Part 11

CROWN _Office_, in Bell yard, Chancery lane. This is an office of great importance, under the Clerk of the crown, who is either by himself, or his deputy, continually to attend the Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, for special matters of state; he has therefore a place appointed for him in the house of Lords. He makes all writs for the election of members of parliament, upon a warrant directed to him on the death or removal of any member; and also commissions of oyer and terminer, jail delivery, commissions of peace, and many other commissions for distributing justice to the King’s subjects. This office is sometimes executed by a deputy. _Chamb. Pres. State._

CROWN OFFICE _row_, Inner Temple.

CROWN _street_. 1. Hoxton.* 2. Wapping.*

CROWN _yard_, 1. Bishopsgate street without.* 2. Nightingale lane.*

CROYDON, a large and populous town in Surry, situated on the edge of Bansted Downs, ten miles and a half from London. ’Tis said there was once a royal palace in this place, which was given with the manor to the Archbishops of Canterbury, who converted it into a palace for themselves; but it is now much decayed. Archbishop Whitgift founded an hospital here, which he endowed with farms for the support of a warden, and twenty-eight men and women, decayed house-keepers of Croydon and Lambeth, with a school for ten boys, and as many girls, with 20_l._ a year and a house for the master, who must be a clergyman. The church, which is esteemed the finest and largest in the county, has several stately monuments, particularly one for Archbishop Grindall, another for Archbishop Sheldon, and another for Mr. Francis Tyrrel, a grocer in London, who generously gave 200_l._ to build the market house. Here is a great corn market on Saturdays, chiefly for oats and oatmeal for the service of London; and the adjacent hills being well covered with wood, great quantities of charcoal are made and sent to this city.

CRUCIFIX _lane_, Barnaby street.

CRUTCHED FRIARS. This street took its name from a monastery of the Holy Cross at the south east corner of Hart street, near Tower hill. This monastery was founded about the year 1298, and continued till the suppression of the other religious houses. In the reign of Henry VIII. a Prior of this house being found in bed with a whore in the day time, by the Visitors appointed by the Lord Cromwell, he distributed thirty pounds among them, and promised them as much more; an account of which being sent by the Visitors to Cromwell, these scandalous crimes hastened the dissolution of monasteries. The ruins of this religious house are not now to be seen, and nothing of it remains but the name, which is given to the street, that is more commonly called Crutched Friars, than Hart street. In the place where the monastery stood, is now erected the Navy office, and many other handsome buildings.

CUCKOLD’S _court_, Thames street.║

CUCKOLD’S _point_, Rotherhith Wall.║

CUCKOLD’S POINT _stairs_, Rotherhith.║

CUCUMBER _alley_, 1. Queen street, Seven Dials. 2. Ship yard, Temple Bar.

CULLUM _street_, Fenchurch street; it takes its name from Sir Thomas Cullum, Knt. who built it. _Maitland._

CULVER _court_, Fenchurch street.

CUMBERLAND _court_, Bartholomew close.†

CUMBER’S _court_, Blackman street.†

CUMBER’S _paved court_, Blackman street.†

CUPER’S _bridge_, Narrow Wall, Lambeth.†

CUPER’S _bridge stairs_, Cuper’s bridge.†

CUPER’S GARDENS, near the south bank of the Thames, opposite to Somerset house, and in the parish of Lambeth, was for several years a place of public entertainment: the gardens were illuminated, and the company entertained by a band of music, and fire works; but this, with other places of the same kind, has been lately discontinued by an act that has reduced the number of these seats of luxury and dissipation. Here are several statues, &c. the remains of Greek and Roman antiquities, that have been much disfigured by time and bad usage, supposed to be part of the famous collection of the Earl of Arundel, but being broken and defaced, were not thought good enough to be presented to the university of Oxford, and put among the _Marmoria Arundeliana_; they were therefore removed hither, when Arundel house on the other side of the Thames was turned into a street.

CUPID’S _alley_, Golden lane.

CUPID’S _street_, Coverley’s fields.

CURE’S _Almshouse_, in College yard, Deadman’s Place, Southwark, was founded by Thomas Cure, Esq; in the year 1584, for the reception of sixteen poor men and women, with an allowance of twenty pence a week each; and by the additional benefactions of his son and Mrs. Appleby, each of them receives an additional allowance of 16_s._ a year.

