Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places.Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 6
Walford, Edward
1872-78
Lambeth (continued).-Waterloo Road, &c.
Lambeth (continued).-Waterloo Road, &c.
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By an order of council, made in , the parish of was divided into districts-called respectively , or the old church district; Waterloo, or district; , or St. Mark's; Brixton, or ; and Norwood, or . Of the last-named districts we have already treated in the course of our perambulations. Of district we will now proceed to speak. | |
The formation of Waterloo Bridge--which was completed and opened on the -as may be expected, soon made a great alteration in the appearance of Southern London, especially in those parts lying between Blackfriars and Roads. Towards the close of the last century, water-works for were established in the , on part of Belvidere Wharf, and what was formerly a garden on the . A company-called the Company--was established for supplying the parish of and parts adjacent with water taken from the Thames. They commenced their operations with a small capital, but by careful management, and avoiding a large expenditure at the commencement, their enterprise was attended with success. | |
Previous to the formation of the above-mentioned company, the portion of the metropolis lying south of the river Thames was supplied with water by wheels erected at , near the Surrey shore, and also by separate works at St. Mary Overies. These establishments, both of considerable antiquity, were combined, under the name of the Water-works, in . In , a company, the Water-works Company, was established for supplying the Surrey side of London. They took their water at from the river Effra, and subsequently from the Thames, near . | |
All the above-mentioned companies, in the instance, supplied water just as it came to hand, without being over-particular as to its condition. Between the years and , however, the attention of the public was attracted to the quality of the water they were then receiving, and since it appeared that improvement was needed, the companies, urged by the pressure from without, took steps to improve it accordingly. The Lambeth | |
408 | Water-works Company, shortly after , formed elevated reservoirs at and Streatham, for the purpose of the service generally, and maintaining a constant supply of water in case of fire. Of late years, however, they have made a great improvement in the old condition of things; for, considering the state of the river in the tide-way objectionable as a source of supply (owing principally to the constant agitation now kept up by the steamboats plying between the bridges, and the increased quantity of sewage poured into the Thames in the London district), they obtained, in , an Act to enable them to abandon their former source near the , and to take water from the pure stream of the river at Ditton, |
miles above , and far beyond the reach of the tide. | |
About the same time that the water-works were established here, a large shot factory was built close by, together with a fine wet-dock for the loading and warehousing of goods. Near , and close to the site of Cuper's Gardens, of which we have already spoken, another shot manufactory was erected about the year by Messrs. Watts. The height of the tower of this manufactory is feet, and the shot falls upwards of feet. These shot towers are conspicuous objects on the southern side of the Thames near . | |
409 | |
The , or , is an ancient way, as it is depicted in views of London dated ; as are and the ; but no houses seem to have been in either of them, with the exception of a few in and about . From the , in the present day, an excellent opportunity is afforded of noticing the extent of the artificial elevation given to the road when the approaches to were made. Indeed, it hardly needs the occasional incursions of the river to remind the water-side inhabitants that this now dense and widely-spreading region was once a marsh, and even a flat swampy level, scarcely raised above the surface of the Thames. | |
of the institutions which attracts our attention as we pass down the is the Royal Infirmary for Children and Women, which has stood here for upwards of half a century. It was originally established at , in the City, in , but was removed to in . The Duke of Kent assisted in founding the infirmary, and the Queen has long been an annual subscriber; and the Prince of Wales, on whose estate as Duke of Cornwall the hospital | |
stands, has allowed the committee to purchase the freehold on advantageous terms. In the building was enlarged and considerably improved. The institution, which is supported by donations and subscriptions, at received children only, to whom it afforded relief for diseases of all kinds, from the time of birth till years of age, being open, in cases of emergency, to all applications for admission without any recommendation. There were in beds and cots in the hospital, and an asphalte playground on the roof for convalescent patients. During the preceding year in-patients (children) were received, and out-patients (women and children) visited. There were, during the same period, visits paid by the resident medical officer to sick children at home. In the Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne) formally re-opened the infirmary on the completion of the enlargement mentioned above, when of the wards-hitherto known as the from having been founded at the expense of Mr. Francis Hamilton, of the vice-presidents--was, at the request of that gentleman, re-named the There are now wards in all. The patients all pay | |
410 | something towards their treatment. The out-patients pay for each visit, and the parents of the in-patients give a week. In some cases these sums are provided by friends connected with the hospital. This hospital, we need scarcely add, is situated in the midst of of the poorest districts of London, and provides comfortable beds, good food, kind nursing, and medicine for sick children and women, who cannot get these things at home, and that, therefore, it is an institution deserving of the heartiest support. [extra_illustrations.6.410.1] |
