Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 3
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter I:Westminster--General Remarks.-Its Boundaries and History.Old Houses called Butcher Row
Chapter I:Westminster--General Remarks.-Its Boundaries and History.Old Houses called Butcher Row
| |
But before we start off upon our pilgrimage, that we may not stray hither and thither at random, it will be necessary to have before us, if not a map of, at all events some few general notes upon, the district over which we shall wander, together with a brief and general outline of its history as a city. | |
The origin of the name of is clear to the veriest child in such matters. The city | |
p.6 | must have taken its name from the noble Abbey Church of , the in the as doubtless it was called by the citizens of London in the days when London ended at the gate of or, at the farthest, at . Stow tells us that it obtained this name all the more easily as but the honest old annalist has forgotten to tell us where it stood precisely, though a modern writer places it on . For ourselves we can only say that we have not been able to verify the assertion. |
appears to have been only a town down to the reign of Henry VIII., who raised it by royal letters patent into an The Abbey Church being erected into a bishop's see in , it of course became a and when, years later, the bishopric was suppressed, the good people of did not resign the title, nor did the king reclaim it, so a city has it remained down to the present day. Its was raised into a Marquisate by William IV. in , in favour of the then head of the Grosvenor family, whose property, within the limits of its several parishes, fully | |
| justified the bestowal of such a dignity; and to the Marquisate was added a Dukedom in the person of the and present Marquis of , by Her Majesty, on the retirement of Mr. Gladstone from office in the early part of the year . It is also worthy of note that by an act of Pope Pius IX.-which, however, is not recognised as valid for legal purposes in England-Westminster was created a Roman Catholic Archbishopric, Cardinal Wiseman being appointed to fill it. On his death in , the mitre was bestowed by his Holiness on Dr. Manning as his successor. | |
As for the early history of the fair city of , we fear that, like that of Rome under the kings, it is a little mixed up with fable. It owed its beginning as a place of importance, no doubt, to its Abbey, or Minster, already mentioned. The historical church was erected here during the Heptarchy, by Sebert, King of the East Saxons, or (according to Camden) of the East and Middle Saxons. Sebert, who, under his uncle Ethelbert, had been Bretwald, or Lord Paramount of the Anglo- Saxons, and like his uncle, had been converted to the Christian faith by the preaching of Melitus, of the companions of St. Augustine, the Roman | |
p.7 p.8 [extra_illustrations.3.8.1] |
missionary, is by some writers said to have destroyed a pagan temple on Thorney Island, and to have erected on its site a church which he dedicated to St. Peter. As Ethelbert died in A.D. , and Sebert followed him to the grave soon after, we can fix the date of the foundation of the church with tolerable accuracy, as we read that both Sebert and his wife were buried in the Church of St. Peter in the Island of Thorney. Some writers have sought to carry the antiquity of the church to a much earlier date, and with that object in view have affirmed that St. Peter himself visited , and erected there a small chapel or oratory. Others, contenting themselves with a more moderate draft upon the faith of their readers, ascribe the sacred building on this spot to King Lucius, who reigned here in the century, and who is said by tradition to have built here a church out of the ruins of a heathen temple, which had been overthrown by an earthquake. The existence, however, of any church here previous to that built by Sebert, is, to say the least, most doubtful; and at the time when he erected his Minster, the site was so rude and uncultivated, that it was known to the Saxons as that is, the place of thorns. Thorney, it appears, was at that time an island, formed by an arm of the river, called and the brooks which flowed down from Hampstead and Kilburn; and there can be little doubt that it was on the higher and former ground, which rose up slightly in the centre of this marshy spot, that the church was built, which ultimately developed into the noble Abbey or Minster of the West. |
In the charter of Edgar, the Minster is alluded to as Sebert is also mentioned as the founder in the charter of Edward the Confessor; and these records, combined with the facts of his burial in the church, and the anniversary of his death being observed, seem to confirm his right to the honour of being considered its founder. | |
After the Conquest, continued to be the usual town residence of our Norman kings, and Abbey the usual place of their coronation. The same was the case under the Plantagenet sovereigns, under those of the houses of York and Lancaster, and under the Tudors and their successors, many of whom were not only crowned but buried within its walls. Their palace here adjoined the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. In the reign of Henry VIII. the splendid palace of , which had for ages past been an appendage to the see of York, was, on the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, granted as a royal residence to the king, and directed to be called for ever, because, as the Act of Parliament stated, In the same act its limits are defined to be
| |
In consequence, as the sun of royalty has shone here almost without interruption for upwards of centuries, it is not to be wondered at that the little town which rose on and around the Isle of Thorney should have grown into a population of upwards of , occupying houses (as calculated by the historian Malcolm) in . Rickman, indeed, estimates the population at even a higher figure, at the beginning of the eighteenth century; but as he gives no account of the data on which he bases his calculations, we can hardly accept them as sound. In , however, the census returns show that numbered souls; in these had increased to ; to in ; and in , to , forming families, and occupying houses. Its population, according to the census of , is no less than , and now probably may be reckoned at a quarter of a million ; but the number of houses has probably not increased in an equal ratio, on account of the erection of several residences on a larger scale than was known to the last generation. | |