CURLL’S _court_, In the Strand.†

CURRIERS, a company of considerable antiquity, since, according to Mr. Stow, they founded a religious fraternity in the convent of White Friars, Fleet street, so early as in the year 1367; they were however not incorporated by letters patent till the year 1605. This company consists of a Master, two Wardens, twelve Assistants, and 103 Liverymen, whose fine is 9_l._ 13_s._ 4_d_. They have a pretty handsome hall near Cripplegate.

CURRIERS _alley_, 1. Bristol street, 2. Shoe lane.

CURRIERS ARMS _Inn yard_, Fann’s alley.*

CURRIERS _court_, London Wall.

CURSITORS _Office_, in Chancery lane, where is made out original writs. The Clerks, who are twenty-four in number, were anciently called _Clerici Brevium de Cursu_, and each hath certain counties and cities allotted them, for which they make out such original writs as are required; they are a distinct corporation, and each of them executes his respective duty by himself or his deputy. This office was erected by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the father of the celebrated Sir Francis Bacon.

CURSITORS _alley_, Chancery lane.☐

CURSITORS _street_, Chancery lane.☐

CURTAIN _row_, Hog lane, Norton Falgate.

CURZON _street_, MayFair, a long street, with some grand houses on the south side, and on the north side is the house of the Lord Fane.

CUSHION _court_, 1. Little Broad street. 2. Pig street.

_The_ CUSTOM HOUSE, a commodious building, erected for the receipt of his Majesty’s customs on goods imported and exported. It is situated near the east end of Thames street, and its front opens to the wharfs and rivers. In ancient times the business of the Custom House was transacted in a more irregular manner at Billingsgate: but in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a building was erected here for this purpose; for in the year 1559, an act being passed that goods should be no where landed, but in such places as were appointed by the Commissioners of the revenue, this was the spot fixed upon for the entries in the port of London, and here a Custom House was ordered to be erected; it was however destroyed by fire with the rest of the city in 1666, and was rebuilt with additions two years after by King Charles II. in a much more magnificent and commodious manner, at the expence of 10,000_l._ but that being also destroyed in the same manner in 1718, the present structure was erected in its place.

This edifice is built with brick and stone, and is calculated to stand for ages. It has underneath and on each side, large warehouses for the reception of goods on the public account, and that side of the Thames for a great extent is filled with wharfs, keys, and cranes for landing them. The Custom House is 189 feet in length: the center is twenty-seven feet deep, and the wings considerably more. The center stands back from the river; the wings approach much nearer to it, and the building is judiciously and handsomely decorated with the orders of architecture: under the wings is a colonade of the Tuscan order, and the upper story is ornamented with Ionic columns and pediments. It consists of two floors, in the uppermost of which is a magnificent room fifteen feet high, that runs almost the whole length of the building: this is called the Long Room, and here sit the Commissioners of the customs, with their officers and clerks. The inner part is well disposed, and sufficiently enlightened; and the entrances are so well contrived, as to answer all the purposes of convenience.

Though we cannot call this a very beautiful building, yet from its great utility, and the conspicuous place in which it stands, we thought a representation of it by a print could not be omitted.

It is observable that in the year 1590, the customs and subsidies in the port of London inwards, were let to farm to Mr. Thomas Smith, for 20,000_l._ _per annum_, when it was discovered that they amounted annually to 30309_l._ so that Queen Elizabeth lost every year 10,309_l._ but by the vast increase of commerce since that time, they at present bring in above an hundred times as much, the customs now annually amounting to above two millions, and yet this immense business is transacted with as much order and regularity, as the common affairs of a merchant’s counting house.

The government of the Custom House is under the care of nine Commissioners, who are entrusted with the whole management of all his Majesty’s customs in all the ports of England, the petty farms excepted, and also the oversight of all the officers belonging to them. Each of these Commissioners has a salary of 1000_l._ a year, and both they, and several of the principal officers under them, hold their places by patent from the King. The other officers are appointed by warrant from the Lords of the Treasury.

CUSTOM HOUSE _court_, Beer lane.☐

CUSTOM HOUSE _key_, Thames street.☐

CUSTOM HOUSE _stairs_, Thames street.☐

CUSTOS BREVIUM, the first clerk of the court of Common Pleas, whose office is to receive and keep all writs returnable in that court, and to receive of the Prothonotaries all records of _nisi prius_ called _posteas_. He holds his place by patent from the King, and has the gift of the second Prothonotary’s place, and of the Clerk of the juries. This office is in Brick court, near the Middle Temple. See COMMON PLEAS.

