[1]The distance of Chertsey (Surrey) from London is about nineteen miles. Here, says Camden, Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames when he first attempted the conquest of Britain; but Mr. Gough, in his addition to the "Britannia," has advanced some arguments against this opinion. The passage some believe to have been effected at Coway Stakes, about a quarter of a mile below Chertsey Bridge, where Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames when he led the Roman army into the kingdom of Cassivellaunus, who had encamped his forces on the opposite shore. The Britons did everything in their power to prevent the Romans from crossing by driving stakes into the bed of the river and fencing the banks with wooden palisades. Obstacles of this kind were lightly estimated by the bold legionaries. The cavalry at once entered the river; the infantry crossed with their heads only above water, and panic-struck at the sight of Roman intrepidity, the barbarian warriors fled from their post without an effort to maintain it. Bede, who lived in the beginning of the eighth century, tells us, that some of the stakes were then to be seen, and were as big as a man's thigh. Mr. Milner says some of these stakes have been found at a recent period, hard as ebony, each being the body of a young oak tree.
[1]The distance of Chertsey (Surrey) from London is about nineteen miles. Here, says Camden, Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames when he first attempted the conquest of Britain; but Mr. Gough, in his addition to the "Britannia," has advanced some arguments against this opinion. The passage some believe to have been effected at Coway Stakes, about a quarter of a mile below Chertsey Bridge, where Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames when he led the Roman army into the kingdom of Cassivellaunus, who had encamped his forces on the opposite shore. The Britons did everything in their power to prevent the Romans from crossing by driving stakes into the bed of the river and fencing the banks with wooden palisades. Obstacles of this kind were lightly estimated by the bold legionaries. The cavalry at once entered the river; the infantry crossed with their heads only above water, and panic-struck at the sight of Roman intrepidity, the barbarian warriors fled from their post without an effort to maintain it. Bede, who lived in the beginning of the eighth century, tells us, that some of the stakes were then to be seen, and were as big as a man's thigh. Mr. Milner says some of these stakes have been found at a recent period, hard as ebony, each being the body of a young oak tree.
We would suggest that the next Monolith brought to this country from the land of the Ptolemys or Cæsars be erected on this spot, similar to that of Cleopatra's Needle on the Victoria Embankment.
Watermen and others who navigate the river have observed how very shallow the water is at this spot. Sir Richard Phillips says "the event was pregnant with such consequences to the fortune of these Islands, that the spot deserves the record of a monument; which ought to be preserved from age to age, as long as the veneration due to antiquity is cherished among us. Who could then have contemplated that the folly of Roman ambition would be the means of introducing arts among the semi-barbarous Britons, which in eighteen hundred and forty years or after the lapse of nearly sixty generations, would qualify Britain to become mistress of Imperial Rome; while one country would become as exalted, and the other be so debased, that the event would excite little attention, and be deemed but of secondary importance? Possibly after another sixty generations, the posterity of the savage tribes near Sierra-Leone, or New Holland may arbitrate the fate of London, or of Britain, as an affair of equal indifference."[1]
[1]"A Morning's Walk from London to Kew," by Sir Richard Phillips, pp. 26-27, published 1817.
[1]"A Morning's Walk from London to Kew," by Sir Richard Phillips, pp. 26-27, published 1817.
We shall not attempt to speculate as to what is within the rangeof human possibilities knowing as all history teaches us how transient is the glory of sublunary things. We believe that while England is true to herself and true to God such a state of things concerning Britain as that depicted by Sir Richard will never be realised. The overthrow of dynasties, of nations and of empires is the result of moral degeneracy—the effect of national and individual sins. "Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. By the Almighty who doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, kings reign and princes decree justice, He putteth down one and setteth up another." However, while reading the fore-mentioned quotation we were forcibly reminded of Macaulay's New Zealander sitting upon a broken arch of London Bridge contemplating o'er the desolation of England's chief city, or some other traveller from the Antipodes who shall stand on the broken arches of Westminster Bridge, and gazing on a horizon of ruin, cry "Here stood the Metropolis of a Mighty Empire!"
Many years ago a person wrote a note to the Rev. John Brand, Secretary to the Antiquarian Society, to say that as he was passing through Battersea Fields he saw some labourers dig up a leaden coffin, in which was a skeleton and near it there were three more human skeletons. There is no date but it is addressed to Mr. Brand, at Northumberland House, which he left about 1795.
About sixty-five years ago there was a house situated in the middle of Battersea Fields which remained for a long time uninhabited on account of the strange and weird stories related and circulated about it. Ignorant and uneducated people said it was "haunted." Nobody would live in it. At midnight "lights" it was said were to be seen "flitting about the rooms," and "dismal groans of one in extremes, at the point to die" were to be heard, and so many believed in "old bogies" and tales of "hobgoblins" so their minds pictured the most frightful and hideous spectres imaginable. At length the house like other old buildings in the neighbourhood was demolished. The Rev. John Kirk, who wrote a Biography of the Mother of the Wesleys, says: "The legendary literature of the world teems with wonderful stories of haunted houses where invisible spirits were believed to utter mysterious sounds, to perform extraordinary pranks, and sometimes communicate revelations of the future, or disclose the dread secrets of the hidden world. These beliefs though strongest and most prevalent where the Gospel is unknown or least influential, are not peculiar to generations 'of old time' or to any particular nation under heaven." Certainly the present generation do not appear to have improved much more than their forefathers in this respect when there is so much nonsensical talk about communicating with the invisible world by means of "spirit rappings," "table turnings," etc. Surely the age when men shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons has come!
