Part 1

Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS DESCRIBED.

VOL. VI.

LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS DESCRIBED.

CONTAINING

An Account of whatever is most remarkable for GRANDEUR, ELEGANCE, CURIOSITY or USE,

In the CITY and in the COUNTRY Twenty Miles round it.

COMPREHENDING ALSO

Whatever is most material in the History and Antiquities of this great Metropolis.

Decorated and illustrated with a great Number of Views in Perspective, engraved from original Drawings, taken on purpose for this Work.

Together with a PLAN of LONDON, A Map of the ENVIRONS, and several other useful CUTS.

VOL. VI.

LONDON: Printed for R. and J. DODSLEY in Pall-Mall.

M DCC LXI.

LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS DESCRIBED, &c.

† _Those with this mark generally derived their name from the ground landlord, who built the street, lane, or alley, &c._ * _From signs._ ☐ _From neighbouring places, as churches, &c._ ‡ _From trees formerly growing there._ ║ _From ridicule._ § _From their situation, as backwards, forwards, with respect to other streets._

SIO

SION COLLEGE, adjoining to St. Alphage’s church, London Wall, was founded for the improvement of the London clergy, and situated upon the ruins of Elsing Spital, which consisted of a college for a warden, four priests and two clerks, and an hospital for an hundred old, blind and poor persons of both sexes.

This college owes its foundation to Dr. Thomas White, Vicar of St. Dunstan’s in the West, who, among other charities, left 3000_l._ to purchase and build a college for the use of the London clergy, with almshouses for twenty poor people, ten men and ten women. He also gave 160_l._ a year for ever to the college and almshouses, 120_l._ for the support of the alms-people, and 40_l._ _per annum_, for the expences of the foundation.

The ground was purchased in 1627; but the library was not appointed by the founder; for a clergyman observing to Mr. Simson one of Dr. White’s executors, that a convenient library might be erected over the almshouse, which was then building, Mr. Simson took the hint, and erected it at his own expence.

The work being finished, in prosecution of the will, a charter was procured under the great seal of England in the sixth year of King Charles I. for incorporating the clergy of London, by which all the rectors, vicars, lecturers and curates, are constituted fellows of the college, and out of the incumbents, are annually to be elected on Tuesday three weeks after Easter, as governors, a president, two deans, and four assistants, who are to meet quarterly, to hear a Latin sermon, and afterwards to be entertained at dinner in the college hall, at the charge of the foundation. And in 1632 the governors and clergy being summoned, agreed upon a common seal, which had the good Samaritan, with the inscription _Vade & fac similiter_, and round it _Sigillum Collegii de Sion Londini_.

The books were given by many benefactors, whose names were preserved in a large vellum book, and the library much augmented by that of the old cathedral of St. Paul’s, which was brought to the college in the year 1647.

However the dreadful fire of London, which consumed so many other public structures, also destroyed this, and burnt a third part of the books, with the almshouses, several convenient chambers for students, besides those reserved for the meeting of the governors and fellows, and for the clerk and the library-keeper, to dwell in. The whole edifice was however afterwards rebuilt, except the chambers for the students; that part of the ground, being let out on building leases: the expence of erecting the library and almshouse amounted to above 1300_l._ and the hall with the other buildings to 2000_l._ more.

The edifice is extremely plain, and consists of brick buildings surrounding a square court.

Since the fire the library has been enriched by many benefactions; particularly by a part of the books of the jesuits seized in the year 1679, and by the Lord Berkley’s giving half his uncle Cooke’s books to the library: One gentleman gave the interest of 100_l._ to be annually laid out in books, and another 20_l._ _per annum_ for the same use, payable by the leatherseller’s company: there are also a great number of other benefactors to the library, whose names are set down in a book kept for that purpose.

In order to augment the library it has been also proposed, that every author be desired to give one copy of every book he publishes; and also every minister at his admission into a living, that every governor at his admission give one of at least 10_s._ value; and that the booksellers give one copy of every book they cause to be printed.

The library is surveyed twice a year: and had at first a librarian, an under librarian, and an ostiary: but now one serves for all.

The almshouse consists of twenty rooms, for ten men within the college, and ten women without it. Four of whom are nominated by the city of Bristol, where Mr. White was born; eight by the merchant taylor’s company, six by the parish of St. Dunstan, where he was minister forty-nine years; and two by St. Gregory’s parish, where he had lived about twenty years: except any of the kindred of either of his wives appeared, who were first to be considered; but these were not to exceed four at a time. The alms-people formerly received 6_l._ a year; but the lowering of rents has caused their allowance to be somewhat lessened.

SION _court_, Philip lane, London wall.

