Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 2
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter XXXVII: Bagnigge Wells.
Chapter XXXVII: Bagnigge Wells.
House was originally the summer residence of Nell Gwynne. Here, near the Fleet and amid fields, she entertained. Charles and his saturnine brother with concerts and merry breakfasts, in the careless Bohemian way in which the noble specimen of divine right delighted. The ground where the house stood was then called Bagnigge Vale. | |
Bagnigge House, became a place of entertainment for rusticating Londoners as early as . It stood on the site of the present Phoenix Brewery. The garden entrance was a little south-west of the Clerkenwell Police Court. The gate and an inscription remained in , on the left, going from Clerkenwell towards the , as late as . In the memory of man the garden still possessed fruit-trees; and at the north side stood a picturesque gable-ended house, the front luxuriously covered with vines. At the back | |
p.297 | stood a small brewery. The was an old, public-house in the , near Chad's Well, formerly much. frequented by the wagoners of the great north road. The Pinder of Wakefield was a jolly Yorkshireman, it will be, remembered, who once thrashed Robin Hood himself. |
About [extra_illustrations.2.297.1] became famous, from the discovery in the garden of mineral springs. Dr. Bevis, who wrote a pamphlet on , describes them as near and Spa Fields, and about a quarter of a mile from Turnpike, and the great new road from Paddington to , and near a footpath which led--from and to . The doctor also mentions that over of the chimney pieces was the garter of St. George, the Royal arms, and a bust of Cromwell says that a black woman named Woolaston lived near of the fountains, and sold the water, and that, therefore, it was called The spring was situated, says Mr. Pinks, in the garden of No. , . Close by there used to be a low public-house called a resort, about , of footpads and highwaymen. | |
In the poems on several occasions, by W. Woty, otherwise published in , there are some lines entitled wherein the following allusion is made to these springs:--
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In the for , we find the following:--
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The prologue to Colman's , published in , notices as a place of low: fashion :--
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In the opening lines of a satirical poem, attributed to Churchill, entitled published in , the kind of persons then resorting to the gardens are described:
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says Mr. Pinks,
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We have seen an old engraving of Gardens, bearing the following inscription:--
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We do not know whether the engraving appeared in a magazine or in a book giving an account of the gardens. The was, we think, the crossing the Fleet. The engraving represents on the left a round, railed pond, in the middle of which is the figure of a boy clasping a swan, from the mouth of which issue jets water. Round the garden are plain-looking wooden drinking bowers or boxes; and on the right are trees with tall stems and closely-cut formal foliage at the top; and also large figures representing a pastoral-looking man with a scythe, and a pastoral-looking woman with a hay-rake in hand and a bird's nest in the other. | |
In the old song of are the following lines:--
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Another engraving, published by the famous print-seller, Carrington Bowles, of , represents The scene is laid in the gardens, close by the boy and swan fountain; and | |
p.298 | a young lady, in an elaborate old-fashioned headdress, and a gaily-trimmed petticoat and long skirt, is plucking a rose from of the flower-beds, while another damsel of corresponding elegance looks on. |
A mezzotint, also published by Bowles, in , shows This plate, which is in size inches by , and represents several parties of anciently-dressed ladies and gentlemen, and a boy-waiter with a tray of cups and saucers, was hung up, framed and glazed, in the bar of Old House. | |
Another engraving, issued by the same publisher, shows of the lower projecting windows of Tavern, with the western side-entrance to the gardens, is represented. Over the gate, on a board, are the words Mr. Deputy Dumpling is a very short, fat man, wearing a wig, perspiring freely, and carrying a child. His wife, who is also short and fat, is walking behind him, with an open fan and his walking-stick. Beside them is a boy, dragging a perambulator of the period, in which is a girl with a doll. | |
In , a curious aquatinta print of , from a painting by Saunders, was published by J. R. Smith. It represents the interior of the long room, filled with a gay and numerous company, attired in the fashion of the period. Some are promenading, others are seated at tables partaking of tea. The room is lighted by brazen sconces of wax lights, hanging from the ceiling, and the organ is visible at the distant end. The artist has, after the manner of Hogarth, well depicted the humours of the motley company who are quizzing another, and being ogled in turn. The prominent feature of the sketch is a richlybedizened madam on the arm of a gallant, who is receiving a polite salute from an officer, by whom she is recognised, at which her companion seems to be somewhat chagrined. | |
In , boasted a central temple, a grotto stuck with sea-shells and broken glass, alcoves, &c. | |
Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.2.297.1] Bagnigge House |