Battersea Fields, within the Manor along the Thames, were long notable as a marshy tract producing a great variety of indigenous plants; and were the scene on March 21st, 1829, of the duel between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchelsea.[1]Battersea Fieldswere reputed as a place for duelling and prize-fights but are now partly disposed in a fine Public Park, and partly covered with streets and buildings. A lane from Nine Elms past Tuggy's Mill and Rock's Tea Gardens, by the poplar trees led to the Red House which faced the river near the foot of the South side of Chelsea Suspension Bridge since erected. Here in front was a tall flag-staff with flag waving in the breeze on which were letters denoting the sign of the house. Seats and ale-benches, embowered with clusters of elm trees with wide-spreading branches overhead, were placed for the accommodation of persons who resorted thither for refreshment. The space here embanked and enclosed with an iron palisade formed a kind of jetty, divided in the centre by a flight of steps from the river as well as having a flight of steps at both ends where watermen landed their passengers or took up their fares. There was a ferry here to the "White House" on the opposite side of the Thames. The "Red House" was built of red bricks with white pointings, wide but not high in elevation. It had one story above the basement with slanted slated roof, and contained in all fourteen rooms. Each of the windows on the ground-floor had wooden shutters hung on hinges painted green, which, when closed or folded, fastened inside with bolts. The windows did not project from the general face of the building except the refreshment bar and the upstairs dining room. This apartment and the long room adjoining commanded an extensive and pleasant prospect of the river. A large lamp, supported by means of an iron branch fastened to the wall, projected over the middle door. The Royal Humane Society's drags were always kept here in readiness in case of emergency, and notice was written on a board suspended outside the west end of the house to that effect. The gardens were laid out in small arbours decorated with Flemish and other paintings and fancifully formed flower-beds. In the centre of the garden was a fish-pond; the walks were prettily disposed; at the end of the principal one was a painting, the perspective rendered the walk in appearance much longer than it really was. The shooting ground was about 120 yards square, and inclosed by palings. Beyond the east end of the house was situated a range of "boxes" or alcoves—seven in number—which at night were illuminated with oil-lamps. Each "box" had a table in the centre with seats all round so that twelve persons could sit inside very comfortably. Of a morning several of the Guards were in the habit of arriving here by water from Whitehall stairs to enjoy their "Flounder breakfast" at ten o'clock. And certain noblemen dignified with their presence and patronage the annual "Sucking Pig Dinner," which generally took place in the month of August.
[1]The Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill passed the Commons by a majority of 320 to 142, March 30, and was carried on the third reading in the Lords by 313 to 104, April 10. The Bill met with determined opposition from the Marquis of Winchelsea who said some things which the Duke regarded as a personal insult. This led to the hostile meeting at Battersea Fields. It was fashionable in those days for gentlemen to settle their friendly differences with a yard of cold steel or a bullet from the muzzle of a pistol—happily as the result of this duel no blood was shed—the Duke with a directed aim sent a bullet through the hat of Winchelsea, whereupon the Marquis fired his pistol in the air, advanced towards the Duke and made an apology, the Duke of Wellington politely bowed to his political antagonist and then separated. Wellington Road, near Battersea Bridge, marks the locality and derives its name from this circumstance.
[1]The Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill passed the Commons by a majority of 320 to 142, March 30, and was carried on the third reading in the Lords by 313 to 104, April 10. The Bill met with determined opposition from the Marquis of Winchelsea who said some things which the Duke regarded as a personal insult. This led to the hostile meeting at Battersea Fields. It was fashionable in those days for gentlemen to settle their friendly differences with a yard of cold steel or a bullet from the muzzle of a pistol—happily as the result of this duel no blood was shed—the Duke with a directed aim sent a bullet through the hat of Winchelsea, whereupon the Marquis fired his pistol in the air, advanced towards the Duke and made an apology, the Duke of Wellington politely bowed to his political antagonist and then separated. Wellington Road, near Battersea Bridge, marks the locality and derives its name from this circumstance.
Mr. Wright, who at one time was proprietor of the "Red House," had a Raven that he called "Gyp" that used to talk. Sometimes as if hailing a waterman from the river the bird would cry out "boat ahoy!" "What's o'clock? what's o'clock?" it would hurriedly repeat as if anxious to know the hour. At another time "Gyp" would call "Rock! over!" "Over!" as if to intimate that somebody requested to be ferried over to the other side. Many a scull has been deceived by the mimic cries of this black-feathered rascal. One day Rock the ferryman was so irritated, having been twice deceived that day by the call of "Gyp," that he took up a quart pewter pot and threw it at his head. "Gyp" narrowly escaped uninjured. Mr. Wright remonstrated and said he would not have the bird hurt at any price. The raven was deliciously fond of picking bones. On one occasion a gentleman accidentally dropped his spectacles; presently, on looking up, he discovered his lost property in the beak of the raven perched on a bough with all the gravity of a sexton. "Gyp" had an incurable antipathy to dogs. If perchance a dog passed by, in an instant he would pounce upon its back, hold on by his claws and peck at it most unmercifully, while the dog thus attacked ran away yelping and howling. When dislodged, "Gyp's" pinions bore him swiftly away from the reach of the teeth of his canine adversary. "Gyp" was of a jealous disposition and did not like to see other birds petted. He has been known to kill a magpie and a raven. It was dangerous to put money down in the presence of "Gyp" for "Gyp" had the propensity of picking it up and of flying away with it. On one occasion he seized a sovereign which a customer put down. As "Gyp" had several hiding places where he deposited "stolen articles," as spoons, knives, forks, etc., diligent search was made but the valuable coin was never discovered. The last account we heard of "Gyp" was that he was taken down to Shropshire and that the poor bird died. Mr. W. Puttick, to whom we are indebted for some curious pieces of information, says, "One of the notabilities at the Red House beside the Raven whose bites I have often experienced was a half-witted man who went by the name of 'Billy' the nutman. He used to carry a bag of nuts and a dial, people paid a penny and turned a hand and had nuts for their money. I have often seen this man stand in the water and let the pigeon shooters shoot at him for a few pence, his gesticulations and grotesque movements at the same time exciting from the spectators shouts and roars of laughter."