SION HOUSE, one of the seats of the right Honourable the Earl and Countess of Northumberland, stands upon the banks of the Thames, between Brentford and Isleworth in Middlesex, and opposite to the King’s Garden at Richmond. It is called Sion from a monastery of the same name, which was founded by Henry the Vth. in 1414, very near the place where the house now stands, and was endowed with 1000 marks a year, for the maintenance of sixty Nuns (including the Abbess and twenty-five men), and was dedicated to St. Saviour and St. Bridget; from the latter of whom the Nuns, &c. were called Bridgettines, and were of the order of Augustines, as reformed by some new regulations made by the aforesaid Bridget.

Sion was almost one of the first of the monasteries that was suppressed by Henry the VIIIth, perhaps not on account of any greater irregularities of behaviour, which had been discovered in it by the visitors, but because the members of that society had been remarkably favourable to the King’s declared enemies, and particularly to the maid of Kent; for she met with a very friendly reception amongst them, and so far excited the curiosity of the neighbourhood, as to induce the famous Sir Thomas More to have two private conferences with her at this very place. When the monastery was suppressed, its revenues according to Speed, amounted to 1944_l._ 11_s._ 11_d._ ¾, and on account of its fine situation, it was not sold or given immediately to any court-favourite, but appropriated to the King’s own use. And accordingly we find, that when the corpse of Henry the VIIIth. was to be removed from Westminster to Windsor to be interred, it laid the first night, not at Richmond as is commonly supposed, but at Sion; which by this means became the scene in which a prophecy was supposed to be fulfilled. For Father Peto, preaching before the King at Greenwich in 1534, told him that the dogs would lick his blood as they had done Ahab’s. Now as the King died of a dropsical disorder, and had been dead a fortnight before he was removed to Sion, it so happened that some corrupted matter of a bloody colour ran through the coffin at that place. Whereupon the incident, though only a natural consequence of the aforesaid circumstances, was misconstrued into a completion of Peto’s pretended prophecy, and considered as a piece of divine justice, inflicted upon the King for having forced the Bridgettines from their religious sanctuary.

In the next reign the monastery was given by the King to his uncle the Duke of Somerset the Protector, who in 1547 (as is generally supposed) began to build Sion House, and finished the shell of it, as it now remains, excepting a few alterations, which will be mentioned in their proper places. The house is built on the very spot where the church belonging to the monastery formerly stood, and is a very large, venerable, and majestic structure, built of white stone, in the form of a hollow square, so that it has four external, and as many internal fronts; the latter of which surround a square court in the middle. The roof is flat, covered with lead, and surrounded with indented battlements, like the walls of a fortified city. Upon every one of the four outward angles of the roof, there is a square turret, flat-roofed, and embattled like the other parts of the building. The house is three stories high, and the east-front, which faces the Thames, is supported by arches, forming a fine piazza, as it appears in the print. The gardens formed two square areas, enclosed with high walls before the east and west fronts, and were laid out and finished in a very grand manner, but being made at a time when extensive views were judged to be inconsistent with that solemn reserve and stately privacy affected by the great, they were so situated as to deprive the house of every beautiful prospect which the neighbourhood afforded. None of them at least could be seen from the lower apartments. To remedy in some measure that inconvenience, the Protector built a very high triangular terrace in the angle between the walls of the two gardens; and this it was that his enemies afterwards did not scruple to call a fortification, and to insinuate that it was one proof, amongst many others, which they alledged of his having formed a design very dangerous to the liberties of the King and people. Such was the State of the gardens as finished by the Protector. After his attainder and execution on Jan. 22, 1552, Sion was confiscated to the crown. Whereupon the furniture of the apartments, in which the Duke had lived (and they were probably a part of the old monastery) were given to Sir John Wroth the Keeper, and the new house, that is, the present house at Sion, to the Duke of Northumberland, which then became the residence of his son the Lord Guilford and his daughter-in-law the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. The Duke being beheaded August 22, 1553, Sion house once more reverted to the crown. Three years after this, Queen Mary restored it to the Bridgettines; and it remained in their possession until the society was expelled by Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her reign. Such of the Nuns as persisted in their errors carried away their portable treasure, and settled successively at Zurickzee in Zealand, at Mechlin, Roan, and lastly at Lisbon, where the society still subsists. Some years after this second dissolution, which Sion had undergone as a monastery, it was granted by a lease of a long term to Henry Earl of Northumberland, who, in consideration of his eminent services to the government, was permitted to enjoy it by paying a very small rent as an acknowledgement, and even that, when offered, was generally remitted.

