Part 4

Westminster Hall.—Although now made, in a most ingenious manner, to form part of the sumptuous edifice just described, _Westminster Hall_ is really a distinct building. It was the old hall of the original palace of Westminster, built in the time of William Rufus, but partly re-constructed in 1398. The carved timber roof is regarded as one of the finest in England. The hall is 290 feet long, 68 wide, and 110 high. There are very few buildings in the world so large as this unsupported by pillars. The southern end, both within and without, has been admirably brought into harmony with the general architecture of the Palace of Parliament. Doors on the east side lead to the House of Commons; doors on the west lead to the _Courts of Chancery_, _Queen’s Bench_, _Common Pleas_, _Exchequer_, _Probate_, _and Divorce_, &c. No building in England is richer in associations with events relating to kings, queens, and princes, than Westminster Hall. _St. Stephen’s Crypt_, lately restored with great splendour, is entered from the south end of the Hall.

Somerset House, in the Strand, was built in 1549 by the Protector Somerset; and, on his attainder and execution, fell to the Crown. Old Somerset House was pulled down in 1775, and the present building erected in 1780, after the designs of Sir Wm. Chambers. The rear of the building faces the Thames, its river frontage being 600 feet long, and an excellent specimen of Palladian architecture. In Somerset House are several Government offices—among the rest, a branch of the Admiralty, the Inland Revenue, and the Registrar-General’s department. More than 900 clerks are employed in the various offices. The rooms in which Newspaper Stamps are produced by ingenious processes, and those in which the Registrar-General keeps his voluminous returns of births, marriages, and deaths, are full of interest; but they are not accessible for mere curiosity. The learned Societies are removed to Burlington House, Piccadilly.

[Picture: Somerset House, King’s College, Waterloo Bridge, &c. (St. Clement’s and St. Mary’s Churches in the distance.)]

Government Offices.—A few words will suffice for the other West-End Government offices. The _Admiralty_, in Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the Naval Department. The front of the building was constructed about 1726; and the screen, by the brothers Adam, about half-a-century later. Most of the heads of the Admiralty have official residences connected with the building. The _Horse Guards_, a little farther down Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the commander-in-chief. It was built about 1753, and has an arched entrance leading into St. James’s Park. [Picture: Whitehall, Horse Guards, Government Offices, &c. (Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament in the distance.)] The two cavalry sentries, belonging either to the Life Guards or to the Oxford Blues, always attract the notice of country visitors, to whom such showy horsemen are a rarity. The _Treasury_, the _Office of the __Chancellor of the Exchequer_, the _Home Office_, the _Privy-council Office_, and the _Board of Trade_, together occupy the handsome range of buildings at the corner of Whitehall and Downing Street. The interior of this building is in great part old; after many alterations and additions, the present front, in the Italian Palazzo style, was built by Sir Charles Barry in 1847. The _Foreign Office_, the _India Office_, and the _Colonial Office_, occupy the handsome new buildings southward of Downing Street. The _War Office_ in Pall Mall is a makeshift arrangement: it occupies the old quarters of the Ordnance Office, and some private houses converted to public use. After many discussions as to architectural designs, &c., the so-called “Battle of the Styles” ended in a compromise: the Gothic architect (Mr. G. G. Scott, R.A.) was employed; but an Italian design was adopted for the new Foreign and India Offices.

ST. PAUL’S; WESTMINSTER ABBEY; CHURCHES; CHAPELS; CEMETERIES.