Mr. Wright took the house of Mr. Swaine, but after Mr. Wright left, the house was taken by a man of the name of Ireland.
James Rock, a respectable ferryman and lighterman, whose house was hard by, was accidentally drowned in the river Thames, August, 1874. His son, George Rock, is now Pier-master at Battersea Park Railway Pier.
The "Red House" was famed for aquatic sports. Adjoining the premises were grounds for pigeon and sparrow-shooting, and the performance of athletic feats. Pigeons were there sold to be shot at, at 15s. per dozen; starlings at 4s., and sparrows at 2s. The place attained a notoriety not surpassed by the number of excursionists who in summer visit Rye House. Subsequently the Red House with its shooting ground andadjacent premises was purchased by the Government for £10,000.
"The Old House at Home" was a small thatched hut, kept by Farmer Hall, where beer was sold direct from the cask, to be drunken on the premises. It answered the six-fold purpose of shop, dormitory, fowl-house, pig-sty, stable and cow-shed. Within this hovel were gathered pigs, fowls, cats, dogs, singing-birds, ducks, cows, horses and donkeys, which, together with the landlord and his customers who regaled themselves here, constituted a "happy family!" This was a famous place for "egg flip," which consisted of new-laid eggs taken from the hens' nests, beat up in hot ale or porter, sweetened with sugar, and sold to persons who preferred roaming about at mid-night or in the small hours of the morning.
On the Lammas land, in the summer months, gipsies pitched their encampments. On Sundays the place presented the aspect of a pleasure fair, lawlessness, Sabbath desecration, immorality, and vice were rampant. At length the place became a scandal and a public disgrace, and even now, notwithstanding the vast improvements in the neighbourhood, Battersea, as a Parish, to a certain extent is ignored, and persons would no more have smiled at Battersea Park being called Lambeth Park than they do now at Clapham Junction being called by that misnomer, and so with other parts of the parish. A great boon was conferred upon the inhabitants of the South-west of London when this infamous locality was converted into a public park. The intolerable nuisance complained of did not take place previously to the year 1835, after Lord Spencer's first sale when the land fell into the hands of small proprietors. Irrespective of social propriety, public decency and order, horse-racing, donkey-riding, fortune-telling, gambling, cock-shying, swings, roundabouts, boxing, and all the paraphernalia of a pleasure fair with its concomitant evils were the constant scenes witnessed here on Sundays. Mr. Thomas Kirk (now Curate of St. George's) who was for many years a Missionary in Battersea, in his report published in the "London City Mission Magazine," September 1, 1870, states, "that which made this part of Battersea Fields so notorious was the gaming, sporting, and pleasure-grounds at the 'Red House' and 'Balloon' public-houses, and Sunday fairs, held throughout the Summer months. These have been the places of resort of hundreds and thousands, from royalty and nobility down to the poorest pauper and the meanest beggar. And surely if ever there was a place out of hell which surpassed Sodom and Gomorrah in ungodliness and abomination this was it. Here the worst men and the vilest of the human race seemed to try to outvie each other in wicked deeds. I have gone to this sad spot on the afternoon and evening of the Lord's day, when there have been from 60 to 120 horses and donkeys racing, foot-racing, walking matches, flying boats, flying horses, roundabouts, theatres, comic actors, shameless dancers, conjurers, fortune-tellers, gamblers of every description, drinking booths, stalls, hawkers, and vendors of all kinds of articles. It would take a more graphic pen than mine to describe the mingled shouts and noises and the unmentionable doings of this pandemonium on earth. I once asked the pierman 'how many people were landed on Sunday from that pier?' He told me that according to theweather, he had landed from 10,000 to 15,000 people! This influx was besides that by the various land roads by which hundreds of thousands used to come, till the numbers have sometimes been computed at 40,000 and 50,000." Mr. Thomas Cubitt, in 1843, suggested to Her Majesty's Commission for Improving the Metropolis the advisability of laying Battersea Fields out as pleasure-grounds, and this design was subsequently pressed upon their attention by the Hon. and Rev. Robert John Eden. An Act of Parliament passed in 1846 empowered Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods to form a Royal Park in Battersea Fields. Acts to enlarge their powers were passed in 1848, 1851 and 1853, by which a Commission, incorporated as the Battersea Park Commission was appointed with power to sell, demise or lease lands not required for the park. Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Pennethorne's plan was approved, by which 320 acres were to be enclosed at an estimated cost of £154,250. The fields were entirely overflowed by the river at high water, until about three hundred years ago when an embankment was raised, and the land reclaimed.[1]Brayley referringto this period says, "The land reclaimed went to the Lord of the Manor, but was subject to some ill-defined rights of inter-commonage exercised by the inhabitants of Battersea at stated periods of the year. From various causes these rights have been nearly extinguished and most of the land is now held by different proprietors, and partly let for building and other uses." Wild flowers grew abundantly in Battersea Fields.[2]A learned botanist in the lastcentury compiled a flora of Battersea, and many of the plants that luxuriated in these fields were not to be met with elsewhere, except at places much farther from London. Its surface was raised by a million cubic yards of earth from various sources, particularly from the London Docks (Victoria) Extension. The Park comprises 198 acres, was purchased at a cost of £246,517, and laid out in 1852-58 at a further cost of £66,373. In 1857 planting was commenced. Up to this period the works had been executed under Mr. Pennethorne, Architect of the Office of Works, when the late Mr. Farrow was appointed to take charge and complete the unfinished works. The park has a grass surface of nearly 66 acres. About 40 acres are set apart for cricket and croquet. There are two match grounds, which, together, admit of seven matches being played at the same time. On these grounds between 600 and 700 matches are played annually. The spaces are assigned by ballot. There is a practice-ground for organized adult cricket clubs, on which from 70 to 90 cricket clubs practice on different days; and a general practice ground, appropriated to schools and junior clubs, and the public generally. The season for cricket is from 1st May to 30th September. Other large spaces are used for the drill and exercise of troops stationed at Chelsea Barracks. Various volunteer corps as also the district police are drilled here. The park contains one of the richest collections of shrubs and trees in or near London. Its soil is specially suited to the rose, so that visitors who take delight in the queen of the English garden resort to the rosery.
