Picturesque London

Descending now to the river’s side we may think what amazing progress has been made in developing and adorning this noble stream, and all within twenty years! Three or four grea...

Returning now from these delightful suburban walks, we find ourselves once more at the West End. The London traveller, if he but learn the habit of diligently using his eyes as...

The old mansions of nobles and gentlemen in Grosvenor Street, Brook Street, Hill Street, Cavendish Square and Portman Square are generally of a fine and dignified pattern. There...

This little town, or village, of Chiswick is charming in every way, from its church and pretty churchyard and its situation between river and road. The walks hard by have the sy...

This great collection really holds the first position among the galleries of Europe, not for the number of pictures, but for their choiceness and value. The building which conta...

Wonderful changes have been made at Hyde Park Corner within a few years. Many have considered that this was one of the most effective architectural bits in London. For here was...

For the casual sightseer, however eager, the visiting of the “official shows”--whether in public picture galleries, museums or cathedrals--is often a weary business enough. Afte...

The little streets that descend from the Strand to the Embankment are mostly old-fashioned and picturesque in their way--perhaps from the contrast they offer to the noise and “s...

The old London taverns and chop houses are disappearing year by year, but there are a few quaint survivals which are interesting. Take it that on some winter’s evening, we have...

It is curious that most of the great London architects should have come from Scotland. Among these the most distinguished are Chambers, the designer of Somerset House, Campbell,...

As we turn from the bustle and hurly-burly of Fleet Street, hard by St. Dunstan’s--an effective modern church--we see a retired alley, leading by a curious little archway into C...

But in this exceedingly modern Strand, where we are so eager to clear off the only bit of antiquity left us--the graceful church of St. Mary--what Monkbarns would think of looki...

Passing from Dean’s Yard, through a Gothic arch which leads through the Canons’ houses, we find ourselves in a large court, round which run the old buildings of the Westminster...

Dickens, indeed, is so bound up with the old places of London that it may be said that he has lent a peculiar flavour and charm to all town peregrination. He certainly must be c...

The charm of exploring the City is ever novel--to me at least. Not every one has thoroughly fallen under the spell; for an occasional visit is not enough. One should linger, and...

After walking beside the handsome and imposing Smithfield markets for a short distance, we reach the open square where, close to Bartholomew’s Hospital, stands one of the most e...

It is always pleasant to see some old, well-preserved mansion, with its pictures and doorways in good condition, the attendant housekeeper directing attention in her prim “show-...

The old City Churches offer an inexhaustible field for a London explorer. There is nothing more touching than the air of utter abandonment of some of these forlorn structures, a...

We shall commence our pilgrimage at that striking and imposing scene, the old “Broad Sanctuary,” Westminster. Few may have noted the quaint obelisks which at intervals help to f...

After passing in review these stately fanes, centuries old, we turn to survey what the genius of modern architecture has contributed in this way to the adornment of London. The...

In no part of London is there felt such a mixture of sensations as when we enter Lincoln’s Inn Fields. There is a tone of old-fashioned repose mixed with quaintness, and a “larg...

In other ways our “Parish of Westminster” offers much that is still quaint and old-fashioned and picturesque. A stranger seeing the view from the Sanctuary for the first time wi...

Every Londoner of taste should make himself familiar with his river, ever placidly winding on and offering a spectacle of grace that never palls. It supplies a constant suggesti...

Old inns in London may perhaps owe their repute to the share they have in the scenery of Pickwick and Nickleby. The London inns and inn-yards, still used as houses of entertainm...

The outlying districts of London have each a curiously marked colour and flavour of their own. Thus “the Borough,” the district about Bishopgate Street, the City itself--and Isl...

Few who pass through the City or travel by the river pause to think and compare the innumerable spires and towers that rise in all directions, and lend a Flemish grace to the pr...

The so-called “Queen Anne style” has within the past few years displayed itself in every shape of extravagance, running riot, as it were, in fantastic freaks of brick. Entirely...

The old, smaller squares in London are very interesting from their tranquil, retired air and antique pattern, and venerable trees. None is more characteristic than Queen Square...

One of the pleasantest surprises in our City wanderings is when we stray into some unfrequented street with a _bizarre_ name, and pass by an antique but sound old doorway, _port...

The first glimpse of the river at Putney Bridge seems always new, with a never-failing charm. Indeed, all these clusterings on the river where a bridge crosses--Putney and Hamme...

Within a few hundred yards of Smithfield will be found the Charterhouse, a visit to which “soothes” the mind with all manner of antiquarian associations. The old square in which...