Another invaluable institution in this neighbourhood--a sister hospital to the Magdalen--is the General Lying--in Hospital in . It was instituted in , mainly through the exertions of Dr. John Leake, an eminent writer on the diseases of women, and was incorporated in . The hospital was formerly in the , near Marsh Gate, from which, in , it was removed to its present situation, where a neat square building of white brick, ornamented with stone, with a handsome receding portico of the Ionic order, has been erected. The hospital was principally intended as an asylum
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Pennant enumerates the Lying--in Hospital, the Asylum, or House of Refuge, and the Magdalen, as admirable institutions within a short distance of each other, and together helping to relieve the sufferings of the weaker sex. | |
Lower down the , on the east side, and nearly facing the terminus of the South- Western Railway, stands [extra_illustrations.6.410.2] , which was built in --. The site of this church having been a swamp and horse-pond, an artificial foundation of piles had to be formed before any portion of the superstructure could be raised. The edifice, which is anything but ecclesiastical in character, is built of brick, with stone dressings; the plan of the basement comprehends not only the church, but a terrace in front of it--the former is a parallelogram, the latter forms a transept at the west end, the whole of the area being laid out in catacombs. was rendered necessary to fill up the space between the church and the road, which is considerably raised to meet the level of . The western front of the building is occupied with a Grecian portico of the Doric order, sustaining an entablature, cornice, and pediment, the frieze being ornamented with chaplets of myrtle. The steeple is situated above the centre of the front: it consists of a tower and spire, both of which are square in their plan; the storey above the clock-dial is of the Ionic order. The obelisk on the summit is crowned by a stone ball and cross. The interior of the church is not divided into nave and aisles, according to the usual plan; the piers between the windows are ornamented with pilasters, and the ceiling is horizontal and panelled. | |
The sides and west end of the church is occupied by a gallery, sustained on Doric columns. The organ was the gift of Mr. Lett, an inhabitant of the district, who was also the donor of the site of the church. In the centre aisle is a font of white marble, brought from Italy, and presented to the church by the Rev. Dr. Barrett, the incumbent. The east end is ornamented with a handsome stained-glass window, and the reredos is richly gilt and painted in arabesque. | |
contains memorable tomb, that of Elliston, the comedian, whose name is so intimately connected, as we have seen, with transpontine performances. Those who have read Charles Lamb's reminiscences of Elliston, in his and his address will not need to be reminded how great an actor he was, though in the main a comedian. He was well educated, and never forgot the knowledge of Latin that he acquired during his youth. writes Charles Lamb, He was born in Bloomsbury in , and was educated at School, being originally intended for the University. In his boyhood, however, he was brought into contact with the late Mr. Charles Mathews, and both being smitten with a love of the drama, made their effort on private boards, on the floor of a pastry-cook's shop in , Covent Garden, along with a daughter of Flaxman, the sculptor. Having played in public at Bath, York, and other towns in the provinces, Elliston made his appearance in London at the in . He was a most joyous and light-hearted man, excellent alike in tragedy and comedy, and unrivalled in farce; and he enjoyed a long lease of popular favour. We have already mentioned his connection with the Olympic | |
411 | and the Surrey Theatres. In his capacity as manager he would often favour the audience with a rich specimen of the grandiloquent style-a style immortalised by Charles Lamb in of his delightful Essays. He died in . |
The churchyard contains some fine plane-trees; and steps were, in , being taken to lay it out as a garden, and make it available for the purposes of recreation. | |
Nearly opposite is the London terminus of the South-Western Railway, together with the Waterloo Junction station of the South- Eastern Railway. The South-Western terminus in itself is spacious, but makes no pretence to architectural effect. [extra_illustrations.6.411.1] , . About miles were open- for traffic in , the line being extended in the following year to Basingstoke, and in to Southampton. The extension from to the was effected in , and although only a trifle over miles in length, cost . From to Elms the line is carried through what is-or, at all events, was at time- of the dirtiest parts of London, upon a series of brick arches, which were considered marvels of construction when they were built. From the , the approaches to the booking-offices are by inclined roads. Of the station itself little or nothing need be said, further than that it has been so much enlarged and altered at different times since its erection, that it now covers a very large space of ground. It is connected with the South-Eastern Railway by a bridge for trains and passengers. From this station trains run at frequent intervals to Richmond, , Windsor, &c.; also to Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Weymouth, Salisbury, Exeter, Plymouth, and other large towns in the south-west and west of England. writes Bradshaw, in his
A few minutes' ride on this railway will show the traveller as much as he will care to see of this crowded and rather squalid neighbourhood, and speedily carry him into the fields, out of the smoke of London. | |
The New Cut, which runs from the Waterloo to the , at a short distance southward of the railway terminus, is chiefly remarkable for the number of its brokers' shops, which line both sides of the way. The thoroughfare, on Sunday mornings, has somewhat the character of its rival near , formerly called ; and it has furnished plenty of materials to Henry Mayhew for his sketches of The following sketch of the New Cut on a Sunday morning is taken from a pamphlet, entitled published in . The writer, a Scotchman, after narrating what met his gaze in his rambles through , , and Dials, proceeds :
