispute, where temper or drink had led to an alleged breach
of contract or to an assault, that the court adjourned the case
for a few hours or till the next day that the parties " might
make concord." In the case of a young offender, " John son
of William son of Agnes of Lynn, who was only 10 years of
age, convicted of stealing a purse near the foot of the bridge,
because he is too young to be punished, it is awarded that he
abjure the vill and the fair."

Vintners were often in trouble in these courts. One John
Penrose was convicted of selling red wine that was unsound
and unwholesome. He was ordered to drink a draught of
108

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

it, to have the rest poured over his head, and to be deprived
of his calling of a vintner.

In Pollock and Maitland's History of English Law we
read that if there was but one dissentient juror his words
might be disregarded and he might be fined. In the records
from which I have been quoting there is an illustration of
this in the year 1312. William, Richard's son, had been
summoned on the jury on a certain case, and he " fraudulently
and wickedly would not agree with his eleven fellows, where-
fore he is fined 2od"

Cases of breach of warranty were often brought before
these courts. In the year 1312 "John of Reading sold to
Robert of Bedford two bales of licorice and warranted it as
good and pure, and Robert found it was not so good and
pure as the sample." The jury was ordered to be summoned
to inquire whether by the Law-merchant the licorice ought to
be forfeited to the king.

There was a curious case of breach of contract tried at the
Court of Piepowder at St. Ives in 1288.

John son of John complained of Roger the Barber that on
Monday he undertook to cure John's head of baldness for 9^.,
which sum John paid in advance. The next day, Tuesday,
Roger put John's head in plaster and did likewise on
Wednesday, and then left the town without having effected
the cure. Roger was summoned on Saturday and appeared
but withdrew from the Court without leave. Wherefore it was
adjudged that the barber make restitution of the 9^. and pay
a fine of 6d.

In Bartholomew Fair Court of Piepowder there was a case
which I suppose would come under the head of assault. An
action was brought by a performing fire-eater against one of
his spectators who had nearly suffocated the fire-eater by
suddenly clapping a bunch of lighted matches under his nose.
The court fined the defendant a guinea and ordered him to
quit the fair.

An interesting feature of these courts was that justice was
done from day to day and even from hour to hour while the
fair continued. In a case in the Court of Piepowder at
Colchester in 1458 a plaintiff sued at 8 o'clock in the morning
for a debt of over £60. The defendant was summoned to
appear at 9. He did not come, so the officer of the court was
ordered to distrain him to appear at 10, and again at n, and

109

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

at 12 o'clock, when, the defendant still failing to appear, judge-
ment was given in the plaintiff's favour. The defendant's
goods were seized, and the appraisers of the court made their
report at 4 o'clock that the value of the goods was £61 14^.,
whereupon the said goods were delivered to the plaintiff.

In commercial transactions there is frequent mention of
a very ancient custom, the payment of a " God's penny,"
sometimes of a farthing only, and often of " a drink," as an
earnest of the bargain and to " seal the contract."

The summoning of a jury to try cases in these courts was
almost as simple as that adapted by Boaz, as described in the
last chapter of the Book of Ruth, but if the dispute involved
a nice question of the Law Merchant, the selection of the
jury was made with much greater care than we observe in
these days, even in our selection of special juries. If the
dispute was between two foreigners in the fair the jury was,
if practicable, composed of foreigners ; if one was a foreigner
and the other an Englishmen, one half of the jury were
foreigners and the other Englishmen.

Let me give you a few judgements recorded in our Luton
Courts.

In the reign of Henry VIII John Crawley was fined for
buying sheep in Luton Market and selling them again in the
same market.

In 1455 William Grenefeld of Luton, who is a common
brewer, broke the assize of ale, therefore he is fined <\d. At the
same court John Wellys was fined for the same offence ; and
John Dabrou, because he brewed and broke the assize, is fined
2d. This offence was as old as our Saxon laws. In the reign
of Edward the Confessor a brewer was ordered to stand in a
dung-cart in the market-place of Chester for this offence.
In 1267 the assize was that when the price of a quarter of
barley was under 2s. the brewer must sell in towns 2 gallons of
ale for a penny and in country places 3 gallons for a penny.

Our Luton records contain repeated instances of men being
fined for the offences of " forestalling " and " regrating." In
1455 Thomas Fuller and Richard Godfrey were fined because
they were " regraters of beer." In the same records we find
cases of trespass and of poaching. Richard Long and Henry
Sternell were each fined 2od. for fishing in the fishpool called
" Bury Mill Pond," which was a part of the river lying between
the present Primitive Methodist Chapel and the electricity
works. In the reign of Henry VI William-atte-Welle was

MARKETS AND FAIRS.

fined for assault, or "for unjustly drawing the blood of
William Grenefield 3*. 4^."—" Tapping his claret," I think we
should have called it when I was a boy.

The grant of the franchise of a market cast upon the
owner of the market certain obligations, such as the provision
of the necessary stalls and booths. In many Court Rolls will
be found records of services to be performed by tenants of
the manor to cut from the lord's woods sufficient boughs, to
carry the same to the market-place, and erect there the toll
and other booths, shops, and stalls, for the lord's fair. I think
the decoration of the entrance to our Corn Exchange with
green boughs on the annual Court Leet day is a survival of
such a custom in Luton. It was also obligatory on the lord of
the manor to provide the pillory and stocks. There are many
entries in the Assize Rolls of owners of markets being called
to account for the neglect of these things. In such cases it
was generally found that the lord, for the increase of his
revenue, fined offenders, when they ought to have been put
in the pillory. There were several such cases in Bedfordshire,
but I have not found one in respect of Luton. In some cases
the owner lost his franchise, but generally speaking he escaped
with a fine and a caution.

I will leave the subject here. If I were to pursue it I
should have to write of the Straw Plait Market of Luton
which has been already described by such men as the late
Mr. Charles Knight. I should have to tell you of the Lease of
the Tolls and the erection of the Corn Exchange and of the
Plait Halls ; and I should have to refer to the creation of the
present cattle market ; to the Public Inquiry held by an
Inspector of the Local Government Board in 1882, and to
another Public Inquiry held by one of the Assistants of the
Royal Commission on Markets and Fairs in 1887 ; and lastly
to the Luton Corporation Act of 1911, which gave legal force
to an agreement between Sir Julius Wernher, Bart., lord of
the manor of Luton, and the Corporation, for the transfer of
the ancient Markets and Fairs of Luton to that body. Under
existing municipal laws many Corporations can acquire a
market, but not a fair; "every fair is a market, but every
market is not a fair."

ill

ON THE OBSOLETE CUSTOM OF TOUCH-
ING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

BY CORNELIUS NICHOLLS.

IN this ancient though now obsolete ceremonial the
Sovereign, by virtue of his anointing in the Coronation
Service, was believed to be invested with a divine gift of
healing, and the Church service, still extant, used on the
occasion, gives, as will be shown, ample proof of the acknow-
ledgement and assumption of such power both by Church and
King. After the time of Edward the Confessor this claim
seems to have been limited to certain specified diseases,
namely, that known as " King's Evil," or scrofula, the " Fall-
ing Sickness," or epilepsy, and the curing of " Cramp " by
means of consecrated or " hallowed " rings of gold and silver.
We now marvel at the credulity of our ancestors, still
unwarned by St. Augustine's description of the miracles of
his own day, thus classed under two heads, (i) Figmenta
mendacium hominum, rendered by Fuller " forgeries of lying
men," (2) Portentafallacium spirituum, " prodigies of deceitful
devils." Like the old Church historian on another occasion,1
(although he firmly believed in the " Royal Touch ") we find
ourselves "divided between several actions at once: I. To
frown at the impudency of the first inventors of such im-
possible untruths. 2. To smile at the simplicity of the believers
of them. 3. To sigh at the well intended devotion abused of
them. 4. To thank God that we live in times of better and
brighter knowledge." Nevertheless the " Healing " continued
to be practised on rich and poor alike, as late as and during
the reign of Queen Anne ; the Church service for the same,
though somewhat modified from that of former ages, being
printed in the Prayer Books of her reign.

The sacred character of anointed kings was authoritatively
stated by Bishop Lyndwood, early in the I5th century, in his
book on Canon Law, a work which, according to Fuller, "will
be valued by the judicious whilst learning and civility have a
being." Not all kings, however, were thus invested, as we find

1 The Miracles of St. Rumwald ; Fuller's Worthies, p. 195.

112

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TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

by Selden, who, in his Titles of Honour, tells us that " there
were antiently but four anointed besides the Emperours, that
is, the Kings of Hierusalem, of France, of England, and of
Sicily." The priestly character attached to kings at their in-
auguration is picturesquely described by Froissart in his
account of the coronation of Henry IV when the ceremony
was performed by two Archbishops and ten Bishops. " Previous
to his anointing, he was stripped of all his royal splendour
naked to his shirt, before the altar. After being anointed in
six places, they then placed a bonnet on his head, and while
this was doing the clergy chaunted the litany, or the service
that is performed to hallow a font. The King was now
dressed in a churchman's clothes like a Deacon, and they put
on him shoes of crimson velvet, after the manner of a Priest.
They then added spurs with a point, but no rowel, and the
sword of justice was drawn, blessed and delivered to the King,
who put it into the scabbard, when the Archbishop of Canter-
bury girded it about him. The crown of St. Edward, which
is arched over like a cross, was next brought and blessed, and
placed by the Archbishop on the King's head." 1 In the anoint-
ing which now forms part of the Coronation ceremony the
King's ancient claim of spiritual jurisdiction is still pictur-
esquely suggested by the priestly vestments worn on the
occasion.

Although " Touching for the King's Evil " in England is
supposed to have originated with Edward the Confessor, it
has been doubted if the cure of this particular malady was
really among the many miracles ascribed to him. That for
which the king seems to have been especially noted being
rather the cure of blindness, or, as the Golden Legend has it :
" Saynt Powle writeth that the Holy Ghost giveth graces
diversely ; to some he giveth wisdom, to some cunning, and
to some grace to heal and to cure sick people. But this
blessed King Saint Edward had a special grace above others
in giving sight to blind men." Nevertheless, the belief in the
Confessor's power over this disease was general, as is shown
by Shakespeare's reference to it in Macbeth. This occurs in
the scene described as "England, before the Kings Palace ":

Malcolm. — Comes the King forth, I pray you ?
Doctor. — Ay, Sir • there are a crew of wretched souls

1 Froissart, Chronicle, vol. iv, p. 671.

xiv 113 i

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

That stay his cure : their malady convinces l
The great assay of art ; but at his touch,
Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand,
They presently amend.

Malcolm. — I thank you, Doctor. [Exit DOCTOR.

Macduff. — What's the disease he means ?

Malcolm.— 'Tis called the Evil :
A most miraculous work in the good King ;
Which often, since my here remain in England,
I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven
Himself best knows : but strangely-visited people,
All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,
The mere despair of surgery, he cures;
Hanging a golden stamp about their necks,
Put on with holy prayers; and, 'tis spoken
To the succeeding royalty he leaves
The healing benediction. With this strange virtue
He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy ;
And sundry blessings hang about his throne
That speak him full of grace.

But, as has been said, the accepted version as to the
origin of this long established tradition has not always
remained unquestioned, but has been ascribed chiefly to the
implicit reliance once placed on the statement of William
of Malmesbury in his Life of the Confessor. This historian
wrote about 80 years after the King's death, and it has been
pointed out that concerning the cure of this disease so fully
recorded by him (and which is quoted further on) no mention
is made by the historians who preceded him. The evidence
on this point is given very fully by the writer of a treatise
entitled " An Enquiry into the Antiquity and Efficacy of
Touching for the Cure of the King's Evil." 2

The author shows, that though among the early historians,
Ingulphus was living during the King's reign, and knew him
personally — that Florence of Worcester and Marianus Scotus
preceded the time of William of Malmesbury, none of these
make any mention of this miracle. Also that the Bull of
Pope Alexander III granting the Confessor's canonization,
about 200 years after his death, is silent as to this presumed
gift of healing. " However (he continues) the instance of the

1 Convinces, conquers.

2 An Epistle by William Beckett, Surgeon and F.R.S., inscribed to
Dr. Steigertall, Physician to King George I (1722).

114

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

curing of this disease, as related by William of Malmesbury,
being repeated by a person of high authority in the Church
(Peter of Blois, chaplain to Henry II) in process of time
gained so much credit that it was at length most certainly
put in practice, for in the Computus Hospitii of Edward I,
preserved among the Records of the Tower, I have frequently
seen it mentioned, with the small sums of money the King
gave his patients at their departure."

Notwithstanding the presumed transmission of the Con-
fessor's gift " to the succeeding royalty," there were occasional
lapses, and various explanations are given regarding these.
Of William the Conqueror and Rufus it is suggested that
they were too much occupied with killing those who were
well. They manipulated the sword, the lance, and the wine
cup, but carefully eschewed the company of the sick.1 The
same author expresses an opinion as to Henry III, that
"there can be no doubt he revived or invented the Royal
Saint's gift of Healing." Various ancient authorities have
been cited to show that this ceremony was performed by
Henry II and by the Plantagenets generally. John of
Gaddesden, in the reign of Edward II, writing on the subject
of scrofula and the manner of treating it, adds: Si h&c non
sufficiant vadat ad Regem ut eum tangat atque benedicat : quia
iste morbus vocatur regis : et ad hunc valet contractus serenis-
simi regis A nglorum. But perhaps the most curious confirma-
tion of the practice in early ages is afforded by an announce-
ment made to the Republic of Venice by the Ambassador of
Edward III. The document containing this is described as a
contemporary minute registered on parchment :

King Edward calls upon Philip de Valois, styling him-
self King of France, occupying Normandy, the greater and
more fertile parts of the duchy of Aquitaine, and the counties
of Anjou, Saintonge cum insults, and of Pontoise, in Picardy,
all which from time out of mind appertained to the King-
dom of England, to fight a pitched battle. But for the
avoidance of reproach hereafter on account of so much
Christian bloodshed, he at the commencement of the war
offered to settle the dispute either by single combat, or with
a band of six or eight, or any number he pleased on each
side ; or that if he be the true King of France, as asserted by
him, he should stand the test of braving ravenous lions, who

1 Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens — Anne.

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

in no wise harm a true King, or perform the miracle of Touch-
ing for the Evil; if unable, to be considered unworthy of the
Kingdom of France. Dated April 27, I340.1

Passing over those reigns not furnishing details on the
subject, we get a firm historical footing in that of Henry VII,
where, in a record of the money used at the " Healing," is a
disbursement of 2os. by John Heron " for heling 3 seke folk,"
and another of 13^. ^d. "for heling 2 seek folk," these coins
evidently being Angel Nobles of the value of 6s. %d. each.2

In addition to this evidence there still exists the ancient
Order of Service, printed from the original MS. by command
of James II.3 It is here set forth that, after certain prayers,
the chaplain reads from St. Mark's Gospel, ending at the
words, " They shall impose hands upon the sick, and they
shall be whole." The Rubric then proceeds :

Which last clause the Chaplain repeats as long as the King
is handling the sick person, and in the time of repeating the
aforesaid words the Clerk of the Closet shall kneel before the
King, having the sick person upon the right hand ; and the
sick person shall likewise kneel before the King : and then
the King shall lay his hand upon the sore of the sick person.
This done the Chaplain shall make an end. Whilst this is
reading the Chirurgion shall lead away the sick person from
the King. After short prayers, the King responding, the
Chaplain reads from St. John's Gospel, " In the beginning,"
&c., down to " Every man that cometh into the world."
Which last clause ("It was the true light,"' &c.) shall be
repeated as long as the King shall be crossing the sore of the
sick person with an Angel of Gold Noble, and the sick person
to have the said Angel hang'd about his neck, and to wear it
until he be full whole. The Chirurgion shall lead away the
sick person as he did before, and then the Chaplain shall
make an end of the Gospel. After the sick persons be
departed from the King at his pleasure, this prayer following
is to be said secretly : —

Almighty God, Ruler and Lord, by whose goodness the
blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lepers are
cleansed, and all sick persons are healed of their in-

1 Calendar of Venetian State Papers, vol. i, p. 8.

2 Pegge's Curialia.

3 And used by him, as appears by the imprint — London : Printed by
Henry Hill, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, for his House-
hold and Chappell, 1680.

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

firmities : By whom also alone the Gift of Healing is given
to mankind, and so great a grace thro' thine unspeakable
goodness towards this realm is granted unto the Kings
thereof, that by the sole imposition of their hands, a most
grievous and filthy disease should be cured : Mercifully grant
that we may give thee thanks therefore, and for this thy
singular benefit conferred on Us, not to Ourselves but to thy
name let us daily give glory. And grant that on whose bodies
soever We have Imposed Hands in thy name thro' this Virtue
working in them, and thro' our ministry, may be restored to
their former health, and being confirmed therein, may per-
petually with Us give thanks unto thee the Chief Physician and
Healer of all diseases, and that henceforth they may so lead
their lives, as not their bodies^ only from sickness, but their
souls also from sin may be perfectly purged and cured.

From this time (excepting perhaps the reign of Edward VI,
and certainly that of William and Mary) the ceremony seems
to have been observed by successive monarchs, and especially,
with the greatest faith and devotion, by Queen Mary. The
Venetian Ambassador in his report to the Senate, thus
describes the scene as witnessed by him in the year 1556:
" In a gallery an altar was raised : she knelt there, repeated
the confession, received absolution from the Legate: and
touched, nay, pressed with compassionate devotion the sores
of twenty scrofulous persons, male and female, presenting
them with hallowed golden angels which she hung about their
necks." l

This " compassionate devotion " of Queen Mary was hardly
shared by Elizabeth, of whom it is recorded that during a
Progress in Gloucestershire, being solicited by applicants for
the Royal Touch, she exclaimed, "Alas, poor people, I can-
not cure you ; it is God alone who can do it." Nevertheless
it seems that subsequently she fell in with the custom of
previous reigns. So also did James I, who, like Elizabeth, ob-
jected to the ceremony, saying that, " neither he nor any other
King can have power to heal Scrofula, for the age of miracles
is past, and God alone can work them." However, he ordered
the full ceremony to take place, " so as not to lose this pre-
rogative which belongs to the Kings of England as Kings of
France."2

1 Cited in Dixon's History of the Church of England, vol. iv, p. 568

2 Calendar of Venetian State Papers, 1603.

117

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

The practice continued to grow in favour under the House
of Stuart ; not only did Charles I perform the " Healing "
during his lifetime, but many reputed cures were effected
after his death by the blood which many people collected on
handkerchiefs at the time of his execution. A long list of
these cures is given in Charisma Basilicon^ a work written by
Dr. John Brown, " Chirurgion " to Charles II. But all accounts
of the rapidly growing popularity of this ceremony are ex-
ceeded by the reports of the frenzied rush made for this
privilege after the Restoration. Registers kept by the
Serjeant of his Majesty's Chapel Royal, and by the Keeper
of his Majesty's Closet, give a total for the whole reign
of no less than 92,000. So great were the multitudes of
applicants that, previous to the issue of special regulations,
many people were crushed to death. These regulations also
became necessary to prevent fraud, for apparently the " Angel
Noble " caused almost as many cases of King's Evil as it was
intended to cure. This is amusingly illustrated by an ad-
vertisement in the Parliamentary Journal of July 9, 1660 :

The Kingdom having been for a long time troubled with
the King's Evil, owing to His Majesties absence, great num-
bers have lately flocked for cure. His sacred Majesty on
Monday last, touched 250 in the Banqueting House, among
whom, when his Majesty was delivering thefgold, one shuffled
himself in out of a hope of profit, which had not been stroked,
but his Majesty presently discovered him, saying "this man
has not yet been touched." His Majesty hath for the future
appointed every Friday for the cure, at which time 200 and
no more are to be presented to him, who are first to repair to
Mr. Knight, the King's Surgeon, living at the Cross Guns, in
Russell Street, Covent Garden, over against the Rose Tavern,
for their Tickets. That none might lose their labour, he
thought fit to make it known that he will be at his house
every Wednesday and Thursday, from two till six of the clock
to attend that service, and if any person of quality shall send
to him he will wait upon them at their lodgings upon notice
given.

We must not, however, suppose that, even in the wildest
days of this superstition, all people were agreed as to the
efficacy of the King's " Touch." This seems apparent from
the following allusion to the ceremony by so shrewd an
observer as Pepys, who, writing in his Diary on April 13,
1 66 1, makes the following entry:

118

The Royal Grift of Healin

Charles II touching for the King's Evil.
From an old print.

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

I went to the Banquet-house, and there saw the King heal,
the first time that ever I saw him do it ; which he did with
great gravity, and it seemed to me to be an ugly office and a
simple one.

In the contemporary engraving illustrating this scene1 the
King (Charles II) is represented sitting on a raised dais, with
the Royal Arms at the back of a canopy. A patient kneels
before him, supported on either side by the " Chirurgions,"
bishops, and clergy, holding open books, to the right hand of
the King, Lords and Ladies to the left. Below the dais,
ranged on each side of the Hall, are men and women in
various attitudes of suffering, kept in line by Yeomen of the
Guard, holding pikes in their hands. There are also some
children and a much interested dog in the foreground.

Many of these diseased people were no doubt suffering
from disorders of various kinds, for correct diagnosis was
doubtful in the early days of the medical profession. Thus in
a curious treatise published in the year 1598, we find the
following advice given to physicians by a celebrated surgeon
of that day : 2

Chirurgions must know the opposition and the conjunction
of the moone and in what signe the moone is in every day,
and to know what signes bee attractive, what signes bee
recentive, what signes bee expulcive. Also they must know
the operacion of all manner of bread, of drinckes, and of
meates. And to have ever in readiness their instruments and
their salves, and their oyntments, and in perillous causes one
Chirurgion ought to consult with another, and to have the
counsell of a doctor of physick, for there is no man can be
too sure to help a man, as God knoweth, who keep us all.

Well might it then have been said, quite seriously :

A single Doctor like a sculler plies,
The patient lingers, and then slowly dies ;
But two Physicians, like a pair of oars,
Shall waft him quickly to the Stygian shores.

In varying but decreasing numbers candidates for the
Royal Touch continued (except during the reign of William
and Mary) to the end of that of Queen Anne. It is supposed
(says Miss Strickland, in her life of this Queen), that " Queen
Anne resumed the ceremony in order to assert her claim as

1 See plate.

2 The Bremarie of Health, by Dr. Andrew Boord.

119

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

heiress of both Plantagenet and Stuart rights, and also in
rivalry to her brother, who performed the Healing at St.
Germains, where many people made pilgrimages to seek the
Touch of the disinherited heir." The Queen's most illustrious
patient was the child who, in spite of the disease which neither
the Royal Touch nor any doctor ever cured, grew up and
became the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson. We read l that
"Mrs. Johnson committed her young Goliath to the care of a
poor woman soon after his birth ; and with the milk of his
nursing mother he imbibed a scrophulous disease, the effects
of which were visible through life ; and (though not a super-
stitious person) said that the hand of her Gracious Mistress
cured her infant. I do not know whether the piece of gold
that was given him by her Majesty was thought worthy of
being preserved by its master. I have seen it since the
Doctor's death in the hands of Sir John Hawkins."

In connection with the above statement we notice that in
the British Museum copy of the Charisma Basilicon, previously
alluded to, there is inserted a very faded MS. note, dated
1798, to the following effect: "Dr. Johnson left the original
Touch piece that Queen Anne hung round his neck at the
time of her Majesty touching him, to Dr. Taylor, Prebend of
Westminster. At his death he left it to the Duke of Devon-
shire, in whose possession it now is. — Mem. 1798." 2

Innumerable are the extravagances that have gathered
about this ancient superstition, and wonderful has been the
vitality of its practice and the passionate adherence to their
belief by its more educated votaries. Even the Church his-
torian previously quoted from, who in the case of another
ancient superstition was divided between his frowns, his
smiles, and his sighs, could pray concerning the " Touch " of
his royal master " That if it be the will of God to visit me
whose body hath the seeds of all sickness, and soul of all
sins, with the aforesaid malady, I may have the favour to be
touched of his Majesty, the happiness to be healed by him,
and the thankfulness to be grateful to God the author and
God's image the instrument of my recovery." 3

That many sufferers from this disease did for a time appear
cured is, considering much disinterested evidence, quite
obvious, but even so, what more did kings, with their powerful

1 Gents. Mag., 1785. * It is now in the British Museum.

3 Fuller's Church History, vol. i, p. 386.

1 2O

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

surroundings of Church and State, than (to cite but one
example) that arch impostor of the i8th century known to us
as the Count Cagliostro. Moreover, this man did not confine
his healing to certain specified diseases ; he healed them all.
There seems to be no one special theory to account adequately
for these things. " They have their day and cease to be " ; and
if this superstition had a very long day, we may consider, in
the first place, the state of society in the early ages of the
practice, and later on, the powerful effect produced by the
united interest of Church and King, supported by the medical
profession and the " Angel Noble."

The presentation of the gold coin, subsequently known as
the Touch-piece, seems to have become general from the time
of Henry VII, the Angel Noble being the coin used. A
special issue of Angels for this ceremony was made by
James I. These were ready pierced and strung with a white
silk ribbon to hang round the patients' necks. At the Restora-
tion, when the Angels had ceased to be coined, a piece
similar in type, but not to be used for currency, was ordered
by Charles II. They are designated "Touch-pieces," and have
for type the previous coin used, a ship being represented on
the obverse and St. Michael slaying the Dragon on the
reverse. There were, however, occasions when stress of cir-
cumstances necessitated the use of silver instead of gold for
use in this ceremony. Charles I in his troubles could often
get neither the one nor the other and occasionally used copper.
James II used silver Touch-pieces, as also did his son Prince
James, under the style of James III, Prince Charles Edward,
and later, Henry IX, Cardinal York.

THE CONFESSOR'S CURE OF THE KING'S EVIL AS RELATED BY
WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY

A young woman had married a husband of her own age, but
having no issue by the union ; the humours collecting about her neck,
she had contracted a sore disorder; the glands swelling in a dreadful
manner. Admonished in a dream to have the part affected washed
by the King, she entered the palace, and the King himself fulfilling
this labour of love, rubbed the woman's neck with his fingers dipped
in water. Joyous health followed his healing hand : the lurid skin
opened, so that worms flowed out with the purulent matter, and the
tumour subsided. But as the orifice of the ulcers was large and un-
sightly, he commanded her to be supported at the royal expense

121

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

till she should be perfectly cured. However, before a week was
expired, a fair, new skin returned, and hid the scars so completely,
that nothing of the original wound could be discovered; and within
a year becoming the mother of twins she increased the admiration of
Edward's holiness. Those who knew him more intimately, affirm
that he often cured this complaint in Normandy : whence appears
how false is their notion, who in our times assert, that the cure of
this disease does not proceed from personal sanctity, but from
hereditary virtue in the royal line. — (Sharpe's Translation, p. 283.)

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON,
HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

BY J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL, author of The Story of Charing
Cross.

[Continued from p. 56.]

CHAPTER VI.

* I AHE crocodile's tears which Colonel Panton, after whom
Panton Street and Panton Square, were named, is said
-*• to have shed over his gambling sins, would wear a more
pathetic look if, when he retired from the gambling business,
the proceeds had been devoted to some more worthy object
than himself. One writer sees in him " the reformed gambler
of a rare type — a man who having won a huge fortune at
cards, refused ever after to risk money on a game of chance."
This is " bunkum." The hero of Shaver's Hall probably
himself had no aspirations to such tombstone virtues, although
he may have masqueraded in them.

There was, in fact, no game of cards at which this scoundrel
was not " an absolute artist — either upon the Square or foul
Play — English RufT and Honours, Whist, French Ruff, Gleck,
L'Ombre, Lanterloo, Bankasalet, Beast, Basset, Brag, Picquet,
Verquere, Tick-tack, Grand Trick-Track, Irish, and Back-
Gammon, Inn and Inn, Passage and Draught, Billiards, Chess,
and the fatal Hazard."1 It is said that one night he won
enough money to purchase an estate of £1,500 a year. This
may be so, but unless he was an egregious ass, he could

1 Memoirs of the Gamesters, by Theophilus Lucas, 1714, pp. 67-8,
where there will be found evidence as to his personal character.

122

THE HAYMARKET

hardly have prided himself upon anything but his astuteness
in acquiring such an ample fortune, or upon his sagacity in
sticking to it.

Panton Square is now Arundel Street, so called, like
Wardour Street, from the Lords Arundel of Wardour — or
rather from Henry, third Lord Arundel of Wardour, a steady
adherent to the cause of King James II. The association of
the street names of Panton Square and Arundel Street is
further to be noted by the circumstance of Henry, the fifth
Lord Arundel, having married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel
Panton. Colonel Panton 's connection with Piccadilly Hall,
as its last proprietor, will be noticed anon.

The Union Arms, No. 26, Panton Street, was kept at the
beginning of the last century by Cribb, the prize-fighter, and
here John Hauptman, a celebrated dwarf, died (?) October 31,
1829, aged thirty-seven, having been shown about the country
about ten years before. He had become very fat previous to his
death and of very lethargic habits. His death was occasioned
by the rupture of a blood-vessel. He was about three feet
five inches high, and used to wait upon the customers in the
parlour. Hauptman and Nanette Stocker, with whom he was
exhibited, are engraved full length, side by side, in Kirby's
Wonderful Museum, 1820.

ON SEEING CRIBB'S NEW HOUSE, THE UNION ARMS, PANTON STREET.

The Champion, I see, is again on the list,

His standard — " The Union Arms ; "
His customers still he will serve with his fist,

But without creating alarms.
Instead of a floorer he tips them a glass,

Divested of joking or fib;
Then, " Lads of the Fancy," don't Tom's house pass,

But take a hand at the game of Cribb.1

John Britton relates in his Autobiography how, in the winter
of 1799, he was engaged by a Mr. Chapman, at three guineas
a week, to write, recite, and sing for him, at a theatre in
Panton Street, Haymarket. That gentleman had assisted De
Loutherbourg in preparing and exhibiting his " Eidophus-
ikon," which had proved very effective. The scenes and
machinery were purchased by Chapman to combine with
other objects for an evening entertainment. De Loutherbourg

1 Tavern Anecdotes^ 1825, p. 264.
I23

THE HAYMARKET.

was scene painter to Covent Garden Theatre ; he fitted up a
small theatre in Panton Street, and conferred on it the
mysterious name of the " Eidophusikon." Here he exhibited
some exquisite paintings of scenery, both stationary and in
motion, with the varied effects of sunshine and gloom ; morn,
mid-day, and night ; thunder, lightning, rain, hail, and snow.
Of this original exhibition W. H. Pyne, in his Wine and
Walnuts^ says that it delighted and astonished the public and
the artists who visited it in crowds. Sir Joshua Reynolds
frequently visited and strongly recommended it, while Gains-
borough was so delighted with it that he could talk of nothing
else, passing many evenings at the theatre, of which the stage
was little more than six feet wide, and about eight feet deep.
Such was the painter's knowledge of effect and the scientific
arrangement, however, that the space appeared to recede for
many miles. His horizon, indeed, seemed as palpably distant
from the eye as the extreme termination of the view would
appear in nature. A view from One Tree Hill, Greenwich
Park, represented on one side Flamstead House, and below,
Greenwich Hospital, cut out of pasteboard, and painted with
architectural correctness. Large groups of trees, with painted
views of Greenwich and Deptford and the metropolis beyond,
from Chelsea to Poplar. The intermediate flat space repre-
sented the river crowded with shipping, each mass being cut
out in pasteboard, and receding in size by the perspective of
their distance. A foreground was entirely represented by
miniature models in cork; the whole shown at morning,
twilight, and under the effect of gradual daybreak, increasing
to broad sunshine. The clouds in every scene had a natural
motion, and they were painted in semi-transparent colours,
so that they not only received light in front, but by a greater
intensity of the argand lamps employed, were susceptible of
being illuminated from behind. The linen on which they
were painted was stretched on frames of twenty times the
surface of the stage, and rose diagonally by a winding
machine. De Loutherbourg excelled in representing the
phenomena of clouds. The lamps were above the scene, and
hidden from the audience — a far better plan than the foot-
lights of a theatre. Before the line of brilliant lamps on the
stage of the Eidophusikon were slips of stained glass — yellow,
red, green, purple, and blue; thereby representing different
times of the day, and giving a hue of cheerfulness, sublimity,
or gloom, to the various scenes.

124

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

"A Storm at Sea," with the loss of the Halsewell Indiaman
is said to have been awful and astonishing; for the conflict of
the raging elements was represented with all the character-
istic horrors of wind, hail, thunder, lightning, and the roaring
of the waves, with such a marvellous imitation of nature that
mariners declared, whilst viewing the scene, that it seemed a
reality.1

The Geneva Arms and Bunch of Grapes was apparently
what is now called an Italian warehouse. It was at the corner
of Panton Street, and under this sign were sold all sorts of
wines, oil, olives, jessamine oil for perfume, and " anchova's JJ
\sic\> wholesale and retail, orange trees, jessamine, and tuberose
roots.2

The puppet, no less than the dwarf, was the vogue for
those sightseers who sought quiet amusement, far from the
madding crowd at Charing Cross. Puppets were exhibited in
Panton Street in 1772, and were visited by persons of distinc-
tion, among whom the vagrant punchinello had probably
become associated almost exclusively with the joys in child-
hood. Both Burke and Goldsmith saw the puppets in Panton
Street, and when the former praised the dexterity of one in
particular, who tossed a pike with military precision, Gold-
smith remarked with some warmth, " Psha ! I can do it better
myself." s Timbs says that Boswell relates how Goldsmith
" went home with Mr. Burke to supper, and broke his shin by
attempting to exhibit to the company how much better he
could jump over a stick than the puppets."

On the south side of Panton Street were Hickford's Auction
Rooms of the reign of George I. The following curious ad-
vertisement from the sale catalogue of a collection of pictures
sold by Hickford, March 5, 1728-9, illustrates the possibilities
for the afflicted and the invalid, though perhaps more generally
for the lazy, of the " sedan-chair."

N.B. Such persons as design to be brought in chairs, are
desired to come in at the back door of Mr. Hickford's Great
Room (which is on a ground floor), facing the Tennis Court in
St. James's Street in the Haymarket; which is so large and
convenient that, without going up or down steps, the chair

1 See further The Autobiography of John Britton, F.S.A., 1850,
pp. 97-8.

2 London Gazette, Sept. 24, 1702, and April 8, 1703.

3 T. Forster's Life of Goldsmith.

125

THE HAYMARKET.

may be carried in to the very room where the Pictures &c.,
are shewed.1

A writer in The Daily Graphic says that our social history
is strewed with the corpses of dead amusements, and truly the
Haymarket hath " an ancient smell."

Tickets might be had at Low's Coffee-House in Panton
Street—

For the Benefit of Mr. Rowland:

AT MR. HICKFORD'S Great Room, in

Panton-Street, near the Hay-market, on Monday

the loth Instant, will be perform'd, A CONCERT of

VOCAL and INSTRUMENTAL

MUSICK.

By the best Hands from the OPERA.
The Vocal Part by Mr. BEARD.

To begin at Seven o'Clock.2

At the Italian Warehouse, the Crown in Panton Street,
Leicester Feilds. . . .

A Large Choice of Italian Flowers, fine Chip and Leghorn
Hats, Rosa Solis, Venice Treacle, Carmelitan Water, the best
French Hungary Water, Lavender Water, Sans Pareil, Melfleur,
Sultana, Jessamin, Bergamot, Mareschal, Cedrate; Quintess-
ence of Roses, Jessamin, Govesolo, Melissa, Rosemary, French
Capillaire, Orgeat, Italian Pomatum for the Hair; also the
famous Grecian Pomatum and Sultana Powder for the Face,
a particular Paste for the Hands, all sorts of superfine Italian
Powder for the Hair, a fine Conserve for the Teeth, and
several other Articles too tedious to mention.3

M. Priest at the " Golden Key " in Panton Street sold . . .
" Gauze, Blond, and Fringed Linen . . . Large Blond Hand-
kerchiefs at I5.y. ; Gauze Aprons ; Summer Cloaks and dress'd
Cloaks."4

In Panton Street (probably in the Great Room), in 1770
were exhibited the " Italian Fantoccini " of Mr. Carlo Perico,
in which Harlequin, the hero, was considered to perform a
remarkable act in eating a dish of macaroni.

Flockton, better known as a successful showman than as a

1 Cunningham's London.

2 St. James's Evening Post, May 6, 1736.

3 Newspaper-cutting in St. Martin's Scrap Book, (1748).

4 Undated newspaper-cutting, ibid., about 1740.

126

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

conjuror, used to perform conjuring tricks on the outside of his
show to attract an audience. But in 1769 he gave a variety
entertainment for some time at Hickford's Concert Room,
Panton Street, although conjuring does not appear to have
been included in his programme. The fees for admission
ranged from 6d. to 2s. The same prices were charged in 1780,
when he prepared an exhibition of " fantoccini " with a con-
juring entertainment at a room in the same street, probably
the same that was occupied by a successor1 who was a far
greater exponent of" Old Nick's " ways, as many still supposed
them to be, to wit the eminent Breslaw. During the two years,
preceding 1782 when he returned to the Haymarket, Frost
supposes that Breslaw was absent from London on either a
continental or provincial tour. He was, however, at Panton
Street in March, 1780, as the following announcement shows:

GREAT ROOM, PANTON-STREET,

HAY-MARKET,

THIS and TO-MORROW EVENING will
be display'd a Variety of NEW CAPITAL

PERFORMANCES,
By Mr. BRESLAW and his New COMPANY.

First. Several select Pieces of Music, and a Song, by a
young Lady.

Second. Several Imitations, Vocal and Rhetorical, by a
young Gentleman not nine years old.

Third. Mr. BRESLAW will exhibit his new Steronigraphical
Operations and likewise his enchanted Pixis Metilica; with a
Variety of new Magical Card Deceptions, never before ex-
hibited.

Fourth. Miss ABRAMS will play a Solo on the Violin, ac-
companied on the Guitar, Spagnoil,2 by Sieur DERAMONEY,
from Naples.

Fifth. Monsieur NOVILLE will play on the following In-
struments, viz., the German Flute, Violin, Spanish Castanets,
two Pipes, Violin, Trumpet, Bascyan Bass, whistling the Notes,
Dutch Drums, and Violoncello, never attempted before in this
kingdom.

The whole to conclude with two new beautiful Artificial
FIRE-WORKS, which will be represented in the most brilliant
manner. The particulars of these variety of Performances are

1 Thomas Frost's Lives of the Conjurors, 1881, p. 133-4.

2 Probably a Spanish Guitar; cf. spaniel.

127

THE HAYMARKET.

expressed in the Bills. — The room is warm and commodiously
prepared, and will be illuminated with wax lights.

Boxes 35-. Pit 2S. Gallery is.

Tickets or Places to be taken from Ten in the morning till
Three in the afternoon.

The doors to be opened at Six o'clock, and to begin pre-
cisely at Seven.

N.B. Mr. BRESLAW, or any of his Performers, will wait
on private Companies, by giving proper Notice; and if any
Ladies or Gentlemen are inclinable to learn some of Mr.
BRESLAW'S Deceptions on Cards, Money, &c. they may be
taught in a few minutes, by applying to him as above-men-
tioned.1

The Royal Comedy Theatre in Panton Street, should, we
believe, says The Builder •, be instanced as marking the situation
of Addison's Haymarket lodging, which Pope showed to Harte
as being the garret where Addison wrote The Campaign?1

When the news of the victory of Blenheim arrived Lord
Treasurer Godolphin, meeting casually with Lord Halifax,
told him in the fullness of his joy that it was a pity the
memory of such a victory should ever be forgotten, adding
that " he was pretty sure his Lordship who was so distinguished
a Patron of Men of Letters must know some Person, whose
Pen was capable of doing Justice to the Action." Halifax re-
plied that he did know such a person, but would not desire
him to write upon the subject Lord Godolphin had mentioned.
On being asked the reason for so unkind a resolution, Lord
Halifax briskly told him that "he had long with Indignation
observed that while too many Fools and Blockheads were
maintained in their Pride and Luxury at the expense of the
Publick, such Men as were really an Honour to their Country,
and to the Age they lived in, were shamefully suffered to languish
in Obscurity : that for his own Part, he would never desire any
Gentleman of Parts and Learning to imploy his Time in cele-
brating a Ministry, who had neither the Justice or Generosity
to make it worth his while." The Lord Treasurer replied
calmly that " he would seriously consider of what his Lordship
had said, and endeavour to give no occasion for such Reproaches
for the future; but that in the present Case he took it upon
himself to promise that any Gentleman whom his Lordship
should name as a person capable of celebrating the late

1 The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, March 3, 1780.

2 The Builder, Sept. 19, 1885.

128

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

Action, should find it worth his while to exert his Genius on
that Subject." Lord Halifax thereupon named Mr. Addison,
but insisted that the Lord Treasurer himself should send to
him. This was promised and his lordship accordingly desired
Mr. Boyle l to go to him. And it was apparently while Addison
was " indifferently lodged " in the Haymarket that he was sur-
prised on the morning following the above conversation to
receive a visit from the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr.
Boyle), who, having acquainted him with his business, added
that the Lord Treasurer, " to encourage him to enter upon his
subject, had already made him one of the Commissioners of
Appeals; but entreated him to look upon that Post only as an
Earnest of something more considerable." In short, the oblig-
ing things said by the Chancellor in so graceful a manner gave
Addison the utmost spirit and encouragement to begin The
Campaign. Soon after the poem appeared the Lord Treasurer,
as was usual with him, kept his promise, and preferred the
author to " a considerable Post." 2

Mr. G. A. Sala says that the morals of Panton Street were
scarcely unimpeachable in 1859 and for a few years afterwards.
One of the " night houses " of that time " was kept by a gentle-
man whom I will call Mr. Jehoshaphat I was in the Hall of
Dazzling Light one morning about three; I had a dispute
with Mrs. Jehoshaphat, touching the champagne," (which Mr.
Sala says elsewhere was nothing but gooseberry and rhubarb)8
" at fifteen shillings a bottle. Mr. Jehoshaphat interfered ; there
was a fight, I took the floor, Mr. Jehoshaphat kneeling on my
chest ; and then, by a cleverly directed blow with his left hand
the fingers of which were beautifully garnished with diamond
rings, he split my nose throughout its entire length. Then he
dexterously rolled me into the street. Fortunately for me the
next house was an establishment of a similar nature, of which
the proprietor was a certain Mr. * Jack ' Coney — altogether,
considering the equivocal profession which he followed, not at
all a bad fellow. Of course I was bleeding like a pig. He
picked me up, tied a table napkin tightly round my face, put
me in a cab, and took me to Charing Cross Hospital, where
the house surgeon swiftly sewed up my damaged nasal organ.

1 The Rt. Hon. Henry Boyle, created Lord Carleton in 1714, the young-
est son of Charles, Lord Clifford. At the time the above occurred he was
Chancellor of the Exchequer.

2 Memoirs of the Boyles, by E. Budgell, 1737, pp. 151-3.

3 Sala's Life and Adventures, 1895, vol. i, p. 403.

XIV 129 K

THE HAYMARKET.

As a medical gentleman afterwards succinctly observed, ' the
flesh on my nose presented the aspect of a split mackerel
ready for the gridiron.' Then Mr. 'Jack' Coney took me
home to my lodgings in Salisbury Street." 1

At the Harp and Flute, in the Haymarket, Joseph Hill,
the celebrated violin-maker, worked in 1762. Here he pub-
lished some volumes of music, one of which was " A Set of
Easy Lessons for the Harpsichord, dedicated to the Public,
opera trentesima prima, London, printed for and sold by
Joseph Hill, musical instrument maker . . . where may be had
Six Easy Lessons for the Harpsichord, by different authors,
also a variety of Music and Musical Instruments." This has a
curious preface, signed J. M.2

The two houses No. 22 and 23 3 on the east side of the
Haymarket were, in January, 1878, the scene of an alarming
accident. Mr. Robert Walker, District Surveyor of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, declared that the cast-iron columns
used on the building of the newer house were the worst he
ever saw, and the accident was said at the time to show that
a good architect, a District Surveyor and a competent fore-
man, can put up unsafe cast-iron columns without their being
able to detect the defects of the casting. It was stated, however,
by the Building Act Committee of the Metropolitan Board of
Works that the District Surveyor was entirely free from
blame.

Of these buildings, one was an old narrow-fronted house,
used as an oyster-shop, and occupied by a Mr. Baron, while
the other was a brand new house, erected at the corner of
Panton Street and the Haymarket, and flanked in Panton
Street by another narrow-fronted old house. To construct
the new house it had been necessary to rebuild the party-
wall between it and the old house in Panton Street ; but
in the Haymarket the old party-wall on the ground floor
was underpinned and left standing, a new wall, nearly fifty
feet in height, being built upon it. The new wall, it was
thought, proved too heavy for the old one, and warning
was actually given, though unheeded, during the afternoon of
Thursday the I7th of the impending danger. The same day
Mr. Baron and his assistants had noticed that the doors stuck
in their frames, and it became evident, from the remarks of

1 Sala's Life and Adventures, pp. 404-5.

2 British Music Publishers, by Frank Kidson, 1900, pp. 62-63.

3 Probably No. 23 and 24 are meant. See The Builder, 1878.

130

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

workmen who had been called in to ease them, that some
movement had taken place. Towards night other warnings,
such as falling plaster and creaking wood, were given, and
the inhabitants, including Mr. Baron, at last sought shelter
in the street. But in spite of the threatened catastrophe Mr.
Baron hesitated in escaping and before midnight the houses
were a heap of ruins beneath which lay buried the unfortunate
oyster-merchant.

The jury found " that William Baron met his death by the
falling of the houses in the Haymarket, caused through
building a new wall on part of a defective old party-wall, and
that great blame is attributable to both the architects and
the District Surveyor for permitting such wall to be built
upon."

Messrs. Garrard, at No. 25, Haymarket, possess a very in-
teresting old shop-card, engraved in the Hogarthian style,
relating to their very old firm before removal to their present
premises in the Haymarket. They have lately again removed
to a site at the corner of Albemarle Street and Grafton Street,
Piccadilly. The foundation of the business was laid in 1721
by George Wickes, his sign being that of the King's Arms,
and a Garrard has been at the head of affairs for six genera-
tions. The Koh-i-noor diamond was recut on the premises,
the first facet having been chipped by the Duke of Wellington,
while the even more famous gems, in point of intrinsic value,
the Cullinan diamond-parts, received their setting at the hands
of the same firm.

In the year 1773, while living in Jermyn Street, Dr. John
Hunter delivered his magnificent lectures on the Principles
of Surgery, at No. 28, Haymarket, premises now occupied by
the Civil Service Co-operative Society. Death had, in the
spring only of the same year, already thrown down the
challenge in the first attack which the great surgeon suffered
of angina pectoris. He remained free from further attacks
until 1776, a respite which afforded the opportunity for his
first course of lectures, beginning in 1773, which were
advertised thus :

On Monday Evening, the 4th of October, at Seven o'Clock,
Mr. John Hunter will begin, at No. 28, in the Hay-market, a
Course of Lectures on the Principles and Practise of SURGERY,
in which will be introduced so much of the ANIMAL OECONOMY
as may be necessary to illustrate the Principles of those
Diseases which are the Object of Surgery. This course will

THE HAYMARKET.

be continued on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, through
the whole Winter at the Hour abovementioned. Proposals
may be seen, and Tickets will be delivered, in Jermyn Street.
No Person will be admitted to the first Lecture without a
Ticket for the Course.

Of these lectures, Mr. Cline, one of the surgeons of St.
Thomas's Hospital, says in his Hunterian Oration, 1824, that
when only twenty-four years of age he had the happiness of
hearing them. " I had been at that time (he says) for some
years in the profession, and was tolerably well acquainted
with the opinions held by the surgeons most distinguished
for their talent then residing in the metropolis ; but having
heard Mr. Hunter's lectures on the subject of disease, I found
him so far superior to anything I had conceived or heard
before, that there seemed no comparison between the great
mind of the man who delivered them, and all the individuals,
whether ancient or modern, who had gone before him."

The labour of preparing and delivering these priceless
lectures, especially in one to whom lecturing was always a
particularly unpleasant task, was enormous. He never gave
the first lecture of his course without taking thirty drops of
laudanum to take off the effects of his uneasiness. Dr.
Abernethy says: " He seemed to me conscious of his own
desert, of the insufficiency and uncertainty of his acquire-
ments, and of his own inability readily to communicate what
he knew and thought. He felt irritated by the opposition he
had met with . . . ' I know, I know,' said he, ' I am but a
pigmy in knowledge, yet I feel as a giant when compared
with these men.' "

In 1779 the lectures — the whole course consists of nearly
a hundred — were still delivered at No. 28 Haymarket ; but
in 1783 they were given at Dr. Hunter's house in Castle
Street.1

1 See John Hunter: Man of Science and Surgeon^ by Stephen Paget,
1897, pp. 102 and 105 ; and Two Great Scotsmen: the Brothers William
and John Hunter, by George Mather, M.D., F.F.P.S.G., 1893.

[To be continued.]

132

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

By I. GlBERNE SlEVEKING.

PERHAPS there are few towns in England in which one
feels so absolutely in the very midst of a past rich in
antiquarian remains, as one does in the Red Town on
the Hill, the^Cinque port, Rye. The very air one breathes is
filled with memories; the grass-grown streets, the gray old
gates which flank the outer walls, the wonderful cathedral-
like church, the exquisite vistas of the little, twisted, uneven,
gabled streets, all speak in our ears the voice of a great Past
— a Past that is long dead, and yet still speaks romance in
the ears of a prosaic, commercial Present.

The sea, whose waves once broke persistently against its
stones; the French,1 who once swung conqueringly and
clamorously down its cobbled streets, are both departed.
The " pestilence which destroyeth in the noonday," and which
once raged noisomely here,2 is gone too. But if these are all
presences that are vanished, vivid reminders of all that they
stood for in days gone by are struck into life on the mind's
tinder-box, at almost every street corner.

I think there are few sights more full of picturesque sug-
gestion than is one's first view of Rye from a distance. There
stand the unevenly-clustered red houses, clinging together, as
it were, in a sort of forsaken loneliness on the summit of the
hill. Once they were the centre of happenings that moved
the world ; once they stood a head and shoulders above their
fellows, in a position which commanded respect, which also
was one of unassailable dignity; once they defied their
enemies, as a sea-girt city built upon the rock, can defy all
attacks from below. Now there are no enemies to defy : no
attacks to resist. With changed times has come safety, and
yet with safety has come also a certain want of point, if one
may so express it, a certain want of significance in the town's
toutn-tenens-sbtp, in relation to its surroundings.

The view of Rye which is most familiar to everyone is that
which faces one on approaching it from Winchelsea, but
quite another character is assumed by the town if seen

1 In the reigns of Richard II and Henry VI Rye was taken and burnt
by the French.

2 In 1544, 385 people died of the plague in Rye.

133

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

from the fields leading to Camber. There is something
distinctly French in the look of the picturesquely irregular
grouping of the red and grey roofs, standing high above
the flat meadows, where once the sea washed the walls.
There is a far more striking suggestiveness about the town
seen from here. One can almost see the old environment, and
can certainly picture its undeniable effectiveness. There was
a great deal of the French element in the Rye of those days.
Jeake tells us that in 1582 there were 1534 French refugees
living in the town ; and to this day a great many of the in-
habitants have names showing French origin.

In 1448 the town was almost completely destroyed by the
French ; in fact, only four houses remained unburnt. And it
is chiefly for this reason that the date of the two most in-
teresting houses in Rye, about which this article is concerned
— the Mermaid Inn, and the old Flushing Inn — is practically
assumed to belong to the middleof the fifteenth century.

The Mermaid Inn is situated at the top of a cobbled, grass-
grown narrow lane which leads to the old hospital, with its
picturesque Elizabethan gables, which is opposite the store-
house built by Jeake in 1689. The local guide-book states
that, from old records, the Mermaid Inn was known to have
been used as a hostelry as far back as 1636, but had lapsed
into private life in 1784. The front of the house, which faces
on to Mermaid Street, is not specially noticeable, but one has
only to turn a corner and make one's way round to the back
of the building, to be struck into keen admiration. Here it
is all strikingly picturesque; there is no lack of effect. It
appeals at once, and directly, to one's eye and heart. Inside
there is abundance of archaeological interest. Across the
little hall, on the right is the fine old dining-room, with carved
wainscot and chimneypiece of Caen stone, where may be seen
a date in Roman numerals of the early part of the sixteenth
century. At the further end of the room a second door leads
to the little shady garden, and to what is now called the
" club room." It is in this portion of the house that a great
part of its interest centres. For just outside this club room
my attention was drawn to certain indications which seemed
to suggest that formerly the inn had been a religious house
of some description ; perhaps a guest-house.1

" A guest-house (hostellary, hostry, etc.) was a necessary part of every
great religious house. It was presided over by a senior monk." — English
Monastic Lifc^ by Dr. F. A. Gasquet.

134

The Mermaid Inn, Rye; back view.

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

These indications included a depression in the wall just
outside the " club room " which was at the right height for a
holy-water stoup, and above this a niche where the figure of
a saint might have stood, and beyond that a door into a
small room (now a " reading-room "). In this room is some
curious linen-fold panelling. There are figures of angels and
of knights in armour, and two long panels of religious de-
signs: the fleur-de-lys, " I.H.S.," and crosses. Alongside these
panels is the same design as is carved on the pulpit in
Rye parish church. In the corner of this room, by the fine
old chimneypiece, is a curious old cupboard, with three
square panels, carved in the centre, and the characteristic
hinge. It is believed that this cupboard dates back to the
fifteenth century.

Quite recently in making a slight alteration in the room a
piece of glass from a casement window was found, with these
words scratched upon it :

John Halsey, alias Chambers
nescio quid sit amor [sit, ? amari],
nee amo, nee amor,
nee amavi

Isaac povec
1654.

And on a panel near the cupboard, is carved the following :

Eanbenrad [sic]
4 ivnii
1661°

In religious houses there was generally a room, the parlour,
or locutorium, which could be used by the guests. This room
was usually next to the church door ; between it and the
outer buildings. In this case the room is next to the " club-
room," and my own strong conviction is that this last was, at
one period of its existence, used as a chapel, or at least as the
room where religious offices were said. It is a long room, one
end facing the east, the other the inn courtyard. Over the
fireplace is a long, broad piece of timber, the opening above
the fireplace is high up and quite narrow. On the right hand
side is a square opening in the wall, and on the left hand a
cupboard in the wall, or aumbry. In the opposite corner is a
door opening on to a secret staircase. This staircase leads to
one of the oldest rooms in the house. It is panelled all round,
and has three latticed windows, two looking into the court-

135

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

yard, and the third into the garden. It has two doors,1 one,
as I have said, that opens on to the staircase, and the other
just opposite. Each of these doors swings to insistently, when-
ever it is opened; each has the curious double hinge, and the
Sussex "catch," or latch, which dates back to 1400, and opens
with a little piece of string which lifts the wooden tongue of
the latch. There is a room on the other side of the house
which evidently belongs to the same date as does this one.
Here too are found the low, narrow doors with the Sussex
latch and big double hinge.

The room over the " Club room " of which I have just been
speaking, owns a ghost story of its own. Here, on the unevenly
laid floor, was fought in years gone by, a duel between two
officers for the usual reason — a woman. On the wall hangs
the picture of a lady in a close-fitting cap, holding a long
pointed vessel, out of which have fallen some apples. Her
dress is cut low, and is brown in colour, and round it is wrapped
a red mantle. The face of the woman is not altogether pleas-
ant; there is a touch of shrewdness, not unmixed with hard-
ness, about her narrow brown eyes, and rather scornful smile.
She somehowgives one the feeling that one would not have cared
to come under her power, whether of personal attraction or of
intellect. There is no name or clue as to her identity, and one
is therefore left wondering as to whether she was the cause of
the ghost story, or no.

Some explanation of the little connecting staircase between
the " Club room " and the room above (assuming that the
Mermaid Inn was formerly, at one period of its existence,
some kind of religious house, or guest-house) may be this.
Very often the monk would have his bedroom above the
chapel, so that he could, without difficulty, come down to it to
say his midnight offices. However this may be, it is believed
that an underground passage extended from this part of
Mermaid Street to the church,2 and it is known for certain
that a lane led straight from here to the church in former
years.