CUTLERS, a company incorporated by letters patent granted by King Henry V. in the year 1417, and afterwards united to the haft and sheath makers. This fraternity is governed by a Master, two Wardens, and twenty-one Assistants, with a livery of 110 members, who upon their admission pay a fine of 10_l._ They have a neat and convenient hall in Cloak lane, Dowgate hill.

CUTLERS _street_, Houndsditch.

CUTTERS _rents_, Gravel lane.

CUT-THROAT _lane_, 1. Cock hill, Ratcliff. 2. Upper Shadwell.

CUTTING _alley_, New North street.

D.

DACRE’S _street_, New Tothill street.

DAGENHAM, a village in Essex, nine miles from London. About forty years ago, the Thames near this place bursting its banks, laid near 5000 acres of land under water; but after this inundation had continued near ten years, it was stopped by Captain Perry, who had been employed several years by the Czar of Muscovy, in his works at Veronitza on the river Don.

DAGGER _alley_, 1. St. Peter’s hill.* 2. Peter street, Cow Cross.* 3. Quaker street, Spitalfields.*

DAGGER _court_, 1. Quaker street.* 2. Moorfields.*

DANCING _bridge_, 1. Pickleherring stairs.║ 2. Potters fields, Tooley street.║

DANCING BRIDGE _stairs_, Pickleherring street.║

DANVERS _yard_, Seething lane.†

DARBY _court_, 1. Canon row.† 2. Channel row, Westminster.† 3. Piccadilly.†

DARK _entry_, 1. Great St. Anne’s lane. 2. Shoemaker row, Aldgate.

DARKHOUSE _lane_, Thames street.

DARKING, a town in Surry, situated on a branch of the Mole, a little before it runs under ground. This town, which is very ancient, is 24 miles from London. It was destroyed by the Danes, but was rebuilt either by Canute or the Normans; and the great Roman causeway called Stony Street passes through the church yard. This place is famous for its meal trade, and its market for poultry, particularly for the largest geese and the fattest capons, which are brought hither from Horsham in Sussex; and the whole business of the people for many miles, consists in breeding and fattening them. Its market is on Thursdays, and its fair on Holy Thursday is the greatest in England for lambs. It is remarkable, that according to a custom of the manor, the youngest son or youngest brother of a customary tenant, is heir of the customary estate of the tenant dying intestate. Near the town is a heath, called the Cottman Dean, (i. e. the heath of poor cottages) on which stands their almshouse; and that heath, in the opinion of some learned physicians, has the best air in England.

Near this town stands Mr. Howard’s house and gardens called Deepden, situated in a small valley on every side surrounded with hills. The level ground about the house was laid out into pleasant walks and gardens, planted with a great variety of exotic trees and plants, and the hills planted with trees, except on the south aspect, which was covered with vines. But both the gardens and vineyard, though the latter has produced good wine, have been neglected, and many of the exotic trees have been destroyed. On the top of the hill, above the vineyard, is a summer house, from which, in a clear day, the sea may be discerned over the south downs.

DARTFORD, a town in Kent, sixteen miles from London, is more properly called _Darentford_, from its being situated on the river Darent, which runs through it, and at a small distance falls into the Thames. The town has a harbour for barges, and is finely watered by two or three good springs. King Edward III. had a general tournament performed here by his nobles, and also here founded a convent, whose abbess and nuns were, for the most part, of the noblest families in the kingdom; and this convent King Henry VIII. turned into a palace. Henry VI. founded an almshouse here in honour of the Trinity, to which the church is dedicated, for five poor decrepid men, to be governed by the Vicar and Wardens, who were constituted a body corporate, with a common seal, and a power to assign lands and rents to the hospital, to the value of 20_l._ _per annum_. On this river the first paper mill in England was erected by Sir John Spilman, who obtained a patent and 200_l._ a year from King Charles I. to enable him to carry on that manufacture: and on this river was also the first mill for slitting iron bars for making wire. The town is full of inns and other public houses, on account of its being a great thoroughfare to Canterbury and Dover. The market, which is on Saturdays, is chiefly for corn, and the town has the honour of giving the title of Viscount to the Earl of Jersey.