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The Sunday trading in the is continued westward through Lower Marsh towards the , so that the whole distance from the last-named road to presents what Dr. Johnson would have called
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The regular of the place may be divided into classes--the various dealers and vendors, mostly of with their regular customers, on the hand; and on the other the dealers in miscellaneous goods, and the hundreds of men and boys of the working, and what some people call the classes--irregular customers-among whom may be seen the real British as good a specimen of humanity after his kind as need wish to look upon, whose Sunday morning costume differs only from his week-day in having his boots unlaced. To such as these the New Cut is a Sunday morning rendezvous and promenade, and they amuse themselves by sauntering up and down the half-mile of roadway, pipe in mouth, and listening to the oratorical displays of the vendors of every imaginable kind of wares, useful and ornamental, on either side of the road. | |
A writer in the , in , gives us the following sketch of a Sunday morning in the New Cut:-- The writer then proceeds to describe the bird-dealers, and the sellers of groundsel and chickweed; the dogfanciers, with their true and under their arms; the purveyors of cheap pictures, ornaments, and toys, &c.; the piled heaps of dirty women's clothing, upper and under, which female auctioneers are selling by a process known as a
continues the writer,
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At the corner of the New Cut and stands the Victoria Palace Theatre, which we have described in the preceding chapter. of the few subscribers that came forward to back the scheme for building the Victoria (or, as it was at called, the Coburg) Theatre, was Serres, a marine painter, whose name became known to the world through a little piece of Court scandal. He made interest with Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, and the Princess Charlotte, in order to procure a licence for its establishment. observes a writer in a newspaper, in , The attempt of the Serres family to obtain recognition of the title of Duchess of Lancaster was brought before a court of law, and finally exposed in , as our readers will remember. | |
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On the west side of the , facing the Victoria Theatre, is St. Thomas's National and Infant Schools, where upwards of of the rising generation are educated. A special service for policemen has been held here, on stated days, for some time. This building was for some years used as a temporary church before the erection of St Thomas's Church, in the , nearly facing Cathedral. St. Thomas's Church was built from the design of Mr. S. S. Teulon, and, as originally designed, exhibited a modification of the fine Dominican church at Ghent; but the estimates having been cut down, it has now merely the appearance of a long and broad parallelogram, with side aisles of bays towards the east, for galleries, | |
in addition to the west gallery. The church is built of brick, and was consecrated in . | |
In the map of Ralph Aggas, published in the year of Elizabeth's reign, is open country, and a little dog running at full pace up and down its open space seems to be its only inhabitant, and Even in the engraved for Northouck's in , a single row of houses and or detached buildings appear down the centre of the Marsh, together with a few on the south side; otherwise, all the surrounding districts, as far as and to the north-west, and Broad Wall and to the east, are marked off as In | |
415 | this map, terminates at about the point where the now passes it, and it is continued westward as far as . Parsons, the actor, lived at a small cottage in the Road, which he called Frog Hall, in allusion to the near which it stood. |
In Queen Elizabeth's time this marsh does not seem to have been a desirable place to live in, for it is coupled by Ben Jonson with and as a residence of dissolute characters. In Hone's we read that but the badness of the air drove him to more spacious grounds at Brompton. | |
In , too, was the Lyceum of Erasmus King, the eccentric coachman, and of Cards, the rival of the eminent natural philosopher, Dr. Desaguliers. From the force of his master's example, though he had received only the poorest education, he came to read lectures and to exhibit experiments in physics publicly. | |
We learn from Allen's that in stood, until the beginning of | |
, when it was taken down, an ancient fragment of a building called Bonner's House, though much mutilated and altered from what it appeared a few years before. This is traditionally said to have been part of a residence of Bishop Bonner, which formerly extended a considerable way further in front. adds Allen, In this instance Strype was in error, and, as he subsequently acknowledged, had inadvertently written London instead of Rochester. says Mr. Tanswell, in his
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In Lower Marsh is the an inn which owes its sign to the temporary excitement which arose in , at the time of our proposed intervention in the question of the Spanish succession. | |
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At the corner of , with its principal entrance in the Lower Marsh, stands All Saints' Church, which was erected in -, from the designs of Mr. William Rogers, at a cost of about . It is in the Anglo-Norman style of architecture. The principal entrance opens into a long corridor from a recessed arch, decorated with zigzag and other mouldings, wrought in the basement storey of a well-proportioned campanile tower of storeys, surmounted by a slender spire. The interior consists of a nave and aisles, terminated by a recessed angular chancel, which is lit in a subdued manner by a semi-dome skylight filled with stained glass. Attached to the church, in , are All Saints' National and Infant Schools, which were opened for the reception of children in . | |