[1]It was a miserable swamp, said to have been gained for the parish of Battersea by the act of charitably burying a drowned man there who had been refused sepulture in the adjoining parish. This act was held in a subsequent law-suit to prove a right of ownership, and thus a good deed was amply recompensed.On the northern side of the river Thames is conspicuously situated that grand national asylum for decayed and maimed soldiers known as Chelsea Hospital. This Hospital was begun by Charles II., carried on by James II., and completed by William III. in 1690. The first projector of Chelsea Hospital was Stephen Fox, grandfather to the Hon. Charles Fox. "He could not abear," he said "to see these soldiers, who had ventured their lives, and spent their strength in the service of their country, reduced to beg." And with the munificence of a philanthropist, he subscribed £13,000 towards the establishment of the Hospital. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, at a cost of £150,000, on the site of an old theological college escheated to the Crown. In 1850 there were 70,000outand 539in pensioners. The body of the Duke of Wellington lay here in state 10-17 Nov., 1852. Ranelagh Gardens lay at the northern foot of Vauxhall Bridge, a portion now forming the pleasure-grounds of Chelsea Hospital, and were formerly the gardens of Lord Ranelagh's Mansion. They were opened 1733. The amusement were masquerades, illuminated and day-light fêtes, dancing, music, and promenading, which was continued until the end of the century. The grand rotundo, which somewhat resembled the Pantheon of Rome, had an external diameter 185 feet, the internal 150. It was taken down in 1805. In Cheyne Walk was a famous Coffee-House, first opened in 1695, by one Salter a barber, who drew the attention of the public by the eccentricity of his conduct, and furnished his house with a large collection of natural and other curiosities. Admiral Munden and other officers who had been much on the Coast of Spain enriched it with many curiosities and gave the owner the name of Don Saltero, by which he is mentioned more than once in the "Tatler," particularly in No. 34. This coffee-house was frequented by Richard Cromwell and many of the wits and authors of that day. "The Folly," a gilded barge where music and dancing and other amusements delighted the beaux and belles of the day of the Restoration, was moored in the Thames not far from the Modern Cremorne. Adjoining Chelsea Hospital is the Physic Garden belonging to the Company of Apothecaries, which was enriched with a great variety of plants, both indigenous and exotic, and given in 1721 by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., on condition of their paying a quit-rent of £5, and delivering annually to the Royal Society fifty specimens of different sorts of plants of the growth of this garden till the number amounted to 2,000. In 1733 the Company erected a marble statue of the donor, by Rysbrack, in the centre of the garden, the front of which was conspicuously marked toward the river by two noble cedars of Lebanon, the first ever planted in England, of which only one remains. Sir Hans Sloane was born at Killileagh in the north of Ireland, in 1660, of Scottish extraction. He retired at the age of eighty to Chelsea, to enjoy a peaceful tranquillity, the remains of a well-spent life. He died Jan. 11, 1752. He published the "History of Jamaica" in 2 vols. folio. In the churchyard is the monument of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., founder of the British Museum; and on the south-west corner of the church is affixed a mural monument to the memory of Dr. Edward Chamberlayne, with a punning Latin epitaph, which for its quaintness, may detain the reader's attention. In the church is a still more curious Latin epitaph on his daughter; from which we learn, that, on the 30th of June, 1690, she fought, in men's clothing, six hours against the French, on board a fire-ship under the command of her brother. The Chelsea Embankment extends along the north bank of the river from Chelsea Hospital to Albert Suspension Bridge; it was opened 9th May, 1874, by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lieut. Col. Sir James Magnaghten Hogg, M.P., Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works; Sir Joseph Bazalgette, C.B., Engineer. A beautiful view of Chelsea Embankment with its adjacent buildings may be had from the broad Boulevard running along the river-side in Battersea Park; including the lofty spire of St. Luke's Church, Old Chelsea Church, the Gardens of the Apothecaries' Company, the fine old trees and picturesque Dutch-like houses of Cheyne Walk, the Gardens and Buildings of Chelsea Hospital, the New Barracks beyond, and the lofty Pumping Station and Tower near Grosvenor Road Station.
[1]It was a miserable swamp, said to have been gained for the parish of Battersea by the act of charitably burying a drowned man there who had been refused sepulture in the adjoining parish. This act was held in a subsequent law-suit to prove a right of ownership, and thus a good deed was amply recompensed.