DARTMOUTH _street_, Tothill street.

DART’S _alley_, Whitechapel.†

DART’S _rents_, Long alley, Moorfields.†

DASHWOOD’S _wharf_, at the Old Swan, Thames street.†

DATCHET, a pleasant village in Buckinghamshire, situated near Windsor, is noted for its horse races, and has a bridge over the Thames built in the reign of Queen Anne. At a small distance is Ditton Park.

DAVID AND HARP _alley_, Whitechapel.*

DAVID AND HARP _court_, Grub street.*

DAVID _street_, Grosvenor square.

DAVIS _yard_, Coventry street.†

DAVIS’S _rents_, Kent street, Southwark.†

DAWSON’S _alley_, St. Martin’s lane, Charing Cross.†

DAWSON’S _rents_, Old Gravel lane.†

DAY’S _court_, 1. Gutter lane.† 2. Old Change, Cheapside.†

DEACON’S _court_, Quakers street, Spitalfields.†

DEADMAN’S _place_, near Dirty lane, Southwark.

DEAL _street_, Coverley’s fields.

DEAN AND FLOWN _street_, Fashion street.

DEAN’S _court_, 1. Bedfordbury.† 2. Dean street, Fetter lane.† 3. Dean street, Red Lion square, Holborn.† 4. Dean street, Soho.† 5. Great Carter lane. 6. Little Old Bailey. 7. St. Martin’s le Grand.† 8. New Round court in the Strand.† 9. St. Paul’s Church yard, where the house belonging to the Dean of St. Paul’s stands.

DEAN’S _passage_, Huggen lane, Thames street.

DEAN _street_, 1. A very neat street in Fetter lane, Fleet street.† 2. High Holborn.† 3. Little Cock hill, Shadwell.† 4. Soho.† 5. Tyburn lane.† 6. Westminster.

DEAN’S _yard_, 1. Shoreditch.† 2. Near Tothill street.†

DEARING’S _rents_, Liquorpond street.†

DEFOE’S _court_, New Bond street.†

DEFORD’S _court_, Broad street, Marshall street.†

DELAHAY’S _street_, by Duke’s street, Westminster.†

_Court of_ DELEGATES. This is the highest court for civil affairs belonging to the church, to which appeals are carried from the spiritual courts; for upon the abolishing of the papal power within this kingdom by Henry VIII. in the year 1534, it was enacted by parliament, that no appeals should from thenceforward be made to Rome; but in default of justice in any of the spiritual courts, the party aggrieved might appeal to the King in his court of Chancery; upon which a commission under the great seal should be directed to such persons as his Majesty should think fit to nominate. These Commissioners to whom the King thus delegates his power, generally consist of Noblemen, Bishops, and Judges, both of the common and civil law; and as this court is not fixed, but occasional, these Commissioners, or Delegates, are varied at the pleasure of the Lord Chancellor, who appoints them. No appeals lie from this court; but upon good reasons assigned, the Lord Chancellor may grant a commission of review.

DENHAM’S _yard_, Drury lane.†

DENMAN’S _court_, East Smithfield.†

DENMARK _court_, in the Strand.

DENMARK _street_, 1. Ratcliff Highway. 2. St. Giles’s.

DENNIS _passage_, James’s street.†

DENTRY’S _yard_, Wall street, Spitalfields.†

DENT’S _alley_, Red Cross alley, St. Margaret’s hill.†

DEPTFORD, anciently called West Greenwich, is said to have received its present name from its having a deep ford over the little river Ravensbourn, near its influx into the Thames, where it has now a bridge. It is a large and populous town in Kent, four miles and a half from London, and is divided into Upper and Lower Deptford, which contain together two churches, several meeting houses, and about 1900 houses. It is most remarkable for its noble dock, where the royal navy was formerly built and repaired, till it was found more convenient to build the larger ships at Woolwich, and other places, where there is a greater depth of water: but notwithstanding this, the yard is enlarged to more than double its former dimensions, and a vast number of hands are constantly employed. It has a wet dock of two acres for ships, and another of an acre and a half, with vast quantities of timber and other stores, and extensive buildings, as storehouses, and offices, for the use of the place, besides dwelling houses for those officers who are obliged to live upon the spot, in order to superintend the works. Here the royal yachts are generally kept, and near the dock is the seat of Sir John Evelyn, called Say’s Court, where Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, resided for some time, and in this yard completed his knowledge and skill in the practical part of naval architecture.