Crossing , we enter the narrow winding thoroughfare called . Here, on the left side, between the and , stands the Canterbury Hall, the music-hall established in the metropolis, which was opened by Mr. Charles Morton in the year . writes Mr. J. E. Ritchie, in the
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The a public-house still existing in was the foundation of the Canterbury Hall. Here, at the time when Mr. Morton took possession of it, was held a or harmonic meeting, in a room above the bar. Mr. Morton gradually expanded this style of conviviality into a musical entertainment, which, composed of together with sentimental and comic singing by some competent , soon became a great success. Mr. John Caulfield was the chairman of the concerts, and Mr. Ferdinand Jonghmans the musical director, and the talent was the best that could be procured; some of the salaries reaching a week. From time to time enlargements have been made in the building, and these successive enlargements have always been carried out without a suspension of the entertainments. The hall, as it now stands, will seat some persons in its pit, stalls, and balcony. | |
With respect to the appellation of the --a sign, by the way, originally given to the adjoining tavern in consequence of its contiguity to the archiepiscopal palace, close by-it was actually for conspicuous feature in the general attraction, arising out of Mr. Morton's penchant for and sound judgment of pictures, was a large collection of paintings--some of them by the best modern artists--in a Fine Arts' Gallery, running parallel to and communicating with the Music Hall. called this Fine Arts' Gallery Still, the Canterbury Hall, as we have stated above, was the parent of the present music-hall form of entertainment, and, when it occupied the ground alone, was frequented by large numbers from the West-end, | |
417 | The present structure, an entirely new building, has been constructed upon the most approved principles with regard to ventilation and acoustic properties; and it has a large and convenient entrance in the . |
Close by the Canterbury Hall, near the corner of , is the with its theatre and music-room, which Mr. J. Timbs speaks of as being formerly numbered among its residents no less a personage than Signor Grimaldi, the father of Grimaldi who made immortal. as he was generally called, in common with most of those persons who exhilarate the spirits of others, was of a melancholy, nervous temperament, a ghost-seeker, and a believer in all sorts of marvellous absurdities. He often wandered over the then dreary region of Fields with an old bibliopolist, detailing and discussing all the superstitious legends of Germany and Great . A very jolly party used then to assemble at a tavern in , and, to dispel Grimaldi's gloom, a friend took him thither. He soon left the room, saying, His bookselling friend lent him a book called which so excited his mind with a fear of being buried alive, that in his will he directed that his daughter should, previous to his interment, sever his head from his body. The operation was actually performed in the presence of the daughter, though not by her hand. As a proof of the morbidity of the signor's mind upon the subject of interment, he was wont to wander to different churchyards, as Charles Bannister said, to pick out a dry spot to lie snug in. He originally invented the celebrated skeleton scene, since so common in pantomimes; and represented the in which, when any entered, he was supposed to be struck at once and for ever into the position in which he stood when his unhallowed foot profaned the mysterious locality. So prone are many minds to jest in public with the terrors which render their lives burdensome to them in private. | |
, which runs from to the eastern wall of , keeps in remembrance Carlisle House, which stood here between the and centuries. It was originally the palace of the Bishops of Rochester, and was then called La Place; but afterwards becoming the property of the bishopric of Carlisle, it was called Carlisle House. Down to the year , the site of the mansion was occupied by Carlisle House Boarding School. Early in the century, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to found a college or monastery for secular canons on this spot; but this attempt appears to have been unsuccessful: only a chapel, which was dedicated to St. Stephen and St. Thomas, having been erected. Baldwin's successor, Hubert Walter, entered into a treaty with the Prior of Rochester (the then owner of the land) for the whole manor of , which was exchanged to him, he granting to the bishops of that see, out of it, a piece of ground next to the above-mentioned chapel, in order to erect an occasional residence as their town-house. On this ground Gilbert de Glanville, Bishop of Rochester, erected a house for himself and his successors, who occasionally resided there till the century. Haymo de Hethe, who was promoted to the see of Rochester in , rebuilt the house, which was subsequently called La Place, till the year , after which the bishops dated from their The last Bishop of Rochester who dwelt in this mansion was Dr. John Fisher. He was nearly poisoned by Richard Roose, his cook, who infused a deadly poison into some soup which he was making, and which, as a matter of fact, caused the deaths of members of the household, and of poor people who had gone to the house for charity. An appropriate punishment was devised for this murderous cook, for he was
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In Bishop Heath conveyed this house to the Crown, in exchange for a house in . Henry VIII. granted it to Robert Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle, and his successors, in exchange for certain premises in , on the site now occupied by . In it was sold by the Parliament to Matthew Hardyng; but on the Restoration it reverted to the see of Carlisle. writes Mr. Tanswell, in his
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In a garden at Carlisle House was standing, in the middle of the last century, a mulberry-tree, which bore an excellent crop during the summer of . Its shade was nearly yards in circumference, and between and pottles of fruit were gathered off it in summer, whilst the ground all under and around the tree looked as if soaked with blood, owing to people treading upon the fallen fruit. | |
