Part 14
The church is one of the prebends of St. Paul’s; the old Gothic structure lately taken down was erected in the year 1503, and stood till 1751, when it being in a ruinous condition, the inhabitants applied to parliament for leave to rebuild it, and soon after erected the present structure, which is a very substantial brick edifice, though it does not want an air of lightness. The body is well enlightened, and the angles strengthened and decorated with a plain rustic. The floor is raised considerably above the level of the church yard, and the door in the front is adorned with a portico, which consists of a dome supported by four Doric columns; but both the door and the portico appear too small for the rest of the building. The steeple consists of a tower, which rises square to a considerable height, terminated by a cornice supporting four vases, at the corners. Upon this part is placed an octangular balustrade, from within which rises the base of the dome in the same form, supporting Corinthian columns with their shafts wrought with rustic. Upon these rests the dome, and from its crown rises the spire, which is terminated by a ball and its fane. Though the body of the church is very large, the roof is supported without pillars, and the inside is extremely commodious, and adorned with an elegant plainness.
This parish is very extensive, and includes Upper and Lower Holloway, three sides of Newington Green, and part of Kingsland. There are in Islington two Independent meeting houses, and a charity school founded in the year 1613, by Dame Alice Owen, for educating thirty children: this foundation, together with that of a row of almshouses, are under the care of the Brewers company. There is here also a spring of chalybeat water in a very pleasant garden, which for some years was honoured by the constant attendance of the late Princess Amelia and many persons of quality, who drank the waters: to this place, which is called New Tunbridge Wells, many people resort, particularly during the summer, the price of drinking the waters being 3_d._ for each person. Near this place is a house of entertainment called Sadler’s Wells, where during the summer season people are amused with balance masters, walking on the wire, rope dancing, tumbling, and pantomime entertainments.
ISLINGTON _road_, 1. Goswell street. 2. St. John’s street, West Smithfield.
JULIAN _court_, Angel alley.
_Clerk of the_ JURIES OFFICE, in Hind court, Fleet street. The Clerk of the juries is an officer of the court of Common Pleas, who makes out writs called _Habeas Corpora_, and _Distringas Juratorum_, for appearance of the jury, either in that court, or at the assizes in the country. This office is executed by a deputy. _Chamb. Pres. State._
JUSTICE HALL, on the north east side of the Old Bailey, stands backwards in a yard to which there is an entrance through a gateway. Had the building therefore been a fine one, it could not have been viewed to advantage; but it is a plain brick edifice, that has nothing to recommend it. A flight of plain steps lead up into the court room, which has a gallery at each end for the accommodation of spectators. The prisoners are brought to this court from Newgate, by a passage backwards which leads to that prison, and there are two places where they are kept till called to their trials, the one for the men and the other for the women. There are also rooms for the grand and petty jury and other accommodations.
An author, whose opinion we have given on other subjects, condemns this, and all the other courts of justice in England, as wanting that grandeur and augustness which might strike offenders and mankind in general with an awe for the place; and he recommends the form of a theatre as most proper, the stage for the bench, the pit for the council, prisoners, &c. and the circle round for the spectators. Whether this writer’s idea of the form of a court of judicature is just and well founded, we shall not determine.
It seems however to be wished, that these public edifices had more of the appearance of grandeur and magnificence, especially in the metropolis of the kingdom.
This court is held eight times a year by the King’s commission of oyer and terminer, for the tryal of criminals for crimes committed within the city of London and county of Middlesex. The Judges are, the Lord Mayor, the Aldermen past the chair, and the Recorder, who, on all such occasions, are attended by both the Sheriffs, and by one or more of the national Judges. The offences in the city are tried by a jury of citizens, and those committed in the county by one formed of the housekeepers in the county. The crimes tried in this court are high and petty treason, murder, felony, forgery, petty larceny, burglary, cheating, libelling, the using of false weights and measures, &c. the penalties incurred by which are the loss of life, corporal punishment, transportation, amerciaments, &c. _Stow_, _Maitland_.
IVY _Bridge_, In the Strand.
IVY BRIDGE _lane_, In the Strand.
IVY BRIDGE _stairs_, Near the Strand.
IVY _lane_, runs from Pater Noster Row into Newgate street. This lane took its name from the Ivy which grew on the walls of the prebends houses, formerly situated here. _Stow._
IVY _street_, Dyot street, St. Giles’s.