St. Paul’s Cathedral.—This is the most prominent object in the metropolis. The lofty dome, seen for miles around, stands in the centre of an enclosed churchyard of limited dimensions, at the head of Ludgate Hill. A church is said to have existed here four hundred years before the Norman conquest; and, under various shapes and extensions, it remained till destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. An entirely new edifice was then erected in its stead, the important work being committed to Sir Christopher Wren. It was opened for divine service in 1697, and finished in 1710—one architect and one master-mason having been engaged on it for 35 years. {47a} The cathedral is built in the form of a cross, 514 feet in length by 286 in breadth. {47b} Outwardly, the walls, which have a dark sooty appearance, except where bleached by the weather, exhibit a double range of windows. There are three porticos at as many entrances on the north, west, and south. That on the west is the principal, with twelve lofty Corinthian pillars below, and a second order carrying the pediment above; the angles are crowned with handsome bell-towers, much larger than ordinary church steeples, and 222 feet high. [Picture: St. Paul’s Cathedral and Churchyard, from Ludgate Hill] But this entrance, which fronts Ludgate Hill, is not much used; the common entrance is by the north portico and flight of steps. On entering, the impression produced by the vastness of the internal space is great, although the walls want something in tone and relief. (Subscriptions are being gradually raised for richly adorning the interior.) There are two domes, an outer and an inner, having a brick cone between them. The inner dome has six paintings relating to events in the life of St. Paul: they were painted by Sir James Thornhill, and have recently been renovated. In the choir is much beautiful carving, by Grinling Gibbons. In various parts of the cathedral are statues and monuments of John Howard, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Bishop Heber, Nelson, Cornwallis, Abercrombie, Sir John Moore, Lord Heathfield, Howe, Rodney, Collingwood, St. Vincent, Picton, Ponsonby, and others. In the _Crypt_ beneath are the tombs of Wellington, Nelson, Wren, Collingwood, Picton, Reynolds, Lawrence, Opie, West, Fuseli, Turner, Rennie, and other eminent men. Service is performed on Sundays at 10.30 A.M. and 3.15 P.M.; on week-days at 8.0, 10.0, and 4.0. A screen, on which the organ stood, has lately been removed, throwing open the beautiful choir to view from the nave. The organ has been placed on the north side of the choir. Several times in the year service is performed under the dome on Sunday evenings by gaslight; and an additional organ for this service has been set up in the south transept. The appearance of the dome at these times, with a soft light shed around it, is extremely beautiful; and the congregation generally assembled is enormous. If the stranger pleases to pay the required fees, he may mount, by means of stairs and ladders, to the top of the dome; and he will be amply repaid by the extensive view from the balcony or gallery, which comprehends the whole of London, with the country beyond its outskirts, and the Thames rolling placidly in its winding course between dense masses of houses. The _Whispering Gallery_, at the bottom of the inner dome, renders audible the slightest whisper from side to side. The _Library_ contains chiefly ecclesiastical works for the use of the Chapter. The two _Golden Galleries_ are at the top of the inner and outer domes. The _Ball_ and _Cross_, reached by more than 600 steps, are at the summit of the building; the ball, about 6 feet in diameter, is reached with some difficulty. The _Clock-work_ and _Great Bell_ always attract the notice of visitors. The pendulum measures 14 feet in length, while the mass at its extremity is one hundredweight. The great bell, which is only tolled when a member of the royal family dies, is placed in the southern turret above the western portico; it weighs 4½ tons, and is 10 feet in diameter. The fine deep tones of this mighty bell, on which the hours are struck, sweep solemnly, in a quiet evening, across the metropolis, and are at times heard distinctly by families at their firesides far out in the suburbs. Altogether, St. Paul’s is a magnificent structure; and though it cost a million and a-half of money in the erection—a great sum in the seventeenth century—the amount was well spent on so worthy an object. St. Paul’s is open, during the greater part of the day, free to the public, but no place is exhibited during divine service.—Fee for admission to the whispering gallery and the two outer galleries, 6d.; the ball, 1s. 6d.; the clock, great bell, library, and geometrical staircase, 6d.; and the crypt, 6d.

[Picture: Tomb of Nelson—crypt]

Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south. In very early times this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island. Here a monastic institution was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain. Under Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined monastic building. The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the cross. Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a great degree of architectural grandeur. It had become the place for the inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was crowned here with great pomp in 1066. Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty alone should be interred within its walls. During the reign of Henry VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its abbey was constituted a cathedral. It was, however, afterwards re-united to the see of London, in 1550. (An archbishopric of Westminster, created by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic matters, and is not recognised by the English law.) Westminster Abbey, during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. These towers, however, though good in outline and general mass, are not in harmony with the rest of the building. The length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet. The exterior measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet.

[Picture: Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church]

On entering at the great western door between the towers, the magnificence of the abbey soon becomes apparent. The interior displays grand masses of marble columns separating the nave from the side aisles. A screen, surmounted by a noble organ, divides the nave from the choir; while beyond the eye soars, amid graceful columns, tracery, and decorated windows, to the summit of the eastern arch that overlooks the adjacent chapels. The walls on both sides display a great profusion of sepulchral monuments, among which are some finely executed pieces of sculpture, and touching memorials of those whose exploits or exertions have deserved the notice of posterity; but too many, unfortunately, are in very bad taste. Above the line of tombs are chambers and galleries, once occupied by ecclesiastics; solemn and dreary in their antiquity, though relieved by occasional sunbeams glancing across the misty height of the nave. The northern window is richly ornamented with stained glass.

[Picture: Westminster Abbey—Chapel of Henry VII.]