As regards what kind of religious houses were known to
exist formerly in Rye, Dr. Gasquet tells me that he believes
" the Austin Friars only had any house" there, and that he

1 The height of each is about 5ft 3 in., and £ of a yard wide.

2 England must be fairly honeycombed with underground passages, if
we believe all the silly tales of credulous rustics. Has a single one ever
been authenticated ?— EDITOR.

136

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

has " no knowledge of any other." There is in existence the
Austin Friary Chapel in the town, in Conduit Street. There is
also, in the Church Square, an old fourteenth-century chapel,
said to be of Carmelite origin. Dr. Hermitage Day tells me that
the Mermaid Inn " incorporated an old hospital, of the kind
in which a semi-religious rule was observed." The present
Vicar of Rye, however, is doubtful as to whether the inn was
associated with the old hospital further down Mermaid Street,
which was he says " in its origin a private house, occupied by
Samuel Jeakes, the Historian of Rye, and used as a Hospital
at a later day." But he adds that the Mermaid Inn would
have been an " important hostel in its early days, because Mer-
maid Street was the second chief thoroughfare in the town,
with the Strand Gate at the bottom . . . now entirely demol-
ished."

There are sufficient remains of the building of the Austin
Friars in Rye to interest an archaeologist. But whether the
Mermaid Inn was really in other days a religious house or no,
to-day it is an ideal place in which to pass summer days.
Comfortable, peaceful, suggestive, and for the antiquary, full of
ancient memories. The little cobbled street outside suggests
a place " where it is always afternoon," so steeped in sunshine
is everything. The spirit of the Past broods over all, and
makes a magnetic environment.

The other hostelry, the Old Flushing Inn, is close to the
church, and is situated in a little square court. Until 1905 no-
thing was known of its history, but then, one of the rooms was
being re-papered, and a workman, quite by chance, in stripping
off the old papers, came upon a wonderful wall painting, con-
sisting chiefly of mythical animals, and scrolls, executed in
mineral colours of yellow, brick-red, and pink. These mineral
colours, so I was informed by the man who is in charge of the
house, shine up much more vividly in wet weather than in dry.

The scrolls consist of three parts of the Magnificat and three
parts of Soli Deo bona. Six angels support the scrolls, and there
are shields which represent three lions rampant and three fleurs-
de-lys.

In the Sussex Archaological Collections are articles dealing
with this fresco, by Mr. P. M. Johnston, F.S.A., and by Mr.
Harold Sands, F.S.A. The latter declares the house cannot
be earlier than 1449, an<3 that the joists of the ceiling in this
room are fifteenth-century work. Mr. Johnston says that the

137

TWO ANCIENT SUSSEX HOSTELRIES.

Liberate Rolls of Henry III have many directions as to paint-
ing walls and wainscotting of the chapels and domestic apart-
ments of that Monarch's many residences, and it is a practical
certainty that the houses of the nobility, gentry and wealthy
merchants were similarly decorated from at least as early a
date. Texts and mottoes were frequently introduced on beams,
over fire-places and elsewhere. In western Sussex many such
remains of domestic painted decoration have been found,
dating from the i6th and i/th centuries.

Mr. Sands, however, says that while " church wall paintings
are not rare, domestic examples like the present, occur but
seldom. Being an almost unique survival, it is on that account
the more valuable."

It seems to me that Mr. Sands leaves the question open
therefore as to whether the Flushing Inn may not possibly
have belonged to some religious or semi-religious house in the
past.

It is not only in this one room that the mural painting shows,
for all over the house are paintings, in the same mineral colours,
of angels' heads, etc. The room next to the one in which is the
fresco is panelled throughout with beautiful carvings.

With regard to the frescoed scrolls Mr. Johnston declares
that the text of the black letter Magnificat is the same as
Tyndale's Bible of 1525, and Dr. Warner, of the British
Museum, has stated that the version is practically identical
with it. Mr. Johnston tells us that the shield in the painting
formed part of the coat of arms of Queen Jane Seymour,
mother of Edward VI. " The painting bears close resemblance
to the arras or tapestry hangings with which houses of wealthier
classes were commonly adorned in the middle ages. . . . There
can be no doubt that the Rye painting was executed between
1 547, the year of Edward VI's accession, and 1554 the yearof his
death. The type of lettering used is a sort of mixed Lombardic
and Roman, fashionable in the early Renaissance period."

There is a wooden scroll of seven large upright lozenge-
shaped designs over the fireplace, but it is very inferior to that
at the Mermaid Inn. There are, however, certain similar de-
signs in both houses. If I am not greatly mistaken, there are
signs of mural painting in the Mermaid Inn also. I have, my-
self, seen traces of it, specially on the wall of the passage
near the club room, which was being white-washed this
last summer when I was staying in the house. To my
mind there seemed evident traces of some design on the

138

The Old Hospital, Rye.

" The Refectory," Flushing Inn, Rye.
Photographs by Valentine Sieveking.

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.

Flemish bricks l which form part of the walls, but I had not
unfortunately the opportunity to examine them to any great
extent.

I am indebted to Mr. Whiteman for permission to reproduce
the photographs of the Mermaid Inn, to Miss Edith Hammond
for permission to have a print made from her picture of the
haunted room, and to Mr. Valentine Sieveking for the other
photographs.

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME,

A MERCHANT ADVENTURER OF LONDON.

BY FRED. ARMITAGE, author of The Hydes of Kent, A Short
Masonic History, etc.

HUMAN nature will peep out from all places where
man has placed his hand. Old buildings always have
their interesting tales to tell, and their dead makers
speak to us through their stones, telling us the story of the
human minds and humanfcintelligence behind them ; how they
were conceived, and how altered during their execution. Even
formal deeds and charters have a human interest, if we can but
get behind them to their writers and authors, thus picturing
the living being rather than the written document. This is the
charm of archaeology, and the State Papers are replete with
interest of this kind. Turning over the pages of the Calendar
(Domestic Series) for the reign of Charles I, we have come
across one interesting character, a wealthy merchant in the
times of the early Stuarts, who moved in Court circles, and
used his influence there to obtain the lucrative position of one
of the farmers of the taxes, such as exist to-day in the East,
but have happily disappeared here.

When James I came to the throne, he had to resort to the
tactics, afterwards followed with such disastrous results by his
successors, of obtaining money by imposing taxes without the
sanction of Parliament. Unfortunately for the King, these taxes
did not come in fast enough to meet his pressing necessities,
and there were many leakages in their collection, so that he

1 A great number of Flemish bricks, which are much slighter and nar-
rower than the English ones, are in evidence in most of the old buildings
in Rye.

139

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.

found it better, if he could find men of responsibility and
position, to farm out these taxes to them, in consideration partly
of a lump sum down, and partly of an annual rent.

One man, Sir John Wolstenholme, was in high favour for
all such matters ; his name recurs again and again in the State
Papers in connection both with the duties of the Custom House,
and with many State affairs for which he was a handy man to
be appointed by the King as a Referee or Commissioner. In
1562 he was born in London, where his father was employed
in the Customs ; the son naturally got there too, and afterwards
became one of the most important and wealthiest of the City
merchants, taking a prominent place in the commerce of the
nation. He was in 1600 one of the projectors of the East
India Company, and his name is associated with the expedi-
tions of Hudson and Baffin to find the North-West Passage;
several of the places touched upon in that adventure still bear-
ing his name, one being called Wolstenholme Sound. In con-
sequence probably of his association with these ventures he
was knighted on March 12, 1617.

There is an interesting reference to this expedition and to
Charles I's plan of getting rid of old debts by putting them on
the shoulders of a friend, and cloaking his acts under the guise
of a gift. Under date April 28, 1632, we read that Capt Fox
had petitioned the Lords of the Admiralty for satisfaction for
his long attendance in keeping a pinnace called " Charles,"
which had belonged to tke King. The Admiralty officials re-
ferred the worthy Captain to Sir John Wolstenholme, desiring
him to give the petitioner just satisfaction, as his Majesty had
bestowed the pinnace upon him. Sir John Wolstenholme an-
swered the petitioner that he was a great deal more money
out for the North-West voyage, and until His Majesty paid
him he could not pay Capt. Fox. On the back of Sir John's
letter the Secretary of State wisely endorses a note, " I am
to speak to Sir John about this." Let us hope the conference
was satisfactory to all concerned, though we doubt it.

As showing the many-sided nature of the questions put
before Sir John, we find that in 1616 he was consulted as to
the price to be charged to the East India Company for the
ordnance supplied to them by the State. On October 22, 1617,
Sir John Dackombe wrote requesting him to find a berth
for Dackombe's wife's brother, while on October 15, 1618,
Wolstenholme had to explain to Sir Fulk Greville the ordin-
ary course pursued with regard to customs duties charged to

140

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.

Scotchmen. He pointed out that gentlemen of Scotland had
been allowed to ship home apparel, with household goods
already used, and a moderate amount of new pewter, duty
free. The question of sea pirates was also a disturbing one,
and on April 10, 1619, he had to explain that the reason of
the large assessment on the port of Bristol was that those ports
which traded most in the Levant — of which Bristol was the
principal — ought to pay most for the suppression of pirates.
The question of free trade was also raised by him, and on
June 14 he absolutely refused to charge any customs duties on
the export of lead, which had always been free from duty ; to
charge which, in his opinion, would in those days, be injurious
both to the King and the trade of the country.

Sir John Wolstenholme being a favourite at Court, and in
touch with the trade of the City of London, it is not surprising
to find him singled out for the responsible post of a lessee or
Commissioner of the Customs, and on July 10, 1619, the State
Papers contain a note that the King agreed to make two
grants to him and his son John, with the right of survivorship
in the case of the death of either of them. The first deed grants
to them the office of Collector of imports outwards in the Port
of London, and the other makes to them a grant of the " Office
of Collector of subsidy of Tonnage and Poundage on Exports
in the Port of London."

These grants related to general customs duties, but on
September 30, 1619, a more definite arrangement was made
by the execution of a lease to Sir John Wolstenholme,
Abraham Jacob, and other merchants of London, of the
Customs and Duties on Sweet Wines for eight years at a rent
of £10,873 19** 9d-, which is stated to be an advance of
£1,878 igs. gd. upon the previous rent paid by them under a
former lease which had then expired. As a good man of
business, the King, on the same day, granted another lease of
the duties on Rhenish wines to other farmers at a rent of
£28,997 os. iod., the odd pence doubtless telling a tale of
protracted haggling and discussion.

A little less than a month after this, differences arose be-
tween the King and Sir John, who had obviously been acting
with something like excess of zeal in collecting the duties at
the Custom House, for on January I, 1620, it is stated that
many of the foreign merchants were hardly able to pay their
fines, many forswore the facts, and one Dutchman, Van Lore,
said he would leave England, as those Custom Officers of

141

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.

Wolstenholme took away his goods and might also take away
his life if they chose. The State chronicler expresses his fear
that the whole affair would be injurious to trade and to English
travellers abroad. The King, friendship or nofriendship, could
not have his finances disturbed, for that was absolutely fatal
to his interests, and by way of sharp reproof Sir John Wolsten-
holme was committed to confinement either in the Tower, or,
as some suppose, in his own house, the offence being stated
as " grumbling against a New Patent Office in the Custom
House." In June, 1620, he had already been restored to
favour, and was appointed a referee on the subject of the
low freights charged by the Dutch, which had seriously
injured the owners of English vessels. His report was made
in the course of the year 1621, and was to the effect that the
Netherlanders by cheap freights had ruined the shipping of
the east, and would ruin the shipping of England. He there-
fore suggested a proclamation by the King prohibiting the
bringing in of eastern goods, except in ships of eastern
countries, or in English vessels, thus effectually keeping out
the Dutchman.

In March, 1623, the well-known visit of the Prince of Wales
and the Duke of Buckingham to Madrid was planned to
enable a Spanish bride to be obtained for the future King
Charles I. For the necessary vessel to transport the Prince
and the Duke, their servants and numerous attendants, Sir
John Wolstenholme was again responsible, and there was a
serious question to determine whether the ship should bear a
new flag at a cost of ;£ioo, or whether the old flag, used for
the transportation of the Lady Elizabeth, should again do
duty. Unfortunately the records do not tell us how the riddle
was solved, though personally we suspect the new flag was
obtained.

At the end of the year 1627, the eight years lease of the
Customs on wines granted in September, 1619, to Wolsten-
holme and others was running out, and it was necessary for
the King to make fresh arrangements, and to increase the
rent. Accordingly, we find that the King made a better
bargain than he had before, and substantially [increased his
rent, for on September 3, 1627, there is a confirmation by the
King of the terms of a proposed lease to be renewed to Sir
John Wolstenholme, Sir Maurice Abbott, Henry Garway,
Abraham Jacob, Bernard Hyde, William Garway, Richard
Crosham, John Williams and John Milward of the Customs

142

SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.

on Wines and " Corinths," or currants, for three-and-a-half
years with a release for the time past in consideration of a
fine of £12,000, and a loan to the King of £20,000.

This note refers to the offer made by the syndicate, but
before it could be carried out the King had increased his
demands, and in prospect of a very substantial increase in
the yearly rent, he forwent the cash payment of £20,000.

The next note, dated November 21, 1627, shows the fresh
terms agreed upon, and is a memorandum of a letter from
the King to the before-mentioned gentlemen, as to a " lease
of the Customs of wines and currants for three-and-a-half
years at the rent of £44,005, and upon the terms contained in
the confirmation before calendered."

Bernard Hyde died in 1631 before the expiration of the
fresh lease of the Customs, but Sir John Wolstenholme con-
tinued as one of the Commissioners. On January 10, 1631,
one Endymion Porter became farmer of the customs on
French wines, and in March, 1631, Sir Paul Pindar also be-
came interested in the grant of the Customs duties. In the
same year the King showed his confidence in Sir John
Wolstenholme by appointing him as one of the Commissioners
for the plantation of the new colony of Virginia. Sir John died in
1639, aged seventy-seven, leaving two sons and two daughters.
His eldest son, John, continued in the Customs Office for
many years after that, down to the time of Charles II. He
became M.P. for West Looe, Cornwall, in 1625, and was
knighted in May, 1633. He suffered severely in fortune
during the Civil Wars, his estates being sequestered in 1643.
On the restoration of Charles II in 1660 he was received
with favour, and took his father's place as Commissioner of
Customs, and was made Collector outwards of the Port of
London.

He was a friend of Samuel Pepys, the diarist, and in the
latter's Diary, under date September 5, 1662, he inscribes
this memorandum, "To Mr. Eland's, the Merchant, by in-
vitation, where I found all the officers of the Customs, very
grave fine gentlemen, and I am very glad to know them, viz,,
Sir John Harvy, Sir John Wolstenholme, Sir John Jacob, Sir
Nicholas Crisp, Sir John Harrison, and Sir John Shaw, very
good company." Sir John was created a baronet in January,
1665, and was also on terms of intimacy with the Lord
Chancellor, Sir Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. He died
in 1679, and was buried at Stanmore, Middlesex.

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

BY C. EDGAR THOMAS.

AT the present day, with our well-organized coastguard
service, costing, as it does, some ^"260,000 yearly to
maintain, smuggling to all practical purposes may be
considered dead : as dead as its correlative profession highway
robbery. Yet in the dim " once upon a time," and especially
during the last two centuries, smuggling was rife all round the
coast. From all accounts it, in common with other things,
would appear to have come over with the Conqueror, until in
the time of the Georges, it may be considered to have reached
its zenith and perfection as a nefarious art.

Customs duties were then levied on countless articles of
more or less trivial value, and consequently, if these dutiable
goods could be brought into the country free, they could be
sold at a much cheaper rate, ensuring a quick return, with a
large margin of profit. Of course the buyers of the smuggled
goods were virtually just as bad as the smugglers themselves;
in fact the schoolmaster's dictum, " No listeners, no talkers,"
provides in this instance an excellent simile — no receivers, no
smugglers. But conscience was (and is) none too sensitive as
to the purchase of smuggled goods, and public sentiment was
more often than not, entirely with the contrabandists, it being
considered quite legitimate to smuggle, when the taxes were
so heavy and manifestly unfair. Thus we find Adam Smith
saying, " To pretend to have any scruple about buying smug-
gled goods, though a manifest encouragement to the violation
of the revenue laws, and to the perjury which almost always
attends it, would in most countries be regarded as one of those
pedantic pieces of hypocrisy, which instead of gaining credit
with anybody seems only to expose the person who affects to
practise it, to the suspicion of being a greater knave than
most of his neighbours." The astute economist, however, did
not fail to point out the evils which accrued from this mistaken
form of public sentiment: " By this indulgence of the public,
the smuggler is often encouraged to continue a trade which
he is thus taught to consider in some measure innocent; and
when the severity of the revenue laws is ready to fall upon

144

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

him, he is frequently disposed to defend with violence, what
he has been accustomed to regard as his just property."

The Home Counties in regard to the present subject will
necessarily only comprise Kent, Essex, and the newly consti-
tuted Home County, Sussex.

Kent was perhaps the one of all the English counties best
adapted for the illicit trading in contraband goods. Certain it
is that more smuggling was carried on there than at any other
portion of the English coast. Its position, its coast line, its
proximity to France and the Netherlands, and its variety of
features, lent themselves admirably to the surreptitious intro-
duction of merchandise into this country. No more favoured
spot could have been found than the lone eerie marsh of
Romney, with its well-wooded miry tracts, for the landing of
a cargo and its safe conveyance across the Weald. Similarly
Pevensey Bay, the Flats of Sandwich, the cliffs of Folkestone,
and the North and South Foreland, also greatly favoured the
smuggler in the execution of his nocturnal pursuits. The
beaches and marshes of Dymchurch, Rye, and Winchelsea,
were also by nature peculiarly adapted to meet the require-
ments of a midnight run.

To recur to Romney Marsh, we read that that large tract of
irreclaimable waste was for centuries the scene of prohibited
trading. Smuggling was well advanced here in the time of
Edward I, curiously enough, not with the import branch of
the business, but with the smuggling out of wool. This was
known as "owling," and the folk engaged in the work as
" owlers," from the curious night calls they employed to com-
municate with each other. " Owling " attained to a high degree
of perfection (if such a word can be used to describe this offence
against the customs), and was for a long time the only kind
of smuggling indulged in by the Kentish folk. At that period
all out-going wool from England was heavily taxed, the object
being to cripple the continental weaving trade, and so provide
for the establishment and prosperity of the clothing industries
in our own country. From the time of Edward I the illegal
disposal of English wool had claimed the attention of the
government, and various export duties were imposed and raised
in price from time to time, until in the reign of Edward Ilia
law was passed absolutely forbidding the exportation of wool,
under pains and penalties ranging from death to personal
mutilation. This edict, however, does not seem to have struck
terror into the hearts of the sturdy marsh folk, and the un-

XIV 145 L

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

lawful export of wool produced on the marsh and the inland
districts, still went on under the very nose of the government
patrol men, in spite of their increased vigilance.

The trade of the " owlers " gradually grew apace, so much
so as to warrant the government adopting sterner measures
towards the end of the I7th century, by which any man living
within fifteen miles of the coast and buying or owning wool,
had to enter into an agreement that it should not be sold to
anyone within fifteen miles of the sea. Wool rearers were also
obliged to account for the number of fleeces they owned and
to allow inspection whenever demanded. Naturally a law like
this was too stringent to last, and in time its enforcement was
relaxed, and milder penalties substituted. The " owlers " did
not always escape scot-free, and many successful raids were
organized and carried out by the preventive men.

A great deal of the success of smuggling in Kent was due
to the fact that the persons engaged in the work were aided
and abetted by the gentry of the vicinity, the majority of
whom were financially interested in the undertakings.

The export smuggling in the form of " owling " eventually
waned and gave place to the equally profitable import of tea,
tobacco, silks, spirits, etc.

At Maidstone in 1749 James Toby, described as an old
smuggler, was convicted for having conveyed English wool to
France. In the course of the evidence it was proved that he
had kept up a correspondence with the French, and also fur-
nished them with swivel guns for their privateers.

Many of the fishermen eked out a livelihood as smugglers,
and were only too glad to increase their precarious income by
lending a hand with cargo-running. As time went on, and the
trade developed, men left their hitherto regular employments
on the sea or soil, and devoted themselves entirely to smug-
gling. They assembled in companies of thirty or more, sturdy
desperate ruffians, defying the law, and eventually becoming
the terror of the countryside.

One of the most dreaded and notorious of these bands was
the " Hawkhurst Gang," the leader of which was alleged to be
worth ;£ 1 0,000. For a long time they ravaged the coast, and
devastated the homesteads of Kent and Sussex, until the
inhabitants of the little village of Goudhurst, in the former
county, at last determined to break their subserviency to these
outlaws. To that end they formed the " Goudhurst Band of
Militia," under the leadership of a young fellow named Sturt,

146

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

and made ready to fight the smugglers. The latter were not
slow in accepting the challenge, and with a hoary ruffian
named Thomas Kingsmill at their head, appeared on the hill-
side and fired a volley into the village. The firing was returned
and many of the gang were killed, including George Kingsmill,
the brother of their leader. Others were captured by the good
people of Goudhurst, and in due course received their well-
merited deserts on the gallows.

In an official dispatch to the Lords of the Treasury in 1700,
the cliffs between Walmer and Dover were described as being
" as noted for running goods as any part of Kent," and to
combat the evil the construction of a certain kind of vessel
was agreed upon. They were " not to exceed 7 tons, and to
contain eight able men, and to be as nimble in rowing and
sailing as the French shallops or lemanores . . . not to carry
cannon or culverin, but a couple of smart guns to sling a
pound bullet; nor to carry ballast more than arms and ammu-
nition, and the tackle to wind up their boat; nor would [they
require] a crab or capstan on shore, but would have on board
what would perform it quicker and with fewer hands."

In 1733 tne custom authorities again acquainted the Trea-
sury with the fact that smuggling was very prevalent in Kent,
Essex, Suffolk, and Sussex. Within twelve months 54,000
pounds of tea, and 123,000 gallons of brandy had been seized
by the preventive men.

This increase in smuggling was undoubtedly due to the fact
that the cargoes were " run " by well-armed and organized
men; and some little time after, we find that the 1 86 dragoons
in Kent and Sussex were totally inadequate to cope with the
smugglers, to which end 106 more were applied for.

On Friday, August 22, 1735, while five custom house officers,
as many soldiers, and an officer from the Tower of London,
were bringing to town some bags of tea, which they had seized
in a raid, they were attacked near Lewisham, by four smugglers,
fully armed with pistols and cutlasses, who swore that they
would either kill or be killed. They were the first to open fire,
but two of them were soon killed by the soldiers, one escaped,
while the fourth was captured and safely lodged in Newgate.
In this fray one of the horses belonging to the custom officers
was killed, but otherwise no other casualty occurred on their
side. In the following month, seven smugglers were leading
their horses up Limpsfield Hill, Kent, when some riding officers
and dragoons, who had been lying in wait in a chalk pit,

147

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

ordered them to stop. A scuffle ensued in which a dragoon
was wounded, and a smuggler's thigh blown away. They then
decamped leaving the officers " 900 weight of Tea."

At the Surrey Assizes in 1745 Matthew Clark and Jockey
Tom were " charged with others, for being feloniously assem-
bled, and armed with fire-arms and other offensive weapons in
April last, landing out of a vessel near Donichurch in Kent,
upwards of 5,000 weight of tea without permit," and " George
Box charged for that he, in company with two other persons
did feloniously assemble themselves together, being armed
with fire-arms between Flimwell and Riverhead in the county
of Kent, having several horses loaded with above 400 weight
of run tea, not having a permit." These prisoners seemed to
have experienced extraordinary good fortune, for although
undoubtedly guilty, no indictment was found against them,
and they left the court " without a stain upon their characters."

In 1780 a supervisor of Excise named Joseph Nicholson,
with eight dragoons, was removing to Canterbury a cargo that
had been seized at Whitstable, when a huge concourse of
armed smugglers came up with him, near Borstal Hill, and
without any warning commenced to attack them. Two dragoons
were shot dead, and the smugglers made off with the cargo.
A reward of £150 was offered for information leading to the
apprehension of the gang, but, despite the great temptation of
one of them turning informer, claiming the reward, and securing
for himself the king's pardon, nothing leaked out, until John
Knight was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the
affair. He was tried at the Maidstone Assizes, convicted, and
gibbeted at Borstal Hill, the scene of the outrage.

The bracing little watering place of Deal, had from the
earliest times been a hotbed of smuggling. Clark Russell in
his admirable collection of nautical essays Betwixt the Fore-
lands, gives the affidavit of Joseph Dixon in 1717, a document
which clearly shows the lengths to which these men were pre-
pared to go.

Joseph Dixon of Deal in the County of Kent, Mariner, one
of the Boatmen belonging to his Maties Custom House Boate
at Deal, maketh oath, that on the 30th day of October last, he
this Deponent being out on his duty about 2 of the Clock in
the morning, he entered a boate or vessell on Deal Beach,
wherein he found ten half Anchors * or upward which this

1 Ankers, small casks.
148

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

Deponent believed were filled with French brandy, and there-
upon seized the said half anchors and boate for the King and
himself as the law directs. And as this Deponent was going to
take the said half anchors out of the boate to send them to his
Maties warehouse, Walter Hooper, John Meryman, Valentine
Arthur, Samuel Gutteridge, Seth Snoswin, and John Pickle of
Deal, Mariners, came into the said boate to this Deponent,
and by force, with the help of John Ashenden, John Nicholls
& George Spiller, also of Deal aforesaid, Mariners, launched
the said boate and half anchors with this Deponent afloat
upon the sea, where the said Walter Hooper, John Meryman
and Valentine Arthur laid violent hands on this Deponent
and put him out of possession of his said seizure by throwing
him out of the boate into the sea, where they left this Depon-
ent, and carried away the said boate and half anchors.

A Deal smuggling craft provides the material for an anec-
dote of the year 1771. A Dover revenue cutter fell in with
her round the South Foreland, but no response being elicited
to the hails of the custom officers, a boat was dispatched to
board her. On attempting this, the officers were met by the
brawny fists of the Deal boatmen over the gunwale. The
cutter's men were determined to board the lugger, and were
eventually allowed to do so, but no sooner had they set foot
on deck than they were taken up in a strong grasp, and
violently thrown overboard. They were rescued by their own
boat, and another government cutter passing, signals were
exchanged, and the Deal smuggler was hotly pursued by the
two revenue boats, until she ran in close to the shore. The
contraband goods were demanded by the customs officers; a
demand that was promptly and firmly declined. A large
number of people had congregated on the beach, and seeing
that the revenue people were determined to have their way,
they pelted the government boats and men with stones. An
officer levelled a blunderbuss at the smugglers, and called on
them to surrender at once, or he would fire. " Fire and be
damned ! " was the reply, on which several of them were
brought down by a shower of slugs. They then suffered them-
selves to be quietly taken ; the spoil amounting to over 1 50
tubs of brandy and other goods.

In 1783 the custom officers were apprised of the secretion
of 1,500 casks of spirits in various warehouses in Deal. The
revenue authorities, together with forty-seven dragoons under
the command of a Captain Pennyman, proceeded from Canter-

149

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

bury to confiscate the goods. Arriving at Deal they were
surprised to find that the smugglers had received intelligence of
their projected visit, and had made every preparation to receive
them. The troops were fired upon from behind walls and win-
dows, while cables had been stretched across the streets to
impede their advance. The smugglers thus had every advan-
tage, and the heavy firing forced Captain Pennyman and his
company to retire, not, however, before they had broken open
one warehouse and seized a large quantity of spirits, coffee,
and geneva. The press of that time revelled in exaggeration
regarding this affair, stating that a most desperate battle en-
sued, involving the loss of twenty lives, but it is doubtful
whether any serious loss of life occurred. The King's pardon
and a reward of £100 was offered for information leading to
the arrest of the offenders.

At the instigation of Mr. Pitt, in 1784, a large number of
the Deal luggers, which, it being winter, were drawn high up
on the beach were seized and burnt. A whole regiment of
soldiers was sent down to put this raid into execution, but
news of their intention, having leaked out, every publican and
lodging-house keeper removed his sign, and the troops ex-
perienced considerable difficulty in finding quarters. Eventu-
ally they took advantage of the offer of a large barn situated
just outside the town, which the owner would only let on a two
years' lease. The weather being severe, they were perforce
obliged to accept this hard bargain.

The wars in which England became involved consequent
on the French Revolution, caused the energies of the govern-
ment to move in other directions, and the smugglers were not
slow to take advantage of this. Deal became infested with
gangs of smugglers, and the longshore men of the town gained
a great reputation for courage and gallantry in combating
these marauders. With the termination of the war in 1815 a
vigorous coast-blockade was put into practice. Frigates and
cutters were stationed in the Downs, and armed patrols placed
at regular intervals along the coast, with orders to search and con-
fiscate any boats and arrest any persons suspected of harbouring
contraband goods. But the smugglers were as keen as the
blockaders, and the situation became a veritable battle of wits.
False keels, hollow masts, and other ingenious secret hiding-
places, were fitted on the Deal luggers, by which means they
still managed to elude the excisemen. When, however, one of
the government cutters, the " Ganymede," under the command

150

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

of one McCulloch, succeeded in bringing off in rapid succession
three or four well-organized coups against the smugglers, it
became pretty evident to them that one of their own party
was giving information. For some time successful government
raids had been made upon cargoes, and the smugglers were
quickly on the alert to detect the informer. Suspicion fell upon
two men named Smith and Pain, and with these desperadoes
suspicion was as good as proof positive. They had their
revenge in a characteristic and barbarous manner. While
quietly walking along the street in the middle of the day,
Pain was seized by a number of men, thrown violently into a
cart, stripped naked, and conveyed in that state through the
streets of Deal, exposed to the public gaze. The process of
tarring and feathering was then gone through. Smith was
shortly afterwards pounced upon and treated in the same way.
Public sympathy was entirely with the smugglers, and the
processions through the town were allowed to pass unhindered.
Although the smugglers were brutes, and treated anyone
having the misfortune to fall out with them with marked
severity, the government men were no better in this respect.
In 1710 a Swedish merchant, named John Oriel petitioned
the Queen with regard to the harsh measures adopted by an
English gunboat towards a suspected smuggler. Oriel came
to England on a Swedish ship, the " Hope," which on pro-
ceeding up the Channel, encountered the " Fowey," a govern-
ment cutter commanded by Captain Chadwick. The latter
sent off a boat to the merchantman, by which several of the
passengers were conveyed on board the " Fowey." Among
these was an old Swede named Olaf Norson Norborg. Frantic
cries were shortly afterwards heard, and the petitioner found
that the old man had been seized and pinioned to the mast.
Burning matches were placed in the unfortunate victim's hands
and a cat-o'-nine-tails produced. Captain Chadwick suspected
the " Hope " of carrying contraband goods, and adopted this
treatment towards Norborg thinking he would confess. On
the strength of the Captain's suspicion the Swedish boat was
conveyed to Plymouth. It came out at the Admiralty hearing,
later, that the brutality to which Norborg had been subjected
on board the " Fowey " had caused his death, and Oriel's
petition was on behalf of his family. The petition requested
that Captain Chadwick should be dismissed from Her Majesty's
Navy, but history does not record whether justice was meted
out in this respect.

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

In 1702, Richard Tomlin, a Deal pilot, petitioned the first
Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Pembroke, regarding
treatment received by him in his capacity of pilot of the
port of Deal. While conveying a ship through the Downs to
London he was passed and hailed by a tender of H.M.S.
Ranlegh. The latter asked Tomlin where his ship was from,
and where bound for. Tomlin replied that she was from Cadiz
and under way to London. The Deal pilot evidently thought
that quite sufficient information, and on being asked her cargo,
facetiously remarked " Hen's teeth ! " This retort roused the
ire of the Captain of the tender, who sent a boat, and had
Tomlin brought on to his ship. Here the indignant Captain
" ordered him to be bound to two handspikes in the windlass
and stript, and then Lieutenant Ledger gave him ten stripes
with a two inch cord, by the order of the Captain, and two
more for his own satisfaction, detaining your petitioner there
near three quarters of an hour before they discharged him."
As a gale was blowing at the time there was great danger of
the Cadiz vessel running aground. Tomlin received no redress
for his treatment, beyond a suggestion that he should sue the
Captain of the tender in a court of law. Nothing more can be
traced of the matter, and the probability is that Tomlin did
not avail himself of the generous suggestion.

Near the village of Acole in Kent is a deep chalk pit,
known as the " Smuggler's Leap," the scene of " Ingoldsby's "
fine legend of Smuggler Bill and Exciseman Gill, noted
hereafter.

In the autumn of 1773, a seizure of silk goods to the value
of £15,000 took place, and yet a little later, a troop of Custom
house officers headed by one Tankard, overtook some smug-
glers at Dartford, as they were quietly watering their horses.
Twenty-eight horses were captured by the revenue men and
found to be heavily laden with lace, silk and tea. The smugglers
fought bravely, however, and only one was taken.

The Kentish Gazette in 1777 records that " on Monday last,
Mr. Harris, Officer of Excise, and Mr. Wesbeach, Surveyor of
the Customs at Ramsgate, attended by six Dragoons, met with
a body of smugglers at Birchington, consisting of at least a
hundred and fifty, armed with loaded whips and bludgeons.
After a smart skirmish, in which the smugglers had many of
their horses shot, they made a very regular retreat, losing 8
gallons of brandy, 95 gallons of Geneva, 162 pounds of Hyson
tea, and five horses."

152

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

The audacity of the smugglers was amply proved when, in
1781, a party of them brought an action against the Captain
and crew of a government cutter for seizing 'and detaining
their vessel and cargo, consisting of tea and rum, valued at
^"3,000. The defendants contended that they were smuggled
goods, and the statement was not denied, but Lord Lough-
borough, the judge, although agreeing with the Captain that
the cargo was contraband, decided that it was apprehended
when beyond the contraband laws at sea. The jury awarded
the smugglers .£3,000 damages.

Centuries back most of the inhabitants of the now handsome
watering-place of Folkstone, were fishermen and incidentally
smugglers, who resided in the clefts and hollows of the chalk
cliffs, while the now fashionable promenade and Leas were
the scene of many successful smuggling exploits. It was here
that a trick was worked successfully by an importer, who
contrived to regain possession of some goods that he had
purposely caused to be seized. This enterprising dealer im-
ported into Folkestone a case of gloves on which he refused
to pay duty, when of course the goods were confiscated. Into
London, the same gentleman imported a similar case, and
again refused to pay the custom duty; the seizure of the
goods following as a matter of course. On the cases being
offered for sale respectively at Folkestone and London, as
was the custom with all confiscated property, it was found
that one box contained all right-hand gloves, and the other
all left-hand gloves. To all appearances valueless, they were
sold for a mere trifle, and the buyer — who was also the
importer! — paired the gloves, and congratulated himself on a
good transaction.

The following is culled from the pages of a dusty old
magazine of the last century:

Folkestone in Kent. Mr. Phillips, the Head Supervisor of
the Customs in this county, was here on the 22nd past, and
arrested several of the most noted smugglers, and sent them
to Dover Castle: upon which the rest fled out of the town
with the utmost Precipitation. He had the week before arrested
several at Dover for the like Practices; so that 'tis thought,
by this, and the many Seizures lately made, the practice of
Smuggling will soon be at an end in this County.

Mr. Jordan, a custom-house officer of Folkestone, had his
house broken into by smugglers, who destroyed a goodly por-

153

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

tion of his property, and carried off his plate. One of the house-
breakers, " with lace ruffles," was shot dead.

[To be continued.]

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from p. 75-]

SWINGFIELD.

1560.

HAT they have no vicar nor curate, but they have a
minister that serveth alternate vicarages.

They have no Paraphrase. — (Fol. 23 ; vol. 1560-84.)

1578. Our chancel walls lack washing over and plastering
in one place.

That we had no preaching by any since the last Visitation
(our curate excepted), whose order hath been the last year,
every Sunday to expound to our edifying some part of the
articles of our faith, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's
Prayer.— (Fol. 15; vol. 1577-83-)

1580. See under Badlesmere in Vol. vii, p. 212

! 585. — Robert Ralfe and Ambrose Collard, the church-
wardens, that they have sold certain lead away, which was
upon the church. That the steeple wanteth reparations and
that they have not presented the same. — (Fol. 6.)

1586. We, the churchwardens, present our steeple to be
now at this time at reparations, viz., the stone work is some-
what decayed and wanteth reparations. — (Fol. 8.)

1588. We have a fair Bible, but not of the new translation,
and that our Books of Homilies are out of order, that is to
say, rent, but we will presently repair them.

Both the church and chancel are somewhat out of repara-
tion, but we will amend it. — (Fol. 54.)

154

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1590. Our minister hath not this Lent said any service on
Wednesdays and Fridays.

That we have had but two sermons this year, but our
minister doth read the Homilies orderly.

There is in our church one place in a piece of new work,
where in time of rain there doth issue in water, the which we
would have mended before this time, if we had got a work-
man.—(Fol. 88.)

1591. That John Hammond, deceased, churchwarden, sold
away our church-house, worth £5, and never accounted for
the same, nor yet his executrix, who was Elinor his wife, and
now the widow of Edward Piper, deceased. — (Fol. 118.)

1592. These shall be to signify unto your Worship, that, as
the report is, Thomas Hamon by his last will gave unto the
poor of Swingfield £5. Since his death Eleanor Piper widow,
his mother, hath taken administration of his goods, and so
his will is unproved, and the poor without their money
[given] to them by the said Thomas's bequest. — (Fol. 141 ; vol.
1585-92.)

On September 20 the church-wardens of the parish appeared
before the Official to explain why : —

They had not gone the perambulation of the parish this
year, and that they have not a convenient and decent pulpit
in the church, being evil to [get] up into, and too deep, and
no desk unto it.

There is no convenient seat for the minister to sit, to read
the divine service, but only a board or desk nailed up.

There is a grave in the church that is sunk down which is
an annoyance to the parishioners.

That there are certain of the parish, one or more, that have
and do misuse the minister as well in the church as the
church-yard, and specially did chide with him in the church
or churchyard, and called or termed him " bad-fellow."

That all the defects abovesaid be notorious, and yet you
have not presented any of them.

The churchwardens confessed ; saving as touching the mis-
chief offered and done towards their minister, Daniel Button
knoweth not anything. But Thomas Tresser said that about
Lammas last, a little before harvest, Robert Symons of their
parish did quarrel and chide with their minister in the church

155

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

and church-yard, among which his chiding and quarrelling,
he called or termed him " bad-fellow."— (Fol. 66.)

The certificate for the reparation of our church, whereunto
we were enjoined, made October 30, 1591 : — These shall be to
certify unto your Worship that we have gone our perambula-
tion, and have set in the bounds of our parish, as we were
enjoined.

Further we signify unto your Worship that we have made
a decent seat or pew for our minister to sit in, and also have
amended our pulpit, and also have reared the grave as we
were enjoined.

Thomas Tresser \ churchwardens.
Daniel Button J

(Vol. 1585-1636, fol. 66.)

1605. We have no convenient cover cloth for our Com-
munion Table.

We have not the Ten Commandments yet.

We have no convenient pulpit, neither conveniently placed,
as our minister hath informed us.

We have such a chest, but not orderly kept, for the alms of
the poor.

We have no cushion and cloth for our pulpit. — (Fol. 53.)

Our minister confesseth he doth not1 He sometimes wears
the surplice ; and we think he doth not cross them [children
at baptism].

When on June 28, Robert Twisden, curate of Swingfield,
appeared, he confessed : — That he hath not used heretofore
to sign children, being by him baptised with the sign of the
cross, but saith that having conferred with Mr. Archdeacon
thereabouts, is resolved to use the same sign, and will use it
hereafter.— (Fol. 58.)

1606. That the persons hereunder named do refuse to pay
their several cesses hereunder mentioned, made and cessed
for the reparation of the parish church : —

Robert Rolfe the elder, 2s. ^d.
Richard Coller, is. 6d.

1607. We have no such [parish] clarke that can read, but
the accustomed wages are paid him. — (Fol. 125; vol. 1602-9.)

1 The question is not recorded ; its purport mdy be inferred from what
follows.

156

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

On December 17, 1661, John Simons of Swingfield appeared
in the Archdeacon's Court and stated : — That he is now
Lieutenant of the Trained-band for the Hundred of Folke-
stone, and is owner or proprietary of the mansion-house
called Smershall, with a great quantity of land and other the
appurtenances thereunto belonging, together with a very fair
estate in fee-simple, situate and being in the parish of Swing-
field. And that there are five seats or pews situate in the
body of the parish church, which anciently have time out of
mind belonged unto the owners and inhabitants of the
mansion-house with the appurtenances called Smershall, to
sit and kneel in to hear Divine Service, in the church of
Swingfield, at all times when Divine Service,! prayers and
sermons are celebrated within the same church ; and that
about seven years since, these pews formerly being much
gone to decay, low and worn out, the said John Simons at his
own proper cost and expense caused the same two pews to
be new birthed [floored], heightened, and amended, with new
doors and every thing belonging, with wainscot and other
material, very convenient and handsome for him and his wife
and family for the purpose aforesaid, at the time aforesaid to
sit and kneel; which several pews are in length each about
seven foot of a size, and about four foot of assize [sic] either
of them in breadth, they both of them standing together in
the parver alley [side aisle] uppermost next to the pulpit ; the
said Elisabeth [Simons] and her daughter sitting in the fore-
most of them, and the said John and his sons in the other of
the two pews.1 — (Fol. 47 ; vol. 1639-86.)

1662. Our church and steeple thereunto belonging of late
times hath been out of repair, and so hath our font also; but
at this time our church is repairing and near finished. Our
steeple and font is likewise in repairing, but cannot speedily
be finished. But we desire from the Court a convenient time

1 In Parson's Monuments in Kent (1794), p. 420, are given two grave-
stone inscriptions in Swingfield church :

(1) Here lieth the body of Richard Simons, late of Smershali in Swing-
field, being of the age of 63, and left issue two sons and two daughters,
who died the n December, 1641.

(2) To the pious memory of John Simons, gent. He died the 21
October, 1677, aged 69 years.

" Here a lieutenant of a royal band
Interred ; whose loyal life, etc."

Arms :— Parted per fess and pale, three trefoils slipped. — Hasted, iii, 352.

157

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

to repair them, and we intend to have them repaired with all
speed that conveniently may be. — (Fol. 57.)

1663. We have no pulpit-cloth, nor herse-cloth for the
decent burial of the dead as is required. — (Fol. 94 ; vol.
1639-86).

[To be continued.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

y y NPUBLISHED MSS. RELATING TO THE HOME COUNTIES
IN THE COLLECTION OF P. C. RUSHEN.

1675, Feb. 3. — Mortgage by demise for 1000 years by William Owtrem of
Sundridge, Kent, gent., to Richard Smith of the same, gent., to secure .£300, of
a messuage called "Fowlehall" with lands of 63 acres in the parish of Yalding,
Kent, then occupied by Thomas Symons. Repayment provided for £9 on
4 August then next, and ^309 on 4 Feb., 1677 (sic). Executed by Owtrem.

1677, Aug. 14. — Deed of Covenant establishing a mortgage in fee between
Bennett Carman of the Strand, near the Savoy, Middlesex, haberdasher, and
Bennett Griffin of St. Martin's, Ludgate, stationer ; Reciting that John Corrance
of St. Martin's in the Fields, esq., and Francis Gregory of the Strand, woollen-
draper, executors of the will of Sir Joseph Colston, lent., deceased, together with
the said Griffin, by a deed of even date, conveyed to the said Garman in fee two
tofts or parcels of land in the Ould Bayly, London, and the houses, etc. , thereon
then lately built, for ^574, £$QQ of which was money belonging to Garman ; it was
covenanted if Griffin paid to Garman the said £$<x> on 21 Aug., 1681, Garman
should convey the premises to Griffin ; Garman was to hold the premises in the
meantime, so long as interest on the said ^500 was paid, as therein provided for.

Executed by Griffin.

1686, July 10. — Assignment of mortgage in fee. John Corrance of St. Martin's
in the Fields, Middlesex, esq., surviving executor of Sir Joseph Colston, knt.,
deceased of the 1st part, Bennett Griffin of the Old Bayly, London, stationer, of
the 2nd part, and Dame Anne Colston, widow of the said Sir Joseph, of the 3rd
part. Reciting a lease and release, dated 12 and 13 June, 34 Charles II (1682),
whereby James Bridges of {St. Mary, Savoy, coateseller, Bennett Garman, then of
St. Clement Danes, haberdasher, since deceased, and the said B. Griffin, conveyed
to the said John Corrance and Francis Gregory, then of St. Martin's in the Fields,
woollendraper, since deceased, the other executor of the said Sir Joseph, a parcel
of ground whereon a messuage stood, which was burnt down by the then late
fire in the City of London, containing I cellar, I shop, I parlour, ti kitchen,
with a yard, 4 chambers, and I garret, in the occupation when it stood of one
Butler, cold-wyer-drawer, and also another parcel of ground whereon another
messuage stood, which was burnt down by the said fire, kno\7n by the name or
sign of " The Griffin," formerly in the occupation of one William Burrel, Citizen
and Girdler of London, and at and for some time before the said fire in the
occupation of one Samuel Turping, which said parcels were situate in the Old
Bayley, in the parish of St. Martin's Ludgate, and the messuages thereon then
lately built in the possession of the said Griffin and Thomas Stroud, subject to a
proviso for redemption on payment of £1$ on 13 Dec. then next, and ^515 on

158

NOTES AND QUERIES.

13 June, 1683. And reciting that the principal sum of ^500 then owing was part
of the personal estate of the said Sir Joseph, who by his will, dated 2 Feb., 1673,
bequeathed to the said Dame Anne legacies amounting to ^"1500, of which £800
then remained due. It was witnessed that Corrance and Griffin conveyed the
premises to Dame Anne with the principal sum and interest due thereon, subject
to the proviso for redemption, in part satisfaction of the said sum so due to her.

Executed by Corrance and Griffin.

Endorsed with receipt for £60, 2 years' interest on the mortgage, due to the
said Dame Anne out of the estate of her late husband.

FREEMAN FAMILY, GREENWICH AND VICINITY (1700-1800). — I would
be exceedingly grateful for any genealogical data regarding the
Freeman family of Greenwich, Deptford, Blackheath, and vicinity,
1700-1800, particularly as associated with Arundel, Clifton, Day,
Halley, Hawley, Pike, Pyke, Price, Sharpe, Stewart or Stuart families.
Please reply direct. — EUGENE F. McPiKE, 135 Park Row ', Chicago^
U.S.A.

REGENT'S PARK: CENTENARY. — It is curious how, for the most part,
the Press has been silent over so highly interesting an event as the
approaching centenary of this priceless " lung " of ours. The Observer
recently quoted thus from its issue of 22 December, 1811:

The Regent's Park in Mary-le-Bone Fields is rapidly pre-
paring. The Circus is completely formed, and enclosed by
an oak paling. The workmen are at present employed in
planting laurels, firs and other evergreens. The ride round
the Circus is nearly made; the latter is intersected by other
roads, the principal of which leads to the New Road, opposite
Portland Place.

It is to be hoped we shall, in due course, find further extracts from
the same quarter chronicling the progress and final completion of this
extensive undertaking. The Park must be probably unique in con-
taining within its area three Societies, namely the Zoological, Botan-
ical and Toxophilite, There was also a while ago the well-known
Coliseum, with its panorama of Lisbon, etc., which stood, I think,
upon the site of Cambridge Gate. Few avenues of chestnut trees can
compare with that in the Broad Walk and few public places can
boast richer or more carefully tended flower-beds. Regent's Park is
indeed a possession to be proud of. — CECIL CLARKE".

159

REVIEW.

URVEY OF LONDON, issued by the joint Publishing Committee
representing the London County Council and the Committee
for the Survey of the Memorials of Greater London, under the
general editorship of Sir Lawrence Gomme (for the Council)
and Philip Norman (for the Survey Committee). Vol. iii. The
Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields (Part i); Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Published by the London County Council; pp. xix, 136;
98 plates.

This volume reflects the greatest credit on all concerned with its production.
The historical sketch of the history of the site is a monument of patient research
and skill ; the research, we are told, is the work of Mr. W. W. Braines, an officer
of the Council in charge of the Library and Records department, and his investiga-
tions prove his competence for the work intrusted to him. The result is eminently
satisfactory, for though the history of the Fields cannot be traced back beyond the
fifteenth century, from 1431 the story is wonderfully complete. The preservation
of the Fields as an open space is mainly due to the repeated protests of the
Society of Lincoln's Inn, which even went so far as to assert a title to the free-
hold, a "legal fiction " perhaps justified by the end in view. Whatever the strict
moralist might think of such a course, the owners and intending builders in 1657
fought shy of contesting a claim made by so formidable a body, and agreed to a
limitation of building line. From that time until its acquisition by the London
County Council in 1894, several suggestions were made for utilizing the centre of
the square. In 1699 Mr. Cavendish Weedon of Lincoln's Inn proposed to build a
church there, an idea which was renewed in 1712, 1819, and 1824. In 1842 Sir
Charles Barry prepared a plan for the erection of new Law Courts here, and his
design, if it had been carried out, would have made the Fields one of the finest
places in Europe. We believe that the original model of the church designed by
Sir Christopher Wren for Mr. Weedon is still preserved at Lincoln's Inn ; it takes
to pieces in various directions, like a complicated doll's house, and so gives dif-
ferent views of the interior with its fittings.

The remainder of the text deals with individual houses, with descriptions and
details, and (quite as important) lists of the more distinguished inhabitants, taken
from Rate Books, Hearth Tax Rolls, and other sources. The short biographies
of many of these are excellent work. Bibliographical references are also given to
each house, lists of old prints and views, and of photographs, drawings, etc., in
the Council's collection. The whole scheme is excellent and the volume a store-
house of information. And this brings us to our first grumble. It is sheer folly to
print a work of first-rate importance as a reference book on the so-called "art "
paper, loaded with china clay. Apart from the objections as to the unpleasant
glazed surface and the great weight, it is well known that the clay surface flakes
off after a lapse of time. We doubt whether in fifty years there will be a perfect
copy remaining, and we urge most strongly upon the Joint Committee that this
serious error of judgment shall not be repeated in any future publications. Our
second (and last) grumble is at the singularly feeble drawing of the coats-of arms ;
they are poor, lifeless ghosts of things, quite unworthy of the book. For Mr.
Riley's drawings of various architectural details we have nothing but praise, and
the photographs, which form the bulk of the plates, are excellent.

160

ESSEX INNS: THE "MAYPOLE" AND
OTHERS.

BY T. C. HEATH.

a delicious inn, opposite the church — suchbeauti-
ful forest scenery — such an out of the way, rural place,"
says Dickens, writing, seventy years ago, to his friend
Forster, inviting him to a day's outing at Chigwell. The
delicious inn in question was " The King's Head," most
famous of Essex hostelries, for everybody (practically) has
read Barnaby Rudge, and most people know that the " May-
pole," where many of the incidents of the book took place, is
the old " King's Head," which has stood on the road that
leads from London to Ongar any time this three hundred
years. It is safe to say the building dates from, at least, the
period of the first James, and it is equally safe to say that
Dickens, in depicting the " Maypole," had in mind none other
than "The King's Head." "More gable-ends than a lazy
man would care to count on a sunny day,!' he says, with an
exaggeration pardonable in a novelist, " huge zigzag chimneys,
overhanging storeys, drowsy little panes of glass, a front
bulging out and projecting over the pathway;" these are
features which still remain as when he wrote, and which, with
carven beams and the rest, have been from the very beginning.
He called his inn the " Maypole," it is true, and he placed
before it " a fair, young ash, thirty feet in height," after which
the sign was named, and put an " ancient porch, quaintly and
grotesquely carved " in front of the door, which porch neither
in 1775, the date when the story begins, nor at any other
period, is at all likely to have existed, by reason that the
roadway is much too narrow to have permitted of such an
obstruction to the wheeled traffic; but it would be a poor
novelist that could riot improve upon the materials he found
to his hand. Dickens, who knew the neighbourhood thoroughly
—he says in the letter already quoted, " Chigwell, my dear
fellow, is the greatest place in the world " — doubtless knew the
" Maypole," a mile and a half away at the hamlet of Chigwell
Row, and used the more poetical, more rural sign in prefer-
ence. The house, by the way, still stands, its occupation gone,
xiv 161 M

ESSEX INNS.

a new " Maypole " having been built upon a site a little
removed from the older structure.

Anyhow, " King's Head," or " Maypole," or whatever one
chooses to call it, there stands the old inn as it has stood for
centuries, a place beloved of the myriad admirers of Dickens,
and, above all, of his admirers from across the Atlantic. " They
come here in their hundreds," says mine host, as we stand
together in what has come to be known as "The Chester
Room," from the fact that it is the room in which Sir John
Chester, according to the novel, awaited the owner of the
Warren ; it is even claimed that a portion of Barnaby Rudge
was actually written there. " They want to take away every-
thing. Untold sums have been offered me for that," he
continues, pointing to the fine carved chimney, quaintly
picturesque with its " Ionic " columns and other " classical "
ornament of the period when it had birth, " and I could have
sold those chairs over and over again for thirty pounds or
more each." We walk to the far end of the room to inspect a
trio of the round dozen of high-backed, elaborately carved
chairs standing around, which doubtless in their time have
seated many a roystering cavalier. Each and every one — so
precious are they — bears a label " Not to be used," and, when
one of these is lifted, the discovery is made that some in-
veterate relic hunter whose zeal has outrun his honesty has,
evidently with a watch spring saw, surreptitiously despoiled
it of the lion's head in high relief which forms a prominent
feature of the general design.

Time was when the Court of Attachment, or Forty Day
Court, was held in this same room, and afterwards, somewhere
in the early years of the last century, a portion of the structure
was used as a boarding-school. It has been affirmed that in
days long remote it was a private residence, and it is probable,
seeing how small a place was Chigwell and how unlikely to
need an inn of anything like the size, that the place was
erected originally, perhaps in the reign of Elizabeth, for the
use of the Forest Court. However that may be, an inn it is,
and an inn it is likely to remain as long as the memory of
Dickens is cherished.

As one leaves the inn one naturally glances upwards at the
swinging sign on which appears the counterfeit presentment
of Charles the First, and one wonders whether some memory
thereof, conscious or sub-conscious, was lurking in the mind
of the novelist when he hit upon the happy notion of King

162

ESSEX INNS.

Charles's head, which so much troubled Mr. Dick in David
Copperfield. The sign was painted by Miss Herring, but it
has been renovated from time to time, and probably but little
remains of the work of the original artist.

But though "The King's Head" is, perhaps, the most
widely known of Essex inns — all over the world where
English is a familiar tongue, one may say — there are, within
a space which could be covered on a map of 2-inch scale by
a baby's hand, a score, nay, many, many more, of quaint and
curious and picturesque hostelries. The pedestrian setting
out, let us say, from Woodford, need not possess extraordi-
nary powers to compass the whole district in a short day,
and the cyclist will find the expedition the merest " potter."
Starting at George Lane (South Woodford) station — easily
reached from Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street, at the
cost of a humble shilling return fare, with trains so numerous
that no one would think of troubling to consult a time-table
— the explorer should, on leaving the station, turn over the
line by the level crossing and keep straight on until pulled
up by the hedge which bounds the road along which he is to
turn leftwards; he will thus get clear of villadom and its
necessary shops at once. He will be surprised that the mile-
stone he will presently pass, which bears the announcement,
" 8 miles from London," can be placed amidst such rural
surroundings.

In the course of a mile or so he passes through Chigwell,
with its " King's Head," and a delightful road, practically free
from houses and with glorious stretches of much timbered
verdure on either side, brings him presently to Abridge.
Here at the very entrance of the village he will come
suddenly upon a weather-boarded, timber built structure,
" The Maltsters' Arms," whose sign swings out at right angles
with the front of the building for the benefit of the wayfarer.
You may enter, as did the writer, but, as in so many cases,
you will get no information concerning the history of the inn.
All the tenants can tell you, or indeed appear to care to
know, of the matter is that " it's tarrable old," a fact which,
without possessing any very brilliant powers of observation,
one can see for oneself, as one can also see that the entire
furniture of the bar consists of two beer barrels and some
bottles — it is a beer-house only. It is at least satisfactory to
know that the customers get their beer " from the wood," if
that is a recommendation.