Another mansion of note here, in former times, was Norfolk House, the residence of the old Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. It stood in , on the site now occupied by Messrs. and a range of buildings called . The mansion remained in the possession of the Dukes of Norfolk till the commencement of Elizabeth's reign. The old duke, whose life was saved the night before his intended execution by the death of Henry VIII., and his son, the Earl of Surrey, the courtly poet and lover of the fair Geraldine, both resided here; and the latter studied here, under John Leland, the antiquary. On the attainder of Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk of this family, the house was seized by the Crown, and granted by Edward VI. in fee to William Parr, Marquis of Northampton, by the title of
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In , near , the notorious Mrs. George Anne Bellamy, after a life of profligacy and splendour, spent her declining years in poverty. In her she tells us how that, having parted with all her jewellery and most of her clothes, and maddened with want, she walked out into Fields, and how, disappointed in this, she made her way to the steps of to throw herself into the Thames, when she was recalled to her senses by finding a poor woman with her child worse off than herself. Mrs. Bellamy took her final leave of the stage in , and died in poverty in . | |
Of the and tea-gardens in we have spoken in a previous chapter; but there was here, in times gone by, other object which we should not omit to mention: this was the old mill belonging to the Apothecaries' Company, for grinding and pounding their drugs, &c. The mill, which stood here long before the introduction of steam into the working of machinery, was a picturesque structure, built chiefly of wood, and with its had something of the appearance of an old-fashioned flour-mill. We give an engraving of this mill on page . | |
In the , under the arches of the South-Western Railway, is the London terminus of the Great Woking Cemetery, belonging to the London Necropolis Company. The company was established by Act of Parliament, by which the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, the Bishop of London, the Bishop ot Winchester, and the Chief Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests, are appointed visitors. then, as the Company announce in their advertisement, we have, A train starts at the West. minster to the cemetery at Woking daily,
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419 | We have already made mention of the chief offices of the London Necropolis Company in our account of , Strand.[extra_illustrations.6.419.1] |
At a house called the on the Surrey side of , was born, in , Dr. Martin Van Butchell, the eccentric physician, whom we have mentioned in our account of . Another eccentric resident in the , in former times, was the Chevalier D'Eon, concerning whom there was so much doubt raised as to whether he was a man or a woman. Angelo, in his tells us that he used to see the Chevalier D'Eon here.
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At the foot of , and extending along the bank of the river towards , is the new , of the foundation of which, close by , and its recent migration to the Surrey Gardens, we have already spoken. The institution was removed hither in -. The ground on which the hospital stands-between and acres in extent--was purchased from the Board of Works, at a cost of about . That part of the Thames known as Stangate Bank, where the hospital now stands, had long borne an ill reputeill- looking, ill-smelling, and of evil associations. Even the construction of the Houses of Parliament on the opposite shore-even the building of the handsomest bridge in Europe, that of Westminsterfailed to redeem the hideous aspect of its fore-shore, overladen as it was with dank tenements, rotten wharves, and dirty boat-houses. But the time came when it was decided to construct the Southern Thames , and the necessities of its formation compelled a large from the slimy fore-shores. Of the whole site of the present , nearly half of it, therefore, has been reclaimed from the mud of the river. The buildings have a frontage of about feet in length, and are about feet in depth. The hospital consists of no less than distinct buildings, or pavilions. in the centre are for patients; that at the north end, next to , is for the officers of the hospital, board-room, &c.; that at the south for a museum, lecture-room, and school of medicine. The style of the buildings may be called Palladian, with rich facings of coloured bricks and Portland stone. There was some difficulty in getting a good foundation for the buildings, as there always is at or its neighbourhood; and towards the river front a depth of feet had to be. excavated before the firm clay was reached. On this a solid basis of concrete was laid, and on this again, on massive brick piers, the structure was begun. The blocks are built at a distance of feet from each other. Though the blocks are each distinct buildings, they are all, in fact, coupled together by a double corridor, of which runs along the river front to the west, and along the eastern face, near the gardens of . This latter corridor is entirely glazed in, and has a solid roof, with a balcony, which can be used either as a promenade in fine weather for patients, or, what it is really built for, an easy means of access to the floors of the hospital, with all of which it communicates. The front corridor is a very handsome stone arcade, but open on its western side towards the Thames. This is used as a promenade for the patients who are recovering, and a most pleasant walk it is; for the front of the hospital, towards the river-and, indeed, the back as well--is laid out in gardens and planted with trees. | |