On the northern side of the river Thames is conspicuously situated that grand national asylum for decayed and maimed soldiers known as Chelsea Hospital. This Hospital was begun by Charles II., carried on by James II., and completed by William III. in 1690. The first projector of Chelsea Hospital was Stephen Fox, grandfather to the Hon. Charles Fox. "He could not abear," he said "to see these soldiers, who had ventured their lives, and spent their strength in the service of their country, reduced to beg." And with the munificence of a philanthropist, he subscribed £13,000 towards the establishment of the Hospital. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, at a cost of £150,000, on the site of an old theological college escheated to the Crown. In 1850 there were 70,000outand 539in pensioners. The body of the Duke of Wellington lay here in state 10-17 Nov., 1852. Ranelagh Gardens lay at the northern foot of Vauxhall Bridge, a portion now forming the pleasure-grounds of Chelsea Hospital, and were formerly the gardens of Lord Ranelagh's Mansion. They were opened 1733. The amusement were masquerades, illuminated and day-light fêtes, dancing, music, and promenading, which was continued until the end of the century. The grand rotundo, which somewhat resembled the Pantheon of Rome, had an external diameter 185 feet, the internal 150. It was taken down in 1805. In Cheyne Walk was a famous Coffee-House, first opened in 1695, by one Salter a barber, who drew the attention of the public by the eccentricity of his conduct, and furnished his house with a large collection of natural and other curiosities. Admiral Munden and other officers who had been much on the Coast of Spain enriched it with many curiosities and gave the owner the name of Don Saltero, by which he is mentioned more than once in the "Tatler," particularly in No. 34. This coffee-house was frequented by Richard Cromwell and many of the wits and authors of that day. "The Folly," a gilded barge where music and dancing and other amusements delighted the beaux and belles of the day of the Restoration, was moored in the Thames not far from the Modern Cremorne. Adjoining Chelsea Hospital is the Physic Garden belonging to the Company of Apothecaries, which was enriched with a great variety of plants, both indigenous and exotic, and given in 1721 by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., on condition of their paying a quit-rent of £5, and delivering annually to the Royal Society fifty specimens of different sorts of plants of the growth of this garden till the number amounted to 2,000. In 1733 the Company erected a marble statue of the donor, by Rysbrack, in the centre of the garden, the front of which was conspicuously marked toward the river by two noble cedars of Lebanon, the first ever planted in England, of which only one remains. Sir Hans Sloane was born at Killileagh in the north of Ireland, in 1660, of Scottish extraction. He retired at the age of eighty to Chelsea, to enjoy a peaceful tranquillity, the remains of a well-spent life. He died Jan. 11, 1752. He published the "History of Jamaica" in 2 vols. folio. In the churchyard is the monument of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., founder of the British Museum; and on the south-west corner of the church is affixed a mural monument to the memory of Dr. Edward Chamberlayne, with a punning Latin epitaph, which for its quaintness, may detain the reader's attention. In the church is a still more curious Latin epitaph on his daughter; from which we learn, that, on the 30th of June, 1690, she fought, in men's clothing, six hours against the French, on board a fire-ship under the command of her brother. The Chelsea Embankment extends along the north bank of the river from Chelsea Hospital to Albert Suspension Bridge; it was opened 9th May, 1874, by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lieut. Col. Sir James Magnaghten Hogg, M.P., Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works; Sir Joseph Bazalgette, C.B., Engineer. A beautiful view of Chelsea Embankment with its adjacent buildings may be had from the broad Boulevard running along the river-side in Battersea Park; including the lofty spire of St. Luke's Church, Old Chelsea Church, the Gardens of the Apothecaries' Company, the fine old trees and picturesque Dutch-like houses of Cheyne Walk, the Gardens and Buildings of Chelsea Hospital, the New Barracks beyond, and the lofty Pumping Station and Tower near Grosvenor Road Station.
[2]We are acquainted with an aged gentleman well skilled in medical botany who in the early part of his professional experience used to have gathered certain choice herbs for therapeutic purposes which grew abundantly in this locality.The following are the names of some of the indigenous plants:—Circea intetiana—Enchanter's Night Shade (in the lane from the fields to the Prince's Head, Battersea, uncommon in shady lanes).Valeriana dioica—Small Marsh Valerian.Fedia olitoria—Corn Salad (dry banks Battersea Fields and Lavender Sweep).Panicum Vertiullatum—Rough Panic Grass (rare).P. Viride—Green Panic Grass (near the Red House and Nine Elms).P. Crusgalli—Loose Panic Grass (near the footpath).Bromus diandrus—Upright Annual Broom Grass (rare, on an old wall near Battersea Church).Avena flavescens—Yellow Oat-Grass (not common, in the footpath from Battersea Bridge to Lavender Hill).Myosotis palustris—Great Water Scorpion Grass or, Forget me not, (ditches and marshy grounds; plentiful in Battersea Fields). An elegant plant, the emblem of affection among the Germans.Lithospermum arvense—Corn Gromwell, (Battersea Cornfields; not common).Primula vulgaris—Primrose.P. Veris—Cowslip (Fields on Lavender Hill).Hottonia palustris—Water Violet, (plentiful in Latchmere).Scirpus Triqueter—Triangular Club Rush, rare, (Banks of the Thames between Vauxhall and Battersea).Lysimachia vulgaris—Great Yellow Loose Strife.Samolus valerandi—(Brook weed, Water Pimpernel).Chenopodium bonus Henricus—English Mercury.C. olidum—Fetid Goosefoot, (rare).Cicuta Virosa—Water Hemlock, (deadly poison to men and cattle).Conium Maculatum—Common Hemlock, (a very dangerous plant).