ESSEX INNS.

Yet it has its gateway as if intended for the putting up of
vehicles, and a number of straggling outbuildings beyond,
though they are most likely used simply for storing the neces-
sary agricultural implements of its present proprietor, who adds
the pursuit of husbandry to his calling of licensed innkeeper.
This we learn from an " oldest inhabitant " who opportunely
makes his appearance as we turn the corner into the village
street. Our friend informs us that " The Maltsters' Arms " got
its sign from the neighbouring makings which he points out,
the tile-covered truncated cone peculiar to such buildings,
surmounted by the usual cowl, from which the vapour en-
gendered by the heated malt has years ago ceased to rise.
He remembers when a local brewer used the building for its
legitimate purpose, but that was " a long time agoo an' they
keeps it now as a sort of store place." All he can tell me
about " The Maltsters' Arms " amounts to the fact that " you
used to ha' to goo through t' room to goo upstair, but now
they've had t' stair made up from t' cellar." All of which
would seem to say that in malting times the inn was more
largely patronized, and that the adjoining cottages in exactly
the same style of architecture were then a part of the inn.

Abridge itself appears to be a tiny enough and, it must
be confessed, a pretty enough place. Here is its little
market place — there is a statement to that effect upon the
front of one of the houses, at any rate — comprising less than
half-a-dozen shops, several of them devoted to the needs of
the passing cyclist who thirsts for ginger beer. Here also is
" The Blue Boar Inn," as it modestly dubs itself, for it is
really a hotel, with a great courtyard in the rear and no end
of stabling and carriage accommodation. Yet another hostelry,
" The White Hart," red and new, and therefore uninteresting,
though doubtless excellent of its kind, thrusts itself into
notice, and one wonders what so small a village should want
with inns of such dimensions, until one bethinks oneself that
this is an age of motoring, and calls to mind that caravanserai
to cater for the needs of the tripper — week-ender or otherwise
— are springing up like mushrooms in every direction.

A finger-post points out the way to Theydon Bois along a
road which crosses the Roding and which passes through
meadows, emerald green and bespangled with the gold of
buttercups, to where a road — not much more than a lane — to
the right leads to Coopersale, where is " The Merry Fiddlers,"
making the most of itself with a couple of signs, one swinging

164

ESSEX INNS.

from its front and the other upon the orthodox post. An old
world little hostelry this, standing much as it was built in the
days when our ancestors delighted in huge chimney places
with their cosy corners, the only refuge practically from the
fierce draughts to which open rooms and many doors gave
full play. The big outside brick chimney tells of the fire-
place within the timber-built house, which yet exists, not
quite in its pristine immensity, for piles of brick surmounted
by cupboards take the place of the ancient settles, and a
grate fills the space between, thereby getting rid of the open
hearth of more primitive and less comfortable days. It is a
grate of enormous proportions, telling of times when firewood
was to be had for the asking, or perhaps, more properly, for
the annexing. But the necessity for buying coal, and there-
fore for paying for it, has led to the bricking up of half its
gaping orifice. This is the taproom, furnished with tables and
benches fixed around the walls, and of unpainted deal, as one
would wish. Outside the inn partakes of the same bygone
character, its lower story weather-boarded, its upper of lath
and plaster.

The landlord, though he can tell us nothing of its history,
claims for the inn that it stands in what was the centre of the
Forest in the days of King John. "The place is called
Coopersale," he says, " but that's not its right name. This is
Fiddlers' hamlet, and I've heard people say why it came to
be called Coopersale. There used to be an old man of the
name of Cooper, who brewed his own beer. It was very good
beer, and folks got talking of Cooper's ale, and that's what it
got to be called. I've heard the old people about here say too
that there used to be a Fiddlers' Fair held here. There's lots
of interesting things all round about. Why, there's Hill Hall
— you can see it from the doorway about a mile and a half off
— a year or so ago they moved Queen Elizabeth's bed, and
the carpet and so on from the room where they'd been stand-
ing for years. I saw them, and says I, I've never laid on a
bed of a queen but I don't see why I shouldn't set on one, so
I sets down on the bed. Oh yes, the bed's still there, and the
saddle and other things. They only shifted them. I don't
know as they didn't take 'em away to have 'em done up, and
•her chair and a whole lot of things."

It is a moderate climb to Epping, and you may look over
the bridge as you cross the line and see the nearest bit of
single track to London. Guided by the Decorated tower of

165

ESSEX INNS.

St. John's, almost the last work of the Royal Academician,
G. F. Bodley, the architect of the cathedral of Liverpool and
New York — he died before it was completed — which rises up
before you stately and magnificent, you find yourself presently
in the High Street. It is a wonderful old high street, but
little altered from the time when Farmer George was king —
it would seem to have gone resolutely to sleep when stage
coaches ceased from being. At the first glance it would
appear as if every other house was, or had been, an inn with
its courtyard for carriages, and in truth, in the olden days
Epping was amongst the busiest of coaching places. Let us
look in at the " Thatched House " at nearly the further end,
one of the oldest, doing itself a manifest injustice when it
says, " Established over a century." Somewhere about a
century ago it may have been re-fronted, re-windowed, and
plastered according to the taste of the period, but the back
of the building, which has been much less interfered with,
evidently belongs to a considerably earlier date. Here the
stabling for sixty horses speaks eloquently of other times
than the present. Not many carriages pass nowadays beneath
the projecting upper story which spans the entrance to the
courtyard from the street. Their place has been taken by the
ubiquitous motor, for whose benefit of easy access one of the
pillars which were placed there to support the bow window
by the original builder has been removed. There are many
who yet remember when Epping was by no means the sleepy,
quiet-going place of to-day. Here, for instance, is one of its
older inhabitants enjoying his glass within the hotel, who can
just remember, he tells us, the coaches passing on their way
to and from Newmarket and elsewhere. His memory is more
vivid of the time when the Great Eastern Railway had spread
itself no nearer than Loughton, when twice a day a coach set
out for what was then the terminus, meeting the only trains,
and charging half-a-crown a head for each passenger who
availed himself of its services. He also says that, though
Epping has grown out of all knowledge in his time, the
extension has been confined entirely to land behind the main
street, and that it is there — fortunately for the lover of bygone
things — that the villas of the city men have been run up.

A ride of a mile or so towards London along the high
road, bordered on either side by the Forest, brings us to
the "Bell." Not the "Bell" of our illustration, unfortu-
nately, for that was cleared away half-a-dozen years since.

166

ESSEX INNS.

The inn has been, however, rebuilt in very good style, so
good in fact, that future investigators — assuming modern
houses to last the necessary length of time — may be puzzled
to assign to it its proper date. We may be permitted to
regret the loss of the old house with its plastered, whitewashed
front, its high sloping roof, its tiny paned casements, its
benches and trestled tables, its general air of the bygone. It
was the oldest house in the district, and to our surprise, the
landlord can tell us something of its history. In the olden
days drovers were constantly passing with their herds, des-
tined perhaps for the neighbouring Epping — there is a cattle
market there yet every Friday — or perhaps for further afield,
even to London, and the " Bell " was a great house of call for
these — frequently thirsty — gentry. It is on record that, some-
thing like half a century since, the " Bell " got into the Law
Courts upon the question whether certain drovers who had
been served with refreshment — liquid is, of course, understood
— had come the necessary three miles in order to qualify
them as bona-fide travellers. It was then proved that the
house had been licensed as a house of refreshment for
travellers for upwards of three hundred years, who were en-
titled to be served with such refreshment. It is pretty certain
that the old building dated back to the three centuries. The
landlord's family had held the premises for fifty-five years,
and he was a little proud of the fact that it was " a free
house," the only free house in the road, he said, and that, not-
withstanding, they had dealt with the same firm of brewers
all the time, and that they were the oldest customers on the
books of Charrington and Co. He could chat also of the
Epping Hunt, and could tell us incidentally what is not
generally known, namely that the stag was " blooded " before
the hunt, a vein being opened to make it more easy for the
soi-disant sportsmen who joined in the scramble to run it
down. Apart from that, he thought there was little cruelty in
the proceeding, as the animal was soon captured, and good
care was taken that it should not be injured.

The present building is, as we have said, a very good
specimen of a small country inn, and it is happy in not being
disfigured by the customary brewers' sign-boards — can this
be owing to the fact of its " freedom? " It is picturesque and
characteristic with its boldly broken elevation; and, with the
broad common on the opposite side of the road, saved in
some miraculous way from the land-grabbing legislators of

167

ESSEX INNS.

the latter part of the eighteenth century — perhaps it is part
of the Forest — it has a charming look out. There are even
geese upon the common as we glance across it, though at the
moment, at any rate, we do not see cattle or the cottager's
donkey. That would be too much to expect, perhaps. Let us
be thankful for such mercies as we have.

Still on the same pleasant road the " Wake Arms " comes
shortly into view, an inn of ancient standing, but the existing
building not sufficiently attractive to tempt one to alight.
A road to the right leads to High Beech, where are to be
found inns to one's heart's content, which have attained a
certain amount of celebrity, such as the " King's Oak " and
the " Robin Hood," both intimately associated with the Hunt,
to say nothing of " Dick Turpin's Cave," where you may see
pistols, swords, and other relics, all, more or less authoritatively,
said to have belonged to the redoubtable highwayman.
Descrying an ancient at work in his garden, we inquire if
there are any old inns thereabouts.

" Ees," he says, speaking in the dialect common to the
country before the days of the Elementary Education Act,
" theer be, lots on 'em. Theer's t' old ' Owl ' backen theer be-
yond they trees. You'll ha' to tarn t' right presently an' goo
up a stiffish bit o' hill. That's a old un ; and then theer's
tj ' Dook ' ; that's older still. T' ' Owl ' can goo back a rare bit,
I reckin, but t' ' Dook ' goos back a'most to t' year dot."

Upon the strength of the ancient's recommendation we set
out for the "Owl." The sign of "t'Dook" did not seem
promising. The Duke of Wellington is the gentleman in
question, thought we, and as it turned out we were in the right,
for the " Dook," we were told, was quite a modern house as
such things go. The stiffish bit of hill did not belie its reputa-
tion— it appears that the Essex Automobile Club turn it to
account for their annual hill-climbing competition, as being
about the worst in all the county. Furthermore, flints had
been dumped upon it to the depth of a foot or so, and the
authorities responsible had not yet found time to roll them in.
But at length there was the " Owl," and it was at once evident
it could go back, to use my friend's phrase, " a* rare bit," four
hundred years, the landlady affirmed, on the strength of a
date carved on a beam of the roof which was exposed when
some repairs were being made. However that may be, it
turned out to be a delightful old domicile, its weather-boarded
front half covered with a Virginian creeper, its roof red-tiled

168

ESSEX INNS.

as usual, its door be-porticoed with a wooden erection, which
spoke eloquently of the craft of some local carpentering
genius. There were, too, rustic wooden benches on which
one could rest whilst enjoying the prospect across the valley
below. A flying owl, evidently painted with skill, the work
of a lady amateur as it appeared, but not improved by sub-
sequent " restoration," stood for a sign.

There was a tiny bar-parlour, cosiest of such apartments,
with a tall grandfather's clock — the genuine, not the Wardour
Street article — which ticked away solemnly against the wall,
and a veritable Georgian china - cupboard with spindley
tracery to its glazed doors, which stood modestly in a corner.
Though there were no beams visible, a projection from the
ceiling told of some antiquated arrangement of the fireplace
in the room above, and though the bar-parlour was so small
it was the proud possessor of three doorways. The room
adjoining, long, low-ceilinged, would have formed a fitting
setting for one of Dendy Sadler's pictures. The love of old
things is growing, thanks be, and it warmed our heart to hear
the hostess saying, " Visitors who come here ask me when I
am going to begin to modernize the house, because, they say,
' we shall not come any more. It's so comfortable in the old
way that we don't want it altered in the least.' " She tells me
she has lived there forty years, and that she never tires of the
glorious outlook. Her old people can remember when the
herds of deer were driven up and out of the gateway at the
side of the house. It was a great hunting district, she adds,
so far back as the time of Queen Elizabeth.

A little off the road on the way back to Woodford stands
the " Bald-faced Stag," at Buckhurst Hill ; suggestive enough
sign this of the Epping Hunt already referred to, that delight
of the Cockney sportsman. What was the origin of the Hunt
history sayeth not, and opinions are divided as to the share
the Lord Mayor and Corporation took in its annual celebra-
tion. During the early years of the last century it had
degenerated into a mere rough-and-tumble saturnalia, which
gave an excuse for an irruption of all the roughs of the East
End, thirsting, as well for beer as for the licence the pro-
ceedings permitted, until it became at length so intolerable a
nuisance that, in 1882, it was abolished, root and branch and
for ever. This same " Bald-faced Stag " was one of the inns
which in those times looked for a large accession of feasters
and guzzlers on the Hunt day. It was the custom to carry

169

ESSEX INNS.

the carted stag from inn to inn for the benefit of the various
hostelries and of its custodians, who levied a toll of a few
pence upon those who were desirous of having a peep at the
poor animal. The inn stood in those days as it stands now,
nothing altered, somewhat back from the road, so as to be
seen at its best, with whitewashed walls, a roof of marvellous
pitch and of dormer windows, a Georgian portico, and a bow
window which gives a welcome break to its flat fagade and,
when the sun shines, a pleasant bit of light and shadow.
Stacks of chimneys rise, strong and vigorous, from the afore-
said marvellous high-pitched roof, and there are outbuildings
galore, picturesque and anciently fashioned, to tell of the days
when the roads were alive with hurrying coaches, before the
railway had rendered them comparatively a desert.

So, past the " Horse and Well," formerly the " Horse and
Groom," until the discovery of a certain so-called medicinal
spring which gave Woodford the hope, very shortly dispelled,
of becoming a second Epsom, furnished it with an excuse for
changing its name. Its sign-post is curious in that it is sur-
mounted by a running fox, but since the pseudo-classic
portico, which existed as late as the eighties at least, has dis-
appeared, spoiling altogether the front of the house, there is
nothing else curious or noteworthy about it.

Further on, however, one comes to the " George," an inn, to
judge from certain innate evidence and the testimony of an
almost adjoining row of houses, in essentials very much in the
same style, considerably older than its sign. An endeavour
has been made to bring it up to date therewith, and to an
extent, unfortunately, the endeavour has been successful. It
has been refronted and given the would-be classic doorway —
picturesque enough in itself — of the fashion beloved at the
period, and to which kindly Time has lent a certain charm.
The characteristic brickwork dentils beneath the eaves of the
houses referred to have been improved away beneath a coat-
ing of stucco, and the roof tiles have been replaced by slates,
but the inn has managed to retain in many respects its old-
world appearance. Probably in the coaching days it had its
share of business as a house at which horses and vehicles
could be hired, but the buildings — some of them at least —
have been appropriated long since to some other object. One
of them is occupied by the village saddler, as we may be per-
mitted to call him, for just at this spot there is quite an
absence of the modern villa element, and for a hundred yards

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or so along the high road the village aspect is astonishingly
preserved. Moreover, the " George " owes much of its pleasant
appearance to the greenery with which it is well nigh covered.
A wistaria of great age and enormous gnarled and straggling
branches brightens it twice a year with the glory of its long
spikes of blossom, and its lighter foliage contrasts charmingly
with the dark leaves of the ivy which struggles for its place
on the building. All this is helped by the delicate green of
the lime trees, planted so close to the walls that only the
severest pruning keeps their branches within bounds, so that
the rooms they shadow may have their due amount of light
and air.

A bystander informs us that the house is over three
hundred years old, though he does not give his authority, and
we may be pardoned for receiving the statement with a
certain amount of hesitation. He further tells us that King
George used to ride out here often, and that he planted that
tree, directing our attention to an elm guarded by railings
close to the inn. He does not know which King George it
was, but in proof of the accuracy of his story he points
triumphantly to the fact that this is the " George," and that
the lane leading from it to the railway station is George
Lane. Well, well, history has often been written on no better
evidence, and wishing our friend " Good day," we take the
route which, in part, His Majesty, whoever he might have
been, so often ambled over, and so get back to the line, and
to town.

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA
COMPANY.

BY WILLIAM FOSTER.

[Continued from p. 38.]

ALTHOUGH, as we have seen, the Committees had
their occasional feasts, for the most part they lived
laborious days and took life very seriously. References
to religious topics are frequent in the records. Quite in the
spirit of the time, the arrival of a ship from the Indies in
safety was looked upon as a signal mark of Divine favour,

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requiring due acknowledgment in the form of a service of
thanksgiving, at which the Court attended in state ; while any
unexpected blow to their trading was similarly regarded as
indicating the displeasure of the Almighty. They were
always most careful to impress upon the commanders of their
vessels and the factors in India the importance of religious
observances; and daily prayer, morning and evening, "with
diligent eyes that none be wantinge," was the rule on all
their ships.

In some of their admonitions the spiritual and the material
were mingled in an amusing manner, as in the following
quaint account of the speech delivered by Smythe to the out-
going factors in 1614:

The factors presenting themselves in courte, Mr. Governour
put them in remembrance of their duties both to God and
their maisters that employed them, adviseinge them to live
lovinglie, and dischardge the trust reposed in them conscion-
ablie and carefully, avoydeing all private trade (as hath bene
often admonisht), and employinge their whole endevours for
the good and advantage of the Company and generall
buysines; acquaintinge them with the Companies care to
furnish them with all things needfull both for their spirituall
comfort and the health of their bodies, as alsoe bookes of
divinitie for the soule and history to instruct the mynde ;
gyveinge them likewise to understand how offensivelie some
of their factors and servaunts nowe residing in the East Indies
have carryed themselves in those parts; and therefore ad-
monisht them to be the more respective and shunne all synne
and evill behaviour, that the heathen may take noe advantage
to blaspheme our religion by the abuses and ungodlie be-
haviour of our men.

Naturally, the selection of a chaplain for a ship or settle-
ment was looked upon as a most important duty. As a rule
the candidate was required to preach a trial sermon from a
given text ; l and on the following court day the Committees
would discuss his efforts with the keenness of connoisseurs.
Strict inquiry was made into the antecedents of any minister
seeking an appointment. The verdict on one candidate
(March 22, 1614) was "that there is as ill a reporte goeth of

1 These sermons were usually preached at the parish church, St.
Bennet Gracechurch, which stood at the junction of Fenchurch Street
and Gracechurch Street. It was burnt down in the Great Fire, rebuilt by
Wren in 1685, and destroyed in 1867 to make room for offices.

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him as of any aboute this towne of his coate ; soe that, havinge
many good parts but his lyfe not awnswerable, they were
unwillinge to employe him." And here is a similar case,
recorded on the minutes of the same meeting.

Some haveinge had conference with Mr. Doctour Layfeild
concerninge a preacher, one Mr. Sturdivant, formerlie nomi-
nated unto this Courte, doe reporte his opinion that he hath
a stragglinge humour, can frame himselfe to all company, as
he finds men affected, and delighteth in tobacco and wyne;
which they conceyveinge to be unfit parts for one of his pro-
fession, and him for their employment, lefte him upon those
tearmes.

Just before Christmas, 1616, at the church of St. Dionis
Backchurch, in the presence of the Governor and Committees,
the first native of India to be converted by an Anglican
clergyman was baptized into the Church of England. This
youth, " borne in the Bay of Bengala," was picked up at
Bantam by the Rev. Patrick Copland, chaplain in Best's
fleet; and on his arrival in England (1614) the Company re-
solved to have him placed at school and instructed in religion,
with the idea of sending him out again as a missionary to his
own people. In July, 1615, Mr. Copland was able to report
that his pupil was ready for baptism, which it was thought
should be " publickly effected, being the first fruits of India."
The ceremony did not actually take place until December 22
of the following year, when the convert received the name of
Peter, to which King James (for reasons not easily discernible)
added the surname of Pope. The lad returned to the East
with Copland in 1617, but what became of him is not recorded,
though three letters of his (printed as an appendix to his
tutor's sermon, Virginia's God be thanked, 1622) show that he
was alive in 1620. These letters are written in Latin and
prove that he had mastered that language in addition to
English.

To the London clergy donations were frequently given.
In October, 1614, for instance, the Governor suggested a
grant of money to some of the poorer ministers of the City
" to have their prayers for the good and prosperitie of their
voyadges;" with the result that £100 was placed at his dis-
posal for this purpose, though at the same time the Com-
mittees, with a touch of commercial shrewdness, recorded
their intention " not to tye themselves unto the like annuallie,

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butt as God should move their harts upon occasions pre-
sented."

Such being the tendencies of the governing body, we can
understand the indignation with which they learned that
Captain Saris, who had commanded the first English ship
sent to Japan and was now staying as a guest at the
Governor's house, had shown to several persons certain books
and pictures of dubious character brought home by him.
The matter was at once laid before the Court, as " a greate
scandall unto this Companye and unbeseeminge their gravitie
to permitte ; " and Smythe " assured them of his dislike
thereof, the rather for that yt was in his howse; and therefore
purposed to gett them out of his [Saris's] haunds yf possiblie
he could, to bee burnt or otherwise disposed of as the Com-
pany shoulde thinke fitt, or else to free his house of them and
him both." His remonstrances appear to have been effectual,
for three weeks later

Mr. Governor acquainted them that, greate speeches have-
inge bene made of certaine bookes brought home by Captaine
Saris, which causde the Companie and Mr. Governour's
house to bee censurde, he hath procured them from Captaine
Saris, and shut them up ever since, and nowe hath brought
them forth, that such as have heard derogatorye speeches
used upon the Exchange and elswhere should nowe likewise
be eye witnesses of the consuminge them in the fire, which
he hoped would give satisfaction to any honestlie affected,
that such wicked spectacles are not fostered and mayntayned
by any of this Companie. And thereupon in open presence
putt them into the fire, where they contynued till they were
burnt and turnd into smoke.

Saris had spent many years in the East, and apparently
had acquired views on moral questions which were not at all
to the taste of his masters. Quite otherwise was the unnamed
individual referred to in the following extract from the
minutes of August 29, 1621 :

A note unsealed was delivered to Mr. Governour, sitting
[in] the Courte, and thereinclosed a peece of gould of 22$.;
the direction: "To the Right Worshipfull the Governour and
Companie trading to the East Indies," and it followed:
"Right Worshipful, maie it please you to be certified that
one who in times past was emploied in the service of the
Companie did defraude the Companie in a small comoditie,
under the valew of 2os.; who since, beeing troubled in con-
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THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

science, cann have no quiet till a full restitution be made
to you to whome the wronge was donn, and therefore
restoareth this inclosed, craving pardon for the offence, as
from God, so from the whole Companie."

The Court applauded much the good motion of this partie,
and having freely and unanimously forgiven the offence,
commaunded that the said peece of gould should be putt
into the poores boxe : which by the Companies Secretary was
perfourmed accordinglie.

The minutes for September 25, 1617, furnish an interesting
example of the care with which the City guilds and fellow-
ships maintained their privileges :

A complainte havinge bene formerlie made by the Rulers
of the Porters against Robert Pore, a porter employed by the
Companie in their warehouse, for that he refuseth to submitte
himselfe to bee registred amongst them, or to paye quartridge
to their hall, hee pretendinge that hee is noe porter butt
servaunt to the Companie, havinge never carryed burthen in
the streetes ; and, beeinge free of the Joyners, thinckes much
to bee enforced to paye quarteridge to annother hall. They
thereupon desiringe leave to putt him in suite, these Com-
mittees were entreated to heare and determyne their difference.
And they producinge an Acte of Common Councell for their
aucthoritie, it appeared that, to bridle the abuses of straungers,
whoe thrust themselves without order to carryinge of burthens,
removeinge from place to place, whereby much wronge hath
bene done and the parties nott to bee found, and the worke
taken out of the handes of poore freemen whoe might bee
releived thereby, it was therefore enacted that those Rulers
should cause such personns to register their names with them
and give three pence for the same, and take notice of their
habitacions and removes whensoever they should happen.
Theis Committees conceyveinge the said order to bee very
necessarie and good to maynetaine order in the Cittye, en-
joyned the said Porie to submitte himselfe to bee registred
accordinglye, and to paye the dutye imposed. Butt they
urginge for their quarteridge to their hall, and demandinge
half a crowne for the said registringe, these Committees would
not enjoyne to more then was mentioned in the said Acte,
but lefte them to themselves for any other thinges that shalbe
questioned betwixt them.

The Committees were the recipients from time to time of
many offers of new ideas, from suggestions of voyages to
various unknown countries down to " a virginall that may bee

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had of I4/. or 1 5/. price, for twoe to plaie upon at once ; and
by a pynne puld out one man will make both to goe, which is
a delightfull sight for the jacks to skipp up and downe in
such manner as they will, besides the musique." One man
anticipated a modern invention by a plan for distilling fresh
water from salt ; l nothing came of it, though the idea was
certainly more worthy of consideration than a proposal made
in 1614 that the ships should be supplied from a well in
Suffolk, the water of which would keep five years. In 1619
an " old Frenchman " offered to reveal a way of cutting
asunder the cordage of shipping with cannon shot, provided
he were paid a thousand pounds down and a pension of a
hundred a year for life; the Committees, however, roundly
declared that it was " but a trick," and refused to have any-
thing to do with him. Then, too, offers of service came in
from queer individuals. Thus, in October, 1615, "A younge
man, one John Stamer, by trade a fletcher, made knowne his
suite by wrightinge, that findinge his trade to decaye and
devisinge of some course of life, hee was pincht in his sleepe,
and cald sundrye times in his sleepe by his name, willinge
him to goe to Sir Thomas Smith and proffer his service for
the East Indyes." Apparently the Committees thought there
might be something worthy of respect in these supernatural
promptings, for they resolved to grant the applicant's request
and employ him on board one of the ships under the eye of
the master.

But perhaps the strangest subject of debate recorded during
this period is the following. " The Kinge of Sumatra have-
inge manifested his affection to this nation by desyringe His
Majestic to graunte him one of his subjects for wife, with
sundrye proffers of priviledges to such yssue as God shall

1 A similar project was submitted by a foreigner in December, 1623,
but the Court would say no more than that if the project could be proved
feasible they would adopt it and reward the inventor. During the dis-
cussion on this point " it was remembred that Capteyne Towerson, beeing
scanted of fresh water, with the help of stilles did draw both water and
houlesome water" — an interesting episode which does not appear to be
on record elsewhere. Later on, in November, 1640, "a proposition was
this day presented by letter from Mr. Mathew Cradock, made unto him
by two Germans, for the extractinge out of sea water fresh water which
would never putrify but bee very usefull for their shipps in their voyages
to the Indies upon all occasions, and for instance a glasse of the said
water was presented to the Court. But the Court being full of other
busines could not at this tyme give any resolution heerein, but referred
the same to further consideration."

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send unto them, a proposition was thereupon red, made by a
gentleman of honourable parentage, whoe proffereth his
daughter in marriage unto him, she beinge knowne to some of
this Company to bee a gentlewoman of most excellent parts
for musicke, her needle, and good discourse, as alsoe very
beatifull and personable." This extraordinary proposal occa-
sioned much discussion. Some thought it an excellent sug-
gestion, inasmuch as "the marryage may (by the secreete
providence of God) be a means for the propagation of the
Gospell and very beneficiall to this Countrye by a setled
trade there." Others considered that no good was likely to
come out of such an alliance, either to the Company or to the
young lady. In the end it was decided to defer a decision
until they could learn whether " the action ytselfe may by the
judgment of the learned fathers of the Church bee approved
and held lawfull." Three weeks later the matter came up again.
" The gentleman prosecuteth his former proposition for his
daughter's goinge to the Kinge of Sumatra, and haveinge
heard of certaine objections made by some divines, hath
collected certaine reasons and sett them downe in wrightinge
to approve by Scripture the lawfulness of the enterprize ;
which were now red and held to bee very pregnant and good."
It was suggested that the King's other wives would probably
poison the young Englishwoman if she should find favour in
his eyes ; but to this her father replied that if His Majesty
loved her he would take the necessary measures to preserve
her against such practices. At last the Court decided that
the question had better be laid before the British Solomon :
" yf hee [the father] could worke His Majesties consent, it was
thought yt would prove a very honourable action to this lande
and His Majestic." As nothing more is heard of the matter,
it may be taken that more sensible counsels prevailed. This
was fortunate for the personable young gentlewoman, as the
Achin Raja — the monarch here referred to — is described by one
of the English factors as " almost a madman, wilful and wild,"
with an unpleasant way of ordering the instant decapitation
of anyone who excited his anger.

Now turn we to our main story. The value of Smythe's
services was fully recognized by the Company, at all events
during the first few years. At the annual meeting of 1609 the
sum of ^"500 was voted to him for "his paines taken in the
place of Governour of the Company for the space of fyve
yeares, in procureing the first and second patents," and other

xiv 177 N

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

benefits. This amount, however, he thought excessive ; and so
" His Worship, lovinglie accepting of the Companies kindnes
herein, utterlie refuced to take the oath of Governor untill the
Company were first contented to take backe of his said grati-
fication the some of £250. The residue His Worship kindlie
yealded to take." In 1614 another £500 was voted to him,
and in the following year a thousand marks [£666 1 3^. 4^.].
The minutes for 1616 and 1617 are missing, and we have no
means of telling whether any further payment of the kind was
made in those years. In 1618 and 1619 no allowance was
even proposed — in the latter year avowredly because the
"generality" were discontented and unlikely to grant any-
thing to anybody. The Company was in fact making no
headway, owing chiefly to the troubles with the Dutch ; and
many of the shareholders were inclined to lay the blame on
Smythe's shoulders. To a great extent this was unreason-
able; yet it must be allowed that, for an old man, he had
rather too many irons in the fire. As his epitaph proudly
recites, he was, at one time or another, " Governour of the
East India, Moscovia, French, and Sommer Hand Companies :
Treasurer for the Virginian Plantation : Prime Undertaker
(in the year 1612) for that noble designe the descoverie of the
North-West Passage : Principal Commissioner for the London
expedition against the Pirates, and for a voiage to the Ryver
Senega upon the Coast of Africa: one of the cheefe Com-
missioners for the Navie Roial." It had been well for his own
peace of mind if he had decided to retire earlier; for when
opposition manifested itself his pride was touched and he
only clung the more desperately to office.

The storm broke first in the Virginia Company, the mis-
management of which was largely attributed to him. " It
had become the fashion in Virginia," writes Dr. Gardiner
(History of England, vol. iii, p. 161), "to look upon him as the
source of all the evils that had befallen the colony, and though
there was probably some exaggeration in this, the charges
brought against him were not without foundation. His temper
was easy, and he was lax in his attention to the duties of his
office." After a struggle the reform party prevailed, and at
the election of April, 1619, Smythe, much to his disgust, was
passed over in favour of Sir Edwin Sandys; whereupon
ensued a long wrangle between the two parties, in which the
King's influence was exerted, though without avail, on the
side of Smythe and his friends.

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This agitation could not fail to react upon the East India
Company; and accordingly, on July 2, 1619, we find the
Committees gloomily contemplating the " disturbances and
innovations intended at the Court of Ellection." These, they
declared, originated with certain gentlemen, who, having been
" taken into the Company by courtesie, do ayme to get all
the goverment into their hands," whereas it was " a buysines
proper onlie for merchants, and gentlemen unexperienct to
manage buysines of that nature." As the most effectual way
of dealing with the expected opposition, it was decided to
induce " some person of countenance " to undertake the de-
fence and persuade the generality to re-elect the present
holders of office; and for this duty they decided upon Lord
Digby, better known perhaps by his later title of Earl of
Bristol. Smythe, no doubt, at once posted to court, where he
not only secured Digby's assistance but the promise of help
from a still more influential quarter.

The general meeting took place on the same day. Smythe
opened it with a speech of studied moderation. He had
heard, he said, that " many of the generalitie are discontented
and desirous to have the buysines for the election to be
caryed in another forme then formerly hath bene." For him-
self, he had no wish to retain office ; he and the other members
of the administrative body had done their best for the Com-
pany ; if anyone had charges to bring, let him speak out ; and
in that case he would suggest the appointment of a com-
mittee of investigation, to report at a later Court. Further, as
some doubts had been expressed as to the financial position,
he proposed the election of six or eight auditors from the
general body to go thoroughly into the accounts. A motion
was at once made for the appointment of such a body, but
this was negatived on the ground that the election of the
executive must necessarily be the first business. Then the
winning card was played. Lord Digby rose and said that he
had a message to deliver from the King. In this His Majesty
assured them of his esteem for the Company and his determi-
nation to uphold them against the Dutch, and went on to say
that he much approved the way in which their business had
hitherto been managed ; " and many of them having had
often and free accesse unto him, he knowes the factes of some
of them well, Sir Thomas Smith and some others, and will
not have any alteration of them'' His Lordship then proceeded
to state his own opinion that " this is no convenient time now

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for alterations," particularly as delegates from the Dutch
East India Company had just arrived to negotiate upon
matters in dispute ; " distractions may much hurt the buysines,
and the Dutch may take advantage of innovations, having
given out that they have as good frends at Court as the
English."

This strong intimation of the King's wishes, and of the
damage likely to result to the Company's interests in the
coming negotiations should they be ignored, made the position
of the reform party hopeless. As a last resource, however,
one of their number proposed a vote by ballot

Before any question was propounded, Mr. John Holloway
presented a balletting box,1 to make the election by, a thing
promisd by him in the last yeare, as he said, and now per-
fourmed; but the Lords and others present, houlding it a
noveltye not formerly used nor knowne in theis elections, but
a meanes to disturbe the whole buysines . . . did judge the
aucthour thereof worthie of blame that did present it to in-
terrupt the course intended by so gracious a message from
His Majestic, and therefore caused it to be taken away, and
concluded by erection of hands to have it put by for this
yeare, and election to precede according to the ould manner
without any alteration or innovation.

The result was now a foregone conclusion. Although, for

1 Within the last few years a ballot-box which has long been in use at
Saddlers' Hall has been discovered to be the very box rejected by the
East India Company on this occasion. It is a handsome piece of work,
being richly ornamented in gold and colours with figures of birds, beasts
and flowers, somewhat in Chinese fashion. The box is about eighteen
inches high, and measures at the base eighteen inches by thirteen. In
the front is a projecting mouthpiece into which the hand was thrust in
order to drop the ballot-ball into either the right or the left compartment,
or (if a third alternative were given) into the compartment at the back,
which was ordinarily shut off by a wooden screen. These divisions con-
tain circular depressions, with holes in the centre of each through which
the ball dropped into the drawer beneath. The front of the box is orna-
mented on the one side by the royal coat-of-arms, with the initials "I.R "
(Jacobus Rex), and on the other by the escutcheon of the East India
Company, though in the latter the artist, working perhaps from memory,
has inadvertently substituted a rose for the royal arms in the point of the
chief. On the inside of the lid is the date 1619, which sufficiently con-
nects the box with the one offered to the East India Company in that
year. The Saddlers' Company's records throw no light on the question
how the box came to be in their possession. A photograph of this
interesting box will be found in Relics of the Honourable East India Com-
pany, by Sir George Birdwood and William Foster, London, 1909.

1 80

THE FIRST HOME OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

form's sake three others were nominated with him, Smythe
was chosen Governor " by a generall and free consent."

We have no official account of the 1620 election; but it
appears that the pressure exercised in the previous year was
repeated, for a letter of the time says that on July 4, " Sir
Thomas Smythe without any contradiction was re-established
Governor of the East India Company, by reason of a letter
from the King wishing them not to alter their officers and
committees." No doubt, in invoking this unwarrantable in-
terference, Smythe thought that he was acting in the best
interests of the Company: when a man has enjoyed a long
lease of power, it is natural for him to look upon himself as
indispensable and to regard all opposition as factious ; but it
is none the less to be regretted that this infraction of the
freedom of election granted by the charter should have been
brought about by the very person who had been chiefly
instrumental in procuring the privileges of the Company.

However, this state of affairs could not continue indefinitely.
At last the opposition grew too strong to be resisted; and
when the election for 1621 approached Smythe determined
to give way. The Company met on July 4 in the great hall
of Crosby House. We can imagine the scene: the benches
packed with the " generality " : the little cluster of Committees
and officials at the table at the upper end ; and the bowed
figure of the Governor in the chair he was soon to quit for
ever. Here is the official summary of his opening speech :

Mr. Governour declared unto the Companie the cause of
assembling this Court, which was, according to their annuall
custome, to cruise their officers, and to begin first with the
Governour; and therwithall expressing his owne weakenes of
bodie, said he was not so able for the place as some other
they might make choice of, and therefore if they pleased to
spare him they should see that he could as well obey as com-
maund, and that if they made a worthie choice (as he doubted
not but they would), they should do well for themselves and
for him ; for that he hath good interest in the stock, being an
adventurer almost 20,000 poundes deepe. And therewith
remooved himself out of the chare and satt upon a seate by.

Four names were proposed, including Smythe's, and ac-
cording to custom the candidates withdrew. When they re-
turned, it was to learn that " by erection of hands Mr. Alder-
man Hollidaie was chosen Governour of the Companie for
the yeare ensuinge;" and thereupon the new Governor was

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sworn and inducted into the place of honour. Smythe's
opponents had thus gained what they had so long been
striving for ; and having done this, they were quite ready to
join in recognizing the value of his past services. When,
therefore, Halliday, who was an old friend of his, proposed at
the end of the sitting to invite Sir Thomas's continued co-
operation in the deliberations of the Committees, all present
welcomed the motion.

Mr. Governour mooved the Court that howsoever they had
elected him to be their Governour, yet the long experience
of Sir Thomas Smith and his judgement in th'affaires of the
Companie is such that he should ill be spared at their con-
sultations, and therefore praied them that they would intreat
him to assist them at their meetings; which was done by
manie of the Companie, who also thanked him for the paines
he had taken in the time of his goverment. Sir Thomas
Smith said he would be ready to giv his best advise and
assistaunce at all times when the abilitie of his bodie would
permitt, but when he should speake in a Court of Committees
he would be loth that anie man should stand up and tell him
he had no voice there. They therefore ordered that by an
aucthoritie derived from this Courte he should have a voice
among the Committees, and if anie of those now elected shall
fall of, Sir Thomas Smith shall fill upp that place.

The termination of Smythe's governorship was closely
followed by the removal of the Company's offices from
Philpot Lane to Crosby House.

We should have been glad to say in conclusion somewhat
about the later history of the house in which the' Company
had found its first lodging; but on this subject we know
practically nothing. Smythe himself was living there in
January, 1625, but he retired before long to his house at
Sutton-at-Hone, in Kent, and in that peaceful spot he died
on September 4, 1625, probably from the plague, which was
raging in the neighbourhood at the time. He was buried in
the little church of Sutton-at-Hone. For a drawing of the
tomb, which is a beautiful specimen of a Jacobean monument
and well worth the somewhat tedious pilgrimage from town,
see an article on Smythe by Mr. J. F. Wadmore in Arcluzologia
Cantiana. The epitaph we have already quoted in part.
His will (which included small bequests to the principal
members and servants of the East India Company " to make
them ringes to weare for my sake ") contains no mention of

182

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

any property in Philpot Lane ; but he may already have
made over his house there by deed. If, as is probable, it was
still standing in 1666, the Great Fire wrote FINIS upon its
history. The whole of that neighbourhood was devastated by
the conflagration ; and a certain Mr. Pepys, walking gingerly
about the town on September 5, found " Fanchurch-streete,
Gracious-streete, and Lumbard-streete all in dust."

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

BY J. TAVENOR-PERRY.

PLAXTOLE, although so near to London, may be de-
scribed generally as an " out-of-the-way " place, for it is
three or four miles away from the nearest railway station,
it lies on no turnpike road, and being as protected by its "hilly
bulwarks " as was Jerusalem of old, it is not afflicted with
motor-cars dashing in or out of it to disturb its peaceful
solitudes. Its name, too, is but little known, and how it came
by that name is an interesting enigma, having contrived to get
along during the first few centuries of its existence without it ;
in fact, its name is the most modern thing of which it can
boast. When it first received the name we can pretty well
determine, for the first known mention of it occurs either in
a proclamation attributed to Charles I, or a licence granted
by Archbishop Laud in 1637. But on the question of how it
came by that name we are left entirely to conjecture. A late
Rector, having found the place altogether delectable, fondly
believed that its first name was Placentia, given to it by
some early Roman settler in the parish; but the commonly
accepted derivation of it from Playstool is the more probable.
The word " playstool " is found throughout Kent, and is given
in Pegge's Kenticisms as the piece of land on which the
village Passion or Miracle plays were performed. There is
still a " playstool " south of Benenden churchyard, and Gilbert
White, in his Natural History of Selborne, gives an account of
the "pleystor" in his village; while in Queen Elizabeth's
time there certainly was one at Lydsted by Sittingbourne,
for in the will of Herbert Finch (proved 6 Elizabeth, 1563-4),
we read : Cognitis et vocatis per nomina de . . . Playstool, Play-
stool croft, et Masons grove, cum pertinenciis in Lynsted predicta.

133

PLAXTOLE, A KENTISH VILLAGE.

Doubtless the church of Plaxtole was erected on the " play-
stool " of the parish. How the y was finally converted into
an x is easily understood by those who know how extremely
slight is the difference between the two letters in Court hand,
and how easy it is for any one to make a mistake when
transcribing it in roman type.

The village of Plaxtole may claim to be as old as, if not
older than, the hills by which it is surrounded, and it has
been a place of habitation from the earliest dawn of civilization.
The geologic changes which have occurred in its neighbour-
hood since palaeolithic man first sheltered himself in its valley
have been very great. The little stream which now runs
through its low-lying lands southward into the Medway, once
flowed, a greater river, in the opposite direction, and had
helped to wear away the various strata which once covered
the Weald. On the banks of this ancient river, the bed ot
which can still be traced from Plaxtole into the Darent, lived
the makers of the Eoliths which are still found on the slopes
of Oldbury; and from their day to this, for the complete
denudation of the Weald was a very slow and gradual geologic
change, the place has been more or less occupied. The
modern village itself is built on the escarpment of the Lower
Greensand ; and the alterations in the surface of the Weald
are here very apparent. According to accepted geological
evidence, the chalk of the North and South Downs once over-
spread all the Weald of Kent and Sussex, and has been
gradually eaten out and worn down by the action of streams
which have grown, in Kent into the Stour and the Medway,
and in Sussex, into the Rother, the Ouse, the Adur, and the
Arun. The result of this erosion is the exposure of the
Wealden clays whence the Lower Greensand and the chalk
have both been worn away, leaving to the north and south es-
carpments of rock ; and over the rest of the area, where only
the chalk has been eroded, exposing the Lower Greensand and
the two great chalk escarpments of the North and South Downs.
It is on this band of Greensand between the wooded Weald
and the barren downs — described by local proverb as the
abode of "health and wealth" in contradistinction to mere
" health " on the hills and mere " wealth " in the Weald — that
the more important medieval villages of Kent are built.

The height of these escarpments is very considerable. The
chalk downs at the end of the Plaxtole valley, above Yaldham,
rise to a level of 759 feet above the sea, while the hills at the

184

Plaxtole Church.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

outcrop of the Lower Greensand, a little to the west of Plax-
tole, reach the respectable height of 666 feet; but from the
character of the stone of which they are composed their fall
to the Weald below is much more broken and gradual than
the precipitous edge of the chalk, and their great height is
therefore not so manifest, except from a distance. It was
through this belt of Greensand that the ancient river wore its
way, going northward to the Thames, and the sides of the
Plaxtole valley, which once formed its banks, are now
tumbled masses of rag stone, rising gradually to the hill-
summits on either side, and now rounded and clothed with
the soil overlying them. To these circumstances is due the
charming aspect of the valley; and to these and its sheltered
position may be attributed the continuity of its occupation
through all periods and ages. As all these geologic changes
have for the present left it we will attempt to describe it.

Looking northward from the lofty Wealden hills about
Tonbridge, the entrance to the valley seems but a cleft in the
fir-crowned heights which stretch from beyond Sevenoaks on
the left to Maidstone on the right; but as we approach it and
strike the banks of the little stream which now flows south-
ward through it, we find the sides of it slanting upwards in
easy gradients and disclosing a pleasant prospect of pasture
and cultivated lowland, covered with orchards and hop-gardens,
dotted with tree-surrounded farmhouses, and with wooded
uplands of beech and elm to the summits overshadowed by
dark masses of pine woods. And the valley, winding a little
in its length of three or four miles opens on to the plain of
the Wrotham valley along which the ancient river swept at
the foot of the North Downs, which close the vista. Such is
the Plaxtole valley of to-day; and such it doubtless was, save
for the accidents of cultivation, when Neolithic man reared
the stone monuments of Coldrum and Addington, and forti-
fied the heights of Oldbury, which guard its northern outlet.

There is nothing to determine the date when the Romans
first became acquainted with the locality, although in all
probability it was not long after their conquest of the south
of the country. The Wrotham valley had been occupied by
successive races until the time of Caesar, as we know from
sepulchral remains and earthworks, and was pierced by that
important British trackway, now known as the Pilgrim's
Path, which passed along the lower stopes of the chalk downs.
The great earthwork of Oldbury, no doubt one of the oppida

185

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

sylvis munita^ was too strong a place to be left unoccupied
when the Romans were marching to the Thames. The Weald
end of the Plaxtole valley being almost sealed by the dense
forest of Anderida, on which it abutted, made it very se-
questered, and may have early tempted some Roman to settle
within it. The considerable remains of a villa or other build-
ings found on the western slope of the hill just below the
church, described by Major Luard in vol. 2 of the Archao-
logia Cantiana, were of too fragmentary a character and too
superficially examined to enable us to say much more than
that they occupied a considerable area and must have been
of some importance; while the very beautiful little bronze
statuette of Minerva found among the debris points to the
wealth and culture of the builder and possessor.

This Roman building was probably still in occupation when
the first wave of the Jutish invasion swept along the Wrotham
valley. Here some Teutonic settler may have established his
family, making his Hall among the buildings where he could
avail himself of the warm baths of which all the Saxons were
so fond, and which in turn gave its name of Hall or Hale to
the Hale borough which has lasted almost to our own time ; and
it is not too much to imagine that it remained the chief house
of the neighbourhood until it was deserted later on for another
site on the slope of the opposite hill just across the stream.

Before, however, we proceed to describe any of the existing
buildings in Plaxtole, it is necessary to explain more in detail
the position it bore to the mother parish of Wrotham, as none
of the authorities which first called it into being mention at
all the boundaries of the district. Until the division, Wrotham
consisted of six boroughs which returned borseholders to the
Court Leet of the Manor; these were known as Wrotham
Town, Stanstead, Nepicar, Wingfield, Roughway, and Hale,
and it was the last two, lying at the extreme south and to-
gether occupying the breadth of the Plaxtole valley which be-
came known as Plaxtole. The names of all these six boroughs
survive except Hale, which has lost its identity. Nepicar is
represented by a manor house of that name, Wrotham and
Stanstead are villages with their ancient churches, Wingfield
is the name of an old flour mill with its wheel still worked by
the stream, and Roughway distinguishes some important
paper mills at which the paper for the postage stamps was
made for many years. A rough hill road also bears this ap-
propriate name, and at the foot of it lies a hamlet known as

1 86

Old Sore, Plaxtole.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

Dunks Green, which seems to have taken the place of the old
borough of Roughway.

The building which succeeded to the position of chief resid-
ence after the decay of the Saxon Hall, with what interval we
cannot tell, is now known as Old Sore, of which we give a
sketch showing its northern face as it now remains. It speaks
well for the peaceable character of the valley that the site
selected for this manor house was not in itself a defensible
one, as the slope on which it was built made moated defences
impossible, and it was therefore only constructed to resist, by
its thick walls, any sudden attack from mere marauders. The
manor of Old Sore was an appendage to that of Oxenhoath in
the next parish of West Peckham and belonged to the Preston
branch of the ubiquitous family of Culpeper, by one of whom
the existing building was erected. It is described and plans of
it are given by Sharon Turner in his Domestic Architecture;
and there is a paper on the subject by the late Mr. Wadmore
in volume 22 of the Archczologia Cantiana in which he attri-
butes the building to Walter Culpeper and dates it between
1350 and 1360, while the Rev. Arthur Hussey, who claimed
to have been the architectural discoverer of the place, regarded
it as one of the most perfect examples of domestic architecture
" of the transition period from Early English to Decorated,
towards the close of the I3th century, existing in the King-
dom." The building is in two storeys, the upper floor contain-
ing a great hall, the north gable of which shows in our sketch,
measuring roughly 19 ft. by 28 ft., over a basement covered
with a solid and arched rubble vault. The entrance was on
the west side through a doorway, now hidden by the modern
farm buildings, still retaining some decorative features in a
corbel formed of clustered columns, and giving access to a
turret staircase which in one half turn and the thickness of
the walls found room for steps enough to reach the hall floor.
The hall has at each end a two-light window, of which the
tracery has gone, but still retaining the hooks for the shutters;
and there was a hooded fireplace, now in a damaged condition,
on the side wall. The open timber roof with two principals
consisting of moulded tie-beams, king-posts and braces, re-
mains fairly perfect.

At the eastern angles of the hall doorways gave access to
two other small rooms, that to the north, which shows in our
sketch, being the lord's sleeping chamber, lighted only by
oylets, rebated for shutters, the hooks for which remain ; while

1 8;

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

the corresponding room to the south was the oratory. This
chamber, measuring some 10 ft. by 15 ft, was lighted at the
end by a window similar to those in the hall, and two smaller
ones on either side, and it retains a carved bracket for an
image or candlestick, and a hooded and crocketted piscina
with a cinquefoil head and a hexagonal bason. The basements
of these two angle chambers are merely vaulted cellars ; and
the whole building is a most complete and interesting survival
of the domestic arrangements of a long bygone age.

Hasted says that prior to the building of Plaxtole Church
the oratory of Old Sore was used for church services for the
neighbourhood, under the charge of the Vicar of Wrotham or
his curate; Hussey rejects the story on account of the diminu-
tive size of the building, but Wadmore in his recent paper
repeats the statement. The origin of the story may perhaps
be explained by what we shall have to say later on.

On higher ground to the south-west of Old Sore is another
house associated with the Culpeper family, just now enjoying
the peculiar appellation of "Rats' Castle," which was connected
with a Preceptory of Knights Hospitallers in the adjoining
parish of West Peckham. This Preceptory is said to have
been founded and given to the Knights Templars, before their
dissolution, by a John Culpeper; but it is more probable that
it was founded, as is stated by Kilburne, in 1408 by Sir John
Culpeper of Oxenhoath, one of the Justices of Common Pleas,
for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The
site of this Preceptory is now covered by a large and pictur-
esque half-timber house, commonly called " the Ducks," stand-
ing a little to the south-east of West Peckham Church. Among
the endowments of the Preceptory was this outlying portion
of the manor of Old Sore, and a house, perhaps incorporated
in the present " Castle," may have been built as a residence
for a steward or some other conventual official ; but the build-
ing as we now see it must have been erected subsequently to
the Dissolution. Its original ownership was not at first ignored,
for when, in 1572, it was sold to one Walter Port, a blacksmith
of Wrotham, it was known as "Monks' Place"; but later,
when it passed into the hands of John Turk, Esquire, of
Staple Inn, its name was changed to " Turks." The letters
S. C. stamped in the plaster work of the central dormer may
refer to some forgotten owner, or even to one of the Culpeper
family, which was not extinct in the neigbourhood in the
seventeenth century. The place after being used as cottages,

188

"Rats' Castle," Plaxtole.
Drawn by J. Tavenor-Perry.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

when all the interesting woodwork of the interior was removed,
was used in 1819 as a barracks for the workmen engaged in
rebuilding " Hamptons," who, from the vermin with which it
was overrun, styled it " Rats' Castle."

The "Hamptons" here referred to is a house of some
importance standing in a small park in the south-east corner
of the parish, occupied by the Dalison family, who have
played an important part in the modern history of Plaxtole,
and are still the principal persons residing in it. A house had
been in existence on the present site for some centuries,
and obtained its name from William Hampton, Citizen and
Powchemaker, who purchased the reversion of this portion of
Oxenhoathin 19 Edward IV (1478-9). I nor about 165 5 Frances
Stanley, daughter and heiress of Thomas Stanley, the then
owner of the estate, married Maximilian Dalison and brought
the property to his family. But it fell to the distaff through
three generations of heiresses until Maximilian Dudley Digges
Hammond, the great-grandson of Frances, assumed the sur-
name of Dalison and rebuilt the mansion in 1819. A house
in the village of Plaxtole, known as " the Grange," was built
by Thomas, the son of Maximilian Dalison, early in the
eighteenth century, for his own residence; and it has remained
the dower house of the Dalison family ever since.

There is one other house to be mentioned, perhaps contem-
porary with "Rats' Castle," but without either its historic or its
unpleasant associations; a house of considerable size and
importance, although we know nothing of its story. This is
" Nut-Tree Hall," a long, half-timbered and much gabled house,
standing almost in the centre of the old borough of Hale.
The building belongs to the close of the sixteenth century
and may have been built in two slightly different periods, the
portion rather lower in pitch than the rest, showing to the right
of our sketch, being the earlier. We have no record either of its
founders or its principal occupants, and can only assume, from
its appearance, that they were people of comparative wealth
and position. Unfortunately during the last century it was
used as cottages, and neglect and ill-regulated repair have
done it much mischief. It is now owned and occupied by
Sir William Allchin, the well-known London physician, who
has done what is possible to repair the evil ; but a comparison
of our sketch, fortunately taken before some of the worst
alterations had been made, with the building to-day, will
show the extent of our loss.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

The ecclesiastical history of Plaxtole practically commences
only with the interesting era of Archbishop Laud, but though
so modern it is yet very difficult to follow. We have already
dealt with the origin of the name of Plaxtole, and how it
gradually superseded the name of Hale-borough, which to-
gether with that of Roughway formed the parish ; and we
should mention that although the name of Hale seems now
to be entirely forgotten, Hasted, on his map of the Hundred
of Wrotham, prints the name across the upper part of the
place as the name by which it was, so recently as his time,
known. But apart from the question of the name there is
much uncertainty as to when it was first regarded as a separate
ecclesiastical district and a church or chapel built for the
parishioners. A rector of Wrotham, in a report on the state
of his parish in 1788, preserved among the MSS. at Lambeth,
incidentally refers to his belief that there was a chapel there,
with an ecclesiastical district attached, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth; and this assumption, perhaps supported by evidence
within his knowledge, but now lost to us, seems very reason-
able when we remember the important houses standing at
that time in the neighbourhood, some of which we have just
described, as well as a great number of smaller ones of the
same period, still standing or but recently destroyed, whose
occupants would have made up a considerable congregation.
But there are two or three other pieces of more direct evidence,
one of which seems to prove conclusively that there was some
sort of church before the present building was erected.

The first and most important of these is a licence issued by
Archbishop Laud, dated January 3, 1637, (Laud's Register,
Lambeth, f. 286b.), in answer to a petition of the inhabitants
of the boroughs of Hale and Roughway, granting them per-
mission to use an ancient and decayed chapel within the
borough of Hale then known as " Plaxtoole Chapelle." The
petition states that there are in the two boroughs some 76
families, many members of which are too old, infirm, or
young to attend service at the Parish Church which is three
miles away from some of them and five miles from others,
and pointing out that there is the above named chapel, which
their fathers had used before them, but which had fallen into
a state of disrepair, unusable and possibly profaned, but which
they have now restored and ask for permission to use again.
The licence accordingly grants a " reconciliation " without a
reconsecration, and permits morning and evening prayer to

190

Nut-Tree Hall, Plaxtole.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

be said and catechizing to be held in the chapel by an orthodox
and conformable priest, who is to be supported by the people,
on condition that he and his people shall receive the Eucharist
of the Lord's Supper as often as bound by the canon at the
parish church, that no burials take place except at the parish
church, and nothing shall be done to prejudice the rights of
the parish church or the Vicar of the parish of Wrotham.

Accordingly, the next year, 1638, Mr. Thomas Stanley, of
Hamptons, as related by Hasted, who says nothing of the
licence, gave land on trust producing £7 per annum for the
support of a curate, conditionally on £8 being raised by the
inhabitants for the same purpose.

