This spacious building supplies the place of a more ancient hall. which had been founded for the use of the company in , by sir Drew Barentine, lord mayor in . That edifice which Stow calls

a proper house, but not large,

The balustrade of the stair-case is elegantly carved, and the walls exhibit numerous reliefs of scrolls, flowers, and instruments of music. The court room is another richly wainscotted apartment, and the ceiling is loaded with embellishments, which give it a grand, though somewhat heavy effect. The chimney-piece is of statuary marble, and very sumptuous: the sides being adorned with male caryatides, and the whole enriched by scrolls, grapes, &c. Above it is a painting of St. Dunstan, the patron saint of the company, in conversation with the Holy Virgin, having in the back ground a representation of the saint burning the devil's nose, as described in the ancient legend, when assailed by the fiend with temptation. Here, also, are the following portraits: sir Martin Bowes,

Fontes Fodinae

On the west side of stood the parish church of St. Leonard, which was founded about the year , by William Kirkham, dean of , in the court-yard of the collegiate church, for the use of the inhabitants of the sanctuary. It derived its name from its dedication to a French saint, and its situation was added to distinguish it from another church, dedicated to the tame saint in .

It is a rectory, the patronage of which was anciently in the dean and canons of ; in whom it continued till that deanery was annexed to the abbey of ; the dean and chapter of which still possess it. The church not being rebuilt after the great fire in , the parish was annexed to that of , . A portion of the east wall of this church remains on the west-side of ; it will be destroyed when the new post-office is completed. On a building in the church-yard, before the ground was cleared, was a stone with the following inscription:--

BEFORE THE DREADFVLL FIRE ANNO DOM 1666 HERE STOOD THE PARISH CHVRCH OF ST. LENARD FOSTER LANE

Opposite the north end of Goldsmiths' hall, in , was a spacious house, with a large court-yard, handsomely paved with free-stone, formerly belonging to sir Thomas Bludworth, knt., lord mayor in , and since to Richard Levet, esq. son of sir Richard Levet, knt., lord mayor in the year ; in which house he kept his mayoralty. It was afterwards rebuilt, and converted into an office for the Union Insurance against losses by fire. It is now in the occupation of Messrs. Neville, warehousemen.

The church of St. Mary Staining, or Stone church, before the fire in , stood on the north side of . The reason why it received the additional epithet of Staining is very uncertain; some imagining it to be derived from the painter-stainers, who might probably live near it, while others suppose that it was originally called Stany, or Stony, from its being built with stone, to distinguish it from those in the city, built with wood, &c. This church not being rebuilt after the fire, the parish was united to that of St. Michael, ; but, in consideration of the small endowment of this parish, it was provided by the act which united them, that the patrons of St. Michael's should present twice in times.

The advowson of this rectory was anciently in the prioress and convent of Clerkenwell, in whom it continued till their suppression by Henry VIII. when it came to the crown, in whom it still remains.

On the piers of the burying ground, in , opposite the north end of , are the following inscriptions cut on separate stones:--

In , incorporated with the eastern wall of the buildings belonging to Leathersellers' hall are the remains of a strong wall built of flint and rough stones; and near to which is seen, above a low wooden porch, the gable of an old meeting-house, called Haberdashers'-hall chapel; the wall is built with red bricks; it has a large circular-headed window, and the parapet is broken in the style which preceded the improvements of sir Christopher Wren, and would almost lead to the belief that it was erected in the time of the commonwealth; the architect, however, in all probability, was a stedfast nonconformist, and probably rejected the architectural improvements brought about by the fire, as mere vanities.

Near the north end of , on the east side, stands an extensive building, originally erected by the company of Scriveners,

At the upper end of Fitche's court, near the last building, was, according to Maitland,

an old timber house, where formerly Titchborn, some time alderman and lord mayor, dwelt. This house strangely escaped burning in the dreadful fire of London, when all the houses round it were quite consumed.

In this street, on the east side, was formerly the residence of sergeant Fleetwood.

The parish of Olave is a rectory, the small church of which stood at the south-west corner of . Respecting its antiquity, Mr. Maitland says he could find no traces of it higher than . The patronage of this church has been all along in the dean and chapter of , but subject to the archdeacon.

This church (which was situated on the south side of , at the eastern corner of ) being consumed in the great fire of , was not rebuilt.

At the entrance to the burying ground is a stone, bearing the following inscription, beneath a skull and cross bones:

THIS WAS THE PARISH CHVRCH

OF ST. OLAVE,

SILVER STREET

,

DESTROY«D BY THE DREADFVLL

FIRE IN THE YEARE

1666

.

Bull and Mouth-street, a small part of which is in this ward, takes is name from an inn standing in it, and formerly known by the sign of Boulogne Mouth, or Harbour, of which the present appellation is a corruption. At the corner of this street, in , was the city mansion of the earls of Northumberland. In the year of his reign, king Henry VI. gave this house, with the tenements thereunto belonging, to his queen Jane, and it then acquired the appellation of her wardrobe. Anciently the kings of England lodged here. A writ of king Edward I. was dated hence:

[] Supposed to be the work of Roubilac; they were brought from Canons, the seat of the duke of Chandos, near Edgware.

[] So called from the harbour of that name to which Henry VIII. laid siege.