K.
_St._ KATHARINE’S. See St. CATHARINE’S.
KEAT _street_, Dean and Flown street, Spitalfields.†
KEBB’S _yard_, In the Minories.†
KEMP’S _court_, Berwick street.†
KEMPTON _court_, Vine street.†
KENNINGTON, a village near Lambeth, in Surry, and one of the eight precincts of that parish. It has the honour of giving the title of Earl to the Duke of Cumberland.
KENNINGTON COMMON, a small spot of ground, on the side of the road to Camberwell, and about a mile and a half from London. Upon this spot is the gallows for the county of Surry.
KENNINGTON _lane_, Newington Butts.
KENSINGTON, a large and populous village in Middlesex, about two miles from Hyde Park Corner, part of which, from the palace gate to the Bell, is in the parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster. The palace, which was the seat of the Lord Chancellor Finch, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, was purchased by King William, who greatly improved it, and caused a royal road to be made to it, through St. James’s and Hyde Parks, with lamp posts erected at equal distances on each side. Queen Mary enlarged the gardens; her sister Queen Anne improved what Mary had begun, and was so pleased with the place, that she frequently supped during the summer in the Green house, which is a very beautiful one: but her late excellent Majesty Queen Caroline completed the design, by extending the gardens from the great road in Kennington to Acton; by bringing what is called the Serpentine river into them, and by taking in some aires out of Hyde Park, on which she caused a mount to be raised, with a chair upon it, that could be easily turned round, so as to afford shelter from the wind. This mount is surrounded with a grove of ever-greens, and commands a fine view over the gardens to the south and west. In short these gardens, which are three miles and a half in compass, are kept in great order, and in summer-time, when the court is not there, are resorted to by great numbers of people. The palace indeed has none of that grandeur, which ought to appear in the residence of a British Monarch; its nearness to the town makes it very convenient, but it is very irregular in point of architecture. However the royal apartments are grand, and some of the pictures are good.
On passing the base court, you enter through a large portico into a stone gallery, that leads to the great stair case, which is a very fine one, and consists of several flights of black marble steps, adorned with iron balusters finely wrought. The painting here affords the view of several balconies with groups of figures representing yeomen of the guard, and spectators, among whom are drawn Mr. Ulrick, commonly called the young Turk, in the Polonese dress in which he waited on his late Majesty King George I. Peter, the wild youth, &c. The stair case is richly decorated and painted by Mr. Kent.
The first room is hung with very fine tapestry, representing the goddess Diana, hunting and killing the wild boar. Over the chimney is a picture in a grand taste, representing one of the Graces in the character of Painting, receiving instructions from Cupid. This piece is said to be done by Guido Reni. In one corner of the room is a marble statue of Venus, with an apple in her hand; and in another is the statue of Bacchus, whose head is finely executed; but the body, which is inferior to it, seems to be done by another hand.
The second room has its ceiling painted with Minerva, surrounded by the arts and sciences, by Mr. Kent. Over the chimney is a very fine piece representing Cupid admiring Psyche, while she is asleep, by Vandyck. On each side of the room are hung several pictures, as King Henry VIII. and the Comptroller of his houshold, by Holbein: a three quarter picture of King Charles I. and another of his Queen, by Vandyck: the Duke and Duchess of York, by Sir Peter Lely: as also King William and Queen Mary, when Prince and Princess of Orange, over the doors, by the same hand.
The third room, which was the late Queen’s apartment, is adorned with very beautiful tapestry, representing a Dutch winter piece, and the various diversions peculiar to the natives of Holland, done by Mr. Vanderbank. Over the chimney is an admirable picture of King Charles II. King James II. and their sister the Princess of Orange, when children, by Vandyck.
In the fourth room is the picture of a battle or skirmish between the Germans and Italians, by Holbein. Another of Danae descending in a shower of gold, and another of the widow Eliot finely executed by our countryman Riley.
In the fifth room is a picture of the crucifixion, and another of our Saviour laid on the cross, both by Titian: of our Saviour calling St. Matthew from the receipt of customs, by Annibal Caracci; and of his healing the sick in the temple, by Verrio: a picture of Henry IV. of France, by Titian: two heads of Queen Mary I. and Queen Elizabeth, when children, by Holbein: the late Queen Anne, when an infant, by Sir Peter Lely: and several heads by Raphael.