Each pavilion has tiers of wards above the ground floor, and in the pavilions the main wards occupy the whole building on the river side of the corridor. They are feet in width, feet in length, and feet in height, with flat ceilings throughout, and each have accommodation for beds, with a cubic capacity of feet for each patient. This capacity is largely due to the ample floor space, which affords abundant room for the attendance of students and for the requirements of clinical teaching. The beds are placed feet apart from centre to centre, and the windows are arranged alternately with the beds, at a level to enable the patients to look out of them. There are also large end lights communicating with sheltered balconies towards the river, in which patients may be placed on couches or chairs in fine weather. On the ground floor there are smaller wards, which are used chiefly for the reception of accidents, and which make up the total number of beds in each pavilion to about . At the corridor end of each large ward the entrance passage is carried between smaller rooms, a ward kitchen, a sisters'-room, a consultation-room, and a small ward. These small wards are for the reception of patients who have undergone severe operations, or who for any reason require unusual quietude or exceptional treatment. At the river end there is a lateral projection at each angle of the pavilion; and these projections contain on side a bath-room and lavatory, on the other | |
420 421 | side a scullery and offices, all cut off from the wards themselves by intercepting lobbies. Natural ventilation has been as much as possible depended on, with simple auxiliary arrangements for cold and boisterous nights. The warming is effected mostly by open fire-places, as the most healthy mode, with the addition of a warm-water system for use in very cold weather. It is, perhaps, almost needless to say that the whole structure is fire-proof. The floors of each storey are laid on iron girders covered with concrete, the actual upper floor of each ward being made of thin, broad planks of oak. The walls of each ward, too, are coated with Parian cement, which, while not so cold, is almost as hard and non-absorbent of noxious gases, and quite as smooth, as marble itself. |
of these great hospital blocks which we have described, each go feet high by about feet deep, are set apart for the reception of male patients. These are on the north side of the central hall; the on the southern side are for women only. On each side there is a large operating theatre for men and women, capable of containing students with ease whenever an important operation draws such a number together. | |
With these theatres the covered corridors communicate directly from the wards. There is a special wing, if we may so term it, set apart in of the northern blocks, and adjoining the matron's residence, which is used for the training of skilled nurses, whose services, as they become thoroughly proficient in their duties, are made available as matrons in hospitals all over the kingdom, through the agency of the Council of the Nightingale Fund. The who must be well-educated, intelligent young women, from to years of age, are trained here for year in the practice of hospital nursing, and are provided during that time with comfortable home, board, uniform clothing, and small salary. At the end of the year, if qualified, they may expect good situations as hospital nurses, with liberal wages, usually commencing at . | |
The low building at the end nearest is the medical school. The admission fees for medical students, for unlimited attendance at practice and lectures, is guineas; for dental students (for years), . Special entries may be made to any lectures or to hospital practice, and a modified scale of fees is arranged for students | |
422 | entering in or subsequent years. There are special classes for the M.B. and preliminary scientific examinations of the University of London, and private classes for matriculation and other examinations. Gentlemen can attend the above classes without becoming students to the hospital. Qualified practitioners are admitted to the hospital practice, lectures, and library, on payment of guineas for unlimited attendance. scholarships founded here perpetuate the names of Alderman Sir John Musgrove and Sir William Tite; there are also several college prizes, ranging from to , and also awards of silver and gold medals. house physicians and assistant house physicians, house surgeons and assistant house surgeons, and the resident accoucheur, are selected from students holding qualifications; an ophthalmic assistant, with a salary of , is appointed; clinical clerks and dressers to in and out patients are selected from gentlemen attending the hospital; registrars, at an honorarium of each, are chosen from or year's students. There are also numerous minor appointments of anatomical assistants, prosestors, obstetric clerks, &c., open to the students without charge. |
The entrance-hall, facing the new , is a large and spacious apartment. In it is a statue of the Queen, by whom the foundation-stone of the hospital was laid in , and the building opened in . The statue, which was executed by Mr. Noble, is sculptured out of a block of pure white Carrara marble, and weighs tons. The Queen is represented seated on a state chair, in her full robes of state, holding the sceptre in her right hand and the orb in the left hand. The left arm rests upon an arm of the chair, the right hand being brought forward and resting in the lap. The feet rest upon a footstool, and are, to some extent, hidden by drapery. The likeness of Her Majesty is admitted to be excellent. The pedestal upon which the statue stands is of Sicilian marble, beautifully moulded and carved, with panels in the centre on each side. The front portion of the pedestal has a circular projection, and within the panel immediately under the statue is the following inscription :--