The result of the restoration of the fabric does not seem to
have quite satisfied the requirements of the people, who appear
to have required a larger building, as we gather from a de-
fective document published in the Bibliography of Royal Pro-
clamations, 1545-1714, edited by Mr. Robert Steele (vol. i,
England and Wales, page 432). It is a proclamation by
Charles, presumably the First, September 22, the date of the
year being missing, as a brief for building a church at Plaxtole.
It states that Wrotham Parish being divided into three, a new
church is being built for Plaxtole, the chapel of ease being
pulled down. A collection is to be made in Kent, Surrey,
Sussex, and Middlesex for two years.

In 1852 the church underwent a restoration and enlarge-
ment, the addition being made to the easternmost bay, and
the east wall and buttresses were rebuilt in the new position
as shown in our sketch. The tablet recording the erection of
the church was refixed in the gable, and two sepulchral tablets
were replaced in the angle formed by the east wall and the
south-east buttress. These tablets had been prepared for the
positions they occupied, with faces sunk back from the
general surface of the walling, and they recorded the deaths
of two members of the Ducke family (there is still a house
called " Ducks" in the village) the one dated 1605, which has
been lately destroyed, and another dated 1617, some frag-
ments of which were preserved for a time in the coal-hole.
These in all probability belonged to the walling of the earlier
church which had been pulled down, though perhaps not
entirely, for the rebuilding contemplated in the proclamation
of King Charles. Another point may be mentioned in favour
of the theory that the present church, if it does not in part
incorporate, stands on the site of the more ancient structure,

191

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

is that it orientates correctly ; a detail which would scarcely
be considered in Puritan times, especially as the lie of the
land would have made the building north and south more
convenient

It would be interesting to know something of the result of
the two years' collection for the rebuilding, and of the persons
who had the administration of the funds, as well as details of
the manner in which the work was designed and executed ;
but as on these subjects we have no information we must be
satisfied with knowing that by 1649 tne7 nad resulted in the
erection of the present fine and remarkable building. The
views we give of the exterior and interior of the church will
make any detailed description unnecessary. It consisted on
plan, when it was first built, of a nave four bays long, roofed
in a single span, with a square east end, and without any
constructional chancel. Each of the three eastern bays had
on each side a two-light window, and the fourth bay at the
west end contained a gallery lighted at each end by a small
two-light window set high up in the walls, and below the
gallery were the entrances, one on each side, which led from
rather deep north and south porches. At the west end was a
square battlemented tower, with a lofty arch opening into the
church, partly concealed by the gallery and organ. On the
west front there are three two-light windows, one opening
into the tower and the others into the nave below the gallery,
which are semicircular headed with the traceried heads
unpierced; and on one of these the label termination is a
grotesque head which looks like, and may be meant for, a
contemporary Roundhead. This, and some arms in the
eastern spandril of the south door head are the only pieces
of original carving which have survived the restorations ; and
these arms, which appear to be three cinquefoils, cannot be
identified with any local family.

The great glory of the interior is the fine oak hammer-
beam roof, of the Middle Temple type, the wall pieces of which
rest on moulded capitals and stone piers built against and
into the side walls; and the boldness and scientific character
of the design suggests that it owes its inception to some more
important person than the village carpenter. It was probably
the design of some architect employed by Archbishop Laud
while the funds were accumulating in his hands ; and it
requires no great stretch of fancy to suppose that that architect
was Inigo Jones.

192

Plaxtole Church.
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

The tower does not appear to have been furnished with a
bell at the time of building, but one was added later, 2\\ inches
in diameter, with the inscription "John Stephens Church-
warden Will. Furner 1709," but the name of Furner cannot be
traced in any parochial records. For this bell has now been
substituted another. The original font was taken away in
1852 to give place to one more correctly Gothic, and this in
turn has to be ousted for one of the more modern memorial
type. The contemporary and picturesque western gallery has
also fallen a prey to the reckless restorer.

In the churchyard still remain some curious specimens of
monumental art, of which we give two examples, one, dated
1734, which may be intended to be a family portrait ; and there
are several similar ones remaining. Another one, erected to
the memory of William Broad, of Calais Court, Ryarsh, in
1776, is of a more ambitious character, and shows the Flight
into Egypt, with the Virgin arrayed in the costume of the
eighteenth century; another one of the same character, and
perhaps by the same hand, in the churchyard of Capel, by
Tonbridge, displays the Parable of -the Good Samaritan, with
the priest in full canonicals, and the Levite as a lawyer in wig
and gown.

There appears to be no record of the appointment of any
u orthodox and conformable priest," as contemplated by the
Archbishop, to the curacy of Plaxtole. The parish register
only commences in 1641, and contains this note, "Anno 1648
May. Plaxtoll made a Parish and a Church built. Mr Willm
Thomas made Rector." As to this entry it may be remarked
that Hasted on the authority of Rushworth, says that Plaxtole
was erected into an independent parish by ordinance of the
Parliament, January 31, 1647. But under that date Rushworth
merely speaks of a division of Wrotham Parish without men-
tioning Plaxtole at all, so that this entry in the Register seems
to be the earliest statement we have of this circumstance;
while who Mr. William Thomas was, and by whom he was
appointed, we cannot say. The first recorded admission to the
Rectory, apart from this entry, appears in the Lambeth
Register of Admissions for 1654 (part III, page 184) from
which we find that James Cranford, having satisfied "the
Commission for approbation of Publique Preachers," that is
to say, the " Triers " became thereby " intitled to all profits
and perquisites and all rights and deeds incident and belong-
ing to the said Rectory." Three years after there was another

XIV 193 O

PLAXTOLE; A KENTISH VILLAGE.

appointment made by " His Highness the Lord Protector
under the Great Seal of England " of John Stileman, Clerk,
Master of Arts, who was admitted July 8, 1657; while in
October following there was yet another appointment. At the
Restoration the parish of Plaxtole, having been the result of
Parliamentary interference in ecclesiastical affairs, reverted
once more to Wrotham ; and it was not until the middle of
the last century that it was re-established as an independent
Rectory.

Plaxtole has not escaped some modernization, but the
amenities of the place have not been seriously affected. One
or two modern houses of an aggressive sort have been built,
and some remarkable specimens of topiary art disappeared
when the picturesque blacksmith's shop was rebuilt. The
greatest damage the place has sustained has been in the
wanton and ruthless manner in which the church has been
altered under the plea of enlargement and restoration. To
the east end have been added transepts and chancel in a dis-
cordant style, the uncertain Gothic of which is supposed to
exhibit some " early French " feeling, to afford an architectural
puzzle to future archaeologists, and to the destruction of an
ecclesiastical monument of the highest historical value almost
unique in the architecture of the county of Kent.

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS AND
PROCESSIONS ON THE THAMES

BY FRANCIS EDWIN TYLER

THE contemplated journey by water of His Majesty
King George, afterwards abandoned, on the occasion of
cutting the first sod of the new dock at North Woolwich,
naturally aroused great interest throughout the metropolis;
the moment seems opportune, therefore, for a brief account
of some of the many picturesque water-processions of days
gone by.

The first Lord Mayor-elect to proceed by water to West-
minster was Sir John Norman, in 1453. The fact is recorded
by the then City Laureate, Middleton, in his Sun in Aries, in
which he describes the pageant as the first in which the Lord

194

Tombstone Heads, Plaxtole,
Drawn by J. Tavenor- Perry.

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

Mayor " was rowed to Westminster with silver oars, at his
own cost and charges." Fabyan, in his Chronicle, writes :

This xxxn yere, John Norman foresayd upon the morrowe
of Symon's and Jude's daye [October 29, which was the
regular Lord Mayor's day until the alteration of the style in
1752] the accustomyd daye, whn ye newe Mayre usyd yerely
to ryde with great pompe unto Westminster to take his charge,
this Mayre fyrste of all mayres brake that ancient and olde
continued custome and was rowed thyther by water, which ye
watermen made of him a rondele or songe to his great prayse,
which began

"Row thy boat, Norman;
Row to thy lemman."

In 1436 the following interesting item appears in the
accounts of the Grocers' Company: " Payd be the handys of
John Godwin for Mynstralls and there Hodys, amendyng of
banners, and hire of barges, with Thomas Catworth and
Robert Clapton, chosen Shyerries [Sheriffs], going be the
water to Westminster." For two centuries later this Company
hired barges for use on state occasions, until 1635, when it
was considered undignified for them to appear in a hired
barge, and the Wardens were authorized to have built, " a fair
and large barge." In spite of this, the credit for introducing
the water-pageant, as before stated, is given to Sir John
Norman.

The coronation of King Henry VII in 1485 was hurried over
with less ceremonial than usual, and without any procession
through the City ; but that of his Queen, Elizabeth of York,
in 1487, was attended with all the pomp customary on similar
occasions. On Friday next before St. ^Catherine's day, Eliza-
beth, accompanied by the Countess of Richmond and many
lords and ladies, came from Greenwich by water. The Mayor,
Sheriffs, and Aldermen, with several worshipful commoners,
chosen out of every craft, in their liveries, were waiting on the
river to receive her. The barges were freshly furnished with
banners and streamers of silk, bearing the arms and badges of
their crafts ; one barge especially, called "the Bachelor's Barge,"
was garnished and apparelled beyond all others. In it was a
dragon spouting flames of fire into the Thames, and many
other gentlemanly pageants, well and curiously devised to
give her Highness sport and pleasure. And so, accompanied
by trumpets, clarions, and other minstrels, she came and
landed at the Tower, and was there welcomed by the King.

195

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

In preparation for the coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn,
on Whit Sunday 1533, the King sent letters to the Mayor
and Commonalty signifying his wishes that they should fetch
her from Greenwich to the Tower, and see .the City ordered
and garnished with pageants in the accustomed places, to
honour her passage through it. In consequence, a Common
Council was called, and commandment given to the Haber-
dashers, of which craft the Mayor (Sir Stephen Peacock) then
was, that they should provide a large barge for the Bachelors,
with a wafter and foist, garnished with banners and streamers,
as they were accustomed to do " when the mayor is presented
at Westminster on the morrow after Simon and Jude." All
the other Crafts were likewise commanded to prepare barges,
and to garnish them, both with all the seemly banners they
could procure, and with targets on the sides, and in every
barge to have minstrelsy.

On May 29, the day appointed for the water triumph, the
Mayor and his brethren, all in scarlet, such as were knights
having collars of SS, and the remainder gold chains, and the
Council of the City with them, assembled at St. Mary-at-Hill,
and at one o'clock took barge. The barges of the Companies
amounted in number to fifty ; they were enjoined under a
great penalty not to row nearer one to another than at twice
a barge's length, and to enforce this order, there were three
light wherries, each with two officers. They then set forth in
the following order: First, at a good distance before the
Mayor's barge, was a foist or wafter full of ordnance, having
in the midst a great dragon continuously moving and casting
wild-fire, and round about it terrible monsters and wild men
casting fire, and making hideous noises. On the right hand of
the Mayor's barge was that of the Bachelors, in which were
trumpets and several other melodious instruments; its decks,
sailyards, and top-castles were hung with cloth of gold and
silk; at the fore-ship and the stern were two great banners
richly embroidered with the arms of the King and the Queen,
and on the top-castle also was a streamer with the said arms.

The sides of the barge were set full of flags and banners of
the devices of the companies of the Haberdashers and Mer-
chant-Adventurers, and the cords were hung with innumerable
pencels, having little bells at the ends, which made a goodly
noise and a goodly sight, waving in the wind. On the outside
of the barge were three dozen scutcheons in metal of the
King's and Queen's arms, which were mounted upon squares of

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

buckram, divided so that the right side had the King's colours
and the left the Queen's. On the left hand of the Mayor was
another foist, in which was a mount, whereon stood a white
falcon, crowned, upon a root of gold, environed with white
and red roses, which was the Queen's device. About the
mount sat virgins, singing and playing sweetly. Next after
the Mayor followed his Fellowship, the Haberdashers ; next
after them the Mercers, then the Grocers, and so every Com-
pany in its order; and after all the Mayor's and Sheriffs' officers.

In this order, "a goodly sight" for splendour, and each
barge provided with its own minstrelsy, they rowed to the
point beyond Greenwich, and there turned back in the opposite
order (that is to wit, the Mayor's and Sheriffs' officers first,
and the meanest craft next, and so ascending to the uttermost
crafts in order, and the Mayor last), and so they rowed down
to Greenwich town, and there cast anchor, making great
melody.

At three of the clock the Queen appeared, in rich cloth of
gold, and, accompanied by several ladies and gentlemen,
entered her barge. Immediately the citizens set forwards,
their minstrels continually playing, and the Bachelors' Barge
going on the Queen's right hand, which she took great pleasure
to behold. About the Queen went also, each in their private
barges, many noblemen, particularly the Duke of Suffolk, the
Marquis of Dorset, the Earl of Wiltshire, her father, the Earls
of Arundel, Derby, Rutland, Worcester, Huntingdon, Sussex,
and Oxford, and several Bishops.

The ships in the river were commanded to lie on the shore
to make room for the barges; their guns saluted the Queen
as she passed, and before she landed at the Tower, there was
as marvellous a peal fired therefrom as ever was heard. At
her landing, the Lord Chamberlain, with the officers of arms,
received her, with a loving countenance. She then turned
back, and with many goodly words thanked the Mayor and
the citizens, and so entered the Tower.

On Thursday, January 12, 1558, Queen Elizabeth removed
by water from her palace at Westminster to the Tower,
attended by the City barges all gorgeously be-flagged, the
whole forming an extremely picturesque water-pageant.

A very interesting account of one of these early water-
pageants is contained in a pamphlet entitled London's Love to
the Royal Prince Henrie, meeting him on the River of Thames
at his returne from Richmonde, with a worthy Fleete of her

197

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

citizens > on Thursday -, the last of May, 1610, with a brief e
reporte of the water fights and Fire workes. London^ Printed
by Edw: Allde.for Nathaniel Fosbrooke, and are to be sold at
the west-end of St. Paul's, neere to the Bishop of London's gate}
1610. This most quaint and rare pamphlet is dedicated " To
the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Cambell, Lord Mayor of
this famous cittie of London, and to all the Aldermen, his
worthie brethren," and reads as follows:

It hath ever been the nature of this honourable and
famous city (matchless for the love and loyalty in all ages,
past and present) to come behind none other of the world
whatsoever, in duty to her sovereign, and care, not only of
common good, but of virtuous and never-dying credit. And
such hath always been the indulgent endeavours of her worthy
magistrates, from time to time, that they would never let slip
any good occasion whereby so maine and especial respect
might be duly and successfully preserved. . . . Where of no
better exemplary rule can be made, than the late apparent
testimony of London's Love to Royal Prince Henrie, ap-
pointed by our dread Sovereign his Father, to be created
Prince of Wales, and Earl of Chester. . . .

But now our Royal Henrie coming to be the twelfth Prince
in this great dignity, and London's cheif magistrate the Lord
Mayor, with his worthy Brethren the Aldermen, having very
short and sudden intelligence thereof, after some consultation,
understanding that the Prince was to come from Richmond
by water; they determined to meet him in such good manner
as the brevity of time would permit.

Wherefore, upon Thursday being the last day of May,
about eight o'clock in the morning, all the Worshipful Com-
panies of the City, were ready in their barges upon the water,
with their streamers and ensigns gloriously displayed, Drums,
Trumpets, Fifes, and other music attending on them, to
await the Lord Mayor and Aldermen coming. No sooner
had his honour and the rest taken barge, but on they rowed
with such a cheerful noise of harmony and so goodly a show
in order and equipage, as made the beholders and hearers
not meanly delighted; beside a peal of Ordnance, that wel-
comed them as they entered on the water. To beautify so
sumptuous a show, and to grace the day with more matter of
triumph, it seemed that Neptune smiled thereon auspiciously
and would not suffer so famous a city's affection to go un-
furnished of some favour from him ; especially, because it is
the metropolis and chief honour of the Island, whereunto
himself bare such endeared affection. . . .
198

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

Let it suffice then, that thus was this goodly fleet of citizens
accompanied, and ushered the way so far as Chelsea, where
hovering on the water until the Prince came : all the pleasures
that the times could afford were plentifully entercoursed, and
no breaches of the peace occurred in the whole navy.

Upon the Prince's near approach, way for his boat and
aptest entertainment was made.

Then follows an account of a speech delivered by Corinea,
a very fair and beautiful nymph, representing the genius of
the old Corineus Queen, and the province of Cornwall, suited
in her water-habit, rich and costly, with a coronet of pearls
and cockle shells on her head. Seated on the back of a whale
she greeted the Prince with a flattering oration. After this
ceremony was concluded a splendid water pageant took
place, " the very Thames," we read, " appeared proud of its
gallant burden."

The pageants on the three following days were truly mag-
nificent; the great attraction being a realistic water-fight
between two merchant vessels, and a Turkish pirate ship. The
former were in great danger of being defeated, but the timely
arrival of two men-of-war turned the tide of battle in their
favour.

The intense realism displayed by the combatants aroused
the multitudes that lined the river banks, and tremendous
enthusiasm was displayed as the fight waged on.

And now the fight grew on all sides to be very fierce in-
deed, divers men and ships, on either side appearing to be in
flames, and hurled over into the sea. ... In conclusion the
merchants and men-of-war, after a long and well-fought
skirmish, proved too strong for the Pirate, they spoiled him,
and blew up the Castle, ending the whole battery with a
very rare and admirable fireworks, as also a worthy peal of
chambers.

Another very rare pamphlet which is extremely interesting
has this title: Descensus A sir ex, the device of a Pageant borne
before the M. William Web Lord Maior of the Citie of London
on the day he tooke his oath, being the 2Qtk October, 1591.
Whereunto is annexed a speech delivered by one clad like a sea-
nymph, who presented a pinnesse on the water bravely rigd and
mand, to the Lord Mayor, at the time he took Barge to go to
Westminster.

On August 23, 1662, the Corporation of the City of London

199

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

royally entertained King Charles II on his return from
Hampton Court to the Palace at Whitehall. The barges
belonging to the twelve great Livery Companies all gathered
at Chelsea, journeying thither in stately procession, the
Mercers' barge leading the way, each one attended by a
pageant, which vied with one another in magnificence and
splendour. The first entertainment was a sea-chariot drawn
by sea-horses. In the front was seated I sis, her head beauti-
fully adorned with a crown composed of all manner of
garden flowers. In her left hand she held a watering pot, to
denote her the Lady of the Western Meadows, and wife of
Tham. At her feet were seated several inferior water-nymphs
belonging to small rivulets, who are contributaries to her,
their habits answerable to hers. At a given moment Isis
delivered an oration welcoming their Majesties on the waters
of the Thames.

The second pageant took the form of an island floating,
and was presented between " Fox Hall " and Lambeth. Upon
the island, seated in state, was Tham represented as an old
man, with long hair and beard. He also addressed their
Majesties in a graceful speech.

At its conclusion, a large number of seamen delivered
themselves of this refrain :

Live, lads live, good days are coming on,

This seconds that o' the Coronation.

See, see how thick the boats and barges come,

The river sweats to bring its burden home.

Caesar and his fortune 's there,

Heavens delight, Our Kingdom's prayer.

Chorus.

Welcome you stars that attend,
From whose light you borrow yours;
May they still your wants befriend,
So you will remember Ours.

The song ended, their Majesties wended their way to White-
hall, well pleased with this magnificent example of the loyalty
displayed by the citizens of London.

The custom of the Lord Mayor's presentation at Westminster
dates from 1214, when King John granted a charter to the
City, stipulating that the Mayor should be presented to the
King for his approval. " It was granted by the Kynge, for the
cytezens' more ease, that where before tyme they used yerely

200

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

to present theyr mayer to the Kynge's presence in any such
place as he then were in England, that now from this tyme
forthward they shuld for the lacke of the Kynge's presence
being at Westmynster present their mayer, so chosen, upon
the Baronys of his Exchekyr, and there to be sworne and
admytted, as he was before-tymes before the Kynge."

Thus these journeys, when made by water in the Lord
Mayor's state barge, were made the occasions of a triumphal
procession. All the large Livery Companies took part, and
the annual Show was eagerly looked forward to by the
citizens, who made the day one of great rejoicing.

The Lord Mayor's pageant in 1615 was a very gorgeous
affair. It was entitled, " Metropolis Coronata, the Triumphes
of ancient Drapery, or rich clothing for England, in a second
yeere's performance." Upon this occasion two pageants were
exhibited upon the Thames ; the first representing Jason
and his companions accompanied by Medea, in " a goodly
Argoe rowed by divers comely enuches," and " shaped as
neere as art could yeeld it to that of such auncient and
honorable fame as convaied Jason and his valiant Argonauts
of Greece, to fetch away the Golden Fleece from Colchos."
The second pageant displayed Neptune and Thamesis in
their sea-chariot, " shaped like a whale, or the huge leviathan
of the sea " ; and in which also appeared Henry Fitz-Alwin,
the first mayor, attended by eight " royal vertues," each one
bearing the arms of some celebrated member of the Drapers'
Company. " No sooner is my Lord and his brethren seated
in their bardge," than he is addressed by Fitz-Alwin in a long
jingling speech. After his return from Westminster the Lord
Mayor is edified by the first show. " A faire and beautifull
shippe, stiled by the Lord Maior's name, and called Joell,
filled with sailors, and attended by Neptune and the Thames,
and followed by a goodly ramme, or golden Fleece, the
honoured crest to Drapers and Staplers, having on each side
a housewifely virgin sitting, seriously employed in carding
and spinning wool for cloth, the very best commoditie that
ever this Kingdom yielded." The year 1620 witnessed two
splendid water displays ; Ocean, in her chariot, drawn by sea-
horses, addressed the Mayor, and was attended by a ship
behind which sat ^Eolus, while at each corner of the vessel,
upon four islands, sat the four quarters of the world.
^ During the mayoralty of Sir John Frederick, of the Grocers'
Company, the pageant took place on the Thames opposite

20 1

HISTORIC WATER-PAGEANTS.

the Temple, where a vessel was exhibited, rigged and manned,
the boatswain addressing the mayor. Near its head was
placed a " sea-chariot, drawn by two dolphins, upon whose
backs were seated two nymphs, representing Sirens, playing
upon harps. Behind them two tritons, upon sea-lions sat,
playing on retorted pipes and homes antique, agreeable to
the music of Neptune."

The last Lord Mayor to journey by water to Westminster
was Thomas Finnis, in 1856, who embarked at London
Bridge for Westminster and returned by water to Blackfriars.

Sufficient material is available to fill volumes with records
of the many water-pageants and processions that have taken
place on the historic waters of the Thames. The writer trusts
that in recalling a few of these happenings of a past age it
will stimulate interest in some future revival of an ancient
custom, when another page may be added to London's ever-
increasing roll of historic events.

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex
Archaeological Society.

[Continued from p. 72.]

GREAT BURSTEAD.

THE village of Great Burstead (spelt in ancient documents
as Burghstead, or Burgstede) is situated some seven
miles to the south-east of Brentwood, and about a mile
and a half south of Billericay ; the latter, although a market
town, was a chapelry in the parish of Burstead until 1844,
when it was formed into a separate parish.

The church is built of rubble, faced in parts with stone,
and is of Norman foundation, as shown by one small niche-
window in the north wall, near the porch. This window, and
some portions of the north and east walls, appear to be the
only remains of the original Norman building.

The present structure consists of a chancel, a nave of three
bays, a wide south aisle, north and south porches, and an
embattled tower with a tall spire. In the tower are five bells;

202

Great Burstead Church.

Old Pews, Great Burstead.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

one is of i5th century date, by John Walgrave, with the
inscription, Vox Augustini sonet in Aure Dei] two of the
others are dated 1724 and 1731 respectively.

Extensive alterations appear to have taken place in the
latter part of the I4th century, when it is assumed that the
south aisle was added, and again in the early part of the
1 5th century, when the present tower was erected.

The aisle, which is almost as wide as the nave, extends the
whole length of the building, and is divided from the chancel
and nave by five bays, two in the chancel and three in the
nave ; the pillar at the eastern end is a clustered column of
four half-rounds, while those between the nave and aisle are
octagonal. Between the chancel and the nave, on the south
side, is an arched opening, presumed to be where the lower
portion of the stairs which led to the roodloft once existed,
the top portion having been bricked up.

There are three doorways, north, south, and west ; also two
priest's doors, one on each side, which are now closed.

The north doorway is a very good example of a Per-
pendicular square-headed door, with carvings and figures in
the spandrels, also on each side lower down is the sculptured
head of a mitred abbat To the west of this doorway is to be
seen the remains of a fine square-headed holy-water stoup.
All the other doorways are pointed.

The windows on the north side of the nave, beginning from
the eastern end, are as follows : one three-light, with trefoil
heads ; one three-light, with fine Decorated tracery, containing
portions of ancient glass with emblematic figures of the sun and
moon; one small Norman niche-window; and, to the west of
the porch, a plain three-light square-headed window. In the
aisle, on the south side, there are two double-light windows and
two of three lights, of the I4th century. At the eastern end
of the aisle is a three-light window with cinquefoil heads. The
window at the western end, consisting of three lights, appears
to be a modern one in the Perpendicular style.

The east window of the chancel is bricked up, and affixed
to the exterior is a plain oblong monumental stone, the date
and inscription of which are illegible. On the north side of
the chancel is a square-headed Perpendicular window of three
lights.

The timber porches attached to the north and south door-
ways of the nave belong to the I5th century, the one on the
south side is somewhat dilapidated.

203

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

Owing to the fact that the ground on the north side of the
nave is considerably above the level of the interior of the
church, there are five steps leading from the north door into
the nave ; the windows in the north wall on each side of the
porch have been shortened to the extent of about two feet,
apparently for the same reason.

There is no chancel arch; between the tower and nave the
arch is pointed. The floor of the tower is paved with red
bricks, and portions of the aisle are covered with ancient
Roman tiles.

In the chancel, in front of the blocked up east window, is a
carved altar-piece from one of the destroyed City churches,
probably St. Christopher-le-Stocks, which stood in Lothbury,
and was taken down in 1781 to make room for the extension
of the Bank of England.

Near the north doorway in the nave is an old 15th-century
chest.

The font has a plain pedestal, with an octagonal basin; it
is attributed to the Perpendicular period.

In the nave, on the south side, are a number of old benches
with carved Perpendicular tracery at the ends.

There are no brasses, and no monuments of any importance.

The Register dates from the year 1558.

The Cistercian monks of the Abbey of Stratford Langthorne,
or West Ham, as it is commonly called, founded in 1134 by
William Montfichet, at one time possessed a cell or grange at
Great Burstead. The records of this abbey are very meagre,
but it appears that owing to the serious overflowing of the
River Lea and the consequent flooding of the marshes around
their buildings they were at one time obliged to leave Stratford
and migrated to Burstead. So far as is known, there are no
documents extant giving any particulars of this removal, but
it is believed to have been about the beginning of the reign of
Richard II, 1377; from this it is assumed that the monks
enlarged the church by adding the south aisle, and later built
the porches and tower. Further evidence of this is perhaps
shown by the heads of the abbats carved on each side of the
north doorway. The monks probably reserved the nave and
chancel for themselves and erected the south aisle for use as
the parish church. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries it
was found that nearly the whole of the land in the parish
belonged to Stratford Abbey.

The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen.

204

4-> W5

ft £

O OH
5-H CJ

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-3

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

There are several small ancient charities belonging to this
parish in the hands of the Charity Commissioners, one of which
is the rental of a meadow which now produces about £8 a year ;
this sum is distributed annually to the poor of the parish by
the churchwardens.

Near Billericay are the remains of a Roman encampment
called Blunt's Walls, where a number of coins and various
antiquities have been unearthed ; the Roman tiles in the floor
of the church doubtless came from this spot.

LITTLE BURSTEAD.

Little Burstead is situated about a mile and a half to the
south-west of Great Burstead.

The church, built originally of pudding stone, was erected
in the Early English style, about the end of the I3th century;
considerable alterations were made in the latter part of the
1 5th century. It consists of a chancel, nave with vestry on
the north side, a south porch, and a low west turret, with a
slated spire, containing two bells.

In the north wall of the nave are two Early English single-
light lancet windows, containing some fragments of ancient
Flemish glass ; the double-light west window belongs to the
Decorated period and was inserted in the early part of the
I4th century; that on the south side, between the porch and
the chancel, is a triple-light window of late Perpendicular date.

There are two doorways, north and south; that on the
north is bricked up.

The south porch appears to have been built originally of
the same material as the walls of the church ; it has, however,
to a great extent been rebuilt with red bricks.

The font opposite the south door is an octagonal basin and
pedestal with little ornamentation ; it is somewhat taller than
the usual run of fonts in this county.

There is now no arch between the chancel and nave, the
chancel being some six feet on each side narrower than the
nave ; on the south side can be seen some remains of the old
rood stairs.

The east window is of three lights, of I5th century date;
on the south side of the chancel there are two double-lights
of the same period ; the sill of the one on the east side has
been carried down very low, so as to form a sedilia. Near this
is a very fine Early English piscina, with a trefoil arch and

205

THE HAYMARKET.

two short ornamental columns. Between the two windows is
a priest's doorway, of Perpendicular date, which has been
rebuilt on the exterior side with modern masonry ; opposite,
on the north side, is an aumbry nearly two feet deep, and near
this is an old doorway, considerably modernized, which leads
into a vestry.

At the west end of the nave is a small wooden gallery, and
on each side of this are massive timber beams to support the
turret and spire.

The internal masonry of the church is original work, but
portions of the exterior walls, together with the framework of
the windows in the nave and chancel, and portions of the
porch, have been rebuiltwith red bricks of the late Tudor period.
The roof of the nave was heightened about the same time, as
can be seen from the brick work at the gable of the western
end of the nave.

There are some ledger-stone memorials to members of the
Walton family, including one to Sir George Walton, Admiral
of the Blue, who died 1739.

There are several old charities. In 1790 John Cooper left
the rent of 6 cottages and 33 acres of land for the benefit of
poor persons living in and belonging to the parish; this is
now of the annual value of about £48, and is distributed each
year at Easter.

Besides this there are two other smaller charities valued at
£i 3^. od. yearly, by which bread is bought and given to the
poor.

[To be continued.]

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON,
HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

BY J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL, author of The Story of Charing
Cross.

[Continued from p. 132.]

CHAPTER VII.

THE Haymarket in the late fifties saw a good deal more
of what are euphemistically known as " wild oats " than
of hay, when the hay-wagons which occupied the kennel
were supplanted by a cab-stand, for the convenience of those

206

Little Burstead Church.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

who were farming the cereal that produces such an unsatis-
factory crop.

Much information about the various supper-rooms, public-
houses, casinos, and dancing-rooms, the manners and customs
of the frequenters of those places, and the nightly scenes of
drunkenness and disorder, will be found in The Night-Side
of London, by J. Ewing Ritchie, 1857, pp. 50-57, and Ragged
London in 1861, by John Hollingshead.

John Elwes, the Miser, proverbial in the annals of avarice,
inherited from his father some property in houses in London,
particularly about the Haymarket, but the precise locality
has not, I think, been identified. He was also the founder of
the greater part of Marylebone, and Portman Place, Portman
Square, and many of the adjacent streets arose out of his
enterprise.1 In his earlier days Elwes's prodigality was as pro-
verbial as his penury, and his profuseness went hand in hand
with his meanness. He could be prodigal of thousands, and
yet almost deny himself the necessities of life. He would not
have his shoes blacked lest the process of polishing should
hasten their becoming worn out! At the marriage of his
eldest son he would give him absolutely nothing but his
" consent " to the union.

The origin of the peculiar designation of the " Dirty Shirt
Coffee House " is not apparent, but it was at No. 28 Hay-
market (the site being now occupied by the premises of the
Civil Service Co-operative Society). In the Recollections of
John Adolphus it is thus alluded to:

I heard of the death of Crockford. I knew him fifty years
ago, when, with his mother, he kept a small fishmonger's shop
in the Strand, and was a poor beggarly player at the silver
hazard tables,2 and at No. 28, Haymarket, then called the
"Dirty Shirt Coffee House." About 1802 he got into a
better line of play at Newmarket, then opened a gaming-house
in St. James's-street, and was believed to have realized an
immense fortune. It is said that his death was accelerated
by some events (I know not what) at the last Derby.3

"The Diamond" was another beautiful sample of these
gambling times.

1 See Caulfield's Book of Wonderful Characters.

2 Such places were called " Silver Hells." One in Covent Garden is
described in Adolphus's Recollections, p. 49.

3 The Recollections of John Adolphus, by Emily Henderson, 1871,
p. 264.

207

THE HAYMARKET.

Of all the men I ever saw (says Adolphus) " the Diamond "
was the most profligate, his vicious nature and bad habits
seeming to have extinguished every spark of truth, justice
and good feeling. Devoted to play, he had made consider-
able proficiency in all the games where skill, or skill mixed
with chance, ensure success, such as billiards, backgammon,
and all conventional games at cards ; but natural as it may
seem for a gamester to desire to win, the pleasure he had in
gaining money from those who were less skilful than himself
seemed subordinate to the intense desire of losing it to those
who were more so, and this strange feeling materially in-
fluenced some of the events of his life. James Hardwick
(the Diamond) was "behind backs" whatever that may
mean, and offered a bet of half a crown, but as no one
trusted him, he was obliged to show them that he had money,
and exhibited it between his finger and thumb. He won, and
continued successful in about six bets. At last he lost, and
when called upon to pay, handed over the symbol so osten-
tatiously displayed, which proved to be a round piece of
metal cut from the bottom of a pewter pot at the last ale-
house he had visited. He did not mind clamour, and the laugh
was rather with him than against him. He disappeared, and
in about two hours, he returned declaring that he had had a
capital goose, and a bowl of punch for his supper, and laughed
at the flats he had cheated at Hazard.

The Haymarket is closely identified with the history of a
custom which played an important part in the social life of
the last two centuries. I allude to the fashion or habit of
snuffing. The original vogue was to scrape the dry root of
the tobacco-plant upon a rasp, whence the kind of snuff
known as rappee from the French tabac rape? In France a
common sign for the snuff-dealer was" La Carotte d"or" and it
was this fashion that was responsible for the sign at No. 34

1 The late Mr. H. Syer Cuming, with his habitual kindness to enquirers,
once showed me two rappoir-backs in his possession, the rasps being
absent. One of these was of ivory 5! in. long, and bore the carved figure
of a lady. It was dated 1700. The other, considerably longer, was of
the 1 7th century, and made of ebony. This was found in the Thames
in 1847. Examples of these rasps are very scarce in the cabinet of the
antiquary. Either of the above-mentioned two might have been carried
with ease, as it was, I believe, the custom to carry them in the capacious
pocket of the period. There is an engraving of a snuff-box with rasped
sides in volume xiii of Archaologia. The late Mr. F. G. Hilton Price,
F.S.A., had a considerable number of these rasps or graters, many of
which were beautifully carved.

208

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

Haymarket, of " The Crown and Rasp," hung out by Messrs.
Fribourg and Treyer, and for the same sign at No. 23, Messrs.
Fribourg and Pontets, now no more. The interior of the
latter shop was a veritable museum of antiquities relating to
the snuff and tobacco trade, and among them what was pre-
sumably a trade rasp of iron, 13 in. long by 5 in. at the base
and 4 in. at the top, which is given the date of 1720. The old
bench which accommodated noble and distinguished customers
bore the legend, carved :

CROWN— 20— AND RASP

There was also an original sign of the Highlander, and a very
interesting old wood carving which adorned the shop of some
Dutch tobacco dealer in the early history of the trade. This
carving seemed to have been an attempt to commemorate
the introduction of tobacco by Sir Walter Raleigh. Beneath
the carving is the inscription

Varinas — an alle — sorten — van — tabak 1720

which appears to mean " Varinas and all sorts of tobacco,
1720." This was brought from Holland by Mr. Pontet about
a hundred years ago. Varinas, a town of Columbia in the
republic of Venezuela, was the principal mart for the excel-
lent tobacco grown in the province of the some name.

At the time of Louis XIV and Queen Anne, Spanish snuff
was taken universally and exclusively both in France and
England. We read of nothing but " Plain Spanish " in The
Spectator, etc. The very fine red or yellow snuff, mixed with
an oily earth, known as Spanish Snuff, was up towards the
end of the i8th century the only kind made in Spain; but
the King (who had the sole monopoly of tobacco) finding
that he was losing by the prodigious quantities of rappee
smuggled from France and Portugal, began to manufacture
rappee himself, which (though not very good) was generally
purchased for its cheapness.1 In 1735 the Spanish colonies,
Havanna and St. Domingue, and Portuguese Brazil, sup-
plied snuff in large quantities. P. Desca at the sign of " The
Spaniard " in New Street, Covent Garden, in that year sold
French Rappee, Rappee, Rappee Clarac (?Clarao), Rappee
Brazil, St. Domingue Rappee, Havannah Rappee, and fine
Rappee Rolls.

1 Tabacana, in Barrd Charles Roberts's Letters and Miscellaneous
Papers, 1814, p. 36.

XIV 209 P

THE HAYMARKET.

George IV and Queen Charlotte were both customers at
the Crown and Rasp. It is dreadful to think that the latter
was known as " snuffy Charlotte." On one occasion, says Sir
Walter Besant, she gave a dance to her young grand-daughter
Princess Charlotte and her companions, and the Princess was
asked to call for a dance. " Tell the band," she said, " to play
up ' What a beau my granny was ! ' ' Now the words of that
delectable ditty are, or were:

What a beau my granny was !

What a beau was she !
She took snuff and that Js enough !

And that's enough for me ! 1

At Fribourg's the famous " Blue Friars " snuff is still
popular " sneeshin." It was so named after a " brotherhood "
so styled, who had their curious monastic seal, and other
paraphernalia and rules to govern their conduct at meetings.
Charles Matthews, the elder, was a brother, and Mr. W. H. K.
Wright wrote an interesting book on the fraternity in 1889.

In the obituary of The Gentleman's Magazine for January 14,
I7^3> we are told that at Fribourg's snuff-shop in the Hay-
market died Mr. Cervetto, father of the celebrated violoncello
performer of that name. This extraordinary character in the
musical world was 102 years old in November, 1782. He
came to England in the winter of the hard frost, and was then
an old man. He was soon after engaged to play the bass at
Drury Lane Theatre. One evening when Garrick was per-
forming the character of Sir John Brute, during the drunkard's
muttering and dozing till he fell asleep in the chair (the
audience being profoundly silent and attentive to the per-
former), Cervetto (with orchestra) uttered a very loud and
immoderately- lengthened yawn ! The moment Garrick was
off the stage he sent for the musician, and with considerable
warmth reprimanded him for so ill-timed a symptom of
somnolency, when the modern Naso, with great address, re-
conciled Garrick to him in a trice by saying, with a shrug:
" I beg ten thousand pardons, but I always do so ven I am
ver mock please!"

1 "The Voice of the Flying Day," in The Queen, Oct. 20, 1894.
[To be continued.]

2IO

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

BY C. EDGAR THOMAS.

[Continued from p. 154.]

DOVER acquired notoriety for the smuggling into
England of lace, silks, gloves, etc. These were mostly
French manufactures, and Dover, from its near situa-
tion to the Continent, provided a ready means of entry. In
the summer of 1826, during the running of a cargo there, a
coastguard named Morgan was shot dead, but the murderer
was never brought to justice. On another occasion the
Custom house authorities at this port were duped in an exceed-
ingly clever manner. A large consignment of silk and lace
goods — naturally smuggled — left Dover one night, presumably
en route to the metropolis. One of the gang, to ensure the safety
of this run, informed the authorities of its departure. Mean-
while his companions had taken advantage of a good hour's
start, and when some distance from Dover came to a stand-
still in a side lane, where they extinguished all lights and
remained perfectly quiet. The Customs officers soon cantered
by in great haste, and when they were gone, the smugglers
disbanded in all directions, carrying their booty safely away.
The storming of Dover gaol is sufficiently interesting to
claim notice here. In the early twenties of the last century, a
suspected smuggling craft had been captured, and the captain
and crew imprisoned in the old gaol. The friends and
relatives of the seamen, who chiefly hailed from Folkestone,
determined to effect a rescue, and with that purpose in view>
set out to walk to Dover. By the time the intervening ten
miles had been traversed, their ranks had increased to a large
and formidable mob. The seafaring folk of Dover turned out
and joined the rabble, and, thus reinforced, they made an
immediate rush for the gaol. The doors, windows, and walls
were battered in, and some of the mob gaining the roof, stones
and other missiles were showered down on to the Mayor and
troops. The figure cut by the affrighted Mayor must have
been a curious blending of humour and pathos, as he stood
trembling, making frantic but ineffectual gasps to read the
Riot Act, which was soon snatched from him by a shrieking
woman. Then, losing what little dignity he possessed, he

211

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

turned tail and fled, amidst the hoots and jeers of his riotous
townsfolk. The crowd succeeded in releasing the prisoners,
and their irons being knocked off at an adjacent smithy, they
were triumphantly driven back to their homes, where they
remained secure in hiding until the affair should have blown
over.

At the Chequers Inn at Smarden, a mounted band of
smugglers once stopped to refresh their horses and the inner
man, when they were surprised by an excise officer, who de-
manded their surrender in the King's name. The party were
soon on their steeds again, and their leader, levelling a pistol
at the head of the exciseman, enabled them to escape. The
officer then discreetly retired, and the smuggler captain gal-
loped off to join his band. In this same town lived an old
lady, who, through her agility in evading the law in regard to
spirits, became known as " The Smuggler."

Smuggling existed at Smarden as late as 1854, in which
year " Jemmy Brusher " learned by bitter experience the truth
of the old adage, " Honesty is the best policy." Jemmy was
evidently a great local character, for history is careful to
record that he " belonged to the old yeoman class and com-
monly wore a white smock or round frock. He was an in-
veterate smoker, and was never seen without a pipe, which
when not in his mouth, he wore in the band of his hat."
While in the market-place one day, two men asked him if he
could do anything with a few tons of tobacco, at the same
time imposing silence, as the goods were contraband. The
tobacco was said to be on board a schooner lying off the
Romney coast, and some of the weed being produced as a
sample, Jemmy tried it, and pronounced it excellent. It was
then explained that money was needed to get the shipment
ashore, and eventually they decided that Brusher should pay
down £40 as an instalment; they in their turn undertaking
to deliver the cargo at Monk Farm, his residence — between
1 1 and i o'clock on a certain night. Brusher had the balance
of the money all ready on the specified evening ; and had
also invited four intimate friends to have a quiet game of cards,
and incidentally to assist with the cargo. This amounted to
ten tons, and was to arrive in two four-horse waggons. Their
anxiety was soon relieved by the unmistakable sound of a
waggon, but to their dismay the sound, instead of coming
nearer, died completely away. They waited half through the
night, but no waggon came, when they then reflected that it

212

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

might be a hoax on the part of the smugglers, who intended
to come and plunder them. The remainder of the money,
£150, was safely hidden away, doors and windows were
bolted against the expected attack, and the company re-
mained in a state of nervous apprehension until the morning.
Nothing more was ever heard of the two smugglers or the
tobacco, though it had been evidently landed and conveyed
elsewhere.

One of the greatest smuggling strongholds in Sussex was
Alfriston. Cuckhold Haven, adjacent, and its retired, un-
populated coast, afforded the smugglers unique advantages.
By day the spot presented a calm, peaceful aspect, with the
farm labourers busily engaged in their several agricultural
pursuits, or the shepherds tending their flocks; but as soon as
the gloaming set in, they with one accord left their work, and,
banding together, became smugglers. The Alfriston Gang
and its leading light, Stanton Collins, achieved considerable
infamy. Their leader showed great personal courage in the
execution of many difficult and dangerous projects, but
eventually received seven years for sheep-stealing. It is in-
teresting to note that the last of the Alfriston Gang, one
Robert Hall, died in the Eastbourne workhouse a few years
since, at the advanced age of ninety-four.

The Sussex smugglers are admitted to have been a hardy
race of fellows, who proceeded about their business in a
systematic, well-conceived manner, and with them smuggling
attained to the dignity of a fine art. On all their routes were
certain farmhouses, cottages, and other buildings, with vast
cellars and secret chambers, which afforded temporary shelter
for the kegs and bales previous to their conveyance to
London and other towns. Even the churches and chapels
were utilized as storehouses, and it was no uncommon sight
to see a keg of hollands on the doorstep of a minister's house.
Of course the clergy could not openly countenance the trade
of smuggling, yet when everyone around the coast was more
or less interested in the business, they were no more immune
than their neighbours. Besides, who ever heard of a good jug
of spirits coming amiss to anyone, layman or parson! One
clergyman is alleged to have feigned illness, and so put off
Sunday service, on learning that his pews and tower were
harbouring a sorely pressed cargo.

The Hawkhurst Gang extended their infamous operations
into Sussex as well as Kent; many records proving that of all

213

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

the gangs existing, this was undoubtedly the most brutal. In
1744 they abducted four Customs Officers who attempted to
seize some smuggled goods at Shoreham, and after wounding
and severely maltreating them, brought them to Hawkhurst,
where they bound them to trees and whipped them within an
inch of their lives. The poor wretches were then shipped off
to France. In the following year the same gang descended
upon three preventive-men while they were quietly drinking
in an ale-house, subjected them to hard usage, and robbed
them. Farmhouse raids were also numbered among the doings
of these marauders, in one of which they stole wool to the
value of ;£ i, 500.

At the end of the i6th and beginning of the i/th centuries,
Sussex had become a veritable hotbed of smugglers; so much
so, indeed, that often their plunderings were carried on in broad
daylight. In 1746 the government dispatched two regiments
of dragoons to " awe " these ruffians. At Eastbourne, in the
summer of 1744, the Customs Officers received information
that a cargo would be landed in the neighbourhood of Pevensey
Bay. These preventive-men were evidently little more than
fools, for they proceeded to the spot accompanied by only five
dragoons, and were surprised to find one hundred armed men
who disarmed them, fired among them, and slashed them with
swords. The discomfiture of the Customs men can well be
imagined as they helplessly watched the smugglers load their
horses with the illicit cargo, and triumphantly gallop off in
the direction of London.

A curious tale is told of how an officer once, near Goring,
made a cut at a smuggler's head with his sword. The man
sprang back, but not soon enough to prevent the sword shav-
ing off his nose. With great presence of mind he picked up
his dismembered organ and clapped it back to its place, where
in time it grew again.

A smuggler's view of an apology for his profession was
demonstrated with dogged pertinacity by one of that fraternity
at his trial in 1735. The judge had just pronounced sentence,
opining that a smuggler was as great, if not a greater criminal
than a highwayman. "That can't be," replied the prisoner.
" A smuggler only steals, or conceals what is truly his own, as
being fairly purchased by him for a valuable consideration ;
whereas the highwayman takes by violence what belongs to
another. . . . Since I and my family must be ruined by this
sentence, I will speak what I think upon it : the high taxes

214

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

make living dear, dear living ruins trade, and ruin of trade
puts many upon robbing and stealing, and robbing and steal-
ing brings many of them to the gallows. As to my own
particular case, I suppose everybody will have charity enough
to believe that nobody would follow smuggling if he could
live any other way; high duties upon goods destroy industry,
because no man can trade with a small stock, where a great
deal is paid to the State over and above the price of the
commodity, and when a man cannot live by trading in an
open way, he will endeavour to do it in a clandestine way."

At the " Dog and Partridge Inn," Slindon Common, Sussex,
a particularly revolting murder took place in 1749. One
Richard Hawkins was whipped and kicked to death on sus-
picion of having stolen two packages of tea from a fellow
smuggler. Jerry Curtis, John Mills, and another who passed
under the name Rowland or Robb, enticed Hawkins to join
them at the alehouse on some pretext or other, when, after
imbibing a convivial glass, they informed him that he was
their prisoner. On being taxed with the theft, he strongly
protested his innocence, but his captors proceeded to maltreat
him, whereon he confessed that his father-in-law, and brother-
in-law, the Cockrels, who kept an inn in the vicinity, were
concerned in the robbery. Curtis and Mills promptly rode over
to the inn, and confronting the younger Cockrel, demanded their
bags of tea. The latter denied all knowledge of the affair,
whereat Curtis thrashed him with a heavy stick. He and his
father were then placed on horses, and the party were pro-
ceeding back to Slindon, when they were met on the high
road by Robb and Winter, the landlord, who in a whisper told
them that Hawkins, in the meantime, had died of his wounds.
The murderers were greatly concerned at this, for their own
safety, and without any explanation ordered the Cockrels to
ride back home. The four others then returned to the " Dog
and Partridge," and proceeded to dispose of the body of
Hawkins. Three or four suggestions were rejected as being
likely to betray them, but in the end it was taken some miles
into the country, weighted with stones, and sunk in a deep
pond. The crime was eventually discovered, and the usual
reward offered. Some gossip regarding the affair had got
about, and William Pring, a smuggler, who desired to obtain
a pardon, offered to place himself at the disposal of the
authorities in tracking down Mills. His offer was accepted,
and hearing that he had gone to the West of England to sell

215

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

some contraband goods, Pring followed and found Mill in the
company of two others, also badly wanted. He proposed that
as all their careers were very black, and it would go exceed-
ingly hard with them if apprehended, they should accompany
him and partake of a temporary refuge at his house at Beck-
enham. This was readily acceded to, but one night, while at
supper, Pring left them on some pretext, and returned with a
mounted guard, who soon arrested them. Mills was duly ex-
ecuted, and, as was the custom in those days, gibbeted near to
the " Dog and Partridge." Curtis, the chief actor in the murder,
managed to get out of the country, and it is said joined the
French army. Robb also managed by some means to evade
the last penalty of the law, and the landlord and his wife were
acquitted of being accessories to the crime.

About a mile from from Shoreham, a funeral procession,
consisting of a hearse, drawn by four horses, with the driver
in deep mourning, was stopped by some soldiers in 1751. The
coffin was opened, and was found to contain gold and silver
French lace, silks, cambrics and tea. The " mourners " were
escorted to the Custom House at Shoreham.

The brutality of the smugglers is well illustrated by the
following anecdote. Two men were once proceeding to the
house of a Justice of the Peace to lay an information against
certain members of the notorious Hawkhurst Gang; halting at
an inn, they were captured by the very men they had set out to
betray. Galley and Chater, the informers, were resting on a
couch when a smuggler entered the room, and with his spurs
slashed and cut their faces. At night they were both tied to
one horse, and driven forth into the country, accompanied by
a large number of the gang, who lashed them with whips.
Their position was then altered, and with their heads hanging
down, they were again ruthlessly scourged. The weaker of
the two men, Galley, soon succumbed to this rough usage, and
was buried by the wayside. The other victim was then taken
to another inn and chained in an outhouse, while his tor-
mentors revelled in a drunken carousal. Eventually, more
dead than alive, he was strapped to another horse, and driven
to a disused well, into which he was cast and his death has-
tened by the dropping of heavy stones upon him. The dis-
appearance of these two men soon aroused suspicion ; a search
was made, resulting in the discovery of their bodies, their mur-
derers were promptly secured and justice meted out to them.

Whipping was a common punishment awarded by the

216

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

smugglers to anyone incurring their displeasure, and with
common informers they were unusually severe. One Tapner,
another member of the Hawkhurst Gang, thrashed a woman
naked across Slindon Common, and then killed her, for giving
information against him.

The annals of the Ruxley Gang are revolting in the extreme ;
they were headed by one Ruxley, at Hastings, in 1761, and
for years practised their atrocities there and in the district.
But they overstepped the mark in villainy in 1768, when they
captured a Dutch vessel, and killed the captain by splitting
him in two with a large axe. Returning to shore, they became
so drunk that they informed people of how the Dutchman
wriggled, and this led to their apprehension. On another
occasion two preventive-men fell into their grasp and were
pinned down below high-water mark on Seaford Sands, so that
with the incoming tide they were drowned.

Rye and its vicinity became noted for a very extensive
illicit trade. From the time of Queen Anne supreme con-
tempt had been evinced towards the various acts passed by
the legislature for the protection of British trade. Large
fortunes had been made by the many individuals engaged in
the wool smuggling out trade, and in later times equally as
large fortunes were made by those dealing in tea, tobacco,
lace, silks, spirits, etc.

At Rye, in 1747, a score of brigands invaded the town and
established themselves at an inn there, drinking and making
merry. Staggering into the street in a more or less intoxi-
cated condition after their revel, they startled everyone by
firing off their pistols at random, and detecting a young man
named Marshall, who was closely observing their behaviour,
they seized and carried him off. He was never seen again.

On another occasion fourteen men belonging to the Rye
gang were executed for the brutal murder of a Customs
officer. A coastguard raid upon a galley occurred at Rye
Harbour in 1826, when the smugglers were so hotly pursued
by the revenue cutter that their boat ran ashore. They
opened a heavy fire upon the government men, but a party
of blockaders arrived in time, and seized some of them.
Almost immediately a reserve force of some two hundred
smugglers, armed to the teeth, came rushing out from the
woods and inner districts. After a great deal of hard fighting,
the smugglers were eventually repulsed, but contrived to
make their escape.

217

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

Between Hythe and Rye, a distance of some 20 miles, is
the Royal Military Canal, made by order of William Pitt,
when the Napoleonic invasion scare was rife, and which has
since given rise to many humorous and satirical comments.
While swimming across this, a party of smugglers, with the
tubs strapped to their backs, miscalculated their landing
place in the dark, and were drowned.

In the neighbourhood of south-east Essex smuggling was
carried on in the last century to an alarming extent. The in-
habitants were notorious for their rebellious spirit, their
uncouth, and almost uncivilized manner of living, and their
amazing drinking capabilities. Even the clergy, who should
have known better, did not exempt themselves from this
mode of living.

Canvey Island, at the mouth of the Thames, played an
important part in the smuggling trade of this country. It is
six miles long and three miles broad, and may be reached
from the mainland at low water. The island was first drained
by Dutchmen, under the direction of Sir Henry Appleton,
the famous royalist. These Dutchmen eventually settled
there, and carried on a more or less questionable trade with
the Continent.

Again, the coast line near Shoeburyness is broken here
and there by deep gaps or ravines in the cliffs, and these
contributed their share to the smuggling lore of the district.
Stallibrass' Gap, especially, must have afforded shelter to
many a midnight run. Further up the coast, the Blackwater
River, and the countless creeks and openings which abound
in this neighbourhood, all have a tale to tell regarding some
scheme to rob the revenue. The Custom House at Colchester
was broken open in 1847. Two men arrived early one morn-
ing in the town, and saying that they were Customs Officers
come to arrange about depositing a cargo which they had
seized, asked the way to the Custom House. On being
directed there, a score or more armed smugglers followed,
and breaking open the premises, carried off 1,514 Ibs. of
tea. The townsmen were too frightened to oppose the
ruffians, who disappeared completely, leaving no clue to their
identification.

One system of smuggling, very prevalent on the Eastern
coast, was known as "coopering." A number of vessels
would remain just outside the three-mile limit, and dispose
of tea, tobacco, and spirits, generally of the vilest description,

218

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

to the fishermen of the locality. So successful was the work-
ing of this method that the fishermen became bold and care-
less in their transactions ; suspicion was aroused, and the in-
evitable government raid followed. It transpired, however,
that the alarm had been given in time to enable the smug-
glers to throw a large proportion of dutiable goods over-
board, and only a small quantity was found by the Customs
authorities.

The escape of two noted smugglers named Johnson and
Tapson from the New Borough Gaol is worth recording.
These desperate characters, for whom warrants had long
been out, were finally apprehended, together with others, and
three cart-loads of goods, by a party of dragoons in the
neighbourhood of Croydon. The prisoners were escorted to
London, and lodged in an apartment of the gaol, the window
of which overlooked the courtyard. One morning they were
visited by an accomplice, who conveyed firearms to them.
While the visitor remained in conversation with them, Johnson
contrived to send the gaolers away on pretext of bringing
something from his sleeping apartment. The visit at an end,
the turnkey opened a door for the visitor to depart, when the
smugglers overpowered him, and so made good their escape.
As they still had their irons on it was thought 'that their
capture was inevitable, but the resources of their friends had
not been counted on. Outside were three horses, on which
they dashed away threatening to blow out the brains of any-
one who dared molest them.