The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is at the eastern end of the choir, and contains the shrine of St. Edward: that it was an exquisite piece of workmanship, is evident even in its decay. Here also is the coronation-chair, under which is placed the celebrated stone brought from Scone, in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1297. The Chapel of Henry VII. is also at the eastern end; and among the ashes of many royal personages interred here are those of Mary and Elizabeth. The ascent to this splendid work of Gothic art is by steps of black marble. The entrance gates display workmanship of extraordinary richness in brass. The effect produced on entering this chapel is striking: the roof is wrought in stone into an astonishing variety of figures and devices; the stalls are of oak, having the deep tone of age, with Gothic canopies, all elaborately carved. Here, before the remodelling of the order, used to be installed the knights of the Order of the Bath. In their stalls are placed brass plates of their armorial insignia, and above are suspended their banners, swords, and helmets; beneath the stalls are seats for the esquires. The pavement is composed of black and white marble; beneath which is the royal vault. The magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his queen stands in the body of this chapel, in a curious chantry of cast brass, admirably executed, and interspersed with effigies, armorial bearings, and devices relating to the union of the red and white roses.

The number of statues and monuments in Westminster Abbey is very great. Most of them are contained in side-chapels, of which there are several: viz., St. Benedict’s, St. Edmund’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Paul’s, St. Erasmus’s, John the Baptist’s, and Bishop Islip’s; besides Henry VII.’s and Edward the Confessor’s Chapels, already mentioned. These Chapels contain about ninety monuments and shrines, some of great beauty. The Choir, the Transept, and the Nave, also contain a large amount of sculpture—many specimens in wretched taste, by the side of some of the first works of Flaxman, Chantrey, Roubiliac, Nollekins, Bacon, Westmacott, Gibson, Behnes, and others. _Poets’ Corner_, occupying about half of the south transept, is a famous place for the busts and monuments of eminent men—including Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben Jonson, Milton, Butler, Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay, Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Mason, Sheridan, Southey, Campbell, &c. Lord Macaulay and Lord Palmerston were recently buried in the Abbey—the one in January, 1860; the other in October, 1865. William Makepeace Thackeray does not lie there, but at Kensal Green, though his bust is placed next to the statue of Joseph Addison. On the 14th June, 1870, Charles Dickens was interred there. His grave is situated at the foot of the coffin of Handel, and at the head of the coffin of R. B. Sheridan, and between the coffins of Lord Macaulay and Cumberland the dramatist. Near to England’s great humorist, towards his feet, lie Dr. Johnson and Garrick, while near them lies Thomas Campbell. Shakespeare’s monument is not far from the foot of the grave. Goldsmith’s is on the left. A monumental brass, to the memory of Robert Stephenson, has recently been inlaid in the floor of the nave. The _Cloisters_ and the _Chapter House_ contain some curious old effigies.

Westminster Abbey is a collegiate church, with a dean and chapter, who possess a considerable authority over the adjoining district, and a revenue of about £30,000 per annum. The abbey may be considered as sub-divided into chapels; but in the present day divine service (at 7.45,10, and 3) is performed only in a large enclosed space near the eastern extremity of the building—except on Sunday evenings during a portion of the year, when service is performed in the nave, in a similar way to the Sunday evening services under the dome of St. Paul’s. This evening service, at 7 o’clock, is very striking in effect. There are usually a considerable number of strangers present at the services, particularly at that on Sunday evenings. The entrance chiefly used is that at Poets’ Corner, nearly opposite the royal entrance to the Houses of Parliament; but on Sunday evenings the great western entrance is used. There is admittance every week-day free to the chief parts of the building, and to other parts on payment of a fee of 6d.