In this town are two hospitals, one of which was incorporated by King Henry VIII. in the form of a college, for the use of the seamen, and is commonly called _Trinity House_ of Deptford Strond; this contains twenty-one houses, and is situated near the church. The other called _Trinity Hospital_, has thirty-eight houses fronting the street. This is a very handsome edifice, and has large gardens well kept belonging to it. Though this last is the finest structure, yet the other has the preference, on account of its antiquity; and as the Brethren of the Trinity hold their corporation by that house, they are obliged at certain times to meet there for business. Both these houses are for decayed pilots or masters of ships, or their widows, the men being allowed 20_s._ and the women 16_s._ a month. For a particular account of the corporation called the Brothers of the Trinity, see the article TRINITY HOUSE.

DEPTFORD _court_, Rotherhith.

DEPUTY _court_, Aldersgate street.

DERBY _street_, 1. Aldersgate street, 2. Rosemary lane.

DEVEREUX _court_, 1. Basinghall street. 2. Without Temple Bar, near the place where the Lord Essex’s mansion house formerly stood.

DEVIL TAVERN _yard_, Charing Cross.*

DEVONSHIRE _court_, Pickax street; or rather Long lane, West Smithfield.

DEVONSHIRE HOUSE, in Piccadilly, is the residence of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire when in London. The house is built principally of brick, and though plain is very elegant and well proportioned, and the rooms of state are very rich and magnificent. The offices on each side are properly subordinate to the house, so as to make a consistent whole. The collection of pictures, with which this house is adorned, is surpassed by very few either at home or abroad; of which the following is an exact list.

In the great Withdrawing Room.

Moses and the burning bush, Jac. Bassan. Landscape, Claude Lorrain.

An historical subject, Paul Veronese.

Moses in the bullrushes, Van Dyck.

Wise men offering, P. Veronese.

Archbishop of Spoletto, Tintoret.

Cleopatra, Luca Giordano.

Family Piece, Dobson.

Arthur Goodwin, Van Dyck.

A Lady, its companion, ditto.

Diana and Acteon, figures C. Marat,

Landscape G. Poussin.

Joseph and his mistress, Carlo Cignani.

Solomon and the Q. of Sheba, Le Sueur.

Landscape, St. John in the wilderness, Titian.

Sine Baccho & Cerere friget Venus, Albano.

Two Portraits, Lord Falkland and Col. Cavendish, Van Dyck.

A drunken conversation, M. Angelo Caravaggio.

Susannah and the Elders, Annib. Carrache.

Jacob’s ladder, Salvator Rosa.

A holy family, Titian.

In the second Drawing Room.

A holy family with boys, N. Poussin.

Christ and the woman of Samaria, F. Mola.

An old man in a Turkish dress, Rembrant.

A ruin, N. Poussin.

An emblematic picture, Andrea Sacchi.

Venus and Cupid, L. Giordano.

A portrait, Tintoret.

Portrait of an Abbess, over the door, Van Dyck.

Angel and Tobit, C. Marat.

Holy family, A. del Sarto.

Death of St. Peter, over the chimney, Donato Creti.

A piece of ruins, Viviano.

A portrait, Titian.

Two round landscapes, G. Poussin.

A woman and child, portraits, Van Dyck.

Head of a Saint, L. Giordano.

Adam and Eve, Domenichino.

A woman Saint taken up to heaven, Lanfranc.

Two circular landscapes, G. Poussin.

Andromeda, Guido.

Head of a Saint, M. Angelo Caravaggio.

Et in Arcadio Ego, N. Poussin.

In the third Withdrawing Room.

A beggar boy with a bird’s nest, Amoroso.

Two portraits, one of Titian, the other Carlo Cignani by himself.

Sampson and Dalilah, Tintoret.

Two landscapes, F. Mola.

A holy family, C. Marat.

A landscape, G. Poussin.

A perspective view, Viviano.

A holy family, Guercino.

Whole length of Philip of Spain, Titian.

Whole length, Tintoret.

Holy family, over the chimney, Rubens.

Two battle pieces, Bourgognone.

Virgin and child, Cantarini.

Jacob wrestling with the Angel, S. Rosa.

David and Goliath, its companion, ditto.

Landscape, P. da Cortona.