A detailed account of the tricks employed by the smugglers
in carrying out their schemes would fill a lengthy article. In
many farmhouses the construction of the chimneys allowed
for a chamber in the depth of the wall, the entrance to which
was a little way up the chimney. Again, many a priest's
hiding place, which had formerly provided a refuge against
religious persecution, came in handy as a safe harbour for
bales of tobacco and kegs of brandy. Another favourite
device was the use of large stone jars or bottles with mov-
able bottoms through which lace and silks were put, and the
bottom fixed. They were then passed off as " empties " going
abroad to be refilled.

In the realms of fiction smugglers have provided material
for many a thrilling romance, although in the majority of
cases vivid imagination has taken the place of literal accuracy.
The author of The Ingoldsby Legends, the Rev. Richard H.

219

SMUGGLING IN THE HOME COUNTIES.

Barham, had studied one smuggling locality at first hand,
since he was for a time curate at Ashford, Westwell, and
eventually Vicar of Snargate. In that fine legend "The
Smuggler's Leap," we read the true story of Anthony Gill, an
exciseman of Sandwich, who in pursuit of a smuggler one
foggy night, rode over the cliff and perished with his enemy.

The fireflash shines from Reculver cliff,
And the answering light burns blue in the skiff,
And there they stand, that smuggling band,
Some in the water, and some on the sand,
Ready those contraband goods to land :
The night is dark, they are silent and still.
At the head of the party is Smuggler Bill !

The smuggling of to-day, although one occasionally hears
of government seizures of contraband goods, is but a paltry
affair, when contrasted with the old time cargo-running. The
once flourishing trade is now confined to small quantities of
tobacco and saccharine, and by the ladies (for smuggling is
by no means peculiar to one sex) lace and scent. The modern
contrabandist is but a spiritless, prosaic individual, compared
with the hoary, armed-to-the-teeth, brigand of long ago, who
patrolled the coast, ready to fight hard to defend what he
considered a time-honoured custom.

GRAY'S INN GARDENS: New Glimpses
of Francis Bacon

BY CHRISTIAN TEARLE.

IT seems probable that when, in or about 1580, Francis
Bacon took up his abode in Gray's Inn, all the garden
which the Society could boast of was a strip running
immediately behind what is now the west side of Gray's Inn
Square. A few years earlier, as appears by Aggas's map, this
piece of land, together with so much of the site of Gray's Inn
Square as ran northward of the present No. i had been laid
out as a garden. But at the beginning of the third decade of
Elizabeth's reign there had been much building in the Inn.
By 1580 the site of South Square was no longer a close of
pasture land as Aggas shows it, and the north side of Gray's
Inn Square — for convenience' sake that site is throughout

220

OH O
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GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

this article referred to by its present name — was built upon
from east to west, and houses standing at right-angles to this
north row of buildings, and occupying, more or less exactly,
the sites of the present Nos. 5 and 10, were also in existence.

The new-comer got the benefit of whatever garden was left,
for the house which contained his " chamber " occupied the
site of the present No. i. There seems to be no doubt that the
quarters allotted to him were those which his father, Sir
Nicholas, had held; and these quarters, altered and enlarged
in or about 1589, were his home until he married in 1606.
After his fall they became his retreat, and it was from there
that in March, 1626, he departed in his coach for Highgate,
never to see his beloved Inn again.

Bacon has put on record his views as to what a garden
ought to be, and it is easy to imagine what he thought of the
poor strip under his back-windows. But a garden could not
be made unless there were land available, and a lad of nine-
teen, even if he happened to be the son of one of the Inn's
most respected worthies, must needs bide his time before he
could move the grave and reverend fathers of the Bench table
to lay out " Walks." Eleven years later, however, he had been
elected to a seat at that table, and apparently the ball had
been set a-rolling. It appears by the Pension Book of Gray's
Inn, edited by the Preacher, the Rev. Reginald J. Fletcher,
that in February, 1591, the Benchers deputed four of their
number, including " Mr. Bacon," to survey and report upon
certain proposed operations in the Society's " back feild," the
place referred to being a field called Gray's Inn Close, which
lay just behind the west side of Gray's Inn Square. No reason-
able person can dispute Mr. Fletcher's conjecture that this
was the first step taken towards the making of the " Walks,"
the famous gardens of Gray's Inn. They are Bacon's handi-
work— "the best gardens of any of the Inns of Court."

The Pension Book shows that less than a year after the
appointment of this committee, some progress had been made;
there is a record that on February 9, 1592, Daniell, one of
Bacon's three colleagues, had lent the Society £16, " towards
the making of ther Walks." We know that at this time " Mr.
Bacon " was not in a position to lend money. Whether he
was any better off in 1600 is doubtful, but the record shows
that in that year the Inn owed him £20 6s. 8d. in respect of the
" Walks," and in the account which he rendered it is pleasant
to come across the names of some of the trees and flowers

221

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

which in his essay " Of Gardens " he mentions as suitable to
the climate of London. The items include cherries — we know
that he planted these for their April blossom — "standerds
of roses," woodbines, " pincks violetts and primroses " — not
"prime-roses" as he spells it in his essay. It was in the
" Walks " to which this account refers that on a spot close to
the south end of the present Raymond Buildings, he, during
his treasurership, raised a mount and summer-house; and
near this site the catalpa, traditionally planted by him, still
flourishes.

The records further show that between 1598 and 1600 the
north wall of the " Walks " was completed. This was of no
great length, for the good reason that, roughly speaking, all
the land available was the field above referred to: an oblong
space bounded on the north by a strip of pasture land, abutting
upon the present Theobald's Road, and now forming part of
the terrace ; bounded on the south by the present Field Court,
and extending from the Inn's western wall no further eastward
than the western side of Gray's Inn Square. It is in connection
with the small close of land lying at the back of the Square,
afterwards added to the " Walks " and, except so far as Verulam
Buildings have encroached upon it, still forming part of them,
that we get the new glimpses of Bacon which are the subject
of this article.

In order to explain why this land was not then available
we must go back to the year 1579. Prior to that date the
north boundary of the Inn proper was a fence corresponding
roughly with the north face of Gray's Inn Square. Beyond this
lay a meadow called the Panyerman's Close. The panyerman
was an Inn servant, who waited at table and brought home
provisions from the market, and the close bore his name be-
cause one of his perquisites was to let it for his own profit. In
1579 the rent he got was 2Os. a year. The north boundary of
this close was the eastern end of the before-mention strip of
pasture land abutting upon the present Theobald's Road.

On February 10, 1579, the Benchers in Pension made an
order that one Strickland, a fellow of the Society, was to have
the north side of Gray's Inn Square to a depth of 22 ft, to
build upon. The term authorized was 60 years, and the lessee
was to pay for every "lodging" built 4^. a year. By the following
July the land had been built upon, and Strickland's lease was
vested in Edward Stanhope, a brother member of the Inn.
The houses were known as Stanhope's Buildings. Morden and

222

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

Lea's map of London, which bears date 1682, gives a tiny
picture of these Buildings. If this be examined through a
magnifying glass, it seems to show that they were built of
wood and plaster, and it is evident that the roofs were a
bewildering mass of gables. Stanhope's Buildings were pulled
down during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, and
the present Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 Gray's Square were raised upon
the site.

Shortly after the Buildings were erected Stanhope obtained
a lease of the close behind them. The Pension Book, under
date of July 6, 1579, sets out a memorandum to the effect that
as the new buildings were likely to be very much annoyed
because half of the Panyerman's Close was commonly sur-
rounded and overflowed with standing water, and as it would
cost £30 to put matters right, and as, moreover, Stanhope
had undertaken to drain and fence the close, the same, subject
to certain reservations of no great importance, was granted to
him for 60 years, he paying to the panyerman for the time
being a yearly rent of 2Os. Thus it appears that in 1579
Stanhope held a 60 years' lease of the north side of Gray's
Inn Square, and a 60 years' lease of the close behind ; there-
fore he was entitled to possession of the two until 1639, sub-
ject, of course, to his performing his part of the bargain.

In 1581 — Stanhope being then a Bencher — leave was given
to him to cause the trees on the close to be " shredded " to the
height of 8 ft. above the top of a mud wall which he was
making. Seeing that the trees were " goodly tall timber trees,"
this entry is significant, for even assuming — as was probably
not the fact — that he had so far done none of the wicked
things alleged against him 24 years later, the grant of such a
licence as this seems to indicate that the Inn was content to
let him deal with the close as he pleased. It was not until
ten years later, be it remembered, that the first step towards
the making of the " Walks" was taken. In 1581 the close was,
in all probability, a small, rough piece of meadow land, hidden
behind Stanhope's Buildings, and of no interest to anyone but
Stanhope and his tenants.

For the next 16 years, that is until 1597, the Pension Book
contains no mention of the Panyerman's Close. Mr. Fletcher,
in his delightful introduction to the first volume, says that it
was not until 1 598 that the making of the "Walks " really began
to make progress. This being so, there can be no doubt that
the plans had been under consideration for some time, and it

223

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

is, at least, a curious coincidence that in the year before 1598
a hostile attack upon Stanhope's dealings with the land should
have been made. On June 13, 1597, the Bench, without
having, so far as the records show, given the matter any
previous consideration, made an order that all the stables
which he had built upon the close were to be pulled down, or
if it should be thought meet to let them stand, then none of
them " or any other there to bee " at any time thereafter
should be used for dwelling-houses.

This order, owing to its alternative form, speaks with a rather
uncertain sound. Of what followed as between the Society
and its lessee there is no record. But we know that the stables
were not pulled down. A paving order, made two years later,
seems to show that the Inn had acquiesced in Stanhope's
doings, for this order, so far as it related to his holding,
merely directed that so much of the work as lay " all alonge
Mr. Stanhopes stables gardens and buildings " should be done
at his charges. There is not a word to put on record the fact
that the said stables, gardens and buildings were a nuisance,
and a continuing breach of Stanhope's obligations; and yet,
something of the kind might have been expected of a legal
corporation, if any such grievance had been in existence.

Mr. Fletcher does not suggest that there is any trace of
Bacon's hand in the Inn's dealings with the close until some
years after 1600, but taking the records as they stand, may it
not fairly be conjectured that in 1597 Bacon engineered an
attempt to put matters in train for recovering possession, and
that the order of that year was the result? If this attempt
came to nothing, owing to his colleagues not having cared to
proceed to extremities, is it not equally likely that for the
time being he felt obliged to acknowledge defeat, and do the
best he could with the land at his disposal? Under these
circumstances the grievance which he had raised would die a
natural death, and the savour of acquiescence in Stanhope's
doings, which the paving-order of 1599 seems to breathe, is
accounted for. At the date of that order the making of the
"Walks" must have been well advanced. It was too late in
one sense, and too soon in another, for the plans to be ex-
tended to the Panyerman's Close.

No one with Bacon's views as to what a garden ought to
be could have surveyed the "back feild " in 1591 without
longing to add to it the close adjoining, and it is not very
fantastic to picture him in that year and the years following,

224

Francis Bacon.

By permission of the Treasurer and Masters of the Bench of Gray's Inn.
Photograph by Donald Macbeth, London.

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

looking over Stanhope's fence with envious eyes, and racking
his brains to discover some means of getting rid of the sixty-
years' term. When Francis Bacon wanted anything he
generally tried to get it, and he was not over-nice about the
means. Possibly a good deal of underground working went
on before the Bench could be prevailed upon to make the
order of 1597. If at that date Bacon had hoped to include
the Panyerman's Close in the walks then about to be laid
out, he was disappointed ; but eight years later he gained his
end, and the failure of 1597 proved a stepping-stone to the
success of 1605. The ejectment order, which we are now
approaching, was founded in part upon a recital — neither
fair nor accurate in its terms — of the order of 1597, followed
by an allegation that it had received no due execution.

In 1605 Bacon stood on the threshold of his greatness.
During the last years of Elizabeth there had been a blight
upon his career, but now the new king — chilly though he had
been at first — was showing signs of favour. Many things had
happened since the prosecution of Essex, and the world was
beginning to forget the part which Bacon had played in that
tragedy. He was no longer "in disgrace with fortune and
men's eyes." The long-coveted solicitorship was almost
within his grasp. Can it be doubted that he was already all-
powerful in Gray's Inn — that his colleagues of the Bench
table were ready to act upon his bidding? Eight years before,
they had dealt with Stanhope in gingerly fashion ; now they
were in a different mood : they turned him out neck-and-
crop.

The order of ejectment bears date October 29, 1605 — it
was in that very month and year that the Advancement of
Learning was published from the Holborn gate of the Inn —
and the Benchers directly responsible were eleven in number,
including Bacon himself. This order, as recorded in the
Society's archives, was the work of no ordinary draughtsman.
In mere length it is remarkable; it fills two pages and a half
of Mr. Fletcher's Pension Book. It is a long chain of reason-
ing, very skilfully forged link by link, to justify its conclusion,
and yet it leaves upon the mind of anyone who dispassion-
ately considers the terms of the original grant, and remembers
that for eighteen years after that grant had been made
Stanhope was allowed to go his way unmolested, an im-
pression that the reasoner was conscious that his legal
position was a weak one, and that he was eager to make out

XIV 225 Q

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

a strong moral case by putting the worst possible gloss upon
his adversary's acts or defaults. It is, at least, suspicious that
so little should be said about what the demise expressed, and
so much about what it implied.

At the head of the measured and sonorous indictment
which the order sets forth, Stanhope is branded as a liar, and
his conduct from the very beginning of the transaction is
tainted with a suggestion of fraud. It was by misrepresenta-
tion that he obtained the lease — by " pretending " that the
close was generally flooded ; by " pretending " that it would
cost £30 to drain it. Seeing that the Benchers who made the
order must have had the land under their eyes for years, it is
difficult to believe that these allegations — or at least the first
of them — had any foundation in fact.

All the earlier records of the Inn's dealings with the Close
are couched in such language as any Elizabethan scrivener
would have had at his command. There is no style to be
found in the writing, but this order is very different. Apart
from the weight and dignity of the indictment as a whole,
and the dexterity with which the oratorical hammer can
deliver a back-handed blow — all the happier for its unex-
pectedness— and drive a nail further home, there are passages
which bear a cadence faintly recalling the Book of Common
Prayer. What other record of an Inn of Court can show
writing such as this ?

And whereas after the said lease soe obtained the said
Edward Stanhope did for the levelling of the said ground
cause & permitt to be brought into the same the scavage of
the street & the like noisome stuffe, wherebie he did not
onlie extreamelie annoy the house for the presente while it
was in doing, but did alsoe performe the raising of the said
ground without any manner of charge to himselfe & contrari-
wise not without benefitt & gayne at the scavengers hands for
suche his sufferance and receiving.

Mark the force and unexpectedness with which a new charge
is launched in the concluding words beginning " and contrari-
wise " ! The passage which follows is hardly less impressive :

And whereas not long after the said Edward Stanhope,
contrarie to the intent of the said order by which it was
conceived that the said close shold have been turned into a
faire & levell greene pasture to the beautie & pleasure of the
said house & the chambers & grounds adjacent, did contrive
226

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

& porcion out the said ground into little garden plotts, to the
nomber of sixteene or more, & did lett the same unto certene
poore people, there to bleeche their clothes, & for other the
like base uses.

And what trained ear can fail to recognize the measured
beat of the sentence which closes the main string of recitals ?

By all which devises & meanes the said Edward Stanhope
raised a private commoditie to himselfe of a yearelie rent
of xxx" or more by the space of xx yeares together att the
least.

In the next clause Stanhope is arraigned for having wilfully
cut down and wasted 17 at least of the 38 " goodly tall timber
trees " which formerly stood in the close, " to the great beauti-
fieing and defense of the house uppon the northe part
thereof"; and after a brief reference to the royal proclama-
tion against certain buildings, the order of 1597 and its non-
execution are passed under review. The recital of this order
is unfair and inaccurate, as anyone who turns back to the
record of it can see.

At the end of the recitals the court proceeds to sum up the
conclusion at which it has arrived, and then pronounces
judgment: " Foreasmuche therefore," as the Readers entering
into due consideration of the premises do find certain things,
all of which are set out with the same dignity —

and doe find also that the intencion of the first demise was
to avoid nusance & not to encrease or multiplie nusance. . . .
Therefore & for the manifold abuses before remembred, it
is ordered at this present pencion, by the full and generall
consent of all the Readers there presente, that the said close
called the Panyarmans close, the former order of demyse
notwithstanding, be declared to be presently resiezed & re-
sumed into the hands of the said Societie, to bee inclosed &
converted for the good of the said Societie as hereafter shalbe
thought fitt. . . .

Can it be doubted that in this order the Pension Book con-
tains a characteristic and hitherto unrecognized writing of
Francis Bacon?

Due execution followed judgment; George Isack, the
carpenter, pulled down the stables and received £6 i^s. 8<£
for his pains. Presently the Panyerman's Close was walled in
on the north and east, and the land was added to the Walks.
Bacon — Treasurer of the Society from 1608 to 1617 — spent

227

GRAY'S INN GARDENS.

the Inn's money freely upon it, and time has prospered his
handiwork. To this day a wide stretch of green turf, " faire
and levell," rolls up from the north side of Gray's Inn Square
to the lordly terrace which in old days looked out across
meadows to Hampstead and Highgate.

A last word as to " the panyerman for the time being." It
is a satisfaction to know that though Stanhope may have
been despoiled of his property, the rights of the Inn servant
were not ignored. The accounts show that Bacon paid him
2os. a year, " for the rent of the gardens."

THE BUILDING OF NONSUCH HOUSE,
SURREY: April-September, 1538. (From
Contemporary Notes).

BY HENRY LITTLEHALES

T UST outside the little village of Ewell in Surrey, only
indeed a few hundred feet to the north-east, fourteen
J miles from London, stood once a great house, so magni-
ficent in its construction as to be called " Nonsuch." This
house, of which virtually nothing now remains, was erected
by Henry VIII.

Though the mansion has long since disappeared, the names
of many of the workmen who built it, the record of the tools
they used and many other details still remain, set down with
pen and ink, and open to the investigation of those interested
in such matters.

The pages in which these facts are preserved form a large
volume at the Public Record Office.1 This book contains
something like a hundred paper leaves, the writing on which
is for the most part perfectly distinct.

It is divided into five sections, which together cover the
period April-September, 1538. The method of entering the
materials purchased and the wages paid, etc., is very precise.
First is the heading giving the period of which the section
treats ; immediately following are the names of the men em-
ployed and the wages paid to them. Each man's name is
tiven under its proper heading — carpenters, masons, and so
)rth, with the amount he is paid per day, and the total

1 Exchequer Accounts, 477-12.
228

THE BUILDING OF NONSUCH HOUSE.

amount paid him during the period. We can see how many
men were employed at a given time and what was their craft.
Last in each section come the list of purchases made and the
sums paid out for various purposes.

Having now given some description of the book we may
note such items as are of particular interest, giving but one
instance however frequently the item recurs.

The heading of the first page reads :

Codyngton.

Costys and Expensis don [there from the . . . ] daye of
Apriell in the XXX [yere of the reigne of] our soverayn lorde
King Hen[ry th'eighte unto the] XX daye of Maye.

Codyngton is the medieval spelling of Cuddington, the parish
next Ewell.

Then follow the names and the amounts paid to the masons,
carpenters, bricklayers, sawyers and labourers. In the first
month a certain number of men were employed. There were :
1 5 masons, I sawyer and his fellow, 8 bricklayers, 5 carters, 2
clerks, and 52 labourers.

In the next month many more men were engaged, namely,
24 masons, 42 carpenters, 31 bricklayers, I plasterer with 3
servitors, 1 1 sawyers, each with his fellow, 7 carters, 4 chalk
diggers, 2 clerks, and 106 labourers.

The first purchase we meet with of any special interest is
that of a number of hurdles which were bought at Chypstede
(Chipstead). The purpose for which they were procured is
not clear, but from details given later on and in other MSS.
of the time it seems that hurdles were in some way connected
with the scaffolding.1

The next entry of interest tells us of the "rubber": "To
James Ketell aforesaide for a rubber for the masons to werke
theire tolis vppon, 3^. 4^." Clearly this was the stone upon
which the tools were sharpened, a whet-stone.

Later on, bast ropes for the scaffolding were procured, and
spades, pails and shovels. Three " hande barrowes," costing
4</ each, were obtained from a local tradesman. Two " hat-
chettes " for the " lyme burners " were bought of Henry Chap-
man of Ewell, " smythe," for *jd. each, and two axes for the
burners at I s. each. Three wedges " stelid " [that is furnished

1 Hurdles occur constantly in early building accounts ; they were pro-
bably used for the movable platforms on which the workmen stood. —
EDITOR.

229

THE BUILDING OF NONSUCH HOUSE.

with a steel face] " for to cleve wode," weighing 1 3 Ibs., cost
2s. 2d. Two "fyer forkes" and two "pronges," weighing 28 Ibs.
cost 3^. 6d.

The next entries consist of a very large number of payments
for " lande carriage " of stone, the carters being engaged from
Wymbulton, Totyng, Morden, Clapam, Micham, and various
other places.

;The final entry for this section is for the carriage of "tal-
wood " (billets, firewood). This was brought from Kyngswood,
mainly by carters living at Ewell.

May-June.

This section records payments and particulars from May to
June. The masons are called " fremasons," that is, workers
in free-stone, the chief mason being designated the " warden "
and the others " lodgemen." The warden was paid 4^. a week,
and each lodgeman 3 s. ^d. Of the carpenters, the chief warden
received $s. a week ; the wages of the others varied a good deal,
some getting 6d., and some as much as gd. a day. Of the
bricklayers, the chief warden received lod. a day, the warden
8d., 25 others were paid yd. a day, 3 received 6d. and one $d.
Carters were paid i^d. a day, which apparently included the
hire of the horse and cart. Labourers received ^d. a day.

Timber and " Rigate stone " were delivered in this month,
and £4. i6s. was paid " to William of Kyngston for xvi lodes of
lyme, every lode conteynyng xl bushellis."

Twelve thousand " playn tyle," two hundred " rydge tyle,"
and seven bushels of tile pins were bought. £3 $s. was paid
to Thomas Burton " for the hewyng & squaryng " of 65 loads
of timber, and a new bucket for the well was purchased at a
cost of I2d.

At this time the chief carpenter and chief bricklayer were
sent on horseback riding from one place to another for 9 days,
being paid, each of them, I2d. a day.

James Ketell, the London ironmonger, now supplies many
thousands of different kinds of nails and a number of " sen-
tillis," the meaning of which we are unable to determine.

Six stone axes for the " leyers," four trowels for the " set-
ters," and two " settyng hammers " are purchased. The num-
ber of tools bought seems insignificant amongst so many
workmen and we may suppose it to have been usual for each
man to own his own tools. More tools were purchased later,
though never a large number. In the August-September

230

THE BUILDING OF NONSUCH HOUSE.

section we see that three chisels were purchased for the
carpenters to take down boards from an old barn ; it is pos-
sible therefore that small purchases of tools were made for
particular purposes, for work, that is, which would lie outside
the ordinary employment.

Three " wynchys of yorn, ij of them for ij grindstonis and
the other for the well," cost ys. gd.

For "stelyng of iiij mattokes for the chalk diggers" i6d.
was paid.

A somewhat significant entry is that of " carriage of ston
from Merton Abby, by the space of iiii mile at \]d. the mile,
at viijV. the lode." Nearly 50 carters were employed from the
neighbouring villages for this purpose.

June-July.

The masons now, though retaining their chief (the warden)
are divided for the future into " setters," at 3^. 8d. a week, and
" lodgemen " at 3 s. ^d.

" Roughe layers " are engaged and are paid as follows : the
chief warden lod. a day, the warden &/., 50 or 60 others 7^.,
a few 6d.y and " prentises " $d. and 6d. a day.

A plasterer is engaged at 6d. a day, and a " scafTolder " also
at 6d. ; three " servitors " get $d. and " chalke diggers " 6d.

" Playnche bord " and " harte lathe " are now purchased.
Heart-laths were made from inner and harder wood, and were
used for outside work. Now, too, a purchase is made of " xli
lode of Alder polis to make schaffoldis." Alder was commonly
used for scaffolding poles in the Middle Ages.

Robert Wynson of Bylynghurst receives 6s. " for iij dussen
pailes to put water in for the masons and roughe layers to set
theyr ston with."

Five "yron shode shovellis" at $d. each and "iiij bare
shovellis " at 2.d. each, are bought from John Dowset at
Kyngston. Halliwell tells us that a shod shovel was one of
wood partly covered with iron ; a bare shovel may have been
one wholly unshod.

The chief carpenter and bricklayer now go on another ex-
cursion, this time to get workmen and timber.

A plasterer is sent out to get hair, and is paid 8d. a day for
his horse in addition to his wages.

Twenty wheelbarrows are procured from Hampton Court
and several sawpits dug.

We now have an interesting reference to overtime : " Fre-

231

THE BUILDING OF NONSUCH HOUSE.

masons workyng theire howre tymis & drynkyng tymis, rated
for every howre id."

In another medieval account book (Exch. Ace. 459-22) we
read of " Massons workyng tymys & dryn[kyng tymys] for
the hasty expedyscyon " of certain work and labourers " work-
yng theyr howers and drynkyng tymys " at a halfpenny the
hour. The drinking time was a recognized period for refresh-
ment in the Middle Ages.

The following entry seems to show that 10 hours constituted
the medieval working day: "Carpenters rated for every x
howres viijaT." Another batch of carpenters were rated at yd.
and another at 6d. the 10 hours. Roughlayers, too, were rated
at so much for every 10 hours.

July-August.

A hodmaker at $d. a day is now engaged.

Nearly 200 labourers were employed this month, in addition
to skilled workmen. Thirteen " mowntes " * of plaster of Paris
were purchased of a " merchant man " near London Bridge,
and three more " mowntes " of John Frank of Billingsgate.

Richard Isok of Kyngston is paid 4^. " for settyng on of
xlviij hopis [hoops] vppon the tubbis that holdithe the water
at the morter heape " ; 2d. is paid " for a markyng yron to
mark ladders and whele barrows."

Twopence is paid for two " settyng chisellis for the setters,"
and Thomas Green of Rigate, carpenter, receives $is. 6d. " for
fellyng, hewyng & squaryng " timber.

Two sawpits were made in Lee wood.

A ugust- September.

Two " thacchers " [thatchers] are now engaged.

A load of " syngle quarters " is purchased and a quantity of
straw to thatch " a workyng howse for the carpenters."

Apparently a good deal of work was done on the spot.

A hempen rope for the well, weighing 56 Ibs., cost 7^., and
16 bundles of " harsell roddes " for the thatchers cost 2d. a
bundle. We are not able to explain the meaning of " harsell "
as a word, but apparently the rods were cross pieces to bind
down the thatch.

£60 was paid to John Seborow, William Hudson, and
William Merten of Stook, " for diggyng, moldyng, settyng, &
burnyng of syx hunderd thowsand brikkes."

1 A mount of plaster of Paris was 3,000 Ibs.
232

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747.

Five " drift pynnis," weighing 1 5 Ibs., are procured for the
carpenters, and also a hammer, weighing 1 1 Ibs., " for to dryve
in the drift pynnis." Drift pins usually cost 2d. apiece.

During the progress of the work the axes of the masons
and rough layers cost a considerable sum for " bateryng,"
which is the term used for beating and bringing to a point
and cutting edge.

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747: Extracted from
George Vertue's Note Books.

BY R. M. BURCH.

HAVING recently had occasion to go through a number
of volumes of MS. compiled by the celebrated English
engraver, George Vertue (1684-1756), afterwards in
the possession of Horace Walpole, and now at the British
Museum, I came across the following in one of them, which I
thought might be of interest to some of your readers. I think
it will be tolerably intelligible, though Vertue's jerky style, the
result of many years of hurried note-taking, is apt at times to
render his meaning obscure. His interest in everything relat-
ing to engraving is evidenced by the detailed description of
seals used by Charles II during the Interregnum, and appended
to grants made by him to Sir Edward Nicholas, which are no
doubt still preserved at Horsley ; a pen-and-ink outline sketch
of the house at Horsley faces the commencement of the MS.

1747, Aug. 19. — Wensday Morn. Set out from London by
the Coach [to] Guildford in Surrey.

1 1 at Kingston, by 3 o'clock at West Horseley,1 the Seat of
William Nicholas, Esq., whose kind invitation to come and
make it a retirement and refreshment for some days as I in-

1 Allowing one hour from Guildford to Horsley, this would represent
an average speed of about 5 miles an hour, which was perhaps the normal
one for the first half of the i8th century. In the course of a journey from
Winchester to London about 25 years earlier (1722), Lord Percival, in a
MS. I have seen lately, went with his family (probably in a Chariot with
4 or 6 horses) from Farnham to Guildford "over the downs" (i.e., along
the Hog's Back), and "the roads being good" passed on to Epsom, the
whole journey occupying 54 hours, or also about 5 miles an hour.

233

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747.

tended. At the Inn at Kingston, upstairs in the windows,
this Cifer [the monogram H.A. ensigned by a crown] and also
another thus [the monogram H.R.], the first being for Anne
and Henry VIII, and the [second] for Henry Rex. Being
come to Horseley, Mr. Nicholas, according to his invitation
last year, received me with Civilities and welcomes in a very
obliging manner and friendly: — after wee dined he conducted
me about his house and gardens till the evening. Next morn-
ing, being Thursday, after breakfast we set out in his chariot
and four horses and servants to wait on Mr. Henry Weston at
Chertsey Abby, about 8 or 10 mile from Horseley — where
this Gentleman lives — and also next his house is the Great

House and Gardens of Hynde, built upon the site of the

Old Abbey. Some of the old walls and the mote about only
remaining, and no scrap of the Religious house, these having
been and [an] old house or dwelling till of late years, which
being pulled down and a new brick regular building erected
in the place of it, and handsomely adornd and furnisht. There
wee din'd very plentifully at Mr. Weston. Some good modern
family pictures; returned home to Horseley.

Friday morning, after a walk about Gardens of the House,
and breakfast, we past some time in the study of books, MSS.,
&c. A Diary this gentleman has, of the memorable publick
affairs, deaths and promotions of persons of Distinction, writ
by Sir John Nicholas, who was in several stations about the
Court of King Charles 2nd, Clerk of the Council, &c., and to
King James, but afterwards to King William and to Queen
Anne; these remarks in his own hand from 1660 to his death
ano. 1705, which I did not read nor extract any part. Sir John
was Knight of the Bath at the Restoration, his picture with
the Red Riband painted very well by Lely, 1661. At the same
time was also painted by Sir P. Lely the picture of old Sir
Edward Nicholas, Secretary of State to King Charles ye first
and second, who was born at Winterborn East, near Sarum in
Wilts, the 4th of April, 1592, and died aged above fourscore.

Observations on several books, prints, &c. One deed, parch-
ment, finely writ and enluminated, with the broad seal of the
King Charles 2nd, apud castrum Elizabeth in Jersey, green
wax. The King sitting under a canopy, Lion and Unicorn
supporting on each side, carrying Standards of ye English and
Scotch Armes. Rev: the King on horseback, under the horse
a Lyon — the horse head [a little sketch here] and on the
other side of the King a Garter with the King's Arms quartered.

234

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747.

" To Sir Edward Nicholas, our principal Secretary of State,"
appointing him a coat of arms: viz: . . . , to be born by him
and his heirs. This deed is dated 1649, month of . . . , and
was fairly writ or engrossed by John Nicholas, eldest son of
Sir Edward. ? where and by whom this seal was engraved.
Another deed of broad seal from King Charles, to be his
Secretary of State, dated at Aquisgrane — Achen or Aix la
Chappel — 23rd of Aug. 1654, the seal being different from the
other. The King setting on his throne, Carolus 2dus. &c. Rev :
the King on horse-back, a greyhound running under the horse,
as former Kings had, on one side the King's Armes in a ...
crowned, on the other a rose crowned — yellow wax. Another
deed of broad seal of King Charles 2nd the same as [above]
described, to Sir Edward Nicholas, for to keep a fair at Elmore
Green near Shaften, [Shaftesbury] belonging to Gillingham,
Com. Dorset. This broad seal is of green wax and at the top
[on the seal] is engraved 1653 — this date on both sides. This
deed is dated apud Westminster, n die Martii, ano. Reg.
decimo quarto (1662).

Books of Birds Mr. Willoughby's.

Mr. Catesby Natural History.

Mr. Albins Mr. Edwards birds &c.

Mr. Edwards life from 1694, — books published.
Friday, after dinner, went to West Clandon, near Guildford,
to see the fine and noble House lately built by the late Lord
Onslow and finished by the Present Lord.1 A noble ascent in
front, great stone steps and balustrade entering into a most
noble and elegant hall, 40 feet high, adorn'd with marbles,
pillars, carvings, bass relievos by Rysbrake, Stuccos, painting,
guildings, &c., most rich and costly, a fine dining room, 3 noble
portraits of Speakers, one Queen Elizabeth, ist Richard
Onslow, and ye present Speaker, Arthur Onslow. Another
spacious noble room, collums, carvings, ornamented richly,
called the Palladio room. This house is very spacious, has 12
rooms on a floor, marble tables and richly furnished, built of
brick and some stone, a fine view and vista from it, a fine
grotto of shellwork, the park and walks noble, great and
delightful. Mr. J. Lion was the principal architect and
builder.

1 When Lord Percival passed Clandon on his way to Epsom (see
previous footnote), he was informed that the (old) house was being pulled
down and replaced by one larger and finer. Of Guildford he remarked
that it was a better and more regularly built town than Winchester.

235

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747.

Morning, Saturday, went to East Horseley, the House of Mr.
Fox. A new front, finely contrived, a most beautiful elegant
room, 45 ft. long by 22 ft. and 22 ft. high. The excellent works
in this room, of collumns, stucco, paintings, the ceilings, Vene-
tian windows, ornaments, gildings, carving, chimney pieces of
marble, is in the highest perfection and together is really the
noblest room that can be seen or imagined; built about 1725 ;
fine garden views and vistas and other beautys adorns this
seat, and make it the most admirable of any in the country.
Some good portraits, a gentleman half length. Chintz bed
chamber — the Duchess of Cleveland ; General Monk, £ length,
King Charles 2nd, J length.

Saturday, after dinner, went to Albury, the seat of Lord
Ailsford, formerly did belong to the Earl of Arundell, and the
Dukes of Norfolk. See the house, part of it built by the Earl
of Arundell, who chose this seat, and perforated a mountain or
hill to drive his coach through to the Gardens. Canal, fountains,
grotto, &c., a most romantick prospect and delightfull River
passing through the garden. Lord Ailsford I saw, — who invited
me to come some other morning to see the views about it, that
are admirable, — Lord Andover, his son, and his Lady, a most
ingenious, lovely, agreeable Lady, a great lover of curious
work and drawing, some her Ladyship shewed me, views taken
by herself, drawn in ink and pencil, mighty well. Mr. Henry
Finch was also there, a son of the old Earl of Nottingham,
whose picture, an original, is there, and he says the best picture
of him ; a noble fine large room, there is many good portraits,
one particularly of James, Duke of York; it being towards the
evening, I could not well see them.

Began to draw Sir Edward Nicholas' picture.

Sunday afternoon, Horsley church, an old building, 3 isles
and some part very old, round pillars [gives a sketch of one]
support the chancel, the other side more modern and higher
isles. The old font in the church plain and simple [gives a
sketch of it]. In the chancel of the church, a noble monument
for Sir Edward Nicholas, another for Sir John Nicholas, and
one for his Lady.

Abeil1 Tree grows in Surrey in great plenty, a timber of quick

growth, cutts well and strait, smooth, something harder than

deal. The horse chestnut tree brought from the East Indies.

At Horsely [is a] plantation of Trees by Sir Edward Nicholas,

in groves and rows. Elms about 80 years growth, circum-

1 The abele, or white poplar, populus albus.

236

A SURREY TOUR IN 1747.

ference tall and high, 8 ft, 7 ft. each the least, an acre of land,
208 sq. feet 8 inches makes an acre, 40 rod in length and 4 rod
over, a rod, 16 ft. 6 in.1

Of ye Cathedral of Salisbury, a large print, 3 foot by 2ft. 6,
4-sheet plan, engravd by Robert Thecker, designer to the
King. Morgan plan of London. Mr. Ogilby presenting the
book to King Charles.

Monday. After drawing a little we went out, calld at Mr.
Tite Gerald's, and from thence went to Mr. Jacobson's house
villa, called Lonesome,2 his own design and building — din'd
there — afterwards went to Wotton, Sir John Evelyn's house,
gardens, woods, library, cascades, vistas, elegant and noble to
behold — returned to Horsely. The House of Mr. Bridges near
it, a new built house after the model of an Italian house,
ground floor a noble room, pictures, portraits of the family of
Mr. Bridges, 22 ft. by 18, fine chimney piece and a ... The
great room or Salon, fine stucco, guilding, painting, Aurora
after Guido, antique, the room 28 by 22, fine marble chimney
piece, other chambers above the Mezzanine; din'd today at
Mrs. Skreen, Mrs. Barlow's at Cobham.

Tuesday. Drew Sir Nicholas.

Wensday,dito morning. Mr: Turner came to Mr. Nicholas ; —
evening, ride to Mr. Raymond's House and Park.

Thursday. Drew again; at dinner, Lord Andover at Mr.
Nicholas.

Friday. Went to see Mr. Hamilton's house and Park; his
fine room adorndwith paintings, 2 large fine views by P. Pannini
one the inside of St. Peter's Church at Rome, the other inside
of St. John de Lateran at Rome. 2 fine busts, antique. Several
other paintings, &c., fine views and park.

Saturday morning, drawing of Sir Nicholas, breakfast, set
out for London, returned [home] in the evening.

1 He probably meant that the plantation covered a superficies of an
acre, z>., a space 40 poles long by 4 wide.

2 Lonesome Lodge in Tillingbourne Park, a mile S.E. of Wotton
church.

237

REVIEWS.

LD WORLD PLACES, by Allan Fea, with numerous illustrations
from Photographs taken by the Author. Eveleigh Nash ; pp.
295; i os. 6d. net.

To a large circle of readers the prospect of taking another personally conducted
tour with Mr. Fea in search of historic and picturesque nooks and corners will
prove distinctly alluring. Those who have been with him before, or, in other
words, have read his previous books, will need no urging to get this one ; those,
if such benighted folk there be, who have not been " round " with so entertaining
a guide, cannot do better than start with Old World Places. We are taken this
time through parts of Herts, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Notts, Leicester-
shire, Warwickshire, Staffs, and Derbyshire. It is a part of England which, with
the exception of some of the cities and towns, is not generally known. The very
names of the villages suggest "Sleepy Hollow": Kirby Muxloe, Sheepy Magna
and Parva, Tur Langton, Carlton Curlieu, and (a gem for the last) Frisby-on-the
Wreak ! Long Itchington, by the way, is not quite so euphonious, and sounds as
though it might have been the place really referred to in the well-known story of
Sydney Smith. Most of the villages seem to be as pretty as their names, quite a
considerable number have preserved the village cross, often with stocks and some-
times pillory or whipping-post in close proximity. Village architecture and crafts-
manship show themselves as picturesque and artistic as elsewhere, and the churches,
as a whole, will compare favourably with any part of England. We read, alas !
the old melancholy tale of derastation wrought by parson and churchwardens in
conjunction with the fashionable church architect ; Jacobean font-covers thrown on
the dust-heap, carved bench-ends, panelling and screens sold to the maker of old
furniture, and similar atrocities. Mr. Fea, we are pleased to see, can record his
indignation in good set terms. Spalding Church, we are told, has been utterly
spoiled ; " it is sufficient to say that it was submitted to the tender mercies of Sir
Gilbert Scott, whose campaign of church restoration was nearly as deadly as
Jeffreys' reign of terror in the west." Yes, it is indeed sufficient, the more's the
pity. We do not know Spalding Church, but we can picture its swept and garnished
desolation when Scott had " restored " it. As usual Mr. Fea has plenty to say of
history and legend, of folk-lore and superstition. The cure for a howling dog is
delightful, but the author might have tried it and told us the result. The story of
Carlyle and his braces is quite characteristic of the Surly Sage of Chelsea, and we
do not remember reading it before. We venture on one or two corrections in
minor matters. The Thurloe State Papers were not found in the Gatehouse at
Lincoln's Inn, but in some chambers, now pulled down, in Old Square; cross-
legged effigies do not, according to the best opinions, denote crusaders; we believe
that the late King did not use the chair traditionally associated with Richard III,
in consequence of its being pointed out to him that it was of a common Jacobean
type ; and we rather doubt the existence of an altar-tomb and effigy " some thirty-
five years after the Norman invasion " [p. 182]. These are minor points after all ;
the main point is that Old World Places is worthy to rank with the author's
previous books on the same lines.

238

REVIEWS.

THE CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND AND WALES, being a fourth edition
of English Cathedrals Illustrated, by Francis Bond, M.A., etc.
B. T. Batsford; pp. xxii, 493; 7.?. 6d. net.

At first we wondered why a fourth edition of a previous book should be issued
under a different title ; the reason soon becomes obvious, it is to all intents and
purposes a new book ; largely re-written, wholly re-illustrated, vastly improved.
In the twentieth century we are by degrees cutting ourselves free from the con-
ventional shackles of the nineteenth ; we are taking down the little tin gods of our
fathers and grandfathers, examining them carefully, and seeing which are worthy
to be replaced in their old niches. Mr. Bond is doing good work in this direction,
pioneer work too, much of it, and that needs courage as well as skill. In the
earlier editions of his book, "in conformity with Mr. Rickman's nomenclature,
the attempt was made to thrust the history of every cathedral into his Procustean
framework of Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular periods . . .
in this volume the actual building periods are treated separately, and no attempt
is made to cram them into arbitrary imaginary compartments. " Thus are four little
tin gods dethroned, and Mr. Bond is at liberty to give his improved knowledge
and more critical observation free play, to the immense advantage of the reader.
Another great advantage to scientific study (for every one, that is, but the casual
sight-seer with half an hour to spare, and he need not be considered), is this :
instead of the old guide-book method, of entering at the west door, doing the
nave and aisles, continuing to the transepts, and winding up with the choir and
retro-choir — instead of this, we begin with the earliest portion and work downwards
in time to the latest. The reader thus gets history in its proper sequence, and in
addition gets Mr. Bond's illuminative suggestions for the why and wherefore of the
alterations and rebuildings made from time to time. This is one of the most
valuable features of the new edition, for most people have but the vaguest notion
of the difference between monks and secular canons and their respective houses, or
of the uses to which the different parts of a cathedral were put and the various
functions that were performed in them. Another most useful and instructive
feature is the series of plans, all specially drawn to the same scale (100 feet to the
inch), so that the comparative dimensions can be at once seen. The work is well
illustrated from photographs, many of which are from unpublished views taken by
the author and his friends. We could wish that the publisher had eschewed the
horrible " loaded " paper ; however, copies printed on thin paper can be obtained
at the same price.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE ST. PAUL'S ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY; vol.
vii, part i. Harrison and Sons; pp. 36; $s.

The first article in this part is an account of Lesnes Abbey, Kent, by Mr. Alfred
W. Clapham ; it forms a revised edition of his report published for the Woolwich
Antiquarian Society, reviewed in this magazine in 1910 [vol. xii, p. 326]. It is a
sound and excellent piece of work ; the historical account of the abbey is a model
of what such an introduction should be. Mr. Clapham's care and skill in conducting
the excavations cannot be too highly praised.

Mr. Thomas Garratt, A.R.I.B.A., writes on St. Mary Magdalene's Chapel,
Kingston-on-Thames. This article suffers from want of revision for printing j to
those who heard it read "the very charming little building in which we are
assembled " no doubt conveyed all that was necessary, but to the reader the words
are meaningless. Just in the same way, when the hearer of the paper was told to
"note " this or that special feature, doubtless he noted it; but what is the unfortu-
nate reader to do, without a single illustration? A somewhat indistinct ground-
plan, however, is given, and inset is what appears to be a small plan of the chapel
and the domestic buildings belonging to it. This is not referred to in the text, and

239

REVIEWS.

we are left to conjecture whether there is any foundation in fact upon which it is
based. We must confess to feeling rather sceptical that there could ever have been,
belonging to such a very small foundation as this was, and on a plot of ground
which seems to measure about 90 feet by 55 ^eet (there is no scale to the small
plan), two other chapels, St. Ive's and St. Anne's, a master's lodging, a kitchen,
a gallery or ambulatory, a barn, a stable, a dovecot, and a hawk's mews !

Mr. Garratt should suppress a tendency to be flippant, which does not improve
his writing. For instance, it may be true that the present members of the Corpora-
tion of Kingston are "great at dinners," but it seems unnecessary to record the
fact in an account of St. Mary Magdalene's Chapel.

Dr. Philip Norman, F.S.A., continues his careful articles on city churches,
dealing here with St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf, and Christ Church, Newgate Street.
The latter is especially interesting as occupying the site of the choir of the old
church of the Gray Friars.

THE HISTORY OF HERTFORD CASTLE, by William Frampton Andrews.
Hertford, Stephen Austin and Sons; pp. 56; 6d.

The Marquis of Salisbury has recently granted a long lease of Hertford Castle
to the Corporation, at a nominal rent, an act of public-spirited munificence that
other owners might well copy. Mr. Andrews, the author (or as he modestly calls
himself, the compiler) of this excellent little book, is a Borough Alderman,
thereby setting another excellent example. The old castle was the scene of many
interesting events, which are here duly recited. Two foreign kings were kept
prisoners here for some years, David Bruce, of Scotland, captured at the Battle of
Neville's Cross in 1346, and John of France, captured at the Battle of Poictiers in
1356. In 1628 Charles I sold the manor and castle of Hertford, the castle being
described as "ruinous and dilapidated," to William Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, for
^"292 6s. 8^., reserving a yearly rent of ^"32 15^. i±d. Mr. Andrews has used his
materials wisely and well. We would suggest, for the benefit of the next edition,
that a plan or two should be given, and that the atrocious wood-block of Lord
Salisbury's arms should be burnt by the common hangman.

DICKENS'S HONEYMOON AND WHERE HE SPENT IT, by Alex. J.
Philip. Chapman and Hall; pp. 48; i5.net.

Mr. Philip gives a pleasantly chatty account of the warfare waged by the
Chalkians (or should it be Chalkers?) as to which particular house at Chalk was
the one in which Dickens spent his honeymoon. No bloodshed is recorded, and
the evidence produced seems to indicate that the right house won the day. The
local admirers decided to place an inscription on the real Simon Pure, and Mr.
Percy Fitzgerald presented a marble tablet with a bronze mask of the novelist.
Judging from the illustration this production is of singularly unpleasing appear-
ance, suggesting an old-fashioned execution, with the severed head held up to

240

3
O

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H

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CONTENTS.

PAGE

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH . . 241

THE LONDON POLICEMAN 252

SOME COLD HARBOURS: II. CAMBERWELL

AND HATCHAM 258

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX 274
THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND . 280
THE HAYMARKET— HISTORICAL AND ANEC-
DOTAL 290

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY . . 300
NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH

ESSEX 303

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN IN ST.

JAMES'S PARK 309

NOTES AND QUERIES 313

REPLIES 321

REVIEWS .... . . 322

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HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

BY D. LOINAZ.

HOUNSLOW lies within the two parishes of Heston
and Isleworth, and, in point of population and busi-
ness, is the centre of the district. At the time when
the Domesday Survey was made, Hounslow, then written
Honeslaw, gave its name to one of the six Hundreds of
Middlesex, which was probably identical with the present
Hundred of Isleworth, comprising the parishes of Isleworth,
Heston, and Twickenham. The name assumes varying
forms, Honeslaw, as in Domesday, Hundeslawe, Hundeslowe,
Howndeslowe, Hunsloo, Hunslow, Hounsloe, and finally,
Hounslow, its present form.

Aungier (Syon Monastery) suggests that the name might
be derived from the Saxon hundes and might mean "the
place where the dogs are kept." Such a derivation, sug-
gestive of the forest and the chase, accords very well with the
character of the locality in those far off times, when the whole
stretch of country from Staines to Brentford, and from
Harmondsworth to Hampton, was one vast forest, dotted
here and there with enclosures granted from time to time by
royal favour. " From Stanes to Brayneford," writes Camden
(anno 1586), "all that which lies between the high roade
along Hundeslawe and the Thamis was called the forest or
warren of Stanes, till Henry III deforested and dewarrened
it " in 1217. The glimpse then that is afforded us of Hounslow
in those ancient times, if we accept Aungier's derivation, is
that of a few foresters' huts placed at some convenient spot
in the great forest, and hard by, the more important outbuild-
ings in which the King's hounds were housed. The chosen
spot would probably be not too remote from the old Roman
highway which, as Camden says, " passes through Brayneford
and so over Hundeslawe Heath." But the Domesday form of
the name (Honeslaw) would seem to be fatal to Aungier's
derivation.1

Early in the I3th century, about 1211, a Priory of Friars

1 This suggested derivation of Hounslow seems more than usually
crude and unconvincing. The fact that in 1086 Hounslow gave its name
to the Hundred, provides a clue for the true explanation. Hund> genitive

XV 241 R

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

of the Order of Holy Trinity was founded at Hounslow—
in all probability the first house of the Order in England.
The Order was first instituted in France in 1198 by SS. Jean
de Matha and Felix de Valois. King John, about 1214,
granted Letters of Protection to the brethren of " the Hos-
pitall of Hundeslawe," and in 1296 Edward I granted to the
Priory the right to hold a weekly market on Tuesdays and
a yearly eight days' fair on the eve, the feast, and the morrow
of Holy Trinity, and the five ensuing days. Leland's Itinerary
(1542) has the following reference to this Priory: "From
Brentford to Hundeslawe is two miles. There was in the west
ende of the town an house of the Freres of the Ordre of the
Tile of the Trinite;" and Norden (1593) in his Speculum
Britannicce, writes, " Hunslow belongeth unto two parishes,
the north side of the street (i.e. the High Street) to Heston,
and the south to Istlewoorth. There is a chappell of ease
which belonged unto the fryerie there dissolved, which fryerie
after the dissolution was by exchange given to Lord Windsore
by King Henry VIII. Afterwards it came to Auditor Roan
by purchase, who hath bestowed the same chappell and 40^.
per annum upon the inhabitants, to the ende and upon
condition that they by further contribution shall maintain a
minister there. There is a faire house erected where the friery
was, belonging to the heires of Auditor Roan. In the Chap-
pell was buried Sir George Windsor, knight. In that place
lie many of the Windsores."

There were in all about twelve of these Trinitarian or
Maturine Friaries in England and Wales. The former name
they derived from their dedicating their churches to the Holy
Trinity; the latter from their having had their first house
near St. Maturine's Chapel in Paris. Fosbroke's British

hundes, is the Saxon word for hundred ; hlaw is the Saxon for a small
hill, still in use in the alternative forms of law (e.g. Berwick Law) and
low (e.g. Arbor Low). Hundes-law means simply the hill at which the
Hundred Court met. These courts in early times generally met in the
open air, at some natural or artificial feature of the country, a hill, a tree,
a stone, a bridge, a cross, or the like. Assuming, as seems reasonably
probable, that the Domesday Hundred of Honeslaw was co-extensive
with the modern Hundred of Isleworth, a glance at a map will show that
Hounslow is in the most convenient place possible for the three centres
of population, the parishes of Isleworth, Heston, and Twickenham. The
Tynwald Mount, near Peel, in the Isle of Man, is an example of a hill
used from very early times as a public meeting-place ; it is probably the
only one where the primitive folk-moot is still kept up. — EDITOR.

242

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Monachism gives the following particulars of this Order.
"Government by a minister; vow of chastity and poverty;
third part of incomings to be devoted to redemption of
Christian captives from infidels (referring to the Crusades) ;
all churches to be of plain work, and dedicated to the
Trinity; sleep in their cloaths; no featherbeds nor counter-
panes, only pillows allowed. . . . No accusation without proof,
or the accuser to undergo the punishment the accused had
been liable to." All their revenues were divided into three
parts — one for their own maintenance, one for the relief of the
poor, and one for the ransom of Christians taken captive by
infidels.

The Hounslow Trinitarians held land in Bedfont, Heston,
Hatton, Harlington, and Uxbridge, in addition to their lands
in Hounslow, but they were not a wealthy community. At
the time of their suppression (temp. Henry VIII) the gross
annual valuation of all their holdings was not more than
£80 15.$-., or ;£/4 Ss. net. One of their number deserves
mention: Robert de Hounslow (died 1430), a native of the
place. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, and
afterwards became a friar of the Order at Hounslow. He
appears to have been a man of commanding ability and great
zeal, for he was chosen to fill the important office of Provincial
of the Order for England, Scotland, and Ireland. Fuller
assigns him a place among his " Worthies."

The manor of Hounslow, including the site of the Trini-
tarian Hospital, was annexed by Henry VIII to the Honour
of Hampton Court, and leased in 1539 for a period of twenty-
one years to Richard Awnsham, and in 1553 by Edward VI
to the Marquis of Northampton for a similar term, upon the
expiration of the former lease. The reversion of these pro-
perties, consisting of the Hospital, 117 acres of land, with
appurtenances, together with the fair, market, court-leet, etc.,
was sold in 1557 to Lord Windsor for £905, and in 1571 a later
Lord Windsor sold the hospital with its appurtenances and
the demesne lands to Anthony Roan, the Queen's Auditor,
who lived at Hounslow, for .£300 (reserving to himself the
manor, with the right of holding courts in the great hall of
the manor house) and an annual rent of £17. They were,
however, repurchased by the fifth Lord Windsor in 1594, and
transferred by him, with the manor, to Thomas Crompton.
In 1625 the estate was conveyed by Crompton's daughter,
Lady Lyttleton, to Justinian Povey; it was sold by the

243

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Povey family in 1671 to James Smith and Henry Meuse,
from whom it passed in the following year to Henry Sayer, in
whose family it remained until 1705, when it was purchased
by Whitelock Bulstrode of Clifford's Inn, a descendant of
John Bulstrode of Upton, Bucks, who lived in the time of
Edward II. The Bulstrode Estate was sold in 1818 to
Thomas Cane. Lysons, writing in 1795, says that the manor
house, "stands at the western extremity of the town and
adjoins the Heath;" it " is an ancient brick structure." The
grounds of Holy Trinity Church were the site of the old
manor house. In 1795, therefore, the Heath extended east-
wards up to Holy Trinity, and this part of the town was
then the western extremity. Here the town ended, and the
Heath began. But to-day the Heath lies a mile or more
westward.

"The second of Henry III," says Stow (Survey of London,
!598), "tne forest of Middlesex and the Warren of Stanes
were disafforested, since which time the suburbs about
London hath also mightily increased with buildings." To
some extent, no doubt, Hounslow and neighbouring districts
shared in this development. The prosperous " Marchant Ad-
venturer " of the City could now build himself a country resi-
dence within easy reach of town. Such residences sprang up
all around London, not a few in and about Isleworth, and
some, though not so many, in Hounslow. But the greater
benefit accrued to Hounslow from the fact that the disaf-
forestment not only gave an impetus to the development of
the suburbs and brought cultivators upon land hitherto wild,
but also that it involved a development of travel and traffic.
Situated on the common highway, the prosperity of the place
could not but be enhanced by the growth of travel and traffic.
In a Parliamentary Survey taken in 1650 it is stated that
Hounslow contained 120 houses, most of them being ale-
houses and inns. Now, at about this time the use of coaches
was rapidly coming more and more into vogue in England.
It was no longer generally considered, as it had been, effemi-
nate for men to travel by coach rather than on horseback ;
the old prejudice was fast dying under the obvious advantages
offered by the coach. The coach did for travel in those days
what the railway did at a later period : it lessened distances,
and increased comfort, and thus facilitated, and hence pro-
moted, travel.