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There is a chapel which affords sittings for more than persons; there are large and spacious surgeries and dispensers' offices, with ample house accommodation for chaplains, resident surgeons, dressers, &c. Altogether, the hospital can make up beds for patients; and contains, from to last, in all its wards, houses, out-offices, kitchens, sculleries, stores, and cellars, nearly distinct compartments. The mortuary-house and museum are close by the medical school, at the extreme southern end. The extreme northern end abuts close upon the Surrey side of ; in fact, there is an opening by a flight of steps which gives direct access from the abutment to the north end of the hospital buildings which rise above it. All the structures occupy together about acres, leaving and a half acres laid out as garden ground, in and thick plantations, for the use and recreation of the patients. The out-patients do not enter the hospital proper at --all, but come by the new Palace Road, at the east end of the buildings, and pass at once into the men's or women's waiting-rooms; and these again are sub-divided into medical and surgical departments. | |
Altogether, the plan of may be considered perfect; and though it cost in all at least half a million of money, it is a cheap outlay for the good it is certain to effect for ages to come. As an addition to the great public edifices of the metropolis, it certainly will not be surpassed in appearance by any of the splendid structures which of late years have done so much to enrich and improve London. | |
As stated above, the space between the grounds of and the river, extending from to Bridges, a distance of feet, is filled in by a good solid embankment, which was commenced in , and opened for pedestrians in the space of about years. The work, called the , which is continued beyond , as far as the site of the London , feet higher up the river, was carried out by the Metropolitan Board of Works, under the direction of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, their engineer-in-chief; and it forms part of the great design of embanking the Thames in its course through London, which we have described in a previous part of this work. Although open only for foot-passengers, the is precisely similar in its construction, as seen from the river, to the Victoria and Embankments on the Middlesex side of the river. Turning down the embankment stairs, at the foot of the northern end of , the pedestrian has before him the finest footway in London, but a footway only. When he has walked along this for rather more than a quarter of a mile, let him stop and look back. If it be a fairly clear day, clear enough for him to see across the river and as far | |
423 | as the bridge, he may admire of the finest architectural views in London: all the finer if a flood-tide and a fleet of barges and steamers fill the river with life. The scene at this point has been thus described by a writer in the
Having, in imagination, conducted the pedestrian to this spot, he proceeds :--
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Attempts at gardening have been made on the , in the vicinity of , but not with the success attending that carried out on the northern side of the river. Trees, too, have been planted; but in the course of a few years the whole of those from westwards had to be removed, the reason assigned being that the exhalations from the adjacent potteries had destroyed their vitality. | |
The Southern of the Thames is not, as we have shown in a previous chapter, a new scheme. In the by Fearnside and Harral, published in , it is stated that The primaly object in embanking the Thames, particularly on the southern side, was to prevent the recurrence of floods, in consequence of a great part of and lying much below the level of the river at hig-hwater mark; but this having been carried out no farther eastward than , has left matters much in the same condition as they were before, or possibly worse: for since the construction of the it is asserted that considerably more damage has been done in the lowlying districts than was the case before by the river overflowing its banks so much more frequently. A Select Committee of the in reported that of the southern side of the Thames was a matter, not of local but of metropolitan importance, and that, as such, it ought to be taken in hand by the Metropolitan Board of Works. This task, however, the Board declined, and consequently the local authorities became naturally embarrassed. Some private owners of property abutting upon the river have at times executed works for the purpose of preventing any expected overflow; but these have been only of a temporary character. In a memorial of the inhabitants of , presented to the Home Secretary since the above refusal on the part of the Board of Works, the memorialists held that, irrespective of any pecuniary question, It is to be hoped, in the interests of common humanity, that Parliament will enforce its decision on this head without delay. | |
Among the causes which have contributed to the growth of , we must mention the manufactories which have been founded here at various times, forming centres of active industry, and consequently of population. More than years ago, Dutchmen established a pottery, and about the middle of the last century other potteries were opened here. The chief work in this line now carried on in is at [extra_illustrations.6.424.1] , the producers of the celebrated , and whose name is worthy of record as the revivers, in the last few years, of the manufacture of Flemish and German stoneware, which promise to make the name of celebrated once more in the annals of art. They are also the revivers of the white cream-coloured ware, known as Queen's Ware, from the fact that Queen Charlotte admired it so much when manufactured by Wedgwood. observes a writer in the newspaper (),
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Established in the year by the Rev. William Gregory, then vicar of , , as a branch of the Central School of Design at Marlborough House, this was really the Art School of Design in the kingdom: as, indeed, it should be. The school went on steadily increasing until , when the [extra_illustrations.6.424.2] of the present building. Since that time, the exertions of its director, Mr. John Sparks, have been unremitting in educating painters and modellers for Messrs. Doulton's works. With sound psychological judgment, he selected his pupils from the fair sex, well knowing the natural artistic feeling of women and girls would lighten his arduous task of reviving an art-industry once before flourishing in the very same locality, but long forgotten. Besides, by excluding foreigners from his school, he wanted to prove that there is exquisite taste and endless inventive power latent in Englishmen and Englishwomen, which only want bringing out by proper teaching and training. he says, in of his lectures,