Around this spot, so rich in sacred traditions, if not in actual memories, it was but natural that a town should gradually spring up. The Saxon monarchs, for the most part, loved the chase, and were devout adherents of the faith; for the reason, they were likely to prefer living outside of their city walls in a time of peace; and for the other reason, they would like to take up their abode under the shadow of the tower of a church where the rites of their religion were daily performed with something of solemn state. Most naturally, therefore, did , in the Saxon times, come to share with Winchester the honour of being | |
p.9 [extra_illustrations.3.9.1] [extra_illustrations.3.9.2] | the home of royalty. At all events, long before the reign of Edward the Confessor such was the case; and the statement is corroborated by the fact that the name of , between and , was so called from the Scottish king, who had that place assigned to him as a residence, when he came on a visit to the English court to do homage for his crown. Wherever the king and the court fixed their abode, the courts of law and the meetings of the nobles and chief earls and thanes for the purpose of legislation would be held, at the time when the sovereign took an actual part in such affairs, and did not discharge his functions by deputy. The result of this would of course be the steady growth of residences around for the reception of his courtiers, their families, and dependents. To supply the daily wants of these residents other and smaller tenements would be erected, and in due course a market would be held, and the formation of a town would follow as years rolled on. |
It is on record that Edward III., in , imposed certain duties on wool, leather, and other commodities carried either by land or by water to the staple of , in order to pay for the repairing of the highway along the Strand. The establishment of this staple, or market, it is added, raised the rents of the residents along the road so far, that the latter were ordered to pave the rest of the way at their own cost, while the surplus was to be applied to the erection of a bridge, or pier, near the palace and staple of . And, doubtless, it was by this conjunction of a monastery, a palace, and a market on the spot, that gradually became
| |
Such, then, in the main, we may readily believe, was the origin of the City of , the of which appear, at , to have been co-extensive with the parish of . These afterwards comprehended parishes more--St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, St. James's, St. Anne's, (Covent Garden), , the Precinct of the Savoy, , St. John the Evangelist, and (). These are divided into several wards, which are subject to a government partly ecclesiastical and partly civil. The former is exercised by the Dean and Chapter of , the latter by lay officers of their choosing. The boundaries of this parish in general, following in the main the line above indicated, are given as far back as A.D. , by Cardinal Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other arbitrators, on the occasion of a dispute arising between the Bishop of London and the Abbot and Monks of , as to whether the Abbey was subject or not to the Bishop's jurisdiction. The judgment itself may be seen in Wharton's The parish, at the time of which we speak, comprised several beyond the actual city limits, such as
and each with its chapel. | |
As to the exact limits and boundaries of the fair city of which we have so much to say presently in detail, we may state briefly that on the southern side they are fixed by the left bank of the Thames, from which they run up northwards, between and the Temple, past , and up , which bounds it on the east. The boundary line then passes off in a north-western direction, keeping along the south side of Lincoln'sinn Fields, till it reaches ; thence it follows to the north-west, as far as , , and , Soho, which brings us to the eastern end of proper. Thence the northern boundary of the city goes due west along , the , by the north side of Hyde Park-making, in place, a small so as to include burial-ground-and so to the northern end of the Serpentine. From this point the western boundaryline of the city follows the course of the Serpentine, and of the stream which trickles out of its southeastern extremity, by , , , and the , and so down to the Thames, just to the south of . | |
The antiquary and statistician may be interested in learning that the limits of the city enclose an area of about acres, exclusive of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Chapelry or Precinct of the Savoy, which would include about more. | |
Over this city we shall wander, exploring the Strand and its tributaries, as far as Lincoln's-inn Fields and on the north, and the new on the south; then we shall come to and , taking in our way; then we shall reconnoitre the Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament, and and Palace; then along the , , , and Tyburn, and so to Marylebone, where we shall turn back again eastwards, and, crossing , or , make our way as best we can, to the regions of Soho, and Bloomsbury, and . At the end of this our home tour, we purpose, if time and space allow us, to make other tours further abroad, and to take our readers with us on sundry | |
p.10 | excursions to Kensington, , , Putney, , and Fulham, also our walk, perhaps, extending to Hampstead and Highgate. |
If we are able to make good these professions, at all events we shall find no lack of matter, with which to light up the dull and somewhat musty records of antiquity. If we shall be found to have woke up the past into life, to have made its live once more, we shall have done our duty, and be quite contented. And now, having settled our line of march: and having pledged our faith in our character of cicerone, to clothe the dry bones of facts with all of becoming drapery, in the way of anecdote, tradition, and folk-lore, which we are able to collect, let us, without further preamble, return to our original starting-point, and take up our parable as we turn our faces towards the city of the west. | |
Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.3.8.1] Map [extra_illustrations.3.9.1] Guildhall, Westminster [extra_illustrations.3.9.2] Pickering Cup |