With the growth of travel the prosperity of Hounslow in-

244

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HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

creased. It was a natural halting place for traffic to and from
London. It became essentially a posting station, 400 or 500
coaches passing through it daily. By the end of the i8th
century it had probably attained its zenith in this respect.
" The principal business of the inns consists in providing
relays of posthorses and exchanges of horses for the numerous
stage-coaches travelling the road. All here wears the face of
impatience and expedition. The whole population seems on
the wing for removal " (Brewer's Beauties of England and
WaleS) about 1800). What animated scenes must have been
witnessed here in those bygone times, particularly on market
day (Tuesday), or during the eight days of the annual fair,
when the surrounding villages and hamlets would each send
its quota to swell the variegated crowds, all bent on fun arid
bargains! Above the din of sellers and buyers and merry-
makers would sound out continually the horns of incoming
and outgoing coaches, and at every inn all would be bustle
and hurry. At these fairs, the proprietor of the manor levied
a toll on all sellers : for every horse 4^., and on every score
of sheep ^d. ; 2d. for each cow or calf, and id. for every pig;
id. from every house selling liquor, and \d. from all shops,
stalls, etc., known as the " show-penny." But there was one
spot, scarcely more than a stone's throw from the Fair
grounds, where the festive gave place to the gruesome. This
was at the junction of the Bath and Staines roads. There
criminals, brought from London and elsewhere, were gibbetted,
for the improvement presumably of the morals of the residents
and passers by. The gruesome practice continued till as late
as 1800-1808, about which time it was given up in considera-
tion for the feelings of the royal family who used the Bath
road on their journeys to and from Windsor.

It was at Hounslow, in 1216 or the year following, that the
Conference was held between the partisans of Henry III and
those of Louis the Dauphin of France, who had invaded
England, Henry having granted safe conduct to the four
peers and twenty knights representing Louis.

The Chapel belonging to the ancient Trinitarian Priory
existed for generations after the dissolution of the house;
indeed, it was standing in part until 1828. It was a small
building, according to Lysons (1795), comprising a chancel,
nave, and south aisle, and exhibited, at that late date,
"obvious traces of early I3th century architecture." The
spirit of the Trinitarians, in a measure at any rate, remained

245

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

active long after their time ; for we are told by the Magna
Britannia that twelve boys were taught and clothed here,
chiefly out of the offertory at the Sacrament, and that a
" two-penny loaf of good bread is also given to every child
that comes to Church on Sundays, morning and afternoon."

Beneath the floor of the venerable little church were buried
various members of the Windsor family. One of these,
Andrews, Lord Windsor, in his will, dated March 26, 1 543,
orders that his body be buried " in the choir of the Church of
the Holy Trinity of Houndslow, whether he deceases within
the realm of England or without . . . and to be placed between
the pillars where his entire well-beloved wife, Elizabeth, lieth
buried. . . . And that, at the day of his interment, there be
twenty-four torches and four great tapers about his hearse, to
be holden by twenty-eight poor men, every torch weighing
sixteen pounds and every taper containing twelve pounds, and
every of the poor men (who are to be of the Parish of Stanwell)
to have 6d. and a gown of frize." (Brydge's Collins' Peerage,
iii, 667.) There were no vestiges of any monuments of the
Windsor family when Lysons wrote (1795), with the exception
of a doubtful one.

The chapel was largely destroyed by fire shortly after it had
been repaired by Whitelock Bulstrode in 1705. It was restored
in 1710. The first curate was John Fight, appointed 1561, who
appears to have held the living until 1580, when he was
succeeded by Milo Barrow. In 1748 the Rev. Wetenhall
Wilkes, M.A., was appointed to Holy Trinity. His reign was
brief, as two years later he was preferred to a Lincolnshire
rectory. Wilkes wrote and published a poem entitled " Houns-
low Heath," a copy of which is to be seen at the British
Museum. The effort is more ambitious than successful. Mr.
Wilkes may have been an excellent preacher, he was a very
indifferent poet. He opens thus :

Hail happy scene, secure from fractious noise,
From pomp, from cares, from all delusive joys,
From all expensive, criminal intrigues,
*****

From levee, court, and drawing-room fatigues.
Where Nature drest in gay disorder shines ;
And tempts the muse to sing the rural scenes.

The chapel was purchased by the then Vicar of Heston, the
Rev. H. S. Trimmer, and presented by him to the Church

246

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Society. Shortly afterwards, in 1828, it was demolished, and
in June of the same year the foundation stone of the present
church, occupying the same site, was laid by the Duke of
Northumberland, and the new building was opened for public
worship in July of the following year. Of the total cost of
about £5,300, His Majesty's Commissioners contributed some-
thing over £3,000, the rest being raised by subscription.

Hounslow Heath, once extending to the pales of Bushey
Park and into the parishes of Brentford, Twickenham, Tedding-
ton, Harmondsworth, etc., but now diminished to but a few
hundred acres, remained for the most part unenclosed long
after the disafforesting of the Warren of Staines and the
Forest of Middlesex by Henry III, and so late as 1754, when
Rocque's map of Middlesex was published, it is stated to have
comprised 6,658 acres, and a Description of the County of
Middlesex^ published a few years later, alludes to it as being
" very extensive and surrounded by many handsome houses."
During the reign of Henry VIII a Bill was framed for enclos-
ing the Heath, and assigning allotments to the inhabitants of
the several parishes concerned, but it was not carried into
effect. In 1795 the people of Isleworth made an attempt to
get it enclosed into small farms, but it was not until 1813 that,
by Act of Parliament, the great enclosure took place, when
almost every acre then capable of profitable cultivation was
enclosed, and the aspect of the country for miles around thereby
materially changed.

Aungier (Syon Monastery) quotes a curious and amusing
pre-Reformation document preserved in the Augmentation
Office, relating to a fierce quarrel between parishioners of Isle-
worth and Heston touching an alleged enclosure by the former
parish of "our common." The document is entitled, "The
answer of the parisheners of I sty 11 worth, on contraversies,
debats, and stryves to the wronge byll of complaynte made
agaynste them by John Bygge, constable of the hundreth and
lordship of Istylworth, and the parishioners of Heston, for
goynge so in Processyonweke, as hereafter folowith." It was
the Monday of Procession Week. The good parishioners of
Isleworth depart from the Parish Church, as was their wont,
" in Godd's pease and the King's, intending no malyce no
gruge agaynste any other parishe, but only to goo with their
processyon." For a while all was well with the peaceable and
peace-loving processionists ; they reached " Babor bryge [on
the western side of the Heath], sayde a gospell there, as they

247

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

ever have don of old tyme " ; but on the return march, keeping
strictly to their " dyche-syde tyll they kam nyghe unto the
grete hawthorn stonding in the saide heth," their troubles
begin. For the fierce parishioners of Heston — Hounslow men
for the most part, likely — also processioning, march up. That
they are on the warpath is soon evident. A deputation, five
or six, no doubt previously appointed for the purpose, step
promptly forward and demand of Isleworth's "formoste banner-
man, John Browne," that he and his friends shall studiously
avoid the ditch-side, to which the stout standard-bearer replies
they " wold not," since the ditch is within Isleworth bounds.
"With that kam John Bygg and swore an othe : 'Knave,
wold thow not avoyde the waye? Then shalt thow into the
dyche.' " Bygg, it appears, was a man of his word. " Into the
dyche " went chief-bannerman Browne, with his banner. It
was the first shot, the prelude to the battle. Now came for-
ward from the warriors of Heston one Chylde and Dewell,
" ryotously blustrynge and blowinge like tyraunts and madde
men, helping to shulderynge other of the bannermen into the
dyche." The battle proceeded furiously, the warlike Heston-
ians maintaining apparently the advantage all through, until
the Vicar of Isleworth, Thomas Yonge, Churchwarden Hew
Orton and other " honeste men of I still worth, with their cappis
in their hands " entreat " in Godd's name and the Kyng's to
kepe pease, and to suffer [them] pesably to goo and passe
homward to Istyllworth." There are cries of," Pull Istyllworth
crosse, and take away the crosse of Istyllworth from the cay-
tiffs, and a vagons [vengeance] on all the parishe of Istyllworth,
wretches and caytiffs of Istyllworth, for they have undon us,
to dych in and take in our comyn." But the truce is granted,
and they of Isleworth return homewards, much alive to the
fact that " there had byn lyke to have made manslaughter,"
had they " not byn wyser and more dyscrete and sadder than
the sayde John Bygge; " etc.

Leland in his Itinerary gives us a passing glimpse of the
Heath as he makes his way over it one day in the year 1 540.
"There rennith a Lande water throughout the Hethe as a
drene to the hole Hethe, that is of great cumpace, and I passed
by a bridge of tymbre over it." Another old-world traveller,
Camden, notes in his Britannia (first published in 1586), that
" on the north end of this Heath, towards King's Arbour, is a
Roman camp ; a single work, and not large, and another about
a mile distant" (Gibson's edition). Stukeley (Itimrarium

248

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HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Curiosum) gives a plan of a Roman camp on the Heath, taken
on April 18, 1723, and says, " Ceasar's camp on Hounslow
Heath is very perfect, 60 paces square. One of his camps is
to be seen very fair on Hounslow Heath, in the way to
Longford; which I showed to Lord Hertford and to Lord
Winchelsea, who measured it and expressed the greatest
pleasure at the sight." And according to Lysons (Middlesex
Parishes, 1800), " A little to the east of Heathrow, on Houns-
low Heath, within Harmondsworth Parish, are very perfect
remains of an ancient camp, single trenched, about 300 feet
square." None of these camp sites, if such they were, is within
the area comprised by the Heath to-day.

The Heath was the scene of a magnificent spectacle in 1215,
shortly after King John had put his seal to Magna Carta,
when a great tournament, arranged by the barons in celebra-
tion of their grand achievement, was held there. Originally,
Stamford had been chosen, but subsequently it was deemed
safer to hold it on Hounslow Heath, because of its proximity
to London, the barons' stronghold. John was not to be trusted
too far. The prize contended for was a bear, promised by a
certain fair lady.

The Heath has been the camping ground of many armies,
from the times of the Romans to the present day, when the
greater part of it is entirely given up to military purposes.
Thus, in 1267, the men of London, under the leadership of
Gilbert de Clare, the red Earl of Hertford and Gloucester,
encamped here during the campaign against Henry III.
Henry moved forward to give his opponents battle, but
Gloucester, doubtful of his ability to meet the King's army
successfully, retired before its arrival. Immediately after the
battle of Brentford between the Royalist and the Parlia-
mentary forces in 1642, Charles's army entrenched itself on
the Heath, and later in the year, in November, Essex assembled
his forces here. A few years later, on August 3, 1647, Fairfax,
at the head of the Parliamentary forces, marched to the Heath,
where a grand review was held, attended by the Speakers of
both Houses and most of the members. The whole army,
numbering 20,000 horse and foot, with artillery, was drawn
up in battalions extending to a length of a mile and a half.
After the review, the army was quartered in the district.

Charles II had an encampment here in 1678, in respect to
which Evelyn says in his Diary, under June 29 of the same
year:

249

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Returned with my Lord Chamberlain by Hounslow Heath,
where we saw the new raised army encamped, designed against
France, in pretence at least; but which gave umbrage to
Parliament. His Majesty and a world of company were in
the field, and the whole army in battalia; a very glorious
sight. Now were brought into the service a new sort of
soldiers, called Grenadiers, who were dexterous in flinging
hand grenados, every one having a pouchfull.

At least on three occasions James II encamped his troops
here, the first being in 1686, with 13,000 or 14,000 men, "the
best paid, the best equipped, and the most sightly troops in
Europe." The object of this encampment was to overawe
London, where dissatisfaction with James's doings was fast
becoming serious. " The quick growth of discontent . . .
would have startled a wise man into prudence, but James
prided himself on an obstinacy which never gave way ; and a
riot which took place in the City was followed by the establish-
ment of a camp of 13,000 men at Hounslow to overawe the
capital " (Green's Short History). Again in the following year
James established a camp here, this time of 16,000 men, and
yet again in 1688. It was on this last occasion, when on a
visit to the camp, that James was greatly angered and not a
little alarmed by hearing his own soldiers loudly acclaiming
the news of the acquittal of the Seven Bishops whom he had
imprisoned in the Tower of London. In reference to James's
encampments, Law, in his History of Hampton Court Palace,
quotes a satirical sheet of those times, which runs :

Near Hampton Court there lies a Common,
Unknown to neither man nor woman;
The Heath of Hounslow it is styled,
Which never was with blood defiled,
Though it has been of war the seat
Now three campaigns, almost complete.
Here you may see great James the Second
(The greatest of our Kings he's reckoned),
A hero of such high renown,
Whole nations tremble at his frown;
And when he smiles men die away
In transports of excessive joy.

James granted in 1686 to one John Sales, his heirs and assigns,
the right of holding a weekly market upon the Heath on
Thursdays for ever, and on other days during any encamp-

250

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

ment — a privilege that was exercised down to the early part
of the 1 9th century. Sales subsequently obtained in addition
the royal license to hold an annual fair on the Heath every
May from the 1st to the I2th.

In Wilkes's poem referred to above, mention is made of the
Racecourse, which is indicated on Rocque's map of 1754- It
was on the left side of the Staines road, looking westward,
within a short distance of the " Bell " public house. The news-
papers of the period contain frequent notices of racing events
on this course. In George IPs time the Heath was a favourite
hunting ground of the Royal Family. It was also a favourite
hunting ground for a long period with " gentlemen of the
road," whom it was the custom, when they were caught, to
suspend in mid-air on the scene of their operations and leave
there, " their skeletons clanking in chains on windy nights,"
for the moral improvement of timid travellers! Thus, for
example, from a newspaper of 1784, " Yesterday morning the
body of Thomas Clarke, who was executed on Wednesday,
was conveyed to Hounslow-heath to be hung in chains, with
his accomplice Haines." In 1751, a newspaper reports that on
" Monday, about noon, the Bishop of Hereford passing over
the third Heath of Hounslow in his Coach and Six, was
attacked by two highwaymen mounted . . . who robbed his
Lordship and his Company off their money, and made hastily
off across the Heath toward the Road to Stains." And a
similar record of the same year states that " On Tuesday last
no less than eleven highwaymen appeared on Hounslow Heath,
and robbed several Coaches, Chaises, and Postchaises." In a
letter to Sir Horace Mann, under date of October 6, 1774,
Walpole says, " Our roads are so infested by highwaymen,
that it dangerous stirring out almost by day. Lady Hertford
was attacked on Hounslow Heath at three in the afternoon.
Dr. Eliot was shot at three days ago, without having resisted;
and the day before yesterday we were near losing our Prime
Minister, Lord North ; the robbers shot at the postillion, and
wounded the latter. In short, all the freebooters, that are not
in India, have taken to the highway." And Macaulay in his
History tells us how in 1698 " On Hounslow Heath a company
of horsemen, with masks on their faces, waited for the great
people who had been to pay their court to the King (William
III) at Windsor. Lord Ossulston escaped with the loss of
two horses. The Duke of St. Albans, with the help of his
servants, beat off the assailants. His brother, the Duke of

251

HOUNSLOW AND HOUNSLOW HEATH.

Northumberland, less strongly guarded, fell into their hands.
They succeeded in stopping thirty or forty coaches, and rode
off with a great booty in guineas, watches, and jewellery." In
1776 Mr. Northall, Secretary of the Treasury under the ad-
ministration of Rockingham, was stopped while crossing the
Heath, and his money demanded of him; refusing to hand
over his money and valuables, he was shot and died shortly
afterwards at the inn to which he had been taken. Indeed,
endless are the stories on record of the operations which these
" gentlemen of the road " carried out with more or less success
on the widespreading Heath of the times. It did occasionally
happen, however, that the arrested traveller scored, as in the
case of Earl Berkeley, when stopped in his coach while cross-
ing the Heath. " Now, my lord, I have you at last; you said
you would never yield to a single robber — deliver," said the
highwayman. " Then who is that looking over your shoulder ? "
returned the Earl. As the robber, thrown off his guard, turned
to look, the Earl drew his pistol and shot him dead. One of
the newspapers of 1770 reports, "On Sunday night a butcher
of St. James's Market, on his return to town, was stopped on
Hounslow Heath by a single highwayman, who demanded
his money, which was given to him ; the butcher then took a
pistol out of his coat pocket and shot the highwayman dead." l

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

BY CLAUD W. MULLINS.

THE London policeman is well known all over the
world. He is the pride of the Londoner and the good
friend of every visitor to the metropolis. In no city is
the fairness of the law so happily combined with dignity and
popularity; it would be hard to find a city where the police
are so popular among the whole community and where the
law-abiding citizen has so little to fear and so much to
respect in the guardians of law and order. But Londoners
are so used to their police that they have long ago forgotten

1 The author is indebted to Messrs. Thomason, Ltd., the proprietors of
the Middlesex Chronicle, for the loan of the blocks ; the photographs are
by Mr. Mayger of Hounslow.

252

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

that a century past it could be written with justice that
" Police in this country may be considered as a new science."
To-day it seems strange to read that not many generations
ago the regular establishment of the London Police on a
permanent basis aroused a sincere fear that the liberty of the
citizen was in jeopardy.

Such, however, was the case. The Police Force, as we
know it nowadays, is the creation of the last hundred years.
The story of its development during previous centuries is full
of fascination, but the great difficulty in its narration is to
know at what period to begin. One might trace the gradual
victory of the national peace over the tribal and local methods
of securing law and order. It is of great interest to watch the
relation between the personal power and virility of the King
and the enforcement of the " King's Peace." It was not until
the close of the Wars of the Roses that the monarchs of this
country were finally successful in making their power un-
rivalled in the realm in the maintenance of order. The
" Tudor Despotism " did more than anything else to establish
a national peace and to suppress disorderly factions. Wearied
by civil disorder, the country at the end of the fifteenth
century was hungering for a strong central government. And
in the following century, though the government retained its
strength, its administration was corrupt and inefficient.
Officials high and low were venal and the Police Force was
no better than the rest of the national organisation. It was
badly constituted and incompetent to suppress disorder.
Under the iron regime of Cromwell order was re-established
and the administration was reformed on strictly military lines,
but, as soon as the Protector was dead, the anti-puritan re-
action set in and disorder was rife once more.

Towards the end of the I7th century the national con-
science began to be stirred. The general condition of the
towns was causing serious anxiety. In 1685 it was enacted
that every tenth house in London should display a lantern at
night in order to light the street, and other measures were
taken to increase the safety of the citizen and improve the
sanitary conditions of London ; but it was not till well on in
the 1 8th century that serious and effective steps were taken
to improve the condition of the Police Force and the adminis-
tration of justice.

And here must be chronicled a movement which exercised
a vast influence on subsequent reforms of the police.

253

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

Down to the middle of the i8th century the administration
of the laws was left almost entirely in the hands of unpaid
magistrates, and there is no doubt that many of these men
secured remuneration for their services by disreputable means.
The only police station existing in London, outside the City,
was at Bow Street, and it was from Bow Street that emanated
a profound revolution in police administration.

In 1749 there was appointed as magistrate at Bow Street a
man who is better known to-day in the realm of literature
than as a reformer of the London police. Henry Fielding,
" the Father of the English novel," spent the latter portion of
his life in forcing on the attention of the government and of
the public the disgraceful condition under which the laws
were being administered. At Bow Street, Fielding organized
a well-paid force of specially selected men known as the
"Bow Street Foot Patrol." This early police organization
has come down to us by the more familiar name of the " Bow
Street Runners;" it formed the nucleus of the Metropolitan
Police, and the example for nearly every large town. The
system was an immediate success, and Bow Street was the
only court where justice could be promptly and impartially
administered. The attempt at re-organization, of which Bow
Street was the centre, did not affect the City of London, for
inside the boundary of the City the police were under the
sole control of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.

But the initial stages of reform were very slow. The end
of the 1 8th century, indeed, showed signs of a moral awaken-
ing, but it was nevertheless an age of crime and of disorder.
The " No-Popery" riots of 1780, led by the fanatical agitator
Lord George Gordon, resulted in London, despite its new
police, being left for several days to pillage and plunder ; a
graphic account of the riots is given by Charles Dickens in
Barnaby Rudge. The penalties exacted for even the slightest
offences were enormous. Death was the customary fate of
those convicted of crime, and to this a forfeiture of all
property was usually added. Justice was frequently denied
because the courts were often unwilling to give a verdict
which would demand so severe a penalty. This clemency
may have been prompted by feelings of humanity or by a
natural sympathy with the criminal due to a guilty conscience
on the part of the jury.

A famous case has come down to us as an example. On a
man being summoned for shooting a pheasant on private

254

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

property, the court, to avoid the severe penalties resulting
from conviction, accepted his plea that his gun was only
loaded with a blank cartridge, and that the pheasant died of
fright !

The new machinery set up by Fielding soon became the
object of the bitterest attacks. It was denounced as the
" revocation of the darling and essential privileges of free-
born Englishmen ; " liberty was said to be at an end, and the
result prophesied was " the British lion ingloriously slumber-
ing in the net of captivity." But the Bow Street system be-
came too deep-rooted for any such attacks to prove dangerous,
though it was a long time before the ideals and intentions of
its founders were realized. In 1792 an Act of Parliament was
passed creating seven additional police offices. To each of
these were attached three magistrates who received an annual
salary of £400, and who were given powers to try summarily
a number of offences against public order, and to train con-
stables in their duties.

The science of police administration was making rapid
strides, but nevertheless, the carrying into practice of the new
theories was the work of many decades. In spite of the new
organizations, the police in general were utterly inefficient.
The men constituting the nightly watch were usually aged
and often infirm; they were ill-paid, and were thus under the
severe temptation of supplementing their wages by con-
nivance at crime; they were only on duty from dusk to mid-
night; their numbers were inadequate, and they were con-
trolled by a series of independent authorities who made no
attempt to act together. There were numerous inquiries in-
stituted by the House of Commons, and though the need for
drastic and comprehensive reforms was generally recognized,
it was a long time before action was taken, It was found that
the worst classes of criminals were well-organized, whereas
there was practically no co-operation between the police
forces of the various towns.

But it became increasingly evident that London required
something more than the piece-meal reforms hitherto at-
tempted. Great was the necessity, and the necessity produced
the man to grapple with it. Urged on by the work of Field-
ing, of Jeremy Bentham, and others, and profoundly im-
pressed by the findings of the numerous Parliamentary in-
quiries, Sir Robert Peel, at that time Home Secretary, resolved
to have done with petty reforms and to institute a new system

255

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

which should establish the Police of London and the neigh-
bourhood on a sound and modern footing.

The enormous and immediate success of Peel's work was
in no small measure due to his marvellous powers of with-
standing the temptation to do at once more than was humanly
possible. He had the whole problem in his mind, and his
scheme was conceived so as to be capable of finally embracing
the whole ; but Peel commenced his re-organization in a
small area of central and west London, and so extended it by
degrees as to include (with the exception of the City) every
parish within fifteen miles of Charing Cross. This boundary
included an area of practically 700 square miles, and consti-
tutes the Metropolitan Police area to this day.

Since 1829 many Parliamentary Committees have con-
sidered the position of the Metropolitan Police, and further
laws have been passed, but the underlying principles of the
police organization of to-day are those of Sir Robert Peel.

By the Act of 1829 the whole police establishment was
placed under the general supervision of the Home Secretary,
and the organization and discipline of the force were placed
in the hands of two commissioners, the finances of the force
being laid under the control of a specially-appointed " Re-
ceiver." The headquarters of the new Metropolitan Police
were moved to Westminster, and have been known ever since
as " Scotland Yard." From this centre the whole Force was
to be and has since been directed, and Scotland Yard has
now earned a world-wide repute. The reforms of 1829 natu-
rally necessitated the increase of the force by large numbers
of new men, and it was a principle of the new organization
that no man should be a constable without previously under-
going a special training. On the other hand, numerous con-
stables had to be dismissed, as it was impossible to instil
modern ideas into men who had been steeped all their lives in
the old methods. The new police area was divided into
seventeen " divisions," each division into eight " sections," and
each section into eight " beats." The staff were classified into
grades, and in 1830 consisted of 17 superintendents, 68 in-
spectors, 326 sergeants, and 2,906 constables, making in all
3,317 men, besides the two commissioners.

Seeing how far-reaching and how revolutionary were the
reforms introduced by the Act of 1829, it is hardly surprising
that the opposition encountered was proportionately bitter.
Just as the coming of the " Bow Street Runners " had been

256

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

decried as the final onslaught on the people's liberty, so the
organization of a really efficient Police Force in 1829 was
considered by many to be a dangerous attempt to restrict the
freedom of the citizen. And this feeling against Peel's reforms
was not confined to one demonstrative class; there was a
genuine fear on the part of numbers of reasonable men of all
classes that their privileges and liberty were in jeopardy. For
this was a time when the populace was peculiarly jealous of
its newly- won liberties. The remembrance of the French
Revolution was still keen, and it appeared to many that such
a force as the Metropolitan Police could only work" to control,
if not to check, the liberties of the people. Besides, the
popular mind was disturbed by the military aspect of the new
Police Force. Whenever a large number of men are organized
to carry out a common work, strict discipline is essential, and
discipline always savours of military practice. And we must
remember that throughout English history the continuous
dread of military aggression is a standing feature. The re-
forms of Peel doubtless showed many signs of military in-
fluence, but that was essential, for the old police had failed
by the very reason of their lack of organization and discipline.
But so great was the popular fear of the police that every
man in the force was originally disfranchised, and it was only
in 1887 that public opinion was prepared to allow the removal
of this disability.

Thirty years after Peel's scheme, the number of men in the
force had more than doubled. In 1 890 the authorized strength
was 15,264; in 1908 it was 18,167, and the annual wages
bill for the force amounted to over one and a half millions
sterling. In 1908 the population in the Metropolitan Police
area was well over six and a half millions, whereas it is esti-
mated that in 1829 it was only about 1,200,000. In 1856 the
two Commissioners were replaced by one Commissioner with
two Assistant Commissioners under him, and this plan has
been continued to the present time.

During all the centuries of history the City of London has
retained its governmental independence of surrounding parts
of London, and its police organization has never been amal-
gamated with the Metropolitan Force. History has revealed
the fact that Sir Robert Peel desired, when introducing his
great reforms in 1829, to include the City within their com-
pass, but that he was in awe of attacking its rights and ancient
privileges. Before the reforms of Peel the City Police were

XIV 257 S

THE LONDON POLICEMAN.

in a better condition than the Metropolitan Force, bul
after the changes of 1829 the City organization was greatly
inferior to Peel's force. The City authorities wisely saw that
they could only hope to retain their independence by bring-
ing their force up to the level of the Metropolitan Police In
1839, therefore, a radical re-organization took place. To-day
the strength of City force is about 1,100 men.

This separation of the Metropolitan and City Forces may
perhaps on strict grounds of economy be considered wasteful
and unnecessary, but it is the result of London's development.
There can be no doubt that the existence side by side of the
two forces, the great and the small, does produce a healthy
spirit of rivalry, and this is in no small measure the cause of
that efficiency which is so marked a characteristic of both
organizations.

SOME COLD HARBOURS : and what has be-
come of them. II: CAMBERWELL AND
HATCHAM.

By R. A. H. UNTHANK.

IN a nook of the central local library there hangs an odd
little crayon drawing of " The Cold Harbour, Camber-
well." It represents the bygone hostel at a day whei
highwaymen abounded in the green cover of Camberwell
Lane, and its hospitable door offered a welcome retreat to the
traveller from the cut-purse whose coolness and audacity knew
no bounds. The drawing is odd because the artist has left us
— saving his limitations, whatever they may have been — to
contemplate only two long outside chimney shafts and a tiny
upstairs window as seen from the end of the house, instead of
a useful or artistic view of the whole.

The cold harbours now listed — although we can scarcely say
complete, for fresh ones are constantly occurring — amount to
more than a hundred and sixty, exclusive of cold cots and
places of similar denomination, which if definitely shown to
have boasted a house of cold cheer, would raise the number
to upwards of two hundred. An analysis of our list shows
the largest proportion amongst the Weald, as for instance,

258

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

thirty in Kent and ten each in Surrey and Sussex; strong
evidence, some argue, that the cold harbours were connected
with the fuel-making industry. The contention at first sight
seems, fair enough to win one's assent, fortified as it is by
another dense group occurring in the forest of Dean; yet
when the pros and cons of the case are weighed the inference
turns out less plausible. Another, of many fond speculations,
that cold harbours were Koln harbours corruptly called, we
may overlook, since we hope to establish unequivocally their
history by circumstantial rather than by presumptive or co-
incidental evidence.

The opinion advanced in our previous paper that cold
harbours were of Saxon engrafting upon a similar institution
planted by the Romans, is, we find, endorsed by the writers
(Messrs. Forbes and Burmester) of Our Roman Highways.

"The appearance," say they, "of such names as Cold
Harbour and the termination of a place-name in -cote, is
believed to be a sure indication of the use in comparatively
modern times of Roman buildings for purposes of temporary
shelters, and the occasional discovery of tessellated pavements,
evidently injured by fires lighted in the corners of rooms,
suggests the utilization by wayfarers or peasants of Roman
ruins for purposes of temporary shelter at periods far removed
from the original abandonment of these dwellings."

Even before the migration to British shores, we have it on
the authority of Green, that the character of the Saxon life
"was already touched by the civilization with which Rome
was slowly transforming the barbaric world. Even in their
German homeland, though its border nowhere lay along the
border of the Empire, Saxon and Engle were far from being
strange to the arts and culture of Rome." It would not be
unlikely, then, if the new possessors of Southern Britain
imitated in some measure the Roman custom of travel. But
there is no evidence that the Saxons ever had a posting-
system, and it was not till after the Norman dynasty had died
out, a dynasty which for political reasons discouraged the
custom of intercourse and travel, that any approach to a
system of posting was conceived.

The date or even the approximate period at which cold
harbours were given their peculiar name is difficult to decide:
Saxon statutes do not mention them nor, in fact, is there any
written record of them before the Middle English period

259

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

approached. As early as Wihtred of Kent and Ine of Wessex
there were laws to guard the safety of the stranger, but none
that related to his night's lodgment. For instance " if any
stranger approached a township off the highway without
shouting or sounding a horn to announce his coming, he might
be slain as a thief and his relatives have no redress." A bell
attached to his dog's or ox's neck, sounding at every step, was
later regarded to serve the same purpose. On safe arrival at
his day's journey's end the wayfarer's thanks were due to
Woden, the guardian of ways and all who traversed them.
Again, for the better preservation of the community King
Edward the Confessor enacted that if a host entertained a guest,
be he trader or other, for as many as three consecutive nights
and his guest committed any offence, his host should be held
responsible; thus Saxon law regarded, for legal purposes at
least, that after a two nights' stay a guest was reckoned as
part of the family of his host. Vagrants, however, were only
allowed to receive hospitality for one night — a regulation well
copied in our modern workhouse system.

Let us consider for a moment the Roman system of travel
(itineraria). On the great military ways at intervals of from
fifteen to twenty miles were the colonies, in the midst of which
stood a mansio, or government posting-station. Here it was
possible for service officials and influential citizens to hire
either horses, gigs, or chariots, or to allow themselves to be
cheated perhaps by the tempting legend "Good accommodation
for travellers." Presiding over the establishment was a man-
sionarius, a government agent, empowered, or rather bound
by his duties, to scrutinize the passports (diplomatd) of
travellers besides attending to their comfort. Between each
colonia again were lesser posting-stations (inutationes} at about
equal distances of five miles, affording more limited accommo-
dation than the mansiones and frequented by a humbler class
of guest. Here again, as in the case of the mansio, they were
under government control and the managers known as stratores.
Now the intervals at which the cold harbours on the great
lines of road were placed, correspond in a conspicuous number
of instances to exactly where we should look for the regularly
set mutatio; a point that seems to demand a mark of respect
for our argument that mutationes returned to usefulness again
in the shape of the problematical cold harbour.

Quite a number of these places, it is worthy of remark,
stood on by-ways at an almost exact mile's distance from the

260

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

main road; the reason for such a sequestered situation is not
easy to guess when the general design was to establish them
at the passages of greatest traffic. As a rule they will be found
at water-crossings, whether ford or ferry, at the diverticula, or
junctions of the great roads, and often again on the top of
high wind-swept ridges whence they might scatter farther and
farther beams of cheer to the weary plodder on the road—
unless, far more likely, the Romans had in choosing the site a
much more practical object in view. Mr. John Ward, F.S.A.,
who praises the Romans' " magnificent system of roads and
posting-stations," says 1 that as the natives became Romanized
and the garrisons withdrawn, " the vacated castella remained
abandoned or continued as posting-stations." A new arrange-
ment like this would tend to disorder their arithmetical pre-
cision of distance, and Saxons, or English, who later erected
by rule of need, still further helped to efface the original
regularity of design.

The little ruinous mutatio standing by the wayside, deserted
by its strator who had withdrawn again with his kinsmen and
the legions to Rome, long centuries after presented to the
Saxon settler a conspicuous object in several shires, after
which to name his settlement, " cold cot," but — mark the point
— in not one single instance did he give his hamlet the appel-
lation of " Cold harbour." 2 It was the manors and the farms
which the English in very many instances so recognized.

The term harbour is derived from a Teutonic source, heri
and beorg) meaning " shelter for a host : " Low Latin adopted
it as a sort of synonym for castray that is to say, a collection of
tents, heriberga. As the word became familiar to the English
tongue, secondary meanings and applications were drawn
from it, whence it was used for " any kind of inn." " They
who stand in the palaces of kings, to serve them, or perform
any office for them," says Du Cange, "are said to do
Herbergerie" Anglo-Norman kings by droit d'auberge had
the right to quarter soldiers, servants, and agents, wherever
they listed ; the religious houses particularly had cause to
bewail the prerogative, while often, too, they were obliged to
find a permanent asylum for the many superannuated
servants of the sovereign. One or two instances in this con-
nection which seem appropriate to mention, occurred in the

1 Roman Era in Britain; Romano- British Buildings and Earthworks.

2 The parish of Coldharbour, near Dorking, and the only one in the
country to bear the name, was constituted and named in 1842.

26l

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

reign of Edward III. John de la Herbergerie, " who has long
and gratefully served the king," was recommended to the
Abbat and Convent of Croyland " to receive maintenance,"
while his companion, Gilbert, was grudgingly taken in at the
Abbey of Pershore. The allusions naturally make us wonder
what department of the King's hostel — to give the King's
household its ancient title — the Herbergerie represented: let
us call it the wardenship of the stables, or perhaps better, the
Mastery of the Horse. The duties of the Serjeant Her-
bergeour were to ride in the King's company, hold the
stirrup and carry the horse-cloth, and to prepare a weekly
statement of accounts. His pay was four halfpence a day,
exclusive of board in the hall, a gallon of ale and 3 candles ;
two robes yearly in cloth were allowed him to keep him in
good appearance, besides horse-liveries and wages for a boy,
though he might have the worth of them — 46^. 8^. — in coin if
he chose. A Valet Herbergeour served under him. In charge
of the baggage transport was another Serjeant Herbergeour
whose task was to provide sufficient pack and draught horses,
to attend to the repairs of carts and carriages, and to render
a weekly account of his out-payments. A Valet Herbergeour
assisted him also.

Amongst other royal servants who found plenty to do in
the incessant royal itineraries of the thirteenth century were
the Knights Harbinger of the hall — two knights and two
Serjeants Marshal — whose duties were to arrange decently
for the King's bed, see that the rooms were furnished with
carpets and benches, and to attend in the hall. The emolu-
ments of these knights were a pitcher of wine, 3 candles and
two tortiz ( ? torches) with extra allowance when sick. The
office of Knight Harbinger was continued so late as the early
years of Queen Victoria.

In the time of Edward II to each department of the King's
hostel there was attached one herberger, from the chaplain
and " the butler for the Kinge's mouth and him which serveth
the cuppe " down to " the master cokes for the Kinge's
mouth," for the ushers of the chamber, for the " fruterer,"
naperer, ewer, and their " vallets of mistery," for the " squiers
attendant " on the King, and in fact for every significant and
insignificant officer or servant.

From the inn to the stables, from the stables to the kennel
and poultry-yard, herbergerie was stretched in its meaning.
If poultry were taken by the usher of the larder out of the

262

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

herbergerie " aunswer was to be made every day therefor at
the briefs to the clarke of the kitchen."

The precise status of cold harbours amongst hostelries in
medieval England we can but conjecture, since no statute
singles them out for express legislation, while the poets and
writers of the time, Chaucer, Gower, Langland, and their
contemporaries, do no more than class them with herberghes
in general. There is just about enough evidence to show that,
like their German kindred kalte Herbergen, alluded to in our
former paper, they provided a bare shelter, and by-and-by
cold fare, but at first at least no strong drinks.1 That they
had become quite superseded by inns ere Stow's time we may
very well be sure, or the learned old chronicler would not be
caught guessing on one page that they had been ports for the
receipt of coal, and on another, seeking to explain that Cole
Abbey once signified an exposed bight of water, similar to
the expression Cold Harbour. " In 1365," says Hazlitt, "the
herbergeour, subsequently known as innholder, was already a
familiar institution," and inns superseded the harbours in the
same way that the Frenchman's shirt was an afterthought of
the wristband.

Hostellers, victuallers, regrators,2 and harbourers all appear
in the statutes from time to time,3 but the terms seem to have
been used so indifferently and collectively that the King must
have looked to the administrators of his law, to interpret it
rather by a conscientious construction than by the letter ; and
yet no doubt the terminology was so exact and complete as
to prevent all but the proverbial coach-and-four driving
through it. An Act of 9 Edward III makes it compulsory for
hostellers in every port to search their guests and if they find
them carrying any contraband goods, they are allowed to
keep one-quarter of the value of the forfeit. A few years later
hostellers and every other class of victualler are enjoined not
to charge customers unduly for what they have had, or per-
haps for what they have had added to what they are imputed
to have had. It would seem, however, that the price of
victuals was not abated in obedience to the new law, for a
commission was appointed — 27 Edward III — to enquire

1 " Kalte Herbergen einfache U nterkunft und kalte Kiiche bieten, aber
keine Taferngewachtigkeit besitzen." A letter from das Miinchener
Altertumsverein.

2 Regrators = " speculators " in foodstuffs.

3 " Hostellers" much more frequently than "harbourers."

263

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

" amongst hostellers, harbingers, and other regrators," into the
continued dearth. The finding of the commission, translated
into present day English, was that a party of callous specu-
lators had been at work trying to create a " corner."

From the mention of the herbergeours as caterers, it will be
noticed that, as is the case with every class of trade, there was
a tendency to enlarge their sphere of business, from merely
finding a cold roof-covering for their guests, to supplying
them with drink and victuals. And again, it was when they
made their last advance to the right of selling ale in competi-
tion with the inns that the harbours lost their distinctive
character.

As to the prefix cold in the term cold harbour the writer
ventures to suggest that it arose in one of two notions, namely
that which was paid for as against that offered generously and
free, as in the case of the hospitality of castles and monasteries;
or in that peculiar notion of the Middle Ages which was wont
to emphasize the property of a thing according to its moral
aspect ; " were it," as Chaucer says, " of cold, or hete, or moyst,
or drye." Cf. Gower, Confessio Amantis:

The fifte signe is Leo hote,

Whos kinde is schape dreie and hote

In whom the Sonne hath herbergage.

A harbour from the cold, that we are satisfied it was not.

It was an unalterable law throughout the Middle Ages that
no harbourer or victualler might hold a public office, but the
act appointing the keepers of common hostries in any city or
borough as auxiliary "searchers" of travellers was repealed
by another of 20 Henry VI. And by the same act they were
prohibited from keeping wharfs or being factors or attorneys,
whereby damage and loss had daily before accrued to the
king's customs and subsidies.

To become a herbergeour it was necessary to get sworn
before a mayor or bailiff, who in return had the duty of
surveying the house, correcting and punishing offenders and
those who broke the assize of bread and ale. No alien might
keep a herbergerie, but in London, where there were so many
of foreign nationality, the law was somewhat relaxed, provided
that they did not keep a herbergh on the waterside. Although
not freemen of the City, the hostellers were to be " good and
sufficient persons and bear, with the freemen, the charges of
the City." In the country they appear to have been yeomen,

264

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

or at least to have had a limited number of acres to till. At
curfew the door of the hostel, or harbour, was supposed to be
shut, and travellers were not, except upon exigent showing, to
remain under the same roof more than one night and one day.
The patrons of these places were mainly the middle classes
who had not the claims to hospitality on the monasteries
which the nobles and poor wayfarers had — the one by reason
of their influence and benefactions, the other by the prescrip-
tive right of being " Goddes poore men." Beds were procurable
at about a penny per head, but a private chamber or even a
cubicle was not to be hired at any price.

Adulterated and inferior feed for pack-beasts was guarded
against by the bakers being charged with the making of horse-
bread,1 "the assize thereof to be kept," showing plainly the
honesty of hostellers to be not altogether above suspicion. In-
fraction of the statute was visited with a penalty proportionate
to three times the value of the horse-bread illicitly baked in
the hosteller's ovens. Nor were the gains of this much legis-
lated man, on oats and hay allowed to exceed by more than
one halfpenny per bushel the common market price, unless he
wished to lay himself open to a fine reckoned at " quatreble "
his illegitimate profit. Such were the laws, or some of the
principal, framed to protect the traveller from tricky or
rapacious hosts in days before cold harbours had entirely
yielded to the fully licensed inns kept by the manor stewards
and others. Ale, by-the-bye, was not to be sold except to
bonafide travellers so that local habitues were driven to the
inns and alehouses for their nightly draught.

Like all other trades and crafts of the Middle Ages the
Harbourers had their mystery, or guild, placed under the tute-
lage of a saint. Their charter of reconstitution as the Company
of Innholders, in the reign of Henry VIII, reveals their pro-
tector as St. Julian " le Herberger." St. Julian was martyred
at Antinopolis in Egypt, in A.D. 313, where he had piously
received and cared for all sick people in his lodging as though
in a free hospital : he was surnamed the Hospitalarian and his
feast-day observed on gth January. Chaucer refers to him in
the House of Fame (I. 514)

Seynt Julyane loo bon hostele
Se her the house of Fame lo.

1 A cake composed of beans, bran and similar horse-esculents, still used
in some parts of Europe.

265

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

And again, in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales :

An househaldere, and that a gret, was he;
Seynt Julian he was in his countre.
His breed, his ale, was alway after oon;
A bettre envyned man was nowher noon.

And yet the Host swears " by Saint Ronyon ! "

The trade of keeping harbour stamped those engaged in
the business with a surname, just as other trades have done,
and it is nothing uncommon to meet with John le Herberger
of this, and William le Herberger of that place in the Patent
and Close Rolls: their present descendants are perhaps
Harpers, with more of the warm blood of hospitality in their
veins than the children of the medieval musician can boast.

At the time of the Norman Conquest Camberwell comprised
all one great manor. But as sovereigns and centuries came
and went and occasion required, the manor became parcelled
out into several smaller lordships, upon two of which the
name of Cold Harbour was conflictingly bestowed. To Robert
de Melhent, an illegitimate son of Henry I, the manor of
Camberwell (including the Cold Harbour portions) was origin-
ally granted, whose heirs and assigns remained in possession
and enjoyment of it till the attaint of the Duke of Buckingham
in 1521. In 1263 (the first individual mention of the terrain
in which we are interested), the Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert de
Clare, died seised of various tenements in Camberwell, amongst
them a quarter of a knight's fee, valued at 40 shillings, situate
at Cold Herbergh, Hachesham, then held of him by William
Vaghan. The precise boundaries of it are not known to-day,
but the position of it lies amongst that once famous area of
market gardens now traversed by the network of railway
metals about New Cross. In early igth century maps Cold
Blow Farm was the diminished representative, but even that
shadow has now become, in the words of Besant, " gradually
hemmed in and spoiled, and all that remains of the homestead
is some very tumble-down outbuildings surrounding a miser-
able house. The fields are still in cultivation, and to the south
are allotments worked by the railwaymen. Under and across
the network of railway lines Cold Blow Lane winds past
patches of garden, often through deep mud, to the Monson
Road, in which there is a large Board School." * The Millwall

1 Sir W. Besant's London South of the Thames.
266

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

Football Club has, we believe, absorbed even this last vestige
of the farm since Besant prepared his survey.

One hundred years later William Vaghan's descendant was
the sub-tenant, and the escheat roll now distinctly calls the
tenement a manor. It was held by Sir Thomas Vaghan,
" part of which, a messuage, value 2s. per annum, and nine
acres of land, value 4*. 6d., being held of the King as of his
manor of Hachesham, and which was granted to the King by
Roger Bavent, by service of i^d. paid at the said Manor of
Cold Herbergh, of the Earl of Stafford by knight's service
and suit of Court of Camberwell, leaving Haimo Vaghan, his
son and heir, aged one year.1 By the heir's minority two-
third parts of the first-mentioned premises were seized into
the King's hands, the other third being assigned to Sir
Thomas's widow, Alice, for her dower.2 By what contingency
the manor came into the hands of its next owner, we know
not, but a will3 of 1407 reveals that William Creswyk, a
citizen and freeman of London, had possession of it, and
desired his feoffees to convey a life estate in the same to
Alice, the wife of John North, his kinsman, with remainder
to John Wodehouse, clerk, another kinsman, in tail, with
remainders over. The manor, in this instance, was styled,
" Coldabbeye, county Surrey." Of Creswyk's biography we
are ignorant, further than that he appears to have been a man
of substance. He does not seem to have risen to the Lord
Mayor's chair, nor yet to have held any public office; nor is
his memory locally perpetuated.

Efforts were made in the I5th century to deforest the thick
woods of the estate which had covered the vicinity from time
immemorial, a small but valued record certifying us of a fall
of several hundred loads of timber.

Again, eighty-five years have elapsed since Creswyk's en-
joyment of the manor, and now we find it occupied by one
Richard Skynner of Peckham, an esquire whose armorial
bearings were sanguine, 3 cross-bows erect or. His will is the
secret of our enlightenment, made and written by the hand of
John Skynner, his brother, the last day of December, 1492.
Therein he devises to his son Michael " all his interest in the
Manor and Land called Cold Abbey in Peckham, Camberwell,
and Deptford, or in the Purparty of Christopher Middleton

1 Inq. p.m., 36 Ed. Ill, no. 64.

2 Inq. p.m., 40 Ed. Ill, no. 40.

3 Calendar of Wills of Court of Hustings, 1 1, 370.

267

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

therein. Skynner's eldest son William was dead, so that
Michael was also to inherit all his father's other land and tene-
ments (not indicated where) upon the decease of his mother,
Agnes, save an annual payment of five marks to the widow
of his brother William.

Incidentally, a curious error occurs on Skynner's tomb-
stone, the careless graver informing us that he died in 1407,
that is to say, eighty-five years before he made his will, and
ninety-two years before the death of his wife — or widow !
No stronger proof is wanted that he was inhabiting the
mortal coil in 1467, than the fact that he was bound in
recognisances to his tailor for ^100: a most unquestionable
sign of vitality ! Dame Skynner died in I499,1 predeceased
by her sons William and Michael in the year 1497 and
'98 respectively, both of whom died issueless. The family
tomb was to be found before the devastating fire of 1841
against the south wall of the chancel of Camberwell church ;
inlaid brass plates depicted Skynner and his wife both in
devout attitudes, surrounded by ten children, out of which
number only four lived to majority. The deaths of the sons
left their two surviving sisters co-heiresses to the estate.
Agnes died unwedded, and Elizabeth's portion was con-
sequently doubled.

The latter married John Scott, the eldest son of a family
of good condition, which had been considerable landholders
in the parish since the reign of Henry V, if not before. In
1521 the Duke of Buckingham, the tenant-in-chief of the
manor of Camberwell, was attainted, upon which event
Henry VIII granted it to this John Scott, who had been the
Duke's principal tenant. Elizabeth Skinner's match had been
obviously a good one, for besides becoming lord of the
extensive manor, her husband was appointed third Baron of
the Exchequer in 1529 and Sheriff of Surrey in 1548. He
died in 1553 and his ashes were interred in the parish church
beneath a handsome monument which, like the Skinner's, also
suffered in the before-mentioned fire.

The eldest born of their union was a second John, who, for
complicity in the riots of Lords Ogle and Howard, had to
answer for his action before the dreaded Court of Star
Chambe^ but apparently escaped its penalties. His wife — the
first of three by the way — of whom he may first have become
enamoured by a chance meeting in the shady lanes of his
1 Thornbury says 1515 — a mistake for her daughter Agnes.

268

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

father's estate, was Elizabeth, the daughter of one William
Robbyns, a merchant of the Staple at Calais. Robbyns's arms
were per pale silver and azure, a fess nebuly between 3 birds
counterchanged. Ere the secret was broached to their elders
many clandestine trystings may have taken place. Robbyns
cared little about the matrimonial engagement, fearing, like
Laertes of Hamlet, the young 'squire's advances were but —

A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent ; sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute —
No more !

Scott would have chosen a daughter-in-law from the Court,
but with the prospect of a sufficient dowry he was reconciled,
and the happy pair were joined by the priest. The dowry —
such an indispensable adjunct to the marriages of those times
—is described as " the moyte of the Manor of Cold Abbey
held by Henry Bassenden with John Baker and others." l

" Linked in happy nuptial league " their marriage was
blessed with six sons and some daughters, the eldest son
being named after his father, but whom he failed to outlive.
To Richard, the eldest surviving son, was allotted a moiety,
of the value of £$, of the manor of (according to Manning
and Bray) the other Cold Abbey on the western bounds of
the parish, and abutting on what we now know as Cold
Harbour Lane. It was held of Ralph Muschamp, member of
another locally influential family, as of John Scott's moiety
the Manor of Camberwell ; but unless Richard was put in
possession of it before his father's death he could have en-
joyed the estate but two years; and his son died a month
after him.

John Scott's capital Manor of Camberwell, sometimes
called Camberwell Buckingham's, after the attainted Duke,
was split up into a quintipartite apportionment amongst his
five surviving sons, besides Richard, who was otherwise pro-
vided for, upon his decease. Richard Scott's Cold Abbey
moiety reverted to his next brother Edward, who, dying with-
out issue, relinquished both it, and his fifth, to his next
brother, William, from whom it all passed in 1588 to Robert,
his son, when direct entail again ended. Bartholomew,
Robert's father's brother, was his heir, and claimed the

1 Schedule, dated 1519, in Calendar of Surrey Deeds^ deposited in
Minet Library, Camberwell.

269

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

inheritance to add to his own fifth, thus making three
" fifths," and the Cold Abbey moiety. Thrice was he married
and thrice disappointed of offspring — his first wife was no
other than Archbishop Cranmer's widow ; the property there-
fore fell to Sir Peter, the eldest son of Acton, the fourth brother,
who naturally now had some good broad acres, when the re-
version was ringed in with his own patrimony.

Remainders were left, amongst others, to John and Edgar,
Sir Peter's half-brothers, and to Ralph Baker, son of testator's
nephew, Richard Baker. The Bakers here mentioned were
probably, though there is no link to establish the surmise
as conclusive, the descendants of that John Baker, who, it
will be recollected, was a tenant on Elizabeth Robbyns's
Cold Abbey jointure in 1519. If so, it would seem that it
was one of the second John Scott's daughters who had
wedded Richard Baker, and so connected the families.

From this time onwards we lose all trace of mention of the
Cold Abbey manor ; the bulk of the estate passed down to
Sir Peter's son John in 1622, and down again to his son
Peter, who was appointed a canon of Windsor, and had a
family of four sons and three daughters. In this generation
the property got broken up and alienated, and entirely lost
the character of an ancestral domain.

The feudal system was gone out of mind. Many medieval
customs — courts of business and of pleasure, ales, assizes, feasts,
— which demanded the presence of the lord of the manor or his
steward, or whose participation joyed the hearts of tenantry
and servants, and thereby stimulated feelings of respect and
goodwill the one toward the other, were necessarily vanished
under the multiplication of freeholders and the new spirit of
the times. The lord of the manor had long ceased to be the
proprietor of the inns on his estate. The observance of
patronal festivals again, with all the picturesque, if question-
ably laudable and honest religious traffic connected with the
tide, had been banned by the Reformation, and was now
changed fromferia into a secular fair.

When the first John Scott was granted his manor by King
Henry the Eighth, it is quite conceivable that on the feast of
Saint Giles a goodly concourse of strangers was attracted to
Camberwell ; cripples and beggars, afflicted, rogues, and needy,
wending their way by many roads to the well adjoining the
church, some for the sake of obtaining benefit from the
restorative virtue of the water, others with the hope of taking

270

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

a liberal shoal of alms, and others again with an even less
worthy manner of taking. Let us briefly sketch the excite-
ment and bustle of the occasion. The September afternoon
is sultry ; Mass has been said in the forenoon ; expectant
crowds throng the churchyard and line the pathway to the
well, where the maimed and halt are gathered. Pacing up and
down are tawdry sellers, who with bothering shouts are per-
severingly trying to sell their wares ; at the church porch lie
lazars and "penny- fathers," lazy, or full of sores, extending their
dirty palms for receipt of charity. At last the babel quiets,
the strains of a Latin litany grow stronger, and in a few
moments the solemn procession moves by, crucifix, tapers, in-
cense, and the " great relic " of Saint Giles carried by the
monks of Bermondsey, besides a garlanded image of the
hermit. Arrived at the well, the service of invocation begins,
and ere the priests have done, many crutches are laid aside
and palsied limbs suddenly forget the impotency that has
long lain upon them. While the procession is a-marshalling
to return, the clouds come up dark and lowering and a few
big thunderdrops fall threateningly, but what cares anyone of
the surging multitude, they are all bent on their devotions,
ecstatic, God and His saints are amongst them — and they
have earned a plenary indulgence to boot.

Untouched by the leaping fires of Lollardy and Protestant-
ism, Scott's family must often have assisted in the annual
observance which centred around the well whose waters were
drawn up in full view of the manor-house windows.

The insatiable fondness of the Middle Ages for pilgrimages
may well have led to the enactment of such a scene as we
have ventured to portray ; there is more probability about it
than the idleness of fancy when one county boasted seventy
such venues alone! Further, it is widely admitted through the
revealing flood of etymology that Camberwell must have once
boasted a sort of " pool of Bethesda," while the parish being
under the tutelage of Saint Giles who was endowed with a
special faculty of healing the lame and lepers, another pier is
put in to support our visionary stage. And again the consider-
able duration and importance of the Camberwell pleasure fair
of modern times leads us seriously to consider whether it may
not well have had its origin in the religious festival of the first
of September, when something akin to a Continental pardon
might have brought an unusual flow of custom to the licensed
victuallers of the village.

271

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

It would be tedious and irrelevant to trace the subsequent
history of the manor of Camberwell Buckingham, now that
the Scotts have parted with it; of what happened to the
Hatcham Cold Abbey portion thereof under new proprietors
we have not even a hint. In 1825 the London and Croydon
Railway began to run through the midst of the estate, to the
consequent ruin of the Croydon Canal alongside its metals, as
well as to the ousting of the old mail-coach which had rattled
along thrice daily for a hundred years to the office at Cold
Harbour.

And now to return to the Cold Harbour at Camberwell;
the one to which we referred at the commencement of this
paper, and the one of which Richard Scott died seised of a
moiety. Leigh's map of 1842 distinctly marks the departed
hostel on the western side of Cold Harbour Lane, at a spot
just east of the present Eastlake Road. A century earlier
John Rocque showed us a little manor of Cold Harbour abut-
ting on the Lane — then called Camberwell Lane — and includ-
ing the Harbour at the manor's northernmost corner. Until
1555 it seems to have been comprised in the Manor of Camber-
well and Peckham, in which year a moiety was purchased by
John Bowyer, gentleman, of Lincoln's Inn. The Bowyers
were strangers to Camberwell, this John, like John Paston of
The Paston Letters, having been attracted to London by a
desire to follow the law. The ancestral home and a long local
pedigree were left behind at Chichester.

The divers messuages and lands in Peckham and Cold
Abbey which he purchased had belonged eleven years before
to Robert Hawkes, when the latter demised them to one
Henry Savill of Barroughby, county Lincoln, for thirty years,
the term to commence on the death of Gregory Lovell and
Ann, his wife, who were life-tenants. But two years after the
document was drafted Ann became a widow, removing to
Harlington, co. Middlesex. Savill's lease was then ratified by
her l with an extension to forty years at an annual rent of £i 5.
Yet whilst the lease had thirty-five years unexpired, John
Bowyer appeared and bought the residue of Savill's term, mak-
ing him £40 compensation, less " 36^. due on a tenement in
the tenure of Richard Stephenson," for the same. Four years
later Bowyer acquired the freehold of the property, from Ann

1 Viz., a capital messuage in Peckham, parish of Camberwell, and a
moiety of Cold Abbey, late in tenure of William Wilson, and the late
Richard Hill.