King James the First considered his lordship no longer as a tenant, but gave Sion to him and his heirs for ever. Many improvements were made in his time; for it appears from one of his lordship’s letters to the King in 1613, that he had laid out 9000_l._ in the house and gardens; which sum was probably expended in finishing them according to the Protector’s plan. His son Algernon, afterwards appointed Lord high Admiral of England, succeeded to the estate in November 1632. He employed Inigo Jones to new face the inner court, to make many alterations in the apartments, and to finish the great hall in the manner in which it at present appears.

It must not be omitted in the history of this place, that the Dukes of York, and Gloucester, and the Princess Elizabeth were sent hither by an order of the parliament agreed upon August 27, 1646, and according to Lord Clarendon were treated by the Earl and Countess of Northumberland in all respects as was most suitable to their birth. The unhappy King frequently visited them at Sion in 1647, and thought it a very great alleviation of his misfortunes to find his children so happy in their confinement. The Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth continued at Sion till 1649, at which time the Earl resigned them to the care of his sister the Countess of Leicester.

May 30th 1682, Charles Duke of Somerset married the Lady Elizabeth Percy, the only daughter and heiress of Josceline Earl of Northumberland, by which means Sion and the immense estate of the Percies became his Grace’s property. The Duke and Duchess lent this house at Sion to the Princess of Denmark, who honoured it with her residence during the time of a misunderstanding which arose between her royal highness and her sister Queen Mary.

Upon the death of Charles Duke of Somerset, December 2, 1748. Algernon Earl of Hertford, his only surviving son succeeded to the title and a vast estate, and soon after gave Sion to his daughter and son-in-law, the present Countess and Earl of Northumberland, to whose fine taste and liberality are owing the many and great improvements which have made the gardens at Sion so universally admired.

The old Gardens, as we have already observed, were indeed very grand and magnificent according to the fashion of the age in which they were made, but, in consequence of the taste that then prevailed, they deprived the lower apartments of almost every advantage of prospect, which the fine situation of Sion house naturally affords. To make the necessary alterations required nothing less than his Lordship’s generosity. Accordingly the high triangular terrace, which the Protector had raised at a great expence, was removed, the walls of the old gardens were taken down, and the ground before the house levelled, and it now forms a fine lawn extending from Isleworth to Brentford. By these means also a beautiful prospect is opened into the King’s gardens at Richmond, as well as up and down the Thames. Towards the Thames the lawn is bounded by an ha-ha, and a meadow; which his lordship ordered to be cut down into a gentle slope, so that the surface of the water may now be seen even from the lowest apartments and the gardens. In consequence of these improvements, the most beautiful piece of scenery imaginable is formed before two of the principal fronts, for even the Thames itself seems to belong to the gardens, and the different sorts of vessels, which successively sail as it were through them, appear to be the property of their noble proprietor.

The house stands nearly in the middle point of that side of the lawn, which is the farthest from the Thames, and communicates with Isleworth and Brentford, either by means of the lawn or a fine gravel walk, which in some places runs along the side, and in others through the middle of a beautiful shrubbery; so that even in the most retired parts of this charming maze, where the prospect is most confined, almost the whole vegetable world rises up as it were in miniature around you, and presents you with every foreign shrub, plant, and flower, which can be adopted by the soil of this climate. His Lordship has not only thus improved the ground where the old gardens stood, but has also made a very large addition to it, and separated the two parts by making a new serpentine river. It communicates with the Thames, is well stored with all sorts of river fish, and can be emptied and filled by means of a sluice, which is so contrived as to admit the fish into the new river, but to prevent their returning back again into the Thames. His Lordship has also built two bridges, which form a communication between the two gardens, and has erected in that, which lies near Brentford, a stately doric column; upon the top of which is a fine proportioned statue of Flora, so judiciously placed as to command as it were a distinct view of the situation over which she is supposed to preside.

The kitchen gardens are very large, lie at a very proper distance from the house, and contain every thing, as an hot-house, fire-walls, &c. The greenhouse is a very neat building with a gothic front, designed by his Lordship in so light a style as to be greatly admired. The back and end walls of it are the only remains of the old monastery. This building stands near a circular bason of water, well stored with gold and silver fish; and in the middle of the bason is a spouting fountain, which is well supplied and plays without intermission.

What has hitherto been said is only an imperfect account of the several steps pursued in the planning and finishing of the gardens; to which we must add, that his lordship has also made many considerable alterations in the apartments of the east-front over the long gallery, and, as we are informed, intends to make many more in the other parts of the house, as he has lately done in the approach to it.

To conduct (as it were) the reader through the rooms would be a task too difficult to be executed in an intelligible manner; however we cannot help taking notice of the great gallery, which extends the whole length of the east-front over the arcades, and of that immense quantity of old china vases, of different forms and sizes, which are crowded together in almost every apartment.