Œnanthe fistulosa—Water Dropwort.Œ. crocata—Hemlock Water Dropwort, (deadly poison to men and cattle).Œ. Phellandrium—Fine-leaved Water Dropwort, (a very poisonous plant).Smymium Olusatrum—Alexanders, (waste grounds near old houses).Ornithogalum umbellatum—Star of Bethlehem.Rumex Sanguineus—Blood-veined Dock, (rare, bank of a ditch on Lavender Hill, between the Nursery and the footpath).R. pulcher—Fiddle Dock.R. palustris—Yellow Marsh Dock.R. Hydrolapathum—Great Water Dock.Triglochin palustre— Marsh Arrow Grass.Alisma plantago—Water Plantain, (ponds and marshes).Polygonum Bistorta—Bistort, or Snake Weed.Butomus umbellatus—Flowering Rush.Saxifraga granulata—White Saxifrage.S. Tridactylites—Rue-leaved Saxifrage.Sedum reflexum—Reflex Yellow Stonecrop.Lychnis flos Cuculi—Meadow Lychnis.Chelidonium majus—Celandine.Papaver dubium—Long Smooth-headed Poppy.Stratiotes aloides—Water Aloe.Thalictrum flavum—Common Meadow Rue.Nepeta Cataria—Cat Mint.Lamium incisum—Cut-leaved dead Nettle.Scutellaria galericulata—Common Scull Cap.Prunella vulgaris—Self Heal.Pedicularis palustris—Tall Red Rattle.Antirrhinum Cymbalaria—Joy-leaved Snapdragon.A. spurium—Round-leaved Fluellin or Snapdragon.A. orontium—Lesser Snapdragon, (Cornfields, etc., Battersea Fields).Cochlearia armoracia—Horse Raddish.Nasturtum amphibium—Amphibious Yellow Cress.Sisyonbrium irio—Broad Hedge Mustard.S. sophia—Fine-leaved Hedge Mustard.Erysimum Cheiranthoides—Worm-seed Treacle Mustard.Geranium pratense—Blue Meadow Crane's Bill.G. Robertianum—Herb Robert.G. Lucidum—Shining Crane's Bill.G. pyrenaicum—Perennial Dove's-foot Crane's Bill.G. rotundifolium—Soft Round-leaved Crane's Bill, (by the road side near the Prince's Head, Battersea).Malva rotundifolia—Dwarf Mallow.Lathyrus aphaca—Yellow Vetching.Ervum hirsutum—Hairy Tare, (Osier ground near Battersea).Trifolium fragiferum—Strawberry-headed Trefoil.Hypericum humifusum—Trailing St. John's Wort.H. pulchrum—Small upright St. John's Wort.Tragnopogon pratensis—Yellow Goat's Beard.Cichorium Intybus—Wild Endive; or, Succory.Onopordum Acanthium—Common Cotton Thistle.Bidens cernua—Nodding Bur-Marygold.Tusslago Petasites—Butter Bur.Orchis morioandmaculataare said to have been found in Battersea Meadows.Listera ovata—Common Twayblade.Typha augustifolia—Lesser Cat's Tail; or, Reedmace.Sparganium ramosum—Branched Bur-Reed.Carex dioica—Common Separate-headed Carex.C. remota—Remote Carex.C. riparia—Common Bank Carex.Sagittaria sagittifolia—Arrow Head.Mercurialis annua—Annual Mercury.Equisetum limosum—Smooth naked Horsetail.See a catalogue of the rarer species of indigenous plants which have been observed growing in the vicinity of Clapham; systematically arranged according to their class and order, with a reference to the figures in English Botany, printed in a deeply interesting work entitled "Clapham and its Environs," by David Batten.
[2]We are acquainted with an aged gentleman well skilled in medical botany who in the early part of his professional experience used to have gathered certain choice herbs for therapeutic purposes which grew abundantly in this locality.
The following are the names of some of the indigenous plants:—
Circea intetiana—Enchanter's Night Shade (in the lane from the fields to the Prince's Head, Battersea, uncommon in shady lanes).Valeriana dioica—Small Marsh Valerian.Fedia olitoria—Corn Salad (dry banks Battersea Fields and Lavender Sweep).Panicum Vertiullatum—Rough Panic Grass (rare).P. Viride—Green Panic Grass (near the Red House and Nine Elms).P. Crusgalli—Loose Panic Grass (near the footpath).Bromus diandrus—Upright Annual Broom Grass (rare, on an old wall near Battersea Church).Avena flavescens—Yellow Oat-Grass (not common, in the footpath from Battersea Bridge to Lavender Hill).Myosotis palustris—Great Water Scorpion Grass or, Forget me not, (ditches and marshy grounds; plentiful in Battersea Fields). An elegant plant, the emblem of affection among the Germans.Lithospermum arvense—Corn Gromwell, (Battersea Cornfields; not common).Primula vulgaris—Primrose.P. Veris—Cowslip (Fields on Lavender Hill).Hottonia palustris—Water Violet, (plentiful in Latchmere).Scirpus Triqueter—Triangular Club Rush, rare, (Banks of the Thames between Vauxhall and Battersea).Lysimachia vulgaris—Great Yellow Loose Strife.Samolus valerandi—(Brook weed, Water Pimpernel).Chenopodium bonus Henricus—English Mercury.C. olidum—Fetid Goosefoot, (rare).Cicuta Virosa—Water Hemlock, (deadly poison to men and cattle).Conium Maculatum—Common Hemlock, (a very dangerous plant).Œnanthe fistulosa—Water Dropwort.Œ. crocata—Hemlock Water Dropwort, (deadly poison to men and cattle).