In the sixth room, or rather gallery, are the pictures of King Henry VIII. and Queen Katharine of Arragon, both by Holbein: King Philip of Spain, and Queen Mary, by the same hand: King James I. by Vandyck: King Charles II. the face by Sir Peter Lely: Queen Elizabeth in a Chinese dress, drawn when she was a prisoner at Woodstock: King James II. when Duke of York, and another of his Queen, both by Sir Peter Lely: King William and Queen Mary in their coronation robes, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Sir Godfrey was knighted on his painting these pictures; King William being doubtless pleased with so fine a picture of his Queen. The next is Queen Anne, after Sir Godfrey Kneller; and a picture of Queen Caroline, which is but poorly executed. In this room is a curious amber cabinet, in a glass case; and at the upper end a beautiful orrery, likewise in a glass case.
The seventh, which is called the Cupola room, has a star in the center, and the ceiling all around is adorned with paintings in mosaic: round the room are placed at proper distances, eight bustos of ancient poets, and six statues of the heathen gods and goddesses at full length, gilt. Over the chimney piece is a curious bas-relief in marble, representing a Roman marriage, with a busto of Cleopatra, by Mr. Rysbrack.
In the King’s great drawing room, over the chimney, is a very fine picture of St. Francis adoring the infant Jesus, held in the lap of the Virgin Mary, Joseph attending, the whole performed by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. In this room are also the holy family, finely painted by Paul Veronese: three priests, by Tintoret: a noble picture of St. Agnes over one of the doors, by Domenichino: St. John Baptist’s head, Mary Magdalen, and a naked Venus, all by Titian: a Venus in a supine posture, stealing an arrow out of Cupid’s quiver, with beautiful ornaments in the high gusto of the Greek antique, representing Love and the Drama, by Jacobo da Puntormo; upon the original out-lines of the great Michelangelo Buonarroti: a picture of Villars, Duke of Buckingham, and his younger brother, when boys, one of the capital pieces of Vandyck: two large pictures by Guido Reni, one of Venus dressing by the Graces; the other of Andromeda chained to a rock: our Saviour in the manger by Bassan; and a picture of part of the holy family, by Palma the elder.
The ceiling of this room, in which there is such a mixture of sacred and prophane pieces, is painted with the story of Jupiter and Semele.
In the state chamber, the bed is of crimson damask; and over the chimney is a picture of our Saviour and St. John Baptist, by Raphael.
In the state dressing room the hangings are all of needle work; a present from the Queen of Prussia. Here is a picture of Edward VI. by Holbein; of a young nobleman of Venice, by Tintoret; another young nobleman of the same place, by Tintoret; and Titian’s lady, painted by himself.
The Painted gallery is adorned with many admirable pieces. At one end is King Charles I. on a white horse, with the Duke d’Espernon holding his helmet; the King is an august and noble figure, with some dejection in his countenance; the triumphal arch, curtain, and other parts of the back ground, are finely executed, and so kept, that the King is the principal figure that strikes the eye; at a little distance it has more of the life than a picture, and one is almost ready to get out of the horse’s way, and bow to the King.
Fronting this picture, at the other end of the gallery, is the same King, with his Queen, and two children, King Charles II. when a child, and King James II. an infant in the Queen’s lap. The King’s paternal tenderness is finely expressed, his son standing at his knee: the Queen’s countenance is expressive of an affectionate obedience to his Majesty, and a fond care of her child, which she seems to desire the King to look on. The infant is exquisitely performed; the vacancy of thought in the face, and the inactivity of the hands, are equal to life itself at that age. These two admirable pieces were done by Vandyck.
One of the next capital pictures in this gallery is Esther fainting before King Ahasuerus, painted by Tintoret. All the figures are finely drawn and richly dressed in the Venetian manner; for the Venetian school painted all their historical figures in their own habits, thinking them more noble and picturesque than any other.
The next piece is the nine muses in concert, finely drawn by the same master.
Midas preferring Pan to Apollo, is a fine piece, by Andrea Schiavone; but it is a good deal hurt by time; the figures however are well drawn and coloured; and the affectation of judgment in Midas is finely expressed.