Parish and District Churches.—When we consider that the metropolis contains nearly 1000 churches and chapels, it may well be conceived that only a few of them can be noticed here. In addition to St. Paul’s and the Abbey, the following are worth the notice of strangers. _St. Michael’s_, Cornhill, has lately been restored and re-decorated in an elaborate manner by Mr. Gilbert Scott. _St. Bartholomew’s_, Smithfield, which has been lately restored, was once the choir and transepts of a priory church; it is interesting, not only for some of its monuments, but for the varieties of Norman and Gothic styles which it exhibits. _St. Stephen’s_, Walbrook, close to the Mansion House, is especially worthy of attention; as the interior is considered to be one of Wren’s happiest conceptions. _Bow Church_, or the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, occupies a conspicuous position on the south side of Cheapside, and has a spire of great elegance, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The clock projects over the street from the lower part of the tower. Standing as this church does, in the centre of the city, those who are born within the sound of its bells are jocularly called _Cockneys_, a name equivalent to genuine citizens. [Picture: St. Stephen’s, Walbrook] The consecration of the Bishop of London takes place at Bow Church. _St. Bride’s_, Fleet Street, is adorned with one of the most beautiful of Sir Christopher Wren’s steeples. _The Temple Church_ is described in the section relating to the Temple and other Inns of Court. _St. Saviour’s_ is by far the most important parish church on the Surrey side of the water. It is near the foot of London Bridge, on the west side of High Street, Southwark. It originally belonged to the Priory of St. Mary Overy, but was made a parish church in 1540. The Choir and the Lady Chapel are parts of the original structure, and are excellent examples of the early English style; they have been restored in the present century. Many other parts of the building deserve notice. The _Savoy Church_, between the Strand and the Thames, near Waterloo Bridge, was once the Chapel of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist; it was destroyed by fire in 1864, and re-built in 1866. _St. Paul’s_, Covent Garden, built by Inigo Jones, is noticeable for its massive Doric portico. _St. James’s_, Piccadilly, one of the least sightly of brick churches outside, has an interior which exhibits Wren’s skill in a striking degree. _St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields_, at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, has always been admired for its elegant spire and portico, constructed by Gibbs. _St. George’s_, Hanover Square, is chiefly celebrated for the fashionable marriages that take place there; the exterior, is, however, picturesque. _Whitehall Chapel_ was originally intended as part of a royal residence. It is, in fact, the Banqueting House of the palace of Whitehall, the only remaining portion of what was once an extensive pile. The former brick structure is entirely gone. The present edifice, built by Inigo Jones in the time of James I., is considered to be one of the finest specimens of Italian architecture in England. Charles I. was executed on a scaffold erected in front of one of the windows. The interior of Whitehall is about 112 feet long, 56 wide, and 56 high, forming exactly a double cube; the ceiling is painted by Rubens, with mythological designs in honour of James I. The building, being appropriated to no other use, was converted into a chapel in the time of George I., and was modernized in the interior, about 30 years ago, by Sir Robert Smirke. _Old St. Pancras Church_, in Pancras Road, a small but venerable structure, has in recent years been altered and adapted as a District Church. Its churchyard was remarkable for the number of artists and other eminent persons interred in it; at one time it was the great metropolitan burial-place for Roman Catholics, and consequently an unusual number of foreigners of celebrity, French _emigrés_ during the Reign of Terror, &c., were buried there. Recently, however, the old graveyard has been sadly cut about by the pickaxes and shovels of railway excavators, engaged by the Midland Railway, which passes thereby.

It is worthy of note, that Sir Christopher Wren built the large number of _fifty-three_ churches in London after the Great Fire. Nearly all of them are still standing. Among the most noted are St. Paul’s; Bow Church; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; St. Bride’s; St. Andrew’s, Holborn; St. Sepulchre’s; St. Antholin’s, Watling Street; Christ Church, Newgate; St. Clement Danes; St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East; St. James’s, Piccadilly; St. Lawrence, Jewry; St. Magnus, London Bridge; St. Martin’s, Ludgate; and St. Mary, Aldermanbury.

Among churches and chapels of the Establishment, of more recent date, the following are worth looking at:—_New St. Pancras_, near the Euston Railway Station, is the most notable example in London of an imitative Greek temple; it was built by Messrs. Inwood, in 1822, and cost nearly £80,000. _St. Marylebone_, in the Marylebone Road, built by Mr. Hardwick in 1817, cost £60,000; the interior is heavy in appearance, having two tiers of galleries; in few London churches, however, is divine service, according to the established ritual, performed on a more impressive scale. _St. Stephen’s_, Westminster, in Rochester Row, was built wholly at the expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, and is a fine example of revived Gothic; the choral service on Sundays is grand and complete. _St. Paul’s_, at Knightsbridge, and _St. Barnabas_, at Pimlico, especially the latter, are noticeable for the mediæval revivals, in arrangements and in service, which belong to what is called the high-church party. _All Saints’ Church_, Margaret Street, is, perhaps, the most sumptuous of modern London churches. Although small, it cost £60,000. Mr. Butterfield was the architect. The exterior is of red and black brick, very mediæval in appearance. The interior is ornate, with polished granite piers, alabaster capitals, coloured marble decorations, stained-glass windows, and frescoes by Dyce. _St. James the Less_, in Garden Street, Westminster, is a truly remarkable specimen of coloured-brick architecture, both within and without; Mr. Street was the architect; and the cost was defrayed by the daughters of the late Dr. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester. A very noteworthy and costly brick church has been constructed in Baldwin’s Gardens, Gray’s Inn Lane, from the designs of Mr. Butterfield, and at the sole cost of Mr. J. G. Hubbard. It is dedicated to _St. Alban_. The Rev. A. Mackonochie, whose extreme ritualistic views have several times brought his name prominently before the public, was the incumbent.