Œ. Phellandrium—Fine-leaved Water Dropwort, (a very poisonous plant).Smymium Olusatrum—Alexanders, (waste grounds near old houses).Ornithogalum umbellatum—Star of Bethlehem.Rumex Sanguineus—Blood-veined Dock, (rare, bank of a ditch on Lavender Hill, between the Nursery and the footpath).R. pulcher—Fiddle Dock.R. palustris—Yellow Marsh Dock.R. Hydrolapathum—Great Water Dock.Triglochin palustre— Marsh Arrow Grass.Alisma plantago—Water Plantain, (ponds and marshes).Polygonum Bistorta—Bistort, or Snake Weed.Butomus umbellatus—Flowering Rush.Saxifraga granulata—White Saxifrage.S. Tridactylites—Rue-leaved Saxifrage.Sedum reflexum—Reflex Yellow Stonecrop.Lychnis flos Cuculi—Meadow Lychnis.Chelidonium majus—Celandine.Papaver dubium—Long Smooth-headed Poppy.Stratiotes aloides—Water Aloe.Thalictrum flavum—Common Meadow Rue.Nepeta Cataria—Cat Mint.Lamium incisum—Cut-leaved dead Nettle.Scutellaria galericulata—Common Scull Cap.Prunella vulgaris—Self Heal.Pedicularis palustris—Tall Red Rattle.Antirrhinum Cymbalaria—Joy-leaved Snapdragon.A. spurium—Round-leaved Fluellin or Snapdragon.A. orontium—Lesser Snapdragon, (Cornfields, etc., Battersea Fields).Cochlearia armoracia—Horse Raddish.Nasturtum amphibium—Amphibious Yellow Cress.Sisyonbrium irio—Broad Hedge Mustard.S. sophia—Fine-leaved Hedge Mustard.Erysimum Cheiranthoides—Worm-seed Treacle Mustard.Geranium pratense—Blue Meadow Crane's Bill.G. Robertianum—Herb Robert.G. Lucidum—Shining Crane's Bill.G. pyrenaicum—Perennial Dove's-foot Crane's Bill.G. rotundifolium—Soft Round-leaved Crane's Bill, (by the road side near the Prince's Head, Battersea).Malva rotundifolia—Dwarf Mallow.Lathyrus aphaca—Yellow Vetching.Ervum hirsutum—Hairy Tare, (Osier ground near Battersea).Trifolium fragiferum—Strawberry-headed Trefoil.Hypericum humifusum—Trailing St. John's Wort.H. pulchrum—Small upright St. John's Wort.Tragnopogon pratensis—Yellow Goat's Beard.Cichorium Intybus—Wild Endive; or, Succory.Onopordum Acanthium—Common Cotton Thistle.Bidens cernua—Nodding Bur-Marygold.Tusslago Petasites—Butter Bur.Orchis morioandmaculataare said to have been found in Battersea Meadows.Listera ovata—Common Twayblade.Typha augustifolia—Lesser Cat's Tail; or, Reedmace.Sparganium ramosum—Branched Bur-Reed.Carex dioica—Common Separate-headed Carex.C. remota—Remote Carex.C. riparia—Common Bank Carex.Sagittaria sagittifolia—Arrow Head.Mercurialis annua—Annual Mercury.Equisetum limosum—Smooth naked Horsetail.
See a catalogue of the rarer species of indigenous plants which have been observed growing in the vicinity of Clapham; systematically arranged according to their class and order, with a reference to the figures in English Botany, printed in a deeply interesting work entitled "Clapham and its Environs," by David Batten.
The Sub-tropical Garden opened in August, 1864, is nearly four acres in extent. It is situated at the head of the ornamental watersurrounded by sloping banks, parterres and rolling lawns. In this region flourish palms, tree-ferns, plants with large leaves, gigantic grasses, and the climbers and creepers of Equatorial forests and jungles. India-rubber trees, castor-oil plants, Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese privet, the banana of Abyssinia recalling the expedition to Magdala; the papyrus plant of Egypt, the veritable bulrush of the Nile, the beautiful scarlet foliage of the dragon's blood tree from South America, the large-leaved tobacco plant, the caladium esculentum from the West Indies, the neottopteris australis etc., besides a variety of other vegetable forms from the tropics. Eastward of the Sub-tropical Garden is situated the Peninsula, containing some of the choicest combinations of floral work, resembling in pattern the most exquisite tapestry. The Alpine point gives a miniature representation of the valleys and mountain-peaks of Alpine scenery. Several little hills are so arranged as to show in miniature the ascending zones of vegetation, beginning with the low warm plains with palms, and leading up to snow-clad heights. The snow is represented by gnaphalium tementosum. The lake, rocks, waterfalls and landscapes are truly picturesque, being so arranged as to produce the most pleasing effect.
The ornamental water covers 23 acres of ground, with an average depth of 2½ feet. Ornithological specimens of the web-footed class afford sport for the aged as well as for the young who feed the aquatic birds with cake, biscuit and crumbs of bread. Besides a large colony of Moorhens that have settled down in these friendly waters may be seen Chinese, Egyptian and Barnacle geese, and Carolina and Muscovy ducks; also
"The Swan, with arch'd neckBetween her white wings mantling proudly, rowsHer state with oary feet"
The lark, the linnet, the thrush, the black-bird join in chorus to fill the air with their bird-song. At night passers-by are charmed with the sweet, rich mellow notes of
"The merry nightingale,That crowds, and hurries, and precipitates,With fast thick warble his delicious notes,As if he were fearful that an April nightWould be too short for him to utter forthHis love chant."Coleridge.
It may not be uninteresting for the naturalist to know that larva of the goat moth (cossus ligniperda) inhabits poplars and willows in Battersea Park. This park too is considered famous for the congregation of vast flocks of starlings just before their migration.
Boating here is a safe and enjoyable amusement. Skiffs are one shilling per hour, party boats eighteenpence. In Winter, when the water is frozen over, it is quite an area for skaters.
The lake is an artificial one, and is fed partly from the Thames and partly by a steam engine fixed for the purpose of supplying the park with water for the lodges, drinking-fountains, roads, flower-beds, etc.