concludes Mr. Sparks; and that they need not be he has proved through his pupils' achievements in | |
Besides the potteries, the principal manufactures of this parish are white lead, shot, glass, &c.; but none have been so celebrated as the plate-glass. In the century the Venetians were the only people who had the secret of making looking-glasses.; but about the year a number of Venetian artists having arrived in England, headed by Rosetti, and under the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham, a manufactory was established at , and carried on with such success, by the firm of Dawson, Bowles, and Co., as to excel the Venetians or any other nation in blown plate-glass. Evelyn, in his records a visit which he paid to this establishment. Under date of , he writes:-- The emoluments acquired by the proprietors of the above-mentioned establishment are stated to have been very large; but in the year , in consequence of a difference between them and the workmen, a total stop was put to this great | |
425 | manufactory, and a descendant of Rosetti ungratefully left in poverty. The site of this celebrated factory is now covered by . |
Pennant records, in terms of high approval, Mr. Coade's manufacture of artificial stone, carried on in the street called , of which we have already made mention. He likewise describes as remarkable for another and altogether different branch of industry, namely, the manufacture of English wines, and also for the growth of the vines from which they were made. He writes: We have already spoken of the growth of vines and the manufacture of wine in London, in our account of , . From an entry in Pepys' in , this place seems at time to have been equally famous for its ale; at all events, we here read how that the genial Secretary of the Admiralty went
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Another thriving branch of industry connected with , in which employment is given to a large number of hands, is the doll manufactory of Messrs. Edwards, in . Then, again, various chemical, soap, and bone-crushing works have also been established; and Maudslay's engineering works in the , on the site of the old Apollo Gardens, have become a centre of industry. | |
Among the in , not already mentioned by us, were Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Macaulay, the parents of Lord Macaulay, who occupied a small house here for the year of their married life; their illustrious son, however, was born, not in , but in Leicestershire. | |
Here, too, at time lived, in , the eccentric artist, George Morland, whom we have already introduced to our readers at Paddington. He was most clever in his delineation of cottage interiors and low hostelries, with their accessories of donkeys, pigs, &c.; and it is recorded of him that at he had several -footed lodgers, including of the long-eared tribe. | |
John Timbs, in his says that the Stanleys at time had a house here, and that the the sign of an adjoining inn, is really taken from the crest of the family. | |
Guy Fawkes, too, it is said, had a house in , where he and his fellows in the stored their ammunition. If this really was ever the case, its site is forgotten. | |
It is to be feared that the accommodation for the poor in parts of this parish is, or was in , most disgracefully inadequate; for, if we may trust Dr. Stallard's work on a man, his wife, and children were found occupying a front room, only feet square, within a few yards of . | |
In a previous chapter we have enumerated the wards or districts into which the parish of is divided; we may here add that, in conformity with the provisions of the Reform Bill, passed in , was of the metropolitan parishes which was erected into a Parliamentary borough, since which period it has regularly returned members to . At that time the number of the inhabitants was . In the course of the next years this had expanded to ; and at the time of taking the census in the population numbered no less than . has returned, at all events, distinguished members to --the Right Hon. Charles Tennyson D'Eyncourt, and Sir Benjamin Hawes, the son of a great soapboiler, who was of its representatives, and retained his seat for the borough for years. Another of its members, Mr. William Roupell, who was elected in the year , subsequently acquired some celebrity-but not of a very enviable kind; for having been convicted of forgery, he was transferred to a convict prison. | |
In , under an Act of Parliament and an Order in Council, , as well as its neighbour , was made to form part of the diocese of Rochester. | |
From these dry prosaic matters to the realms of fancy the change is refreshing. We will, therefore, conclude this chapter by reminding the reader of the dream of Charles Lamb, in his essay on He dreams that, having been riding he found the waves gradually subsiding into what he calls and that the river was Thither we will now proceed. | |
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Footnotes: [] See ante, p. 383. [extra_illustrations.6.410.1] New Church [extra_illustrations.6.410.2] St. John's Church [] See Vol. III., p. 35; and ante, p. 370. [extra_illustrations.6.411.1] The South-Western Railway was originally called the London and Southampton Railway, and had its terminus for several years at Nine Elms [] See Vol. II., p. 164. [] See Vol. IV., p. 567. [] See Vol. III., p. 286. [extra_illustrations.6.419.1] Queen Victoria laying Corner Stone of New St. Thomas' Hospital [] See Vol. IV., p. 335. [] See ante, pp. 89 and 268. [] See Vol. III., p. 322, et sec. [] See Vol. IV., p. 5. [] See ante, p. 387. [extra_illustrations.6.424.1] the pottery of the Messrs. Doulton [extra_illustrations.6.424.2] Prince of Wales laid the foundation-stone [] See ante, p. 387. [] See Vol. IV., p. 253. [] See ante, p. 389. [] See Vol. V., p. 222. [] See ante, p. 383. |