The shepherds offering gifts to Christ, St. John in prison, the story of the woman of Samaria, and John Baptist’s head, are fine pieces, by Old Palma.
Noah’s flood, by Bassan, is a masterly performance.
Over the chimney is a Madona, by Raphael, which, though a small piece, gives a very high idea of that great master’s abilities. There is also in this gallery a Madona by Vandyck, which is exquisitely performed.
The other pictures here are, the birth of Jupiter, a fine piece, by Giulio Romano; a Cupid whetting his arrow, by Annibal Caracci; and a Venus and Cupid, by Titian.
KENT _road_, At the upper end of Kent street.
KENT _street_, extends from the end of Long lane, near St. George’s church, Southwark, to Kent road. It is observable that the principal business of this street is making of birch brooms, in which the masters are such great dealers, that in some of their yards several stacks of brooms may be seen of a considerable extent, and rising as high as the most lofty houses.
KENT’S _yard_, Angel alley.†
KETTLEBY’S _rents_, at Kennington.†
KETTLE _yard_, Redcross street.
KEW, a town in Surry, situated on the Thames, opposite to Old Brentford. Here is a chapel of ease, erected at the expence of several of the nobility and gentry in the neighbourhood, on a piece of ground that was given for that purpose by the late Queen Anne. Here the late Mr. Molineux, Secretary to his present Majesty when Prince of Wales, had a very fine seat on the Green, the gardens of which are said to produce the best fruit in England. This house belonged to the late Prince of Wales. Her late Majesty Queen Caroline here purchased Lady Eyre’s seat, for the Duke of Cumberland, and Sir Thomas Abney’s for the Princesses Amelia and Caroline.
In the sessions of parliament in 1758, an act passed for building a bridge cross the Thames opposite to Kew Green; and this act is now executed, and a bridge is built of eleven arches. The two piers and their dependent arches on each side next the shore are built of brick and stone, the intermediate arches, which are seven in number, are entirely wood. The center arch is fifty feet wide, and the road over the bridge is thirty feet wide.
KEY _court_, 1. Little St. Thomas Apostles.* 2. St. John street, West Smithfield.*
KIDDER’S _yard_, Petty France, Westminster.†
KIDNEY _stairs_, Narrow street.
KIFFORD’S _Almshouse_, at Tothill side, Westminster, was founded by Mrs. Judith Kifford, in the year 1705, for two decayed gentlewomen, each of whom has one room, and 5_l._ _per annum_.
KILBORN, a village in Middlesex, in the road from London to Edgworth, and in the parish of Hampstead.
KILHAM’S _wharf_, Millbank.†
KILL _court_, St. John’s street.
KILLIGREW _court_, Scotland yard.†
KING AND QUEEN _stairs_, Rotherhith.*
KING DAVID’S _court_, Whitechapel.*
KING DAVID’S FORT, Near Bluegate fields.*
KING DAVID’S FORT _lane_, King David’s lane.*
KING DAVID’S _lane_, Upper Shadwell.*
KING EDWARD’S _row_, Coverley’s fields.*
KING EDWARD’S _stairs_, Wapping.*
KING EDWARD’S _street_, 1. Tudor street.* 2. Wapping.*
KING HENRY’S _yard_, Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.*
KING JAMES’S _stairs_, Wapping wall.*
KING JOHN’S _court_, 1. Barnaby street.* 2. Holiwell lane.* 3. Limehouse Corner. 4. Mile-end Green.* 5. Stepney Green.*
KING JOHN’S _court passage_, Barnaby street.*
KING TUDOR’S _street_, Bridewell, Fleet street.