272

CAMBERWELL AND HATCHAM.

Lovell and Ann Hawkes, widows, who however, say Manning
and Bray, " suffered a Recovery in Easter term of 6 messu-
ages, 6 cottages, 6 gardens, 6 orchards, 100 acres of land, 40
of meadow, 100 of pasture and 10 of wood in Camberwell." It
seems as though the Cold Abbey estate at this time comprised
a mansion-house, two barns, a stable, garden, orchard and
divers lands, and adjoined the property of the newly created
Baron Loughborough.

The mansion-house was doubtless the residence of either
Richard Scott or the Bowyers, more probably the latter, until
after their purchase of Edgar Scott's (2nd John Scott's
youngest legatee) fifth of the manor of Camberwell, when Sir
Edmond Bowyer — John's heir — built a capital mansion on the
western side of Camberwell Road, just north of the present
Emmanuel Church. The new house, which Evelyn called a
" melancholie seate," has been swept away many years since
by the viaduct of the railway line, but the memory of it is yet
recalled in the poverty-inhabited terraces of Mansion House
Street and Mansion House Square, which the London County
Council are about to rename Hester Square, after the wife of
a second Sir Edmond Bowyer, who died in 1665.

In endeavouring to trace the bounds of the manor of Cold
Harbour, early ipth century maps showed us that the
manor had become broken up into several small parcels of
which Sir William East, baronet, of Hall Place, Berkshire, and
owner of the neighbouring manor of Basing, the last lineal
descendant of a family well known in the City, owned the
largest. His tenant was a farmer, one Mr. Whiting, whose corn
and grass land stretched from the Lane almost up to Lough-
borough House. A paragraph in The London Chronicle of
May, 1761, tells how this gentleman was robbed by a young
thief of his money as he stood on his doorstep in Cold Harbour
Lane ; the thief was eventually caught, tried at the Old Bailey,
and, doubtless, transported. In 1828 the East family (genea-
logically) became extinct and between then and 1850 the bulk
of the manor — now called estate — became ecclesiastical pro-
perty, vested in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Building enterprise, that is to say, suburban expansion, tolled
the doom of the estate's rural aspect about fifty or sixty years
ago, the Cold Harbour and the farm being cleared away to
make room for long terraces of high, basemented villas from
which in a few short decades the original class of occupier has
fled again before the advancing tide of ever increasing and

XIV 273 T

SOME COLD HARBOURS.

multiplying small flats and tenement-dwellers. Harbour Road
in a gentle descent leads down into Cold Harbour Lane
almost opposite the site of the vanished inn, and Cold
Harbour Place, a narrow strait uniting the thoroughfare of
the Lane, a quarter of a mile nearer town, with Denmark
Hill, dates back to the time when a watch-box used to stand
with a watchman at its western end, one of the fraternity
Leigh Hunt calls " staid, heavy, indifferent, more coat than
man, pondering, yet not pondering, old but not reverend,
immensely useless. No; useless they were not ; for the inmates
of the houses thought them otherwise, and in that imagina-
tion they did good."

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH,
GREENSTED, ESSEX

BY H. CLIFFORD

ENGLAND possesses many churches of archaeological
interest, but perhaps the one of most interest is the
wooden nave of the little Saxon church at Greensted,
near Ongar.

Its most interesting feature is that it is the only Saxon
wooden church in the country. Another interesting feature is
that this building is largely connected with the translation,
from London to Bury St. Edmunds, of the remains of the
great East Anglian saint and martyr, King Edmund ; and to
understand fully the history of this church, a short history of
St. Edmund is necessary. He was the son of King Alkmund
and was born in 841 at Nuremberg, the capital of his father's
kingdom. Offa, the contemporary king of the East Saxons,
was a relative of Alkmund and, as he had no heir, he appointed
Edmund as his successor, who, as he grew up, became noted
for his gentleness and piety, and when eventually he became
king of the East Saxons he was much beloved by his subjects.

Aboutthistime England was being troubled bythe Daneswho
were ravaging the country. Eventually they reached Edmund's
kingdom and were met by his army near Thetford, where a very
hot battle was fought. Edmund though full of gentleness and
piety, lacked one essential point for such troublesome and war-
like times, namely, great courage. At the battle of Thetford he
escaped, but his enemies overtook him in a wood near Hoxne

274

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX.

in Suffolk. He was captured and tied to a tree, barbarously
ill-treated and shot at with arrows ; finally Hengist, one of the
Danish captains, ended the cruelty by cutting off his head.

Thus died Edmund, in 870, in the twenty-ninth year of his
age. Apparently he was buried in a little wooden chapel near
where he died, but at the end of thirty-three years the body,
which was said to be incorruptible, was taken up and removed
to the Abbey of Beodricsworth, now Bury St. Edmunds, and
placed in a shrine. Here many miraculous cures took place,
which drewa large number of pilgrims from all parts, who greatly
enriched the abbey by their offerings. About one hundred years
later, i.e., in 1010, the Danes once more ravaged the land, and
the abbey at Bury suffered greatly, all the monks fled in panic
except one named Ailwin, who was faithful to the remains of
St. Edmund. So great was his reverence for these precious
relics, that he literally carried them by unfrequented paths
and across fields until he reached London, where he deposited
them in the church of St. Gregory by St. Paul's, fearing that
if he placed them in the cathedral he would never regain them
for Bury. Three years later peace was made with the Danes,
and Ailwin was anxious to return to Bury with the remains of
the Saint, but found he had great difficulty in obtaining them,
as Aelfhun, Bishop of London, realizing the gain they brought
to the church by the offerings of pilgrims who flocked here as
at Bury, wished to retain them in London, but the Bishop
eventually finding it useless to press his claim, allowed Ailwin
and his followers to return to Bury with the remains.

This time the journey was far different to the one three years
previously, not across fields and by obscure paths, but along
the king's highway as a triumphant procession, welcomed at
every village and stopping place along the route.

A great deal of uncertainty exists as to which way the
procession started from London, but some authorities think it
took its course along an old road by Chigwell, crossing the
river Roding at Abridge, others think it crossed a little lower
down at Passingford. Although the first part of the journey
is lost in obscurity, there can be little doubt as to the course
followed after leaving the Roding, being through Stanford
Rivers and Greensted. From the latter place the ancient way
may still be traced to the " Old Suffolk Way," through the
Roothings, Dunmow, Clare, and finally reaching Bury.

It is probable that the procession rested at every village
along the route, sometimes staying, as they did at Greensted,

275

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX.

for several days. The route from the Roding can now be
traced only with difficulty, for instead of being the main road
from London to Suffolk, it is little more than a bridle path in
places, and in others simply a track across fields. The present
main road runs through Ongar, about one and a half miles above
Greensted, but at the time of the above events, what is now
Ongar, was the outer bailey of the stronghold of Eustace of
Boulogne, and it was not till the 1 3th century that this outer
bailey was sold for building purposes by the then possessor,
Richard de Luci, who procured for it the right of a fair.

Now for a description of the church of Greensted. It con-
sists of chancel, nave with south porch, and a western tower
with spire. As the nave is the only part of the building that
concerns this sketch the rest can be dismissed in a few words.
The chancel is of brick and was built during the latter part of
the 1 6th century, the mouldings round the door and windows
are very fine specimens of moulded brickwork ; in the interior
a south-east pillar-piscina merits attention. The tower with
its shingle spire was erected about the middle of the i8th
century in typical Essex style, being constructed of boards
fastened to a framework of timber.

The nave, which is about 30 ft. by 14 ft., is as simple in
design as we might expect from its construction, being formed
of half trunks of oak trees let into a plate at top of which rests
the roof, and into a sill at bottom. The tops of the upright
timbers (which are about 5^ ft. high) are cut to a thin edge
and let into a deep groove in the plate and fastened by wooden
pins; the bottoms were morticed into the sill which rested on
the ground. The sides of the uprights were grooved and
tongues of oak let into them, to make the whole firm and
weathertight. The west end is carried up as high as the roof
and is formed of two layers of planks fastened together, but
the beauty of this end is lost by the tower being built against
it. No doubt the east end was similar to the west, but it was
removed when the present chancel was added in the i6th
century.

All the county historians differ slightly in their versions
of the building. Morant, the standard historian of the county,
states that " the church is dedicated to St. Andrew. It is a
very uncommon antique building, for the walls are of timber
not framed, but trees split or sawn asunder and let into the
ground."

Wright, writing in 1835, gives a very good account of the

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ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX.

building, and in this case does not follow his usual course in
copying Morant ; he says "the nave is formed of the half trunks
of oaks, about i^ ft. diameter, split, and roughly hewn at each
end, to let them into a sill at the bottom, and into a plank at
the top, where they are fastened with wooden pegs. . . . It is
29 ft. 9 in. long, 14 ft. wide, $% ft. high on the sides which
supported the primitive roof. On the south side there are 16
trunks and 2 door posts, on the north 21, and 2 vacancies
filled up with plaster. The west end is built against by a
boarded tower, and the east by a chancel of brick ; on the
south side is a wooden porch and both sides are strengthened
by brick buttresses ; the roof is of later date, and tiled, but rises
to a point in the centre, as originally formed. The brick build-
ing [chancel] has a blunt-pointed doorway, with mouldings
curiously worked in the brick. ... It seems not improbable,
therefore, that this rough and unpolished fabric was first
erected as a sort of shrine for the reception of the corpse of
St. Edmund, which, in its return from London to Bury, as
Lydgate says, in his MS. Life of King Edmund, was carried in
a chest: and as we are told in the register above mentioned
[Registrum ccenobii sancti Edmundi\ that it remained after-
wards in memory of that removal, so it might in process of
time, with proper additions made to it, be converted into a
parish church."

Lewis ( Topographical Dictionary) says, " Body of church
extremely curious, composed of half trunks of chestnut trees,
about a foot and half in diameter, split through the centre and
roughly hewn at each end to let them into a cill at the bottom
and into a plank at the top where they are fastened by wooden
pegs . . . supposed to have been erected about 1013 as a
shrine for the reception of the corpse of St. Edmund."

The Rev. P. W. Ray, in a history of the church, states that
the relics "were deposited for the night in a wooden chapel
which, says Mr. Lethieullier (writing to the Soc. of Ant. 1757)
has we believe never been questioned as the nave of the ancient
little church of Greenstreet or Greensted, Chipping Ongar,
Essex." By comparing the foregoing accounts, we notice that
they are all of the opinion that the church was built hurriedly
as a temporary shrine for the reception of the remains of St.
Edmund in 1013, but there are several points which oppose
this theory, chiefly the dedication and the wonderful preserva-
tion of the timbers. The importance of the dedication has
been overlooked by most writers on the building; one thing

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ST. ANDREWS CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX.

seems certain, if this building was hastily erected in 1013 as a
temporary shrine and afterwards utilized for the parish church,
it is only reasonable that it should have been dedicated to the
saint whose remains had rested there, and to whose memory
it is supposed to have been specially erected, instead of which
it is dedicated to St. Andrew.

Another point against the theory of a temporary building
is the wonderful preservation of the timber, which show time
and care having been taken in building, otherwise the wood
would have shrunk as it became dry, and long before this
would have rotted away. On the other hand there is every
possibility that this church was erected as early as the loth
century or even earlier and was chosen for the reception of
the remains of St. Edmund on account of its nearness to the
high road along which the procession passed.

Most accounts state that the timbers were split or sawn
asunder; of these, sawing is entirely out of the question, as
saws required for such work as this were either not known to
the Saxons or were very rare and expensive ; splitting was not
often resorted to for this kind of work, the usual method being
to hew the trunk down to the required thickness. This to us
sounds very extravagant; but timber was plentiful, especially
in Essex.

Lewis states that the timbers are of chestnut, and this is
held by many even now, but it is hardly likely that the Saxons
would have gone to the great expense of importing a wood
from abroad, which was not indigenous to Britain, in preference
to the much superior oak which grew in plenty all around them.

One noticeable feature of this building is the remarkable
preservation of its timbers ; this is partly due to their perpen-
dicular position, which has prevented the effects of the weather
penetrating far into the wood, although there are deep furrows
on the exterior due to the decaying of the softer parts of the
wood. In Suckling's time, 1845, the interior was plastered,
but this has been removed and the oaks can be seen in their
full beauty. Several restorations have been found necessary
to preserve this unique church. The original roof was un-
doubtedly of thatch, but had been replaced by tiles before
Wright's time (1835). As there is no record as to when this
was done, it is possible that it was re-roofed and one dormer
window inserted and a south porch added either when the
chancel was added in the i6th century or when the tower
was added in the 1 8th century. A view of the building before

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ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, GREENSTED, ESSEX.

the first known restoration, in 1 848, shows one dormer window
and a south porch. In 1848 several important restorations
were made, and it is only fair to give the restorers great credit
for doing their best to preserve this ancient building, instead
of destroying it and rebuilding in the ugly style then pre-
valent. Down to this time the timber walls had fitted into a
wooden sill which more or less rested on the ground; in
course of time this sill had become decayed owing to its con-
tact with the damp ground, and decay was fast creeping up
the timbers ; one of the first things to do was to take several
inches off the bottoms of the timbers, and to build a brick
plinth to carry a new sill with the shortened timbers let into
it. A great deal of opposition was raised at the time against
this proceeding, but antiquaries are grateful to those concerned
in preserving so historic a building. At the same time a new
roof of fir was constructed, with three dormer windows, and
the porch improved. Unfortunately this roof did not last
long, for in 1891 it was found to be in a serious state owing
to defective tiling, which necessitated urgent attention. The
architect, Mr. F. Chancellor, F.R.I.B.A., of Chelmsford, de-
signed a new roof of oak ; he also removed the brick buttresses
mentioned by Wright, as they were found to be useless, and
now the timbers can be seen in their entirety. There is no
reason why this building should not remain for many years to
come, but it would have been lost altogether had not the
restorations been carried out when they were.

To sum up, the nave of this little church presents the
following most notable features :

I. It is the only Saxon church built of wood existing in
this country.

II. It is the only church remaining where the corpse of
St. Edmund rested on its return journey from London to
Bury.

III. There is every probability that it was erected as a
parish church as early as the loth century, and not hurriedly
in 1013 as a temporary shrine for the remains of St. Edmund.

IV. That it was chosen, like many others, on account of its
nearness to the high road, which at that time ran close to the
church.

279

THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND
THE MERCANTILE MARINE AT
GRAVESEND.

By ALEX. J. PHILIP.

FROM the previous articles in this series dealing with the
glorious past of Gravesend it will have been obvious
that such ships as were in use at the varying periods
were probably built in the town or its immediate neighbour-
hood, from the skin boat of prehistoric times to the boats of
the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Normans. Later on
the town was the stage from which all boats left — the eastern
extremity of the pier of London, if one might so describe it —
or arrived. Instances of this are so numerous for more than
five hundred years that it appears unnecessary to offer proof.
Naturally it is during the sixteenth century that we find these
early references most numerous ; although many legal parch-
ments of various dates in the possession of the Gravesend
Public Library refer to riverside property in both Gravesend
and Milton.

Froissart mentions the ships that sailed from the Thames
in 1340 to meet those of the King of France. Sixty years
later, in 1401, Gravesend and Tilbury were required to provide
one " balinger," furnished with forty men, to be in attendance
on a great ship of war.

In 1528 a running fight took place between a French cruiser
and a Flemish war vessel, the French vessel being boarded off
Gravesend and eventually captured at London. In 1687 The
Palestine, belonging to the Turkey company, was struck by
lightning and burned. While in the next century, 1759, The
Friendship, another merchant vessel, was blown up. In 1574
a warrant was issued under privy seal for the removal of Her
Majesty's ships from the Medway to the Thames " as neere the
bullwarkes besydes Gravesend as the place will serve."

The press gang found Gravesend a splendid place for their
efforts, since most of the inhabitants were more or less in-
terested in the river and the sea, but they were not always
successful, as is evident from the following. The Lynx, a war
sloop, laid alongside an East Indiaman, The Duke of Richmond,

280

£
t«

t/3

<3J

C/3

CL
O

MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND.

in 1770, with the object of impressing the crew. The men
showed fight, however, and eventually beat off the warship.

This short list does not in any way pretend to be complete;
the whole of this chapter in the history of the town would not
be sufficient to catalogue all similar events. Even during the
last few years the list of wrecks is a long one, some of them
attended with an appalling loss of life.

The gentry residing in the vicinity of the river had their
own barges. These barges — a term then used to cover craft
very different from the barge of to-day — were not confined to
the use of those living in London. In the middle of the six-
teenth century Lord Cobham writes to Sir William Cecil to
the effect that the Cobham barge will attend him in London
and will be met by his wife's litter at Gravesend. A few
months later we find Sir William Cecil sending instructions
to Gravesend to stop all Scotch vessels, and to attach or arrest
the wife of one Fowler, servant of the Earl of Lennox, and
other persons. In the same century Lord Cobham offered to
send his barge to convey Mr. Verreicken from Gravesend to
London.

From numerous entries to be found in letters and other
papers of the period, it appears that the government was
strongly represented in the town by officials. Warrants to
search vessels, permits to pass some and detain others, exist
in profusion. In 1586 we find the following:

Warrant to Mr. Pine and Mr. Tucker at Gravesend to allow
Andrew Reapeth, master of The Skoute of Leith, to pass the
Port of London towards Leith with goods; and a similar
order to pass goods for the use of the King of Scotland and
of Mr. Archibald Douglas, viz., 8 trucks, n^ barrels, 2 pun-
cheons, I firkin, 6 pieces of sheet lead, I little pack and 5 tuns
of beer.

Perhaps one of the most interesting of these documents is
a letter from Sir Philip Sidney to Queen Elizabeth, dated at
Gravesend, November 10, 1585.

Most gratious Sovereign,

This rude piece of paper shall presume, becaws of your
Majestie's commandment, most humbly to present such a
cypher as little leysure wold afoord me. If there come any
matter to my knowledge, the importance whereof shall deserve
to be masked, I will not fail (since your pleasure is my only
boldness) to your own handes to recommend it. In the mean
tyme I beseech your Majestic will vouchsafe legibly to read
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THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

my harte in the course of my life, and, though itself bee but
of a mean worth, yet to esteem it lyke a poorhows well sett.
I most lowly kiss your handes, and praie to God your enemies
mai then onely have peace when thei are weery of knowing
your force.

Your Majestie's most humble servant,

PH. SIDNEI.

During the reign of Elizabeth it was scarcely to be expected
that Gravesend would not be touched directly or indirectly
by the tragedy of Mary, Queen of Scots.

In July, 1575, Lord Burghley writes to Lord Cobham,
Warden of the Cinque Ports, and informs him that having
commended the searcher of Gravesend to the Queen, both in
Lord Cobham's name and of his own knowledge, though he
found no plain offence in Her Majesty touching the said
searcher (who was thought to have permitted certain jewels
of the Queen of Scots to pass out of the realm), yet Lady
Cobham has required him to write thereof. Urges him not
to continue in any anguish or grief of mind as doubting of
the Queen's favour. He may make assured account thereof as
others do ; and yet must sometimes bear with a cast of cross
words, as Burghley himself has done. Will search out further
how the Queen was informed of these jewels, and will
continue his suit for the man. Doubts whether the Lord
Admiral will think it appertaining to his office.

The name of this searcher who was in fear of her Majesty's
displeasure does not transpire, but in 1572, three years before,
searchers were appointed by the Lords of the Council " to
take charge for the serch of all suche as shall passe in or out
at any of the Portes and Crekes underwrytten " ; John
Thorneton and Thomas Spicike were appointed at Milton (for
Gravesend).

That Gravesend took its share in the smuggling business,
even down to the I9th century, is comparatively well known,
but that phase of the town's history will be more fittingly
dealt with in another chapter; suffice it to mention here
that cloth, ostensibly for Sandwich, Dover, Southampton,
Ipswich, etc., was carried to Gravesend or Milton, under
new or faked entries, to the detriment of the merchant
adventurer.

An interesting document of July 23, 1600, is a testimonial
or open " character " from Samuel Beke, portreeve, and Ro.
Holland, minister and preacher at Gravesend :

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MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND.

Whereas George Burnestrawe has heretofore been em-
ployed by divers of Her Majesty's Counsellors, but especially
by your Honour, the said Burnestrawe has employed himself
with all diligence to the uttermost in the said service at
Gravesend, both on the land and on the water.

The office of searcher was no vain one, as is shown by the
following letter from Lord Cobham to Sir Robert Cecil,
dated June 12, 1600 :

Because the searcher of Gravesend can stay no longer, so
that he must be delivered of this Scottishman, I thought
good to have him sent down unto you by him, that such
further order you might take with him as you shall see cause;
but you shall find him, as I suppose, but a messenger, and
ignorant of that which he carried. The letter he confesses
was brought him by Hudson['s] man when he was ready to go
aboard of the ship. I have not troubled you much this year
with any extraordinary charge out of the Queen's purse. I
pray you let me entreat somewhat of you for the searcher,
who is honest and careful in his office.

Useful as the searchers at Gravesend appear to have been
to the Crown, their kind offices were not always appreciated
by their victims, as is shown by the following letter from
Thomas Arundel to Sir Robert Cecil. Writing from Lee,
June 4, 1595, the afflicted Arundel writes:

Though my eyes be yet so sore I cannot with my own
hand write unto you, yet the pitiful complaint of Jacob
Yansen, a pilot of Embden, importuneth me to send you this
declaration of his mischance. He came laden with corn to
London where he sold it for ready money, and, being hired
by myself for the conveyance of my horses to Stode, brought
with him also the money he had received, being ignorant, as
he protesteth, of any law to the contrary. This money was
found by the searchers of Gravesend, who have seized on it
as forfeited, to the utter undoing of the poor man. His hope
is that when you shall have understood that he brought in
corn, that he was utterly ignorant of the laws, and that his
irrecoverable loss dependeth hereon, he shall by your means
be relieved, if not in the whole yet in some part of his
forfeited money. . . .

The extent to which Gravesend entered into the plans of
the naval and military officers of the Crown of the period
may be gathered from the following extracts from letters

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THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

and other documents of the time. In most cases there appears
to have been no cause for regarding it with any affection : on
the other hand, one cannot help thinking that the townsmen
had in some cases at least every excuse for the treatment they
accorded their often unwelcome visitors. In other cases the
wind and the tide appear to have been the delinquents, and
it would be unfair to saddle the Gravesenders of the i6th
century with the vagaries of the elements which they, could
not control.

Archibald Douglas, on his way to Hamburg, was detained
at Gravesend for two days, as Baron Fingask is informed by
his correspondent, James Douglas, on November 2, 1594.

Two years later we have a pathetic yet violent letter from
Sir Walter Raleigh to Sir Robert Cecil ; all the evils for
which Gravesend was noted appear to have assailed him at
one time. He writes from Northfleet on May 4, 1596 :

The ships that remain above are six ... riding at Black-
wall : another great fly-boat of London, called The George,
another, The Jacob of Agarslote, a third, Thejusua of Home,
a fourth, and some 20 others. Pope, the marshal of the
Admiralty, can inform Mr. Burroughs, for Pope prest all the
ships. He can also inform you how little her Majesty's
authority is respected, for as fast as we press men one day
they run away another, and say they will not serve. . . . Here
are at Gravesend, and between this and Lee, some 22 sail,
those above that are of great draught of water cannot tide it
down, for they must take the high water, and dare not move
after an hour ebb until they be past Barking Shelf, and now
the wind is so strong as it is impossible to turn down or to
warp down or to tow down. I cannot write to our generals at
this time, for the pursuivant found me in a country village a
mile from Gravesend, hunting after runaway mariners and drag-
ging in the mire from alehouse to alehouse ; and could get no
paper but that the pursuivant had this piece. Sir, by the living
God there is no king nor queen nor general nor any one else
can take more care than I do to be gone, but I pray you but
to speak with Mr. Burroughs, and let him be sent for after-
ward before my Lord Chamberlain, that they may hear him
speak whether any man can get down with this wind or no :
which will satisfy them of me. If this strong wind last, I will
steal to Blackwall to speak with you and to kiss your hand.

On the previous day Raleigh had written to Sir Robert
Cecil, when he says, " I am not able to live to row up and
down every tide from Gravesend to London."

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MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND.

One cannot help wondering if there were not other reasons
for delay and insubordination when it is considered that even
while Raleigh was chasing drunken sailors from Northfleet
beerhouses, Sir George Beeston, who was in charge of the
blockhouse at Gravesend, " was over 85 years of age and unfit "
for his duties.

Five years later we find the same thing, but in a worse
degree, taking place in connection with more military evolu-
tions under Captain Richard Wigmore. In a long letter to
Sir Robert Cecil he says:

Finding yesterday that the wind did extraordinarily favour
her Majesty's service, I resolved rather to follow that advantage
than by staying at Gravesend in expectation of more victuals
to spend that which I already had ... I do assure you that
if I had been seconded by other means, which ought not to
have failed me, I had this day by 12 of the clock, with this
wind which still continueth, anchored before Ostend; for I
was here yesterday with The Lyon before 5 o'clock of the
afternoon. But first it should appear that my fellow-conductors
and I were not of one mind, for they liked better the air of
Gravesend, where I left all of them except Captain Crumpton
and Captain Wigmore who followed me.

He then goes on to relate that The Lyon wanted both men
and victuals, and from Margate he despatched a man overland
to Gravesend, " with charge to cause those victuals, which by
your Honour's commandment Mr. Dorrell was to supply, to
be immediately sent unto this place." Mr. Dorrell apparently
was a tradesman of the town. This was written on July 27.
He reached Margate on July 26, and eventually arrived at
Ostend on the 28th. But down to August 1 1 he had not been
able to complete his landing, having " been so swaddled with
storms or extreme foul weather." In this letter of August II,
1 60 1, he complains bitterly of his helpers in the enterprise:
" in truth I cannot but complain of my hard fortune to have
been consorted with such assistants as fell to my share in this
service, who, if they had not lost time in swaggering at
Gravesend ... all this business had fourteen days since been
happily concluded."

Sir Robert Cecil must have regarded Gravesend as his bete
noir, his little Old Man of the Sea. A little later, October 5
of the same year, Capt. Charles Leigh wrote in a similar
strain :

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THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

My last letter was from Gravesend, bearing date the 24th
September, which I sent by the post. On the 3oth of Septem-
ber I set sail from Gravesend, and was enforced by a stiff con-
trary wind to stop again in Tilbury Hope. ... If the owners
of The Mary gold had been as willing to further the voyage as
they ought to have been, I had been by this time upon the
coast of Spain.

The military requirements of the time were exacting and
excessive. Still, in the same exciting year, 1601, on October
25, two Captains, Kenricke and Fortescue, wrote the Lord
Admiral, the Earl of Nottingham, that there were 37 men
short in the 200 which should have been delivered from those
pressed in Suffolk, and of those delivered many were unable to
serve. They asked for a warrant to impress men in Kent, "be-
ing tapsters, ostlers, chamberlains, wherein the country now
aboundeth, and other idle persons that shall pass to and fro
in Gravesend barge."

Although not exactly either naval or military the two
following anecdotes are closely connected with both, and throw
much light on the life of the town at the time when it was
an important factor in the military and other engagements of
the Crown.

The first is a confession of one William Bradbentt, who
appears to have been mixed up with a jewel robbery of some
kind, and is dated October 9, 1592:

A mariner meeting me on the Campside of the common
wharf at Gravesend, and bid me " Good morrow," and asked
me how I did. I said " Well, God a mercy, my fellow "; which
done, I went to the Campside and leaned there. The fellow
then came to me, and asked me if I would deal for certain
jewels. I straight desired to see them, and so went to my
house and did so. The things he had I then demanded the
price, and he held at i6o/. for all, but in conclusion I bought
them for 1307., which I paid him present. There was in
small sparks, as I do remember, 1330; other there were of
somewhat bigger sort, but how many I cannot justly remember.
Also there was 61 or such a number of small rubies, 16 ounces
of ambergris, with two or three necklaces of small pearls,
other two strings pearls, with two or three other trifles of very
small value, and one chain of gold of eight ounces. All which
things I had I showed unto one Shory, a goldsmith, which
doth dwell at Gravesend, and requested his friendship to shew
me the value of those things, which he, having viewed, valued
286

MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND.

them at 2oo/. This Shory desired me that he might have them
for " sacking " of them, and swore unto me that he had valued
them at the uttermost they be worth, for he said they be all
small and they be not worth 4^. a piece, and some of them
worth nothing, and the rubies he valued, as I remember, at
1 6 or i&d. the piece, and bad ones amongst them. The
ambergris was not of the best. This done, for that I could
understand the state of Shory, where he last dwelled, I made
some enquiry of his state, and understood he was a paltry
fellow of no credit. I took the course to put the things away,
coming to the Exchange met with one Mr. Harman, a Dutch-
man, which I had seen before time at Venice, with one
Sparrow, an Englishman. This Sparrow would sometimes
come aboard my ship and bring this Dutchman with others
with him. I, seeing Mr. Harman in the Exchange, went
secretly to him, after some speech had how long it was since
he was at Venice, and then I brake with him about those
things I had. He then asked me whether he might see them,
and whether they were, as I told him they were, at my house
at Gravesend, and he then " axed " whereabout the value of
the things would amount unto. I said 2$oL Then he "axed"
and said he would come down next morrow day tide, and so
took my name for remembrance, and came down according
to his promise; and, having viewed the things I had, "axed"
the price, and I having understood the price by Shory, I
"axed" him 2507., but I desirous to be despatched of them,
sold them in time for 2oo/., and so he paid me present in gold,
in manner all, and so continently departed up that tide, and
that he was within short time to go over sea for anything he
knew. I sold these commodities, as I remember, about the
2oth of October. All this I will depose. By me Wm. Brad-
bentt.

The second is perhaps more interesting, and speaks for itself.

1576, Sept. 9. — Sir John Leveson to the Lord Chamberlain.
Has received answer from Dover, from Mr. Lieutenant of
the Castle there, touching the abuses offered to the Governor
of Dieppe at Gravesend and Rochester. It appears that the
Governor complained that they could not obtain horses or
carts at Gravesend, and received opprobrious words from the
hacqueney-men there; and that a certain woman, dwelling in
or near to the sign of The Horn, took a gentleman of the
Governor's company by the beard, with extreme violence, and
had struck the Governor himself had not a gentleman put her
back.

On receipt of this, he repaired this morning to Gravesend

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THE ROYAL NAVY, THE ARMY, AND THE

and took examinations; which show that there were two horses
in the stable of William Clarke of The Horn, which horses
two gentlemen of the Governor's company were desirous to
have; and because they were the horses of strangers, left
there, and no hacqueneys, they were locked up in a stable,
the door whereof two Frenchmen did break open to take out
the said horses; and the wife of William Clarke, whose husband
was then out of town, came into the stable and would have
stayed the said horses there; and thereupon the Frenchmen
thrust her from them and overthrew her, as she saith, and
took out the said horses. The wife denies that she pulled any
by the beard, but says she was so amazed with the blow that
one of the Frenchmen gave her, that she would have stricken
him if she had found any staff or cudgel readily. There are
no witnesses but one, who saw the Governor come out of the
stable, holding his hand on his beard as though one had been
pulled by the beard. As for the Rochester men, the horses
which had been taken from Gravesend to Rochester, being
taken on to Sittingbourne and payment only made as far as
Rochester, the hacqueney-men stayed the horses in the street
there, for the horsehire to Sittingbourne, and some disorder
ensued. Has three or four of the men in custody, and asks
what punishment he shall inflict upon the woman and them.
Has forborne to send up the portreeve of Gravesend, for, the
constable being sore sick, there would have been much dis-
order, and the Duke and his train could not have been ac-
commodated of such horses, carriages, and other things as
was fit.

The most interesting period of Gravesend's naval history is
doubtless that during which its dock-yard, and the neighbouring
one at Northfleet, were in full swing. To show the extent of
the operations at both these yards I give the number of vessels
launched :

1780 to 1798, Mr. William Cleverly's yard, n war vessels,
mounting 370 guns, and 2 merchantmen.

1789 to 1825, Mr. Pitcher's yard at Northfleet, 26 merchant-
men, mostly for the East India trade.

1794 to 1813, other yards at Northfleet, 27 war vessels.

1839 to 1843, Mr William Pitcher's yard at Northfleet, 26
steam vessels.

Even at the present time boat building and barge building
are carried on; but the latter industry all over the country
has felt the extension of steam and other methods of ship's
propulsion. Before 1780, when Cleverly launched his first

288

MERCANTILE MARINE AT GRAVESEND.

ship, the shipbuilding industry had been limited to the build-
ing of fishing vessels and tiltboats. But previous to that year
William Cleverly, whom Pocock describes as a Quaker, had
bought a parcel of disused land at the extreme north-west of
the parish and recommenced working the chalk pits " they
having (beyond the memory of man) laid waste." Pocock
reports that about a hundred and fifty hands were employed
at the dockyard and in the chalk pits.

Before Cleverly's death rival dockyards had been established
at Northfleet, and the number of vessels launched there shows
how extensive the work became during the sixty and more
years that the industry served to promote the prosperity of
the town. Whether or not shipbuilding on a large scale will
ever return to the town is a matter for conjecture. Suggestions
have been made from time to time but without any tangible
results, and the yard has lain disused for more than half a
century.

The naval and military aspects of Gravesend's history are
inextricably mixed. We need not revert to the two great
historic occasions when the town was burned and the inhabi-
tants carried away into captivity; the very fact that these
forays were possible is good evidence that there was not then
much of naval or military importance to stand between them
and foreign foes. It was no doubt as a result of this practical
demonstration of the unprotected nature of the Thames, not
only at Gravesend but lower down the river, that the various
" block houses " were erected, which at later dates developed
into " forts." Two of these are of particular interest in the
history of Gravesend, those now situated in the east of the town,
and at Tilbury. The batteries at Shorne Mead, Cliff Creek,
and near Coal House Point, may be dismissed with the mere
statement that they exist. The interest centres on Gravesend
and Tilbury. These will be dealt with more fully in a sub-
sequent paper, as they fully deserve a chapter to themselves.

XIV 289 U

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON,
HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

BY J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL, author of The Story of Charing
Cross.

[Continued from p. 210.]

CHAPTER VIII.

OXENDEN STREET, reached from the Haymarket
by going down James Street, where it is about six
houses on the left, extends thence to Coventry Street.
It was built about the year 1675. Consequently it is probable
that it received its name from Sir George Oxenden, Governor
of the Fort and Island of Bombay, in commemoration of his
having bravely defended Surat against the Mahrattas in
January, 1663. It was not till later, 1688, that he was instru-
mental in the creation of the first military establishment of
the East India Company at Bombay.

When Richard Baxter built his chapel on the west side of
Oxenden Street, at the back of Mr. Secretary Coventry's
garden wall, the Nonconformist-Episcopal author of The
Sainfs Everlasting Rest annoyed Secretary Coventry by his
hair-splitting distinctions in theology. So the latter caused
the King's drums to be beaten under the chapel windows,
drowning the voice of the preacher, much to his disgust. But
this was not, certainly, one would have thought, the pur-
pose for which the nation maintained the King's drummers.
The drummers, however, probably made some compensation
to the revenue by repairing to the nearest tavern to spend
their pourboires, or vails, as they were then called. This
would have been perhaps at " The Lancashire Witch," at the
corner of Oxenden Street, where the chapel was situated.
At this curious London sign, one Sunday in 1776, a fire
broke out at about eleven o'clock; the house was entirely
destroyed, with two adjoining houses, and great damage was
done to several others. The fire originated through a lamp,
left in the cellar, setting fire to some dry wood. "It was with
difficulty several lodgers that were in the house escaped with

290

THE HAYMARKET

their lives ; one man jumped out of a two pair of stairs
window, with a child in his arms." l

The chapel, from which Baxter was thus driven, was after-
wards let by him for £40 a year to Dr. Lloyd, the then Vicar
of St. Martin's, in whose parish it stood.2 The " Oxenden
Street Chapel " still existed when Elmes compiled his Topo-
graphical Dictionary of London in 1831. It was four houses
down from Coventry Street on the right-hand side, and was
still then an Episcopal chapel. The site is now occupied by
the back premises of the Civil Service Supply Association.

There is a judicious mingling of religion and business in
the following, not perhaps necessarily inconsistent or repre-
hensible so long as the " professor's " aims were quite above-
board.

This is to give notice to all promoters of the holy worship,
and to all the lovers of the Italian tongue, that on Sunday
next, being the 2d of December, at five in the afternoon, in
Oxenden Chapel, in Oxenden-street, near the Haymarket,
there will be divine service in the Italian tongue, and will
continue every Sunday at the aforesaid hour, with an Italian
sermon preached by Mr. Casotti, Italian minister, author of
a new method of teaching the Italian tongue to ladies, &c." 3

Thomas Dermody (d. 1802, aged 27) lived at No. 30,
Oxenden Street, when he came to London to try his fortune
as a man of letters.4 No. 38 was the site of a well-known
inn or tavern, by token, "The Black Horse," pulled down
some years since. Its site, I am told by an old inhabi-
tant, is indicated by the present gallery entrance to the
Prince of Wales's Theatre, on the east side of Oxenden Street.
According to the books of Messrs. Meux's brewery, about
to be removed from Tottenham Court Road, the lease of the
Black Horse in Coventry Street was valued for 9^ years
at £8o.5

This is to give notice to all Ladies and Gentlemen, Lovers
of Musick, that Mr. Tabel, the famous instrument maker, has
3 fine Harpsichords to dispose of, which are and will be the
last of his making, since he intends to leave off Business.
They are to be seen till the 25th of this Month, at his House

1 Middlesex Journal, Dec. 2-3, 1776. 2 Cunningham.

3 Spectator, Nov. 30, 1711. 4 Wheatley's London.

5 Daily Telegraph, Nov. 27, 1905.

291

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON.

in Oxenden- Street, over against the black Horse, near Picca-
dilly. N.B. He has also some fine Aire-wood for furnishing
the inside to dispose of.1

Very remarkable is the metamorphosis which the Hay-
market has undergone from the days when it was lined
with hay-wagons and bucolically patronized ale-houses,
to its present condition as a fashionable thoroughfare with
shops replete with every luxury that can be desired by the
beau monde of western London. A link between these two
stages of its existence was a lingering occidental representa-
tive of the hot-potato trade, who so late as 1878 had a pitch
at the Coventry Street end of the Haymarket This was
known to George Augustus Sala as " The Royal Albert
Potato Can!"

At that three-legged emporium of smoking vegetables [he
says], gleaming with block-tin painted red, and brazen orna-
ments, the humble pilgrim of the Haymarket may halt and sup
for a penny. For a penny? What say I? for a halfpenny, even
may the belated and impoverished traveller obtain a refreshment
at once warm, farinacious and nourishing. Garnish your potato
when the Khan of the Haymarket has taken him from his
hot blanket-bed, and cut him in two — garnish him with salt
and pepper, eschew not those condiments, they are harmless,
nay, stimulating — but ho ! my son, beware of the butter ! It
is confusion. Better a dry potato and a contented mind, &c.
Then at the doors of most of the taverns, saving your
presence through competent funds, at the Cafe de 1'Europe,
a second-class French restaurant, or one of the numerous
oyster-bars, you may have met with an ancient dame, of un-
pretending appearance, bearing a flat basket, lined with a fair
white cloth. She, for your penny, would administer to you a
brace of bones, covered with a soft white integument, which
she would inform you were " trotters." There was not much
meat on them, but they were very toothsome and succulent.
It was no business of yours to enquire whether they were
sheep's trotters or pig's trotters, or trotters of corpulent rats
or overgrown mice. They are " trotters." Look not the gift
horse in the mouth ; for the penny was perhaps a gift, how-
ever strictly you may have purchased the trotters. Eat them
and thank heaven, and go thy ways and take a cooling drink
at the nearest pump with an iron handle chained to it, which
was, if I am not mistaken, over-against St. James's Church in

1 London Evening Post, May 30, 1723.
292

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

Piccadilly. Or perhaps you were fond of ham-sandwiches.
The dame with the basket would straightway vend you two
slices of a pale substance, resembling in taste and texture
sawdust pressed into a concrete form, between which is
spread a veneer of inorganic matter, having apparently a
strong affinity to salted log-wood. This is ham ! The con-
crete sawdust is bread ! The whole is a sandwich ! These
luxuries are reckoned very nice by some persons, and quite
strengthening.1!

Shug Lane, afterwards Tichborne Street, ran obliquely
from the top of the Haymarket into Glasshouse Street, but
Tichborne Street was effaced on the formation of Shaftesbury
Avenue, though part of Glasshouse Street remains. The
" Locke's Head " was the sign of J. Millar in Shug Lane.

On the north side of Tichborne Street, " at the top of the
Haymarket," was Week's Museum, which, when Allen wrote
his History of London in 1828, had not even then been com-
pleted, and perhaps never was. But so early as 1803 it is
described as being on the plan of the celebrated Mr. Cox's
Museum.2 The grand room was 107 feet long, and 30 feet
high, and was covered entirely with blue satin. It contained " a
variety of figures, which exhibit the effects of mechanism in
an astonishing manner. The architecture is by Wyatt ; the
painting on the ceiling by Rebecca and Singleton. Previous
to its opening, by way of specimen, two temples are exhibited,
nearly seven feet high, supported by sixteen elephants,
embellished with seventeen hundred pieces of jewellery, in
the finest style of workmanship. The Tarantula Spider and
the Bird of Paradise are surprising efforts (on a minute
compass) of the proprietor's ingenuity. The price of admis-
sion to the Temples is two shillings and six-pence, and they
may be seen from the hours of twelve till four ; and from six
till nine; the Tarantula and the Bird are shewn at one
shilling each." 3

Marylebone Street 4 was a continuation of Shug Lane or
Tichborne Street from Hedge Lane and the Haymarket, and
so named because it led to Marylebone, " in the same way,"

1 Twice Round the Clock, by G. A. Sala, 1878, p. 323.

2 For Cox's Museum see Mr. G. L. Apperson's Bygone London Life.

3 The Picture of London, for 1803, pp. 188-9.

* There is a plan of the houses in Marylebone Street and Tichborne
Street, by Chawner, in the Grace Collection (Maps and Plans, xii, 19)
copied from one drawn in 1796.

293

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON.

says Cunningham, " that Drury Lane led from St. Clement's
to St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, and Tyburn Lane (now Park
Lane) from Tyburn to Hyde Park Corner." It was built,
according to the St. Martin's Rate Books, about 1679, and
was probably well known to all the gamblers and blacklegs
in London as a starting-point through which Mary-le-bone
House, on the site of the present Regent's Park, was reached.
Mary-le-bone House was a gaming place attached to Maryle-
bone Gardens, which Gay makes the scene of Macheath's
debauches.1

The Earl of March writes to George Selwyn :

On Wednesday we had a party to see Wanstead. We dined
at the Spread Eagle upon the Forest, and at our return
home, between eight and nine, we saw a most violent fire that
had just broken out in Mary-le-bone Street, at the upper end
of the Haymarket. It lasted till one in the morning, and has
burnt a great many houses. I never saw anything so violent,
and the crowd of people in the streets all round was beyond
conception. The fire burnt with such fury that no one could
have any idea how far it would go.2

Great Windmill Street, opposite the north end of the Hay-
market, was (like the present Hill Street, a few yards north
from the north-west corner of Finsbury Square),3 so named
from a windmill which stood there, as shown in Faithorne's
Map, 1658. This windmill gave its name to Windmill Fields,
mentioned in a printed proclamation of April 7, 1671. There
is still a curious combination for a sign, that of " The Ham

1 These gardens were suppressed in 1777-8. The ground is now
occupied by Beaumont Street, part of Devonshire Street, and part of
Devonshire Place. Either Marylebone Lane, Oxford Street, or Harley
Street, would lead to the Gardens, which may also be described as being
at the north end of Harley Street, where, so late as 1808, a few trees
remained indicating the exact site of the gambling hell where the Duke
of Buckingham gave a dinner to all the gaming and blackleg fraternity
at the conclusion of each season. His parting toast on these occasions
was — " May as many of us as remain unhanged next spring meet here
again."

2 Jesse's Selwyn and his Contemporaries •, 1882, vol. iii, p. 57.

3 Properly Windmill Hill Street, on the site of the ancient Windmill
Hill, which was raised by above a thousand cartloads of human bones
brought from St. Paul's Charnel-house in 1549. These, when covered by
the sweepings of the streets in the city, became used as a public lay-stall
(/>., a place to lay dung, soil or rubbish in), and the ground thus raised
attained such an accommodating elevation that three windmills were
erected on it. — See Elmes's Topog. Diet, of London, 1831.

294

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

and Windmill," at No. 37, Great Windmill Street, the corner
of Ham Yard. One can only suggest that the sign of the
" Ham " may be the Westphalia Ham, which exists to this
day outside a few ham and beef shops in London.

The "famous Water Theatre" at the lower end of "Picka-
dilly," was also known by the Windmill at the top of it.

Nos. 7 and 8, Great Windmill Street, or the houses which
used to be known as such, are premises now occupied by the
luxurious Trocadero Restaurant. The Restaurant succeeded
the Trocadero Music Hall, the " running " of which first fell
to the lot of a Mr. Bignell, after whose death the late lamented
Mr. Sam Adams infused it with unexpected life ; the writer
remembers the glorious volume of men's voices, when the
whole audience to a man seemed to join in some topical song
such as " The Death of Cock Robin." Before this the place
had been the less reputable casino, known as the Argyll
Rooms (built on the site of the tennis-court attached to
Piccadilly Hall), and originally in Little Argyll Street, Regent
Street. But even with such an expert manager as Mr. Sam
Adams the " Troc," surrounded as it was by formidable rivals
like the Empire and the Pavilion, to say nothing of the
Alhambra, after determined attempts on the part of others to
keep it going, ceased to flourish. The building was razed to
the ground, and on its site rose the present Trocadero
Restaurant. Timbs says, that in his time the site of the
Argyll Rooms was occupied by a tennis-court, which was
formerly situated in the rear of " Pickadilley Halle." '

When the immediate neighbourhood of the Haymarket had
begun to abandon all pretence of maintaining the fragrant
scent of the hayfields as its prominent characteristic, it is sad
to say, as we have seen, that it became a far from savoury
spot, devoted to the desperate pleasures of the licentious and
the generally intemperate. The thoroughfare and its by-
streets, from top to bottom, appear to have been more or less
monopolized by taverns, eating-houses, and supper-rooms.
One of the more respectable pleasure rendezvous, was that
with which the name of Scott became identified at the top of
the street. In the late fifties and sixties, the Wilton Tavern,
so named from John Wilton, part proprietor with Scott, of
Scott's Supper Rooms, was a most famous resort. It was one
of the last surviving supper-houses which existed under con-

1 Timbs's Curiosities of London, 1868, p. 669.
295

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON.

ditions since modified by a combination of clubs, County
Councils, and licensing laws. It was celebrated for its clear
soups and shell fish, especially oysters, and all London visitors
worth their salt formerly repaired to it as one of the features
of the great metropolis not to be omitted. From a dingy little
oyster-shop, Scott's has become, especially since the fire of a
few years ago, an epitome of all the glories with which marble,
mirror, and velvet are deemed capable of investing domestic
architecture.

A writer describing the house in 1890, says:

Scott's in 1850 was something very different from the mere
eating-house to which visitors came to satisfy an appetite.
It was a place for reunion, a centre of social intercourse.
Dropping into the rooms after midnight, a Londoner with any
standing in society would find a variety of friends. At one
table would be a party of officers, talking shop to the suitable
accompaniment of a lobster; at another a detachment from the
House of Commons would be in occupation — they used to
stroll up from Westminster through the park, with a regularity
that enabled the nymphs of the pavement to acquire an
embarrassing familiarity with the faces and names of well-
known politicians. Scott's was never a centre for literary men,
as some other famous taverns that we could name have been,
but Dickens and Thackeray, and Albert Smith and Wilkie
Collins, and the brilliant young men of All the Year Round
and Household Words, have undoubtedly foregathered within
its hospitable walls, for it was a famous place to see life and
study character.

The original Scott was a man well-known about town, who
discounted a bill as obligingly as he served oysters. When he
started the business he speedily acquired a reputation for the
excellence of his clear soup and his shell-fish, and his name
began to distinguish the house heretofore known as The
Wilton. Many years of prosperity followed. In the fifties and
the sixties, Scott's was one of the most prominent features of
the Haymarket, then a quarter in which were many notable
taverns, and as to which it was the boast of young fellows of
enterprise that they could begin at one end of the street early
in the evening, sober, and come out at the other end in the
sunshine of next morning, thoroughly and adequately drunk,
without passing more than half an hour or so in each house of
call. The stories of that period are hardly fit for publication. . . .
In 1872 the shadow of the evil days fell upon Scott's in common
with all London taverns. Bruce's bill was passed in that year,
and it became the law that all licensed houses in London
296

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

should be closed at midnight. ... In 1874, under the auspices
of a Conservative government, a modification of the obnoxious
Act was made, and the hours for closing were extended to
12.30, the point at which they have stuck ever since, whilst
the "privileged" licenses exempted some lucky ones.1

The Society of Antiquaries possess a printed proclamation
(temp. Charles II, 1671) against the increase of buildings in
Windmill-fields and the fields adjoining Soho; and in the
Plan of 1658, Great Windmill Street consists of straggling
houses, and a windmill in a field on the west side.2

Judging from the innumerable paragraphs relating to the
doings and the characteristics of the people at large in the
1 7th and i8th centuries, the mention of small-pox is run very
close by that of horse-stealing. A black gelding with a bald
face, etc., was stolen from a field near Tyburn, and notice of
its recovery is requested by Arthur Johnston at the Duke's
Head in Windmill Street, Haymarket.3 Such announcements
are of common occurrence at the period alluded to.

The Church of St. Peter, on the east side of Windmill
Street, was erected in 1861, from the designs of R. Brandon,
at an outlay for the building and furniture of £5,500. The
land on which it is built cost £6,000, a large sum, which is at
the rate of more than £50,000 per acre. The money was sub-
scribed by the inhabitants of St. James's Parish, principally
by the aristocracy, the late Lord Derby being a munificent
subscriber.4

One of the early concerts of music, admittance to which
was only sixpence, was held at the Coachmaker's Arms in
Windmill Street5

Among the eminent inhabitants of this street was the cele-
brated anatomist and physician, Dr. William Hunter, who,
when his professional emoluments produced an extraordinary
supply of wealth, was desirous of devoting a portion of it to
the establishment of an anatomical school and museum in the
metropolis. With that view, about 1765, he presented a
memorial to Mr. Grenville, then Chancellor of the Exchequer,
requesting a grant from government of the site of the King's
Mews, whereon he offered to erect an edifice at the expense

Newspaper cutting, undated.
Timbs's Curiosities of London, p. 669.
London Gazette, Feb. 24, 1686.
Wheatley's Round about Piccadilly, 1870, p. 175.
J. T. Smith's Streets of London, 1849, P- 18.
297

THE HAYMARKET, LONDON.

of .£7,000, and to endow a professorship in perpetuity. But
his proposal was treated with neglect; in consequence of which
he purchased a plot of ground in Great Windmill Street,
Haymarket, where he built a house, anatomical theatre, and
museum, for his own professional purposes, and thither he
removed in 1770. Here, besides objects connected with the
medical sciences, he ultimately collected a library of Greek
and Roman classics, and a valuable cabinet of medals. He
employed many years in the anatomical preparations and in
the dissections which were the result of his untiring industry,
besides making additions by purchase from the museums of
Sandys, Falconer, Blackall, and others. Minerals, shells, and
other specimens of natural history, were gradually added to
the Museum, which became one of the curiosities of Europe;
the cost of the whole exceeded £70,000. It was eventually
bequeathed by its promoter to the University of Glasgow,
with £8,000 to support and augment it. There, behind the
University, the Museum, still known as the Hunterean, was
erected in 1805.

From the Hunterean School in Great Windmill Street, the
great anatomist issued his marvellous work, The Anatomy of
the Human Gravid Uterus, a book than which there was per-
haps "never one published by any physician upon which
longer and severer labour was bestowed." l

It was at his house in Windmill Street that Dr. Hunter
died with the memorable speech on his lips: " If I had strength
enough to hold a pen, I would write how easy and pleasant a
thing it is to die." 2 His brother was asked as to the truth of
this utterance when he merely remarked "that it was poor
thing when it came to that."

Hunter's anatomical theatre served the purpose for which
it was built after the distinguished physician's death in 1783:

THEATRE of ANATOMY, Great Windmill Street.

Mr. WILSON'S LECTURES upon ANATOMY, PHY-
SIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY, and SURGERY will begin on
Wednesday, October ist at Two o'Clock — Practical Anatomy
in the Forenoon as usual by Mr. Wilson and Mr. Thomas.3

James Wilson, F.R.S., had given several courses of lectures

1 Two Great Scotsmen, the Brothers William and John Hunter, by
Geo. R. Mather, M.D., F.F.P.S.G., 1893, p. 69.

2 See further Dr. S. F. Simmons's Life of Dr. Hunter.

3 Evening Mail, Sept. 10-12, 1800.

298

HISTORICAL AND ANECDOTAL.

in other parts of London before he established himself at the
Museum in Great Windmill Street, where Mr. Brodie was
associated with him as a lecturer on surgery. The latter
gentleman " whose success in his profession has neither been
greater than his merits deserve, or the anticipations entertained
by his friends, with a modesty which generally accompanies
distinguished talents, felt diffident in appearing as a lecturer
alone on the practical part of his profession. Mr. Wilson
therefore undertook to join him in this undertaking, and gave
up to him all the fees received for such lectures." l

When the school in Great Windmill Street, long after Dr.
William Hunter's death, came to an end, the buildings were
at one time used as a restaurant. They now form the back
part of the Lyric Theatre, and the stage-door is where the
bodies used to be taken into the house for dissection. Hunter
had thought of living in Whitehall, but gave up this plan in
favour of Windmill Street. The site that he desired for his
Central School was where the National Gallery now stands.

Another celebrated physician in this street in 1729 was Sir
John Shadwell, son of the poet laureate. He was physician to
Queen Anne, George I, and George II. Another eminent
inhabitant, says Cunningham, was Colonel Charles Godfrey,
in 1683, who married Arabella Churchill, sister of the Great
Duke of Marlborough, mistress of James II and mother of the
Duke of Berwick. Among the persons rated to the poor of
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, for houses in St. James's Square,
was Madam Churchill, as she was then styled.

[To be continued.]

1 Pettigrew's Medical Portrait Gallery, vol. ii.

299

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from p. 158.]

WHITFIELD.

(Now in Sandwich Deanery.)

WOOTTON.

(Anciently in Elham Deanery.)

[1557? — Cardinal Pole's Visitation?]

MR. LEONARD DIGGS presented for taking away
ten sheets of lead from the church, and for spoiling
the Roodloft and taking away stones from the but-
tresses of the church, and for taking a cross of lead and a
hand-bell.

Mr. Mantell for withholding a rent of 8 acres of land, that
should find a lamp before the Sacrament.

William Forde for withholding 5^. from the church.

John Millett for withholding 3^. from the church. — (Fol. 41.)

1561. It is presented that our parson doth serve Denton
also.

That one Roger Howre doth withhold certain lands given
to the maintenance of a lamp, and our church can have no
profit thereof.

That Andrew Harsfield doth keep a seam of barley of
church-stock, and we have had none account.

They lack the Paraphrase.

They have had no quarter sermons. — (Fol. 90; vol. 1561-2.)

1563. Andrew Harsfield of Barham owes unto the church
a seam of barley, and hath paid it this twenty years, and now
we cannot get it.

Roger Nower of Barham doth withhold $d. by the year,
given to the finding of a lamp. — (Vol. 1562-3.)

It is presented that Silvester Dennys hath three ewes in

300

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

his hands, which hath been due of long time and as yet not
paid.

Ambrose Harpesfield [sic] of Barham hath likewise in his
hands half a seam of barley, due to the church.

That there was certain money given out of the land, which
now one Roger Nower occupieth, towards the finding of a
lamp, being turned to no other use, but resteth in his hands.

That the Quarter-sermons are not made accordingly. —
(Vol. 1563-4.)

