The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and Parts Adjacent, vol. 3
Allen, Thomas
1827
Tallow Chandler's Hall.
It consists of a quadrangle, open on side, with a piazza of the Tuscan order, erected, as appears by a date on the front, in . In the centre is a small basin of water, with a fountain. The whole of the buildings are of red brick. The hall is a handsome apartment, feet long by feet wide, with a screen of carved oak at the north end, consisting of Corinthian columns supporting a plain entablature with a broken arched pediment. This screen supports a handsome music gallery. The hall is lined with wainscot to the height of feet. Above the master's chair, within a broken pediment, are the royal arms, and, over them, are the company's arms. The ceiling is ornamented in stucco with the city and company's arms, wreaths of foliage, &c. | |
The court room is on the floor, and is wainscotted in pannels to the ceiling. Above the mantel-piece are the arms of the city; over the door are those of the company; and, above the master's seat, the royal arms. The staircase is spacious, and lighted by an octagon lanthorn. The court parlour, which is on the same floor as the hall, is also wainscotted to the ceiling; above the mantel-piece is a landscape, and over it the royal arms, in carved oak, from which depend foliage, fruit, &c. Over a blank door in this apartment, within a broken pediment, is a shield of arms, also of oak, and beneath the following inscription :--
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The principal ornament of this room, is a full length portrait of a gentleman in the elegant costume of the yeomen of the guard; it is in a splendid frame, surmounted by a shield of arms, viz. a chevron, cheque and sa. between ounces heads erased az. collared and chained or. and a mount vert. Thereon a demi griffin erased couchant, az. winged | |
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Beneath is the following inscription :--
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This painting is by H. W. Pickersgill, esq. R. A. | |
From the ceiling depends an elegant chandelier, presented by the same gentleman. | |
At the upper end of Dowgale-hill once stood a castellated conduit for Thames water; between which and the river there was such a fall of water in , on the , that the channel rose so high by a sudden fall of rain, that a lad of eighteen years old falling into it, as lie endeavoured to leap over, was carried away by the flood and drowned. | |
Lower down there was a college called Jesus Commons, for the reception and maintenance of a certain number of poor priests. And on the east bide of this hill there once stood a royal messuage, the great old house called the Erber, near to the church of St. Mary Bothaw. It was alienated by king Henry VIII. who gave it to sir Philip Hoby, who sold it to Doulphin, a draper, and he ( Mariae) sold it to the company of drapers. Sir Richard Pallison, mayor, rebuilt this house, in which the celebrated circumnavigator sir Francis Drake, resided for some time. | |
In is Plumbers'-hall, a modern brick dwelling-house. The hall and court room are perfectly plain and devoid of ornament. In the window of the staircase are the arms of the city and company in stained glass, with the date of . from there is a passage into , well inhabited; on the east side of which stands | |