KING’S ARMS _court_, 1. Bankside.* 2. Basinghall street.* 3. King John’s court, Holiwell street.* 4. Ludgate hill.*
KING’S ARMS _stairs_, College street.*
KING’S ARMS _walk_, Narrow walk.*
KING’S ARMS _yard_, 1. Chick lane.* 2. Coleman street.* 3. Fore street.* 4. Lothbury.* 5. St. Martin’s lane, Charing Cross.* 6. Marybon street.* 7. Shoreditch.* 8. Whitechapel.* 9. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.*
KING’S ARMS _inn yard_, Holborn Bridge.*
KING’S BENCH, the highest Court of Common Law in England, is so called, because the King sometimes sat there in person on an high bench, and the Judges, to whom the judicature belongs in his absence, on a low bench at his feet: or because this Court determines pleas between the Crown and the subject of treasons, felonies, and other pleas, which properly belong to the King: and also in whatsoever relates to the loss of life or member of any subject, in which the King is concerned, as he is a sufferer by the loss of the life or limbs of his subjects. Here likewise are tried breaches of peace, oppression, and misgovernment; and this Court corrects the errors of all the Judges and Justices of England, in their judgments and proceedings, not only in pleas of the Crown, but in all pleas, real, personal, and mix’d; except only pleas in the Exchequer. This Court is general, and extends to all England; and where-ever it is held the law supposes the Sovereign to be there in person. In this Court there commonly sit four Judges, the first of which is stiled the Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench; and sometimes the Lord Chief Justice of England; whose salary is 4000_l._ a year, and the puisne Judges 1500_l._ a year each. _Chamberlain’s Present State._
The Court of King’s Bench in Westminster Hall, is in the south east corner.
KING’S BENCH _alley_, 1. Dorset street, Spitalfields. 2. St. Margaret’s Hill.
KING’S BENCH OFFICE, In the Inner Temple, at the lower end of King’s Bench walk, next the Thames. Here the records of that Court are kept to secure them from fire.
KING’S BENCH PRISON, In St. George’s fields, is a place of confinement for debtors; and for those sentenced by the Court of King’s Bench to suffer imprisonment, for libels and other misdemeanors; but those who can purchase the liberties have the benefit of walking through a part of the Borough, and in St. George’s fields.
This prison is situated in a fine air; but all prospect of the fields, even from the uppermost windows, is excluded by the height of the walls with which it is surrounded. It has a neat chapel for the performance of divine worship, and only one bed in each room; but these rooms are extremely small; they are all exactly alike, and none above nine feet in length.
KING’S BENCH _walk_, Inner Temple, from the King’s Bench office kept there.
KING’S COLLEGE _lane_, Bristol street.
KING’S _court_, 1. Milk street, Cheapside. 2. Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.
KING’S GATE _street_, High Holborn.
KING’S HEAD _alley_, 1. Broad street, Ratcliff.* 2. Dorset street, Spitalfields.* 3. In the Maze. 4. Whitechapel.*
KING’S HEAD _court_, 1. Barnaby street.* 2. Beech lane.* 3. In the Borough.* 4. St. Clement’s.* 5. Cock lane, Shoreditch.* 6. Crispin street.* 7. Drury lane.* 8. Fetter lane.* 9. Golden lane.* 10. Goswell street.* 11. Gutter lane.* 12. Hand alley.* 13. Holborn.* 14. Huggen lane, Thames street.* 15. King street, Cheapside.* 16. Little Carter lane.* 17. St. Martin’s le Grand. 18. New Fish street.* 19. New Gravel lane.* 20. Old Gravel lane.* 21. Petticoat lane, Whitechapel.* 22. Plumtree street.* 23. Pudding lane, Thames street.* 24. Shoe lane, Fleet street.* 25. Shoreditch.* 26. Southampton buildings.* 27. Stanhope street.* 28. In the Strand.* 29. Tenter Ground.* 30. Vine street.* 31. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.* 32. Wood street, Cheapside.*
KING’S HEAD _yard_, 1. Fore street, Lambeth.* 2. High Holborn.* 3. Holiwell street.* 4. King street, New Gravel lane.* 5. Leather lane, Holborn.* 6. Moorfields.* 7. Shoreditch.* 8. Tooley street.* 9. Wiltshire lane.*
KING’S LIBRARY, was founded by Henry Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I. The printed books in this Library amount to about 10,200 and the manuscripts to about 1800. They were kept in Cotton house, till that was burnt by the fire in 1731; they however suffered but little by that fire, and were removed with the Cotton library to the Old Dormitory at Westminster; since which both these libraries have been placed with Sir Hans Sloane’s Museum in Montagu house. See the articles COTTON LIBRARY, and BRITISH MUSEUM.
_Clerk of the_ KING’S SILVER, an officer of the Court of Common Pleas, to whom every fine or final agreement upon the sale of land is brought, after it has been with the _Custos Brevium_, who makes an entry of what money is to be paid for the King’s use. This office, which is executed by a deputy, is kept in the Inner Temple. _Chamberlain’s Present State._