1569. — [Archbishop Parker's Visitation.]
Rectory : — in the patronage of the heirs of Leonard Diggs,
or the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Rector: — Dom. John Sempyer, who is married, resides
there; has one benefice, and hospitable as far as he is able;
not a preacher, nor licensed to preach, nor a graduate.1
Householders, 16
Communicants, 50

1 574. We present a cove 2 of the parsonage barn by weather
of late decayed, and we have moved the parson of it, who
hath promised to repair it again.

Our church lacketh reparation of the glass windows, the
which hath of late been broken down. — (Fol. 73 ; vol. 1 574-6.)

1578. That our church-yard is somewhat in decay. —
(Fol. 12; vol. 1577-83.)

1580. See under Badlesmere in vol. vii, p. 212.

1588. They say that their chancel and parsonage-house is
very much fallen in decay, for reformation whereof they
desire to have a day set down for the amending thereof. —
(Fol. 24; vol. 1585-1636.)

1 These returns for the whole Deanery of Dover give a summary :

Number of churches and chapels, 13

Priests married, 7

Preachers, none

Householders, 386

Communicants, 1246. — (Fol. 56.)

2 Cove means a shed, a lean-to, or low building with a shelving roof,
joined to the wall of another ; the shelter which is formed by the pro-
jection of the eaves of a house acting as a roof to an outbuilding. —
English Dialect Dictionary.

301

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1590. That the church-yard lieth wide open and unfenced,
so that cattle come and spoil it. — (Fol. 108.)

1597. We find that the last will and testament of James
Broker, gentleman, to want his due execution, for he hath
given certain legacies, amongst other places, to the church or
poor of the parish of Wootton, by his last will, as in the same
do more plainly appear. And the non-payment we think to
rest in Mr. Thomas Fineux, executor of the same James
Broker in his last will.1 — (Fol. 73; vol. 1585-92, Part ii.)

1599. Our lofts in the belfry lack " bearthing " [flooring],
for the which we crave a day. — (Fol. 172.)

Michael Barber, that will not pay his part of the cess made
by the consent of the parishioners for the repairing of their
church, 16^. — (Fol. 173; vol. 1583-1636.)

1605. We have not the Ten Commandments set up as yet,
nor have we the table of the degrees of marriages [forbidden]
set up. — (Fol. 57.)

1606. That the church-yard is unfenced, and by reason
thereof much annoyed by cattle. — (Fol. 93.)

1607. Our minister2 is not a licensed preacher, but some-
times expoundeth the scriptures. — (Fol. 123.)

1609. That Thomas Pilcher, late churchwarden, was in
the time of his churchwardenship there -absent from his parish
church five several Sundays together. — (Fol. 181.)

Whereas we have made by general consent three several
cesses and one half, towards the reparation of our church,
there is one Ingram Lushington of the parish of Wootton,
occupying about 32 acres of land, being in our parish, whom
we have cessed every time i6d., which amounteth in the
whole unto 45-. 8</., and we present him for detaining the
same sum, being often demanded. — (Fol. 184; vol. 1602-9.)

1 For the will of this James Brooker, buried at Denton, 7 Feb., 1594,
see Archaologia Cantiana, vol. vi, p. 290.

2 Thomas Pritchard, rector from 1590 until his death, 17 September,
1615, aged 68, when he was buried in the chancel. — Hasted, vol. iii,
p. 765.

302

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

1610. We say we hear Mr. John Coppin 1 found certain
Popish Books, hid in an old wall he pulled down.

1621. Part of the fence of the churchyard is decayed in
this last winter, and is not yet repaired, for that we are willing
to have the wall made up, when the frost shall be past for
this year, lest it fall down quickly again. — (Fol. 38; vol.
1619-32.)

1636. I, Henry Wullett, churchwarden of Wootton, do
present William Rolfe of the same parish, for refusing to pay
three several cesses made for the reparation of our parish
church ; in the first of which he is cessed at 6s. %d. for land,
after the rate of 2d. the acre ; and in each of the other two
at Ss. 4^., after the rate of id. the acre. — (Fol. 41 ; vol. 1585-
1636.)

(End of Dover Deanery.)

[To be continued.]

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex
Archaeological Society.

[Continued from p. 206.]

EAST HORNDON.

THE church of East Horndon is situated on the road
between Brentwood, Orsett, and Tilbury, about three
miles to the south of the town of Brentwood, and two
and a half miles to the east of East Horndon Station, on the
London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway.

Herongate, the village of the parish, stands on the south
brow of the Brentwood heights, one mile to the north-east of
the church, which stands alone on the top of a hill. For some
time past it has been used for services in the summer months

1 John Coppin of Bekesbourne (a branch of the Deal family) obtained
in 1606 the Manor of Wootton, and died in 1630, being buried in the
church. — Hasted.

303

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

only, a small mission church having been erected at Heron-
gate for use during the dark winter days.

Herongate is said to take its name from a gate, which at
one time crossed the road as a division between the manors
of Heron and Abbott. Heron manor belonged for centuries
to the Tyrell family; prior to this it was in the possession of
a family of the name of Heron; the old mansion was pulled
down in 1788.

The church is an ancient foundation, though the present
structure dates only from the early part of the i$th century;
it is built chiefly of red brick, in the Perpendicular style.
During a restoration some few years back, traces of the
foundations of an earlier church were discovered. No records
exist, so far as is known, of this building, and the earliest
Rector known dates from 1535. Although as a building it is
not of great architectural merit, yet from an historical point
of view it is of interest as having been connected with the
Tyrell family since its erection.

The church consists of a nave, with north and south
transepts, a chancel, with north and south chapels, a south
porch, and a massive stunted tower, containing four bells.

The inscriptions on the bells are as follows :

i and 2. "Thomas Bartlet made me 1621."

3. "John Clifton made me 1635."

4. "Tho. Gardiner, Sudbury, Fecit 1735."

There are three doorways, north, south, and west. The
south and west doors are square-headed ; the north door, now
closed, being pointed. The north and south doors are built of
stone, and the west of red brick. The north door appears to
be work of the I4th century, and may be a part of the earlier
building. On the inside of the west door are the remains of
a holy- water stoup.

At the south door is a red brick porch, with a niche over
the top, containing a modern image.

On first entering the nave we are struck by the peculiar
railed galleries built over the north and south transepts, and
attached to the outer walls ; these galleries at one time
formed small rooms, in which, it is believed, dwelt one of the
chantry priests connected with the church. The north gallery
stairs are lighted by a small quatrefoil window; these stairs
were also used to give access to the rood-loft ; the opening in
the wall is now filled in.

There is no chancel arch. On each side, between the nave

304

ffi

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

and chancel, are brick pillars, now cemented over ; a beam
runs across at the top, in the centre of which are three wooden
uprights supporting the centre of the chancel roof. This is
about three feet lower than the roof of the nave, barrel
shaped, and enriched with handsomely carved bosses.

The nave roof is also of timber, supported by king-posts,
the interstices being filled in.

The font, under the north gallery, consists of a large square
basin, supported by a circular pillar in the centre, and four
smaller pillars, with square capitals, at the corners. The basin
is decorated at the sides with ornamental crosses and arcading
alternately. It is Early Norman work, and presumably be-
longed to the first church erected here.

The south transept fills the space between the porch and
the south chapel, the roofs of the porch and transept being
practically one slope; the south walls are in a line, a brick
buttress forming the division. The chapel is built out a
further two feet; this has four buttresses for support, two on
the south side and the others at the angles.

The upper portion of this transept forms a gallery similar
to that on the north side; the entrance to this is now by a
staircase from the porch, the original doorway and stairs in
the transept having been filled in.

The lower portion is lighted by a large three-light square-
headed stone window; over this is a smaller two-light window
in the gallery. The windows in the north transept and gallery
are similar.

Over the upper window of the south transept is a sundial.

The south chapel is lighted by three windows of three
lights each, one on the east and two on the south side be-
tween the buttresses ; the window on the east side has an
obtuse, four-centred, pointed head, the other two being
square-headed.

There is a single-light window to the west of the porch, and
two smaller ones with plain brick mouldings over the west
door. The wall on the north side of the nave is blank.

On the three sides of the upper stage of the tower are
single-light windows, also with plain brick mouldings.

On each side of the chancel is a chapel. That on the north
side is now used as a vestry; it originally belonged to the
Marney family, and was decorated with their coat of arms.
That on the south is much larger and finer, and was the
private chapel of the Tyrells; it is divided from the chancel

xiv 305 x

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

by a beautiful arcade of two arches, supported in the centre
by a stone pillar, ornamented with four smaller round pillars
and an ornamental capital. An arch has lately been cut
through the west wall to connect the chapel with the
transept.

The east window is pointed; it has three lights at the
bottom, with four smaller ones at the top, with fine Perpen-
dicular tracery.

The old communion plate dates from about 1650.

The lower portion of the south transept is commonly called
the " Petre Chapel " or chantry. There is an altar tomb in a
recess in the south wall, with an ornamental canopy above; it
is commonly stated that the heart or head of Queen Anne
Boleyn was buried here. This is highly improbable, as will
be seen later on, as a Tyrell was connected with the beheading
of the Queen; but it is generally understood now by most
writers that the heart or head may have rested here for one
night on its journey to Rochford Hall, the home of the Boleyn
family, the final resting-place doubtless being in Rochford
Church.

Over the tomb are some brasses, affixed to a slab let into
the wall at the back of the tomb. This slab was for many
years quite bare, the brasses having been mislaid; they were
discovered during the restoration in 1899, and restored to
their original position.

The effigies consist of a headless man, wearing the usual
armour of the early part of the i6th century, a short skirt of
mail, etc. ; on the feet are broad-toed shoes. Beside him are
eight sons. Opposite the man are those of his two wives with
their daughters ; above, there was originally a representation
of the Holy Trinity, and a note at the foot. This brass and
tomb is thought to be that of Sir Thomas Tyrell, knight
banneret, the founder of the south or Tyrell chapel, who died in
1510; there is no trace of any other monument to his memory.

The chief interest of Horndon Church lies in its connection
with the Tyrells and the remains of the tombs and monuments
of this once great family.

Tradition states that a Tyrell was connected with the
execution of Queen Anne Boleyn in 1536, and that it was
under his direction that the heart or head of the unfortunate
queen was taken to Horndon Church.

Early in the I4th century Sir James Tyrell married
Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir William Heron; by this

306

c
o
E

The Font, East Horndon.
Photograph by C. W. Forbes.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

marriage the manor and property of Heron came into the
Tyrell family. From about this time Heron Hall became the
family seat, and they continued to reside there until the death
of the last survivor in 1766.

The earliest monument in the church of this family is
that of Dame Alice Tyrell, who died in 1422. She was the
first wife of Sir John Tyrell, and daughter and coheir of
Sir William Coggeshall of Little Sandford, Essex. It con-
sists of a remarkably fine incised slab fixed in the chancel
floor. She is represented as wearing a graceful loose robe of
the period, confined at the waist by a broad band ; her hands
are in an attitude of prayer with rings on the fingers ; she has
an ornamental necklace and cross about her neck, and upon
her head is a mitre-shaped head-dress, secured by bands
across the forehead. The figure is life-size, standing beneath
an ornamental canopy, with niches on the sides containing
her ten children, six sons and four daughters ; the name of
each is engraved on a scroll, except the last which is blank.

After her death, Sir John married again ; he and his second
wife are said to have been buried in the church of the Austin
Friars, London.

Sir John Tyrell's son and heir married Anne, daughter of
Sir William Marney, knt, of Layer Marney, Essex; it was
through this marriage into the Marney family that the north
chapel was erected.

In 1442, Henry VI made a grant conferring the advowson
of the church on him and his heirs; it remained vested in this
family for nearly four hundred years ; prior to this the living
had been in the hands of the Crown for some considerable
time.

Sir Thomas Tyrell is said to have made many handsome
gifts to the church, and just before his death began extensive
repairs. In his will he gave directions that all restoration work
was to be completed, and that "it be made sure that the
steeple fall not down." This is rather extraordinary, as the
church could not have been built many years, it having been
rebuilt probably at the cost and instigation of his father,
Sir John Tyrell.

Sir John died in 1476, and was buried according to his direc-
tions in the small canopied chantry on the north side of the
chancel. In the words of his will: " I bequeath my bodye to
be buried in the chancel of the church of Esthornedon, under
the place where the Sepulchre is wonte to stande, and I wille

307

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

that there be a tombe of tymber, or of stone for me and my
wif according honestly to our degree." Over the canopied
arch of this tomb (which stood in the north or Marney
Chapel) was fixed a shield with the arms of Tyrell impaling
Marney. In the course of time the tomb, with its brasses and
inscriptions, fell out of repair through neglect, and was cleared
away. The chapel is now floored over and used as a vestry.

At the last restoration, about five years ago, the remains of
the altar tomb were found and restored to its original place.
The shield with the coat of arms fell down some years back
and was broken into pieces.

One of the most interesting members of this family, so far as
this church is concerned, was Sir Thomas Tyrell, born in 1453.

In his will, date 1510, is the following:

First, I commende my soule to Almighty God and blessed
Sainte Mary, and to all the holy companie of Hevyn, my body
to be buried in the south side of the quire of the parische
church of Easthorndon, and there by the discrecion of my
Executours to be made a chapell with a convenient tombe
over my sayde bodye, to the charge and value of C marks, to
be taken of my goodes for bildynge and makyne of the same.
Also I will have a priest to synge for my soule, my friendes'
soules and all Christian soules, every Sunday and holiday in
the sayde Chapell or church where my said bodye shall reste,
duringe the terme of xxx yeres next comynge.

Here we have without doubt the origin of the Tyrell Chapel,
which for nearly four hundred years, although forming an
important part of the church, was private property. There is,
however, no memorial left now of the founder, unless the
one near by, in the transept or Petre chantry, was his tomb. Sir
Thomas died in 1512, and for about 160 years there is a break
in the memorials of this family at Horndon.

In 1540 the widow of a later Sir John Tyrell married
Sir William Petre, Secretary of State under Henry VIII, and
here we have the first connecting link between the Petre and
Tyrell families.

Tracing the family monuments down the next one is to
another Sir John Tyrell who died in 1675 and is buried in the
south chapel, a slab with the arms of the family bears the
following inscription :

'EpavTov In se ipsum

Semel Decimatus Once decimated

Bis Incarceratus Twice imprisoned
308

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

Ter Sequestratus Thrice sequestered

Jacet quoties Spoliatus He holds his peace

Hie jacet inhumatus As oft as plundered

Johannes Tyrell Here lyeth buried

Eques Auratus John Tyrell, Knight

Obiit Die Martii Anno Domini 1675
^Etatis 82

The above Tyrell was a Royalist and appears to have lost
his estates and been imprisoned during the Cromwellian
period; he, however, had them returned to him by Charles II.

There is a later monument to Sir Charles Tyrell, Baronet,
and Dame Martha his wife, dated 1714.

The fifth and last Baronet, Sir John Tyrell, died in 1766,
and is buried in the vaults under the chapel. There is a mural
monument to him and his wife on the south wall. Elizabeth,
one of their daughters, who died unmarried in 1787, was the
last to be buried in the family vault. With the death of this
Sir John the title became extinct and the property finally
devolved on the surviving daughter, the Countess of Arran.
Her husband had the old Hall pulled down, and the materials
were sold in 1837; nothing is left except the moat which
surrounded it.

The Tyrell Chapel, with its ancient tombs and armour,
now belongs to the parish.

[To be continued.]

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN IN
ST. JAMES'S PARK.

BY HENRY SYMONDS, F.S.A.

THOSE who might wish to study the history of this
park during the reign of James I, in connection with
the King's taste for wild animals, birds, and foreign
trees, would not seek for information among the sections of
the Exchequer Accounts which deal with the Mint in the
Tower of London, and therefore it may be desirable to re-
produce in a more accessible form some of the details which
are scattered through these documents for a period of about
seven years.

309

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

It would appear that the reason for these extraneous
matters being included in the Mint Accounts was the fact
that Sir Thomas (afterwards Lord) Knyvett, the Warden of
the King's exchange and moneys in the Tower, happened to
be also the Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and of the
garden and orchard of St. James's; accordingly he takes
credit in his accounts as Warden for the sums spent by him
upon the park and Spring Gardens. This method of account-
ing goes to show that the cost of feeding and housing the
live stock was defrayed out of the privy purse, and not out of
funds obtained from the taxpayers, for the profits arising
from the Mint were at that time a part of the private revenue
of the Sovereign.

St. James's Park is generally supposed to have been
enclosed by Henry VIII, and Charles II is said to have
beautified and replanted the domain, but it is, I think, clear
that the introduction of animals, birds, and fish must be
attributed to James I, and that whatever Charles II did in
this direction was only an extension, or, more probably, a
revival of the arrangements made by his grandfather.

Spring Gardens, which derived its name from the water
which rose to the surface there and supplied the fountains,
seems to have been then regarded as a portion of the park,
both terms being used to describe the same locality.

John Evelyn speaks of the " extraordinary wild fowle " and
" deere of severall countries " which were kept in the park in
1664-5, while Pepys comments in 1661 on the "great variety
of fowle which I never saw before." As the diarists of the
Restoration period took note of the collection of animals and
birds as a surprising novelty, it is not improbable that King
James's menagerie had fallen upon evil days during the in-
tervening half century, while Charles I had been occupied
with more serious affairs. The documents do not tell us the
purchase price of the various specimens, nor whence they
were obtained, but only the cost of " meate," supervision, and
repairs.

The first reference to the subject is contained in an account
for the period ending May 31, 1605, when Sir Thomas
Knyvett claims to be allowed for

Sondrye persons, as well used in makinge of certen houses
and defences for orrenge trees and other foren fruites for the
beawtifyinge of St. James Parke, 8y/. 7*. ii^d., as also em-
310

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

ployed for the kepinge of the game of duckes in the said
Parke, 7/. uj. id.

(as ordered by warrant of Privy Seal, April 16, 3 James I.)

This suggests the probability that James had a decoy for
wild duck and other water-fowl in his park, and that Charles 1 1
was not, as has been supposed, the originator of the scheme.
It is not unlikely that the place name " Birdcage walk " could
be traced to a Jacobean aviary. The mention of orange trees,
too, fixes an earlier date for their introduction to this country
than was hitherto obtainable, although there is a tradition
that such trees were planted by Raleigh at Beddington in
Surrey about 1595. Evelyn is quoted by Walford in Old and
New London as saying that he " first saw orange trees " in the
park in I664,1 so that they were evidently still uncommon
more than fifty years after the date of James's experiment.
The King had also planted a mulberry garden on land which
is now the site of Buckingham Palace, but the accounts do
not make any specific mention of this variety of fruit tree.

The next document covers two years to March 31, 1607,
and contains an entry similar to the extract last cited, but
with " rayne deare " as an additional charge upon the revenue.

During the currency of the account ending March, 1608,
" foxes " had apparently been added to the establishment, and
there is also an expenditure of £6 14^. on "pease for the
deare to bring them to the call." A pond in Upper Spring
Garden is laid with 345 feet of Purbeck paving stone, and
there is a further item for laying pipes of lead from the
conduit head in " Garlandes ground " to the pond in Spring
Garden.

In 1609 there is an outlay of £22 icxr. for " three dragg-
nettes to drawe pykes out of the pondes," which may seem
to be rather an unsportsmanlike method of keeping down
the pike, but apparently the court did not care for coarse
fishing.

In the following year a " bever " is mentioned for the first
time ; accommodation for this animal is provided by " making

1 Evelyn mentions an orangery at Sir John Shaw's new house at
Eltham in 1664, but H. B. Wheatley's edition of the Diary (1906) does not
give any account of orange trees in St. James's Park in that year. He
mentions those at Beddington in 1700, and states that some of them were
then in decay, being 120 years old. This would give 1580 as the year
of planting.

311

A JACOBEAN ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

a bryck wall rounde aboute a ponde." The amusements and
the training of the royal family are not neglected, as witness
the " makinge of a payre of buttes for the Prince in the Springe
Garden."

The account ending March, 1611, furnishes quite a long
catalogue of the occupants of the enclosures :

Sondrye persons for work and charges in the park at St.
James and the Sprynge Garden there, viz : for meate .for the
Indian beastes, cranes, puettes, hernes, guynea-hennes, duckes,
turtle doves, seagulles, pheasauntes, busterdes, shovelers, the
tame facone, red deare, beaver, barbarye shepe and others,
55/. 15^. &d. ; A nett of 20 yeardes longe and 7 dim. yeardes
broade, with lynes and tarringe, 4/. os. od.

The wages of the weeders of Spring Gardens are charged,
together with the cost of the fountains, ponds, and sluices.
Devon, in his Issues of the Exchequer ; states that 6d. a day was
paid to the man who tended the orange trees and other
foreign fruits, and ^d. a day for the management of the
reindeer and ducks. The same writer quotes an extract from
another source at a parallel date, referring to the keeper of
the cormorants, ospreys, and otters within the Vine Garden
at Westminster, to which the water of the Thames was
brought by a sluice. These ponds were filled with carp,
tench, barbel, roach, and dace, and the keeper was ordered to
travel to the furthest points of the realm to get young cor-
morants. After 1611 I do not find any entries concerning
the park; possibly the Warden of the Mint ceased to control
the pleasaunce at Westminster, or, maybe, the King's fancy
wandered in another direction.

By a coincidence, the accounts from which I have ex-
tracted the foregoing notes confirm an allusion to Knights-
bridge Hospital which recently appeared in this Magazine
[vol. 13, p. 316].

In the year ending March 31, 1607, William Gurney, Master
or Warden of the Hospital at Knightsbridge in Middlesex,
received £35 for the charges of bringing a spring of water to
the said house by a pipe of lead, for the relief and use of the
sick, lame, and impotent people therein. (See Declared
Accounts, Audit Office, 1595, 5/10, at P.R.O.)

312

NOTES AND QUERIES.

UNPUBLISHED MSS. RELATING TO THE HOME COUNTIES
IN THE COLLECTION OF P. C. RUSHEN.

1784, 7 July. — Assignment of mortgage by demise. Joseph Shirley of
Bromley, Kent, Gent., with the privity, etc., of Elizabeth Waylett, late of
Croydon, Surrey, and then of Chertsey, widow, relict of George Waylett, late of
Croydon, Yeoman, deceased, assigns to John Whiffen, of Blackness in the parish
of Keston, Kent, Yeoman, a demise, dated August I, 1770, made by the said
George and Elizabeth Waylett to Shirley for 500 years to secure £1000 and
interest, of a messuage or inn near the Bell Inn in Bromley, theretofore in the
occupation of Walter Bedford and late in the occupation of Francis Valentine,
deceased, but then divided into two cottages or tenements, then or late in the
occupation of Samuel Adams and John Wood, together with a piece of ground,
10 ft. in front and 51 ft. in depth, adjoining thereto, lately part of and belong-
ing to the Bell Inn and then made use of as a gateway or passage from the
highway into the inn yard ; And also a messuage or inn, known as The Bell,
in Bromley, theretofore in the occupation of John Beezom, afterwards of Mary
Roberts, widow, and Richard Bates, and then or late of the said Richard Bates,
with all stables, etc. ; on which mortgage ^300 only then remained due from the
said Elizabeth Waylett, who became entitled to the premises on the death of the
said George Waylett.

17&9> 4 November. — Assignment of the moiety of a mortgage by demise — by
Stephen Page Seager, of Maidstone, Kent, brewer, to John Elvy, junior, of
Maidstone, draper. Reciting a mortgage by demise for 1000 years, dated
January 12, 1779, by Thomas Andrewes to Elizabeth Russell of Cowley Street,
Westminster, spinster, of a messuage, etc. , and 4 orchards and certain lands, con-
taining together 90 acres, in East Mailing, formerly in the occupation of James
Andrewes, uncle, and since of Thomas Andrewes, father of Thomas Andrewes the
party, and Francis Hooper, and then or late in the several occupations of the said
Thomas Andrewes the party and another ; also a messuage in East Mailing, formerly
in the occupation of John Goodhugh, since then of Richard Baskett, and then of
John Drinker,and a messuage and 4 pieces of land, containing together n acres, in
East Mailing, formerly in the occupation of William Lemmey, since of George
Tanner and Thomas Andrewes the party, and then or late of him and another, and a
barn called Sweets Barn and 40 acres in East Mailing, formerly in the occupation
of William Tomlyn, afterwards of the said James Andrewes, afterwards of the
said Thomas Andrewes the father, and then late of Thomas Andrewes the party,
and i acre in East Mailing, formerly in the occupation of — Warren, and a piece
of meadow, called Lunsford Mead, of 2 acres, in East Mailing, formerly in the
occupation of William Tomlyn, afterwards of Thomas Golding, and then or late
of John Golding, to secure ^1000 and interest. And reciting a deed dated May 7,
1789, between Thomas Parratt of Barton Street, in the parish of St. John the
Evangelist, Westminster, gent., sole executor of Sarah Butler, late of Cowley
St., in the said parish, spinster, deceased, and the said Seager and Elizabeth his
wife, and the said Elvy and Jane his wife, which said deed recited the will of
Elizabeth Russell, dated December 17, 1787, of which Sarah Butler was residuary
legatee and sole executrix, and the death of Elizabeth Russell, January 29, 1788,
and proof of her will in P.C.C., and the title of Sarah Butler to the said mortgage
thereunder, and the will of Sarah Butler, dated October 28, 1788, by which she
bequeathed the said mortgage to the said Elizabeth Seager and Jane Elvy, as
tenants in common and appointed Thomas Parratt, sole executor thereof, and the

313

NOTES AND QUERIES.

death of Sarah Butler, March 3, 1789, and proof of her will in P.C.C., and wit-
nessed that Parratt assigned the mortgage to the said Stephen Page Seager and
John Elvy as tenants in common. It was witnessed by the present deed that
Seager assigned to John Elvy, junior, for £500, a moiety of the said mortgage
debt and the securities for the same, subject to Andrewes' equity of redemption.

ANCIENT MONUMENTS. — In The Times of May 31, I notice that
" Agrimensorial Marks" are mentioned among the interesting list of
Ancient Monuments, which the Middlesex County Council are for-
warding to the Office of Works, as worthy of preservation. This prob-
ably is the first occasion on which the attention of a Government
Department has been drawn to the vestiges of the comprehensive
land surveys carried out by the Romans during the first and second
centuries A.D., for the purpose of planting rural settlements in the
Imperial Province of Britain.

The Middlesex area, which once formed a part of the territority of
the important Londinium Civitas, still bears traces of the system of
local roadways, which were planned to conform to the alignment of
the parallel and cross parallel lines, with which the trained Agrimen-
sores marked out the country side.

For example; a line drawn from the ancient survey mound on
Hampstead Heath to the site of the former Tothill at Westminster,1
gives alignments of ancient rural ways between Harefield and Stepney,
as, E.N.E. to W.S.W. and N.N.W. to S.S.E. This is further shown
by the position of four known Surveyors' marks, viz. Wealdstone,
Sudbury Stone, Oswulf s Stone, and London Stone.

Again, the survey line from the botontinus or mound in Syon Park
to the Tothill (Totynton was an early form of the name of Tedding-
ton) which stood near the lodge to Bushy Park, gives the key to the
direction of the network of ancient roads which stretch across south-
western Middlesex into Bucks to the botontinus at Salt Hill, well
known to Etonians as Ad Montem. Here the lay is, E. by S. to W.
by N., and N. by E. to S. by W. Lastly the orientation of the old ways
above Tottenham and up the Lea valley, is nearly E. to W. and N.
to S. The straight courses of these Roman by-ways, and their
separate alignments within each of these three divisions of Middlesex,
become very apparent when shown upon a map devoid of other
details.

Hitherto but little attention has been paid to Agrimensorial
Mounds, stones and other marks, which are to be found in those
parts of the country where the Romans placed their settlements. But
in Essex, Kent, Hants, Middlesex, and in the districts outside
Lincoln, Silchester, and York, where investigation has been made, it
is further found that the cluster of cottages around the village church
is situated, in parish after parish, upon lines and cross lines running
in parallels nine furlongs apart. The Isle of Thanet furnishes a good

1 See The Builder, Dec. 22, 1911.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

example of this peculiar feature. As this distance is also the interval
between the lines which the Roman Surveyors ran out in Britain, an
interesting question arises as to a continuity of settlement upon the
same spot, from the period of the Roman occupation.

The time is surely past for antiquaries to rest content with any
finds, which the spade may unearth from time to time, and it is to
be hoped that possibly this new field for research, as above indicated,
may commend itself to the recently-established Society for the Pro-
motion of Roman Studies, or to persons interested in the science of
ancient land surveying.

Though agriculture was in a flourishing condition during the first
half of the fourth century, — which, as Professor Oman remarks,
" was probably the most prosperous epoch which the British provinces
ever knew," — yet little is known of the rural administrative system
under which such results were obtained. But, from the writings of
the Gromatici Veteres, much information is forthcoming about their
survey marks, many of which still remain in our midst; and these in
turn throw considerable light upon the former parcelling out of the
land, and the extent of Romano-British settlements.

The Royal Commission, which recently issued a valuable report
upon the Antiquities of Herts, seems to have overlooked these
humble rural boundary marks, which I trust will not be the case
when other Romanized districts come to be considered. Much has
been written about the remains of Roman towns, fortresses, walls,
temples, altars, and villas found in England, but this information
should now be supplemented, so as to embrace the country life of
the Romano-British Coloni, the extent of their rural settlements, and
means of inter-communication. — MONTAGU SHARPE, Westminster.

NOTES ON OLD CLAPHAM.— Situated on the north side of Clapham
Common between Macaulay Road and the Chase, a few interesting
old houses at present remain. No. n, one of two old tiled cottages,
has a piece of very old panelling.

No. 1 3 has a fine old iron gateway with the armorial bearings of a
former resident on the top of it. Nos. 14 to 23 formerly known
as Church Buildings, are attributed to Wren, and were erected
1713-20. No. 14 is known as "Lord Macaulay's School House."
Granville Sharp, one of the leading pioneers of the anti-slavery
movement formerly resided here, and a useful educational work was
carried on with negroes from Sierra Leone, many of them sons of
the Chiefs. He died in 1813, a tablet to his memory, by Chantrey, is
in the south transept of Westminster Abbey. Then followed a school,
conducted by William Greaves; among the scholars were Thomas
Babington Macaulay 1807-12 (afterwards Lord Macaulay), the second
Lord Teignmouth, Samuel Wilberforce and other children of the

315

NOTES AND QUERIES.

" Clapham Sect." The Macaulays lived in the High Street, the part
that is now called "The Pavement"; they left in 1820.

I have been told that Eliza Cook (the poetess) stayed some time
iji this house, about 1863 or 1864. The entrance hall has a fireplace,
and there is a pump on the top landing, which is rather unusual.

Nos. 22 and 23 were formerly one house, "Clarence House,"
where Tom Hood, the poet, was a scholar. No. 22 has a portico
entrance, with a crest thereon and there is a curious balcony at the
back of the house.

At the corner of the Chase is "The Hostel of God" formerly
known as " The Elms," it was the house of the celebrated architect,
Sir Charles Barry, who died here in 1860. His most famous work is
the Houses of Parliament, for which his design was chosen in 1835.

Samuel Pepys, who died in 1703, was a resident on the north side
of the Common.

Nos. 39, 41 and 43 are also said to be the work of Wren, and
there are a few other interesting old houses (including No. 61) about
here.

St. Paul's Church, Rectory Grove, contains a few fine old monu-
ments to the Atkins family; Sir Richard Atkins, 1689, Lord of the
Manor of Clapham, Lady Rebecca Atkins, and children.

South Side. The Post Office was formerly a chapel; the Mount
Pond, and the Nine Elm trees are figured in many of the old prints.

Spurgeon's Poplar Tree (railed round) is where Mr. Spurgeon once
preached, over fifty years ago; it is located near Cavendish Road.

Old Clapham by J. W. Grover and A Sect that moved the World, by
Telford, give much interesting history of Old Clapham. — F. WHITE.

LONDON'S HOUSES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST. — The London County
Council have recently placed memorial tablets on the following
houses.

No. 88, Paradise Street, Rotherhithe, S.E., where Huxley lived in
1841.

No. 12, Seymour Street, Portman Square, W., where Michael
William Balfe, the composer of The Bohemian Girl, and other operas
now forgotten, lived from 1861 to 1864.

No. 32, Craven Street, Strand, W.C., where Heinrich Heine, the
German poet and essayist, lodged in 1827.

Devonshire Lodge, No. 28, Finchley Road, N.W., where Tom
Hood, the poet, died in 1845.

GRAVESEND. — Our Kent readers will be pleased to learn that
Mr. Alex. J. Philip is shortly to publish the first volume of a History
of Gravesend, founded on the interesting series of articles that have
appeared in this magazine, but revised and considerably enlarged.
We wish Mr. Philip all success and adequate support. The volumes

316

NOTES AND QUERIES.

will be published by Messrs. Stanley Paul and Co., of 31, Essex St.,
W.C., at the subscription price of 125. 6d. net for each volume,
bound in sealskin. The first volume will cover the Pre-historic,
Roman, and Anglo-Saxon periods.

UNDERGROUND PASSAGES. — With reference to the footnote on page
136 to "Two Ancient Sussex Hostelries," there is a long and very
interesting underground passage at Oatlands, Weybridge, which was
under Oatlands Palace (now pulled down). I was in the passage some
years ago and believe it still exists. It is in a field adjoining the still
remaining walled garden of the Palace. Entrance is gained by lifting
a large wooden cover and descending a ladder about ten feet. You
are then in a square chamber with two bricked-up doors of Tudor
brickworth. At the side is the entrance to the brick passage which
extends some hundred yards to a large cistern. Beyond this I did
not go, but the passage extends some hundred yards more. The
whole of the roof is in the Tudor form of brick, and from the entrance
the passage runs the opposite way. There is a trickle of water
apparently to fill the cistern at one end and overflow at the other.
The passage is high and wide enough to allow a man to walk upright.

The old hollow walls of the garden still exist.

I believe the gardens and passage are in the occupation of a
market gardener (at least they were when I was there) who kindly
took me through. It is most interesting and well worth a visit.

I have my own theory on these remains, which I consider were
used for two purposes. But it should be seen, and soon, as I under-
stand the land is to be built on. — WALTER WITHALL, 18, Bedford
Row.

PARRY: DAY: PYKE. — In the note on Edmond Halley junior,
Surgeon, R.N., in The Home Countries Magazine^ vol. xiii, pages
240-241, mention was made of John Parry who, as of St. Mildred,
Bread Street, London, married Mary Freeman, of Greenwich, July 31,
1744. At the Vicar-General's office is an entry: "July 30, 1744,
Parry-Freeman," relating to the same couple, but the original "alle-
gation " has not been examined. Mr. R. J. Beevor, M.A., who has
furnished me so much interesting material has succeeded in making
a comparison of the original signatures of John Parry as a witness to
the will of James Pylse (1750-1751) and to receipts for pension
money paid to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sybilla Halley, the surgeon's
widow. The result indicates clearly that the signatories were identical.
In all those signatures the letter P has three curvilinear triangles at
the base of the stem. None of the letters show any marked dis-
similarity. Another comparison might be made of the signature of
this John Parry in his " allegation " for a (second) marriage-license,
at Rochester, Kent, in 1766. As to his first wife, Mary Freeman, I

317

NOTES AND QUERIES.

still seek to establish the existence or identity of her (supposed)
sister, who may or may not have been the Sarah Day, widow, who,
in 1 746, married William Pyke, son of William Pyke, a brother of
the testator, James Pyke, above mentioned. A recent examination
of the parish register at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, did not reveal any
new data on this point. Further search at or near Deptford might be
more successful. Any additional facts would be gratefully received
by EUGENE F. McPiKE, 135, Park Row^ Chicago.

HEADLEY, SURREY. — In the vestry of the restored church are two
mural monuments, whose time-worn inscriptions I deciphered with
some difficulty:

(1) Neare this place lye Interred the body of Margaret,
the daughter of WILLIAM & MARY WARREN of the City of
London, who was buried the (?6) day of . . ., 1674. And the
body of John, sonne of the said William & Mary, who was
buryed . . . December, 1675.

(2) Vnder neath Lyeth ye body of Mrs Elizabeth Leate,
daughter of Mr Nicholas Leat, Turkey Marchant, a worthy
and eminent citizen of London, and of Joanna, daughter of
Mr Richard Stapers, Alderman of y* city, who with many of
theire Children are interred in St. Martin Oteswich church in
London.

She deceased ye 5 of May, Anno Domini 1680, Being aged
80 years.

Though after my skin wormes destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God. Job, 19, 26.

Her nephew, Richard Wyld, Rector of the Parish, with
whom she lived ye last six yeares of her life, placed this as a
memorial of her.

Above this inscription are a coat of arms and crest — the tinctures
much discoloured — apparently silver, on a fess gules a lion couchant
gold, between three (fire-balls?) sable, flames gold. Crest — a fire-
beacon sable between two wings silver, issuing from a mural coronet
gold. Among the slightly differentiated arms ascribed by Burke to
Leete or Lete, the description most nearly corresponding to this is :
" Argent, a fess gules between two rolls of matches sable kindled
proper. Crest — on a ducal coronet an antique lamp or, fire proper."
— ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

SLIPSHOE LANE, REIGATE. — In Reigate, near to the junction of the
High Street at its western end with London Road, is the entrance
to a narrow thoroughfare, containir ~ some ancient half-timbered
houses with overhanging upper storeys, and boasting the curious
name of " SLIPSHOE LANE."

318

NOTES AND QUERIES.

A MS. Title Book of the manor of Reigate, preserved in the
Priory Estate Office in the old Town Hall, Reigate, yields what may
perhaps be an intermediate, if not the original, form of this name in
the item (p. 61) ". . . Hartswood Park, alias SLIPSHATH Field."

I have found no allusion to it in Manning and Bray, Aubrey, or
other topographies that I have skimmed ; and an explanation, orally
repeated to me, that this was the spot where pilgrims, digressing
from their way to Canterbury, removed their shoes before proceeding
to pay their devotions in the Chapel of the Holy Cross (the
proximity of whose site is still commemorated by the sign of the Red
Cross Hotel) has left the impression of being ben trovato rather
than vero.

I therefore venture to submit a suggestion or two of my own as to
the derivation of the name.

My first idea was that it might possibly be a corruption of
SLEVESHOLM, the name of a Priory on the Isle of Slevesholm in
Mel wood Marsh, co. Norfolk, that was granted by William, third
Earl of Warenne and Surrey, as a cell to the Priory of Castleacre,
Norfolk. The remoteness of the place might seem to disqualify at
once the notion; but it is conceivable that one of the Earls of that
line, as lords of Reigate and patrons of the Chapel of Holy Cross,
might have given to Slevesholm Priory the rents of some lands or
messuages in the lane, which is within or near the precincts of the
chapel.

More recently, however, I have gleaned the following bits of in-
formation which enable me to put a less far-fetched construction on
the word in question :

From The Catholic Dictionary. — Wayside chapels intended for
the use of travellers were often to be found on the way leading to
some pilgrimage shrine. The Slipper Chapel in Norfolk is a well
preserved example, formerly used by the pilgrims going to the shrine
of St. Mary of Walshingham.

From A Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Terms, by John Bumpus. —
SLYPE, or SLIP: the term for the slip of ground, or passage, which
led to the cemetery, lying usually between the transept and the
Chapter-House in the Monastic Cathedrals. At New College,
Oxford, the " Slype " was a slip of ground on the north side of the
hall and chapel, where were the stables and other offices. The
Slype at Winchester has a Latin motto to the effect that one way
led to the choir and the other to the Market. It was opened in
1632 to prevent the use of the cathedral as a thoroughfare.

From The Old Road, by William Hyde.— "We crossed the
Shillingbourne just above Shere, . . . and came to the wonderful
church of Scale, standing on its little mound close to which the
track ran. We noted this, and we plodded on to Shoelands. . . . The
name has been connected with Shooling, almsgiving. Scale was

319

NOTES AND QUERIES,

built at the expense of Waverly during the enthusiasm that followed
the first Pilgrimages, just after 1200. The names of the hamlets
have been thought to record the pilgrimage. How Seale (a name
found elsewhere just off the Old Road) may do so, I cannot tell."

The obvious inference is that the lane at Reigate was a slype con-
nected with the chapel or establishment of Holy Cross ; and it may
be that pilgrims and others were wont to give alms to the chapel or
to beggars, in passing through it; or that it was lined with alms-
houses.

The old name of London Road, by the way, would appear to
have been " London Lane " ; for in the Title Book above referred to
(p. 161) there is mention of "a messuage, . . . parcel of a tenement
called Castle Butts, at the south end of London Lane." Another
entry (p. 97) refers to "A certain messuage or croft, part of the Castle
Butts, in the Borough of Santon." — ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

REGENT'S PARK: CENTENARY [p. 159]. — Supplementing my
previous note under this head the following, as quoted by The
Times from its issue of April 20, 1812, may prove of interest:

Regent's Park. — This ornamental enclosure is proceeding
with rapidity. The plantations, considering the shortness of
the time since the work commenced, are in considerable
forwardness. The ground extends from Portland Place nearly
to the foot of Primrose Hill, and is of a proportionate
breadth, spreading westwards nearly to Lisson Green. The
grand approach is from Portland Place, which is now extend-
ing towards the south, on the site of the recently demolished
Foley House : but the new buildings here do not appear to
be constructing with any suitable regard to the elegant uni-
formity of Portland Place. At the north end of Portland Place
a circus is forming, surrounded by trees, across the centre of
which runs the new road. On the north of this circle, directly
opposite Portland Place, a good road, planted on each side, is
formed to enter the Park ; the whole of which is nearly fenced
in, and bordered with plantations; and a coach-drive made
round the whole extent. In the enclosed central part of the
Park, and exactly fronting the entrance road, a tolerably
spacious avenue is preparing, to be shaded by four rows of
forest trees. This passes over the highest ground in the
Park, commanding a view of Hampstead and Highgate, and
will certainly form a very pleasant promenade for the inhabit-
ants of Marybone and that vicinity. In the south-western
part of the park, a large circus is laid out, and partly planted,
around which a number of houses are intended to be erected.
To the north of this, on the more level ground, the new
barracks for the Life Guards are to be placed, which, we

320

REPLIES.

understand, are to be finished in a style of rather more
elegance than most buildings of that description in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis. Advantage will be taken
of the means the ground affords for increasing the picturesque
beauties of the spot, as well as for general convenience, by
the formation of two or three sheets of water in the level
situations. Besides the houses round the circus, many other
spots are to be let for the erection of detached villas, near
the edges of the park, and in other good situations : but
exclusive of the different roads for the amusement of those
who go in carriages, there will be a considerable portion of
the whole reserved for the recreation and pleasure of the
promenaders. The proposed intersection of the southern
part of the park by the projected public canal from Paddington
to Blackwall, would certainly add nothing to the attractions
of the place; but, it should seem, would be, in several
respects, inconvenient. When the roads are all completed, this
park will unquestionably be a very agreeable place of resid-
ence, but not a few will regret the loss of those open and
verdant fields which formed one of the most airy and pleasant
resorts of the pedestrians of the metropolis.

It is a curious, not to say unpleasant, fact that in the centennial
year of the making of this invaluable " lung" of north-west London
one reads in the press of much recent " uglification " of our Park at
the hands of the builder, with like threatened projects in the future.
Such attempts should surely meet with emphatic protest from a
public jealous in its guardianship of so noble a domain. — CECIL
CLARKE.

REPLIES.

WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, Surrey (p. 77).— I should like
to add somewhat to my previous note on Walton church
and font. Mr. Lawrence Weaver, F.S.A., in his great
work on English Lead Work, gives an illustration of this " mag-
nificent " example, classing it as Norman, but among those which
"belong to the end of the i2th, if not to the beginning of the
1 3th century, "and remarking that it is among the eleven the chief
feature of which is a large arcade, generally with prominent figures
under the arches. In the Walton font, as the author observes, the
figures are seated; but he would seem to have made a slip in stating
that there are twelve of these figures, that only three patterns are
used for them, that they have no nimbus, and that all hold books.
From my notes taken before reading any description (and after-
XIV 321 Y

REPLIES.

wards verified by the Rector) it appears that there are but nine
figures, or, more strictly, eight and a half; that four — not three —
slightly different patterns were used and repeated, the fifth and
ninth figures being identical in design with the first of the series, and
that all have a nimbus. Nos. 3 and 4 hold a book or scroll in the left
hand, No. 2 has none ; Nos. i, 2, and 3 have the right hand raised in
the attitude of benediction, while in No. 4 it grasps folds of the robe,
the arm being set " akimbo." The heads are of the familiar Norman
type, round and wide-browed, and are very salient.

The enrichments of the spandrels and of the top border are re-
markably delicate, and so far as can be judged from a photograph of
one of the six Gloucestershire fonts, seems of a more developed
stage in design than these ; its flowing foliated arabesques intro-
ducing ogee as well as circular curves, whereas the border-ornament
of the others appears to be but a multiplication of small, detached,
simple details. Of the six Gloucestershire fonts, Mr. Weaver remarks
that their general treatment is that of Anglo-Saxon times, but that
the leadworkers was a peculiarly conservative craft, and that it is
likely we have here a Norman plumber, using A.S. casting patterns.
I am not sure whether the Walton font is included under this sug-
gestion, but it is ascribed to the same period.

In the outside of the north chancel wall is a recess, that some
have miscalled an Easter Sepulchre, but which is really the tomb of
the founder. It used to bear the inscription — now flaked away from
the stone — but of which a copy was taken by the late Mr. Greenhill
many years ago : " JOHANNES DE WALTON, HUJUS ECCLESIAE FUN-
DATOR," and the date (presumably in Roman numerals) " 1286, A.D."
— ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

REVIEWS.

FLEET STREET IN SEVEN CENTURIES; being a History of the
Growth of London beyond the Walls into the Western
Liberty, and of Fleet Street in our Time ; by Walter George
Bell, author of The Thames from Chelsea to the Nore-} with a
Foreword by Sir William Purdie Treloar, Bt, Alderman of
Farringdon Without. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd. ; pp. xiv,
608; 151. net.

We have nothing but the highest praise for this volume. It is one of the most
important works on London Topography that has appeared for many years.
Mr. Bell has chosen a wonderfully fine subject, and he has dealt worthily with it.
The amount of research is prodigious — the copious references and foot-notes are
sufficient evidence of that — printed and MS. sources of information, parish
registers, wardmote books, etc., have been exhaustively searched and laid under

322

REVIEWS.

contribution. Indeed, with so vast a mass of material it would have been easy to
come to grief, as not a few painstaking authors do, by over-elaboration of detail.
Mr. Bell, however, combines in a manner as pleasing as it is rare, the charm of a
graphic and fluent writer, with the care and accuracy of an antiquary. The
result is a work of quite unusual merit, eminently readable and picturesque, and
yet a reference book in the highest sense of the term. The only defect is one that
we constantly have to grumble at, an inadequate index.

The Story of Fleet Street ! And what a story is unfolded ! Beginning with the
gradual acquisition of land by the various religious houses, including the
Templars (a special map showing the amount of church property is almost
startling), we pass on to the medieval suburb, the coming and growth of the
lawyers, the changes under Henry VIII, old printers and booksellers, Alsatia and
the Playhouses, the Plague and the Great Fire, old taverns and coffee-houses, the
banks, etc., and wind up with the newspapers and the clang of the modern print-
ing-press. The story is even more fascinating to us than that of the City itself ;
for while the early history of the City, after the abandonment of Britain by the
Romans, still remains obscure, we can trace the growth of Fleet Street from its
very beginnings to the present time. Mr. Bell has enriched his history with
a wealth of anecdote and illustrative fact ; he has also a pretty sense of humour,
as evidenced by his statement, after recording the fact that in early days a whet-
stone was the token of a liar, that to-day it is not possible to buy such an article
in Fleet Street ! The 46 maps and illustrations are well chosen ; many have been
specially drawn, while others are taken from old prints.

As it is the function of the critic to criticize, we venture to ask why the name of
the Marshals, Earls of Pembroke, is spelt Mareschel, which is neither English
nor French. The arms in the Temple Hall are, if we are not mistaken, those of
Readers, not Treasurers. The dropsical heroine mentioned on p. 61 was Letia la
Mede-Mackare (i.e., the maker of mead), not Lame de Machare. Ben Jonson
(born about 1573) could hardly have worked on the Lincoln's Inn Gate-house,
which bears the date of 1518. Nonsuch Palace was not at Greenwich (p. 204).
Simon Pass, the well-known early 17th-century engraver, appears as S. Pals on
p. 263. These are all the corrections we have noticed, and, considering the
extraordinary wide range of Mr. Bell's book, they are remarkably few.

INDEX TO THE CHARTERS AND ROLLS in the Department of Manu-
scripts, British Museum ; edited by Henry John Ellis, Assistant
in the Department of Manuscripts. Vol. II, Religious Houses
and other Corporations and Index Locorum for Acquisitions
from 1882 to 1900; pp. iv, 896.

The assistance that such a monumental index as this gives to those engaged in
topographical research cannot be overrated. All the references to individual
places, religious houses, and so on, are brought together, thus saving hours of
searching, and doing away with the possibility (a very real danger) of overlooking
some important document. A very useful feature is a separate list under counties.
The public owe warm thanks to the Trustees and to those officers engaged in com-
piling this index.

ANCIENT CHURCHES ROUND CROYDON, by Lindley Latham. Re-
printed from The Croydon Guardian', pp. 48; price 6d.

Mr. Latham deals with 17 churches in the neighbourhood of Croydon, with a
short description of the architecture, list of brasses and monuments, notes on the
bells, etc. A particularly useful feature is the number of inscriptions copied
verbatim. We hope that the author will be induced to continue so good a work,
until he eventually completes the whole county.

323

REVIEWS.

THE MANOR AND MANORIAL RECORDS, by Nathaniel J. Hone.

Methuen and Co., "The Antiquary's Books"; pp. xiv, 411;

'js. 6d. net. Second edition.

We are glad to see that Mr. Hone's picturesque and accurate work has arrived
at a second edition. No better introductory study could be found to a very diffi-
cult and complicated subject.

WHERE TO LIVE ROUND LONDON; Southern Side. The Homeland

Reference Books, is. net. New edition.

A new edition of this useful handbook has brought matters up to date, and also
contains some new features. The most important of these is a table, showing at a
glance the average rents, rates, charges for gas and electric light, etc., in each
district. A number of pretty illustrations are given.

324

GENERAL INDEX

Names of contributors are printed in italics

Ancient Monuments, 314.
Armitage, Fred., 139.
Ashdown, C. H., 99.
Austin, William, 38, 104.

B
Bacon, Francis, new glimpses of,

220.

Basildon church, Essex, 72.
Bill-head engraved by Hogarth, 55.
Bursteadi(Great) church, Essex, 202.
Burstead (Little) church, Essex,

205.

Camberwell, Cold Harbour at, 258.

Canohbury, see London.

Cato, T. Sutler, F.S.A., 12.

Clapham, Notes on old, 315.

Clarke, Cecil, 159, 320.

Clifford, H., 274.

Cold Harbours, 81, 258.

Day family, 317.
Ditton (Long), Surrey, i.
Dover, Castle, Chapel Royal in, 90.
„ St. Martin's Priory, 17.

East India Company, 25, 171.
Essex, South, early churches in,

67, 202, 303.
Essex Inns, 161.

Fairs and Markets, origin of, 38,

104.

Ferry, The Long, Gravesend, 56.
Forbes, C. W., 67, 202, 303.
Foster, William, 25, 171.
Freeman family, 159.

Gravesend, 56, 280, 316.
Gray's Inn, see London.
Greensted Church, Essex, 274.

H
Hatcham, Surrey, Cold Harbour

at, 258.

Headley, Surrey, 318.
Heath, T. C., 161.
Hogarth, Bill-head engraved by,

Home Counties, Smuggling in, 144,

211.

Home Counties, Unpublished MSS.

relating to, 76, 158,313-
Horndon (East) church, Essex, 303.
Hounslow and Hounslow Heath,

241.
Huck, Thomas William, 76.

K
Kent, East, Parish History, 72,

154, 300.
King's Evil, Touching for, 112.

Laindon church, Essex, 70.
Layers-Smith, C. Z., I.
Lega-Weekes, Ethel, 77,318, 321.
Littlehales, Henry, 228.
Loinaz, D., 241.
London :

Bibliography, 76.

Canonbury Tower, 78.

Cold Harbour, 81.

East India Co., First Home of,
25, 171.

Gray's Inn Gardens, 220.

Haymarket, 48, 122, 206, 290.

Historic Houses, 77, 316.

Netting Hill Hippodrome, 12.

Policeman, 252.

325

INDEX.

London — continued.

Regent's Park, Centenary, 159,
320.

St. James's Park, 309.

Water Pageants, 194.
Lupton, E. Basil, 78.
Luton, Beds., Markets and Fairs

at, 38, 104.

M
MacMichael, J. Holden, 48, 122,

206, 290.

Me Pike, Eugene F., 159, 317.
Markets and Fairs, Origin of, 38,

104.
Mullins, Claud W.,2$2.

Nicholls, Cornelius, 104.
Nonsuch House, Surrey, 228.
Notes and Queries, 76, 158, 313.
Netting Hill, see London.

Parry family, 317.
Philip, Alex. J., 56, 280.
Plaxtole, Kent, 183.
Policeman, The London, 252.
Pyke family, 317.

Regent's Park, see London,
Reigate, Slipshoe Lane, 318.
Replies, 78, 321.
Rettendon church, Essex, 67.
Reviews, 77, I59> 238, 322.
Roman boundary marks, 314.
Rushen,P.C., 76, 158, 313.
Rye, Sussex, 133.

St. Alban's Shrine, St. Albans, 99.

St. James's Park, see London.
Sandwich, Peter de, 72, 1 54, 300.
Sharpe, Montagu, 314.
Sibertswold church, Kent, 72.
Sieveking, I. Giber ne, 133.
Smuggling in the Home Counties,

144, 211.

Smyth, Sir Thomas, 25.
Surrey Tour in 1747, 233.
Sussex Hostelries, Two Ancient,

1.33-

Swingfield church, Kent, 154.
Symonds, Henry, F.S.A., 309.

Tavenor-Perry,J., 17, 90, 183.

Tearle, Christian, 220.

Thames, Water-pageants on the,

194.

Thomas, C. Edgar, 144, 211.
Touching for the King's Evil, 112.
Tyler, Francis Edwin, 194.

Underground Passages, 317.
Unthank, R. A. H., 81, 258.

Vertue, George, 233.

W
Walton-on-the-Hill church, Surrey,

77, 321.
White, F., 316.
Withall, Walter, 317.
Wolstenholme, Sir John, 139.
Wootton church, Kent, 300.

Zoological Gardens in St. James's
Park, 309.

326

CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

XIV

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Abridge, Essex, Maltsters' Arms Inn 161

Bacon, Francis, statue of - 224

Basildon Church, Essex - 72

Bill-head engraved by Hogarth - 55

Buckhurst Hill, Essex, Bald-Faced Stag Inn - 166

Burstead (Great), Church, Essex - - 202, 204

„ (Little), Church, Essex - - 206

Camberwell, Plan of Cold Harbour 25$.

Chigwell, Essex, King's Head Inn 161

Coopersale, Essex, Merry Fiddlers Inn - 161

Ditton (Long), Surrey, old church i

Dover Castle, Chapel Royal in - 90, 92, 94, 96, 98

„ St. Martin's Priory 16, 18, 20, 22, 24

Epping, Essex, Bell Inn 166

„ Thatched House Inn 161

Gravesend - - 56,280

Highbeech, Essex, Owl Inn 166

Horndon (East), Church, Essex - - 304, 306

Hounslow - 241, 244, 248

Laindon Church, Essex - 68

London, Cold Harbour - 8 1, 82, 84

„ Gray's Inn, map of 220

„ „ statue of Bacon - 224

Netting Hill, Hippodrome 12, 14, T:

„ „ plan of 13

Plaxtole, Kent - 184, 186, 188, 190, 192, 194

Rettendon Church, Essex 66

Rye, Sussex, Flushing Inn 138

„ Mermaid Inn - 134, 136

„ Old Hospital 138

St. Alban's Shrine, St. Albans - 100

Smyth, Sir Thomas 26

Touch- Pieces 112

Touching for the King's Evil - 11$

Woodford, Essex, George Inn 166

DA
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