We must also inform the reader that many fine prospects may be seen from the leads on the top of the house; for they command a view of the country to the distance of twelve or fourteen miles, and consequently the greatest part of London may be seen from them. To these observations we must add, that the gardens, when viewed from the top of the house, form a finer landskip than can easily be conceived.

In the history of Sion we should be guilty of an unpardonable omission, did we not mention the pedigree picture, which is perhaps one of the greatest curiosities of its kind in England, and exhibits the noble and royal connections of the Percies; all which are now united in the present Countess of Northumberland, whose many virtues are an ornament to that high station of life, which has been for many centuries enjoyed by her illustrious progenitors.

SIR WILLIAM WARREN’S _square_, Wapping dock.†

SIX BELLS _alley_, Foster lane, Cheapside.*

SIX BELLS _court_, Six Bells alley.*

SIX CLERKS OFFICE, in Chancery lane. This is an office in chancery, and these six clerks are next in degree to the twelve masters of that court. They inroll commissions, pardons, patents, warrants, &c. that have passed the seal.

Under these six clerks are sixty other clerks, ten to each of the six; who with their under clerks dispatch the business of this office; there are also attornies for plaintiffs and defendants in causes depending in this court. _Chamberlain’s present State._

SIX GARDEN’S _court_, Paul’s alley Barbican.

SIX PENNY RECEIVER’S OFFICE, on Tower Hill. Here six pence a month is paid by all seamen, both in the royal navy and merchants service, for the benefit of Greenwich hospital. The principal officers here are, a receiver who has 300_l._ a year; an accomptant who has 200_l._ a year; and a comptroller who has also 200_l._ a year.

SIZE _yard_, Whitechapel.

SKIN MARKET, 1. Bank-side, Southwark: 2. in a square behind Wood’s close, where great quantities of sheep-skins are sold.

SKIN MARKET _yard_, Bank-side Southwark.

SKINNER _street_, Bishopsgate Street, without.

SKINNER STREET _passage_, leading to the above street.

SKINNERS, a society incorporated by letters patent granted by Edward III. in the year 1327, by the following singular title, _The Master and Wardens of the guild or fraternity of the Body of Christ of the Skinners of London_: which was confirmed by Henry VI. in the year 1438, whereby every person admitted to the freedom of this company is to be presented to the Lord Mayor: and by these grants the corporation was restrained from making by-laws.

The government of this company is vested in a matter, four wardens and sixty assistants, with a livery of one hundred and thirty-seven members, who on their admission, pay a fine of 15_l._

The members of this company pay no quarterage, which is owing to the great estates they are possessed of; out of which, according to the wills of the respective donors, they annually pay about 700_l._ to charitable uses.

They have a very handsome hall on Dowgate hill; the hall-room is neatly wainscotted with oak, and the parlour with cedar.

SKINNERS _rents_, 1. Old Market lane, Ratcliff: 2. Perewinkle street, Ratcliff cross.

SKY _yard_, Swan yard.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE _alley_, Spitalfields Market.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE _yard_, Fashion street, Spitalfields.

SLAUGHTER’S _court_, Blue Anchor alley, Rosemary lane.†

SLEEP’S _alley_, Islington Road, St. John’s street.†

SLIPPER _court_, Hand alley, Petticoat lane, Whitechapel.

SLOANE’S MUSEUM and LIBRARY. See the article BRITISH MUSEUM.

SLOP _alley_, Gray’s Inn lane.

SLUCE _street_, Rotherhith.

SMALLCOAL _alley_, 1. Brick lane, Spitalfields: 2. Fashion street, Artillery lane, Spitalfields: 3. Rupert street: 4. St. John’s street Smithfield.

SMALL POX HOSPITAL, in Cold Bath Fields, is a very plain neat structure. The centre which projects a little from the rest of the building, is terminated on the top by an angular pediment, on the apex of which is placed a vase upon a small pediment.

This excellent charity was instituted in the year 1746, supported by a subscription then made by several noblemen, gentlemen and ladies, who were desirous that a charity useful in itself, and so beneficial to the public, might be begun near this great metropolis, there not being any hospital of this kind in Europe.

The relief of the necessitous under that severe, nauseous, and frequent distemper, the small-pox, is a work of charity so evidently attended with many beneficial circumstances, as well to the public as to the unhappy objects, that it is in reality not a little strange, that the establishing a fund for such a charity should be a design of no longer standing.

It is universally agreed, that amongst all distempers, to which Providence has made the human body liable, there is none so afflicting, so alarming, or which demands such careful, speedy, and continual assistance, as the small-pox; to which the inferior sort of people are at least equally liable with those in a higher sphere of life, though utterly unable to support themselves under so dreadful a malady, or to procure the necessary means for their recovery.