The Gymnasium is in the South-western portion of the park. On the adjacent sward Sunday and other schools may hold theirannual treats. In the space thus appropriated preaching is allowed and public meetings are permitted.
Nearly at the centre of the Peninsula there is a reservoir which is excavated below the level of the neighbouring springs. The water from this self-supplied source is as clear as crystal; it is pumped into an elevated tank above the engine house which holds 20,000 gallons, from which are laid service pipes for the supply of the park.
The avenue occupies a central position of the park; the trees are the English elm. This affords an enjoyable and shady promenade.
The horse ride or equestrian road, about forty feet wide, nearly encircles the park and is almost two miles in length. Here is also an excellent carriage drive separate from the latter by a row of young plane trees. There are numerous seats in the park for the accommodation of the public. Situated in the centre of the park is a band-stand. The band plays in the Summer and Autumnal months for the entertainment of those who are fond of instrumental music.
There are two refreshment rooms where light refreshments can be obtained at moderate prices. The lodges too are appropriated to the public and offer refreshments and cloak-rooms.
The advantage of a river frontage possessed by Battersea Park is shown by the fact that upwards of 12,000 persons have landed at the Park Pier on fine Summer days. On Sundays, when Chelsea Bridge is free, in fine weather, 40,000 or 50,000 people have been in the park.
The public owe a tribute of grateful respect to the late Mr. John Gibson, of Surrey Lane, whose acquaintance with horticulture and the science of botany was something considerable, who for about fifteen years was Park Superintendent. That gentleman went on a Botanical Mission to India for and at the expense of the Duke of Devonshire. The manner in which portions of the park are disposed was from designs originally his own. The new rock work is by Mr. Pulham, of Broxbourne. Mr. Alexander Rogers is at present Park Superintendent; Mr. E. W. Partridge, Inspector. There are twelve Park Constables, viz., Mr. J. Cook, South-east Lodge; J. Hawkins, South Lodge; Edwin Ashby, West Lodge; George Weedon, Charles Page, William Jones, James Powell, J. Pointer, George Dicks, W. Sheppard, Isaac Chamberlain, William Withers, Mr. Dowly, Foreman of the Gardeners. On an average about forty gardeners are employed in the park. The park is under the Commissioners of Works, No. 12, Whitehall.[1]
[1]On Battersea Park Embankment, near where the Albert Bridge now spans the river, lies like some ancient ruin the beautiful Portico of Burlington House. It was when removed from Piccadilly in 1868 to have been re-erected in the Park.
[1]On Battersea Park Embankment, near where the Albert Bridge now spans the river, lies like some ancient ruin the beautiful Portico of Burlington House. It was when removed from Piccadilly in 1868 to have been re-erected in the Park.
The park was opened March 28th, 1858.
In 1862 the Royal Agricultural Society of England held their Annual Show in Battersea Park.
Recently some beautiful villas in Queen Anne's style have been built in Albert road.
Opposite the Western gate a site has been chosen for the erection of a Chapel-of-Ease to St. Mary's.
At the angle facing the South-western gate two stately mansions have recently been erected contiguous to each other, called Lancaster Tower and Strathedon House.
The two Circular Engine sheds, about 90 yards in diameter, belonging to the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway Company, adjacent to the East-end of the Park, Victoria Road, built about seven years since, show a marked difference to the small wooden shed they erected some eighteen years ago when they had convenience for only four engines. The present sheds are very soundly built, and can accommodate 56 engines which work from the end of the line, there being 63 engines at work when there is no extra traffic, which is not very often the case. The locomotive staff numbers upwards of 300 hands, the major part being drivers, firemen, and cleaners, who muster 200. They have every facility for doing work required in a prompt manner. There is an engine-hoist which will lift an engine of forty or more tons in a very short time. The break-down van stands in one of the sheds ready at a moment's notice for any casualty that might happen. This is fitted up with hydraulic apparatus and every appliance for getting engines and other vehicles on the line quickly. The method of coaling engines is very good. Half-ton trolleys are loaded out of the trucks of coal, which can be moved with ease by one man on the iron-plated coal stage, from which it is shot on the tender of the engine; so that one man can in a few minutes put one or two tons of coal on a tender. Three hundred tons of coal are kept in stock, and the weekly consumption is about five hundred tons. The sheds are remarkably clean, being constantly whitewashed, and the engines, which are kept clean and fresh painted, to use a figurative expression, are perfect pictures. The passenger engines are a light brown color and the goods engines are a dark green. The offices attached to the sheds are at the entrance in one of the railway arches, and suit in every way the requirements of the place, and when inside one would hardly think it was only a railway arch. Other arches have been fitted up as work-shops for the mechanics, and another arch is entirely appropriated for the stores. Also an arch has been utilized so as to form a comfortable mess-room for enginemen and firemen, with cooking apparatus, lockers, and lavatory; adjoining which is a room similarly fitted up for the engine cleaners. Although these works are fraught with many dangers, it is rarely that any serious casualty occurs. District Loco. Superintendent, Albany Richardson, Esq.; Assistant Superintendent, Mr. John Richardson.
There are two gauges known as the Stephenson or narrow gauge, 4-ft. 8½-in., and the broad gauge 7 feet between the rails introduced by the younger Brunel on the Great Western Railway.
The locomotives on the Brighton and South-Coast Railway are constructed for the narrow gauge. The "Kensington," No. 205, belonging to the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway Company, is a four-wheel coupled engine, designed by W. Stroudley, Esq., Locomotive Engineer. Diameter of cylinders, 17 inches; stroke, 24 inches; diameter of driving and trailing wheels, 6 feet 6 inches; leading wheel, 4 feet 3 inches; wheel base, 16 feet 3 inches; number of tubes, 260; diameter of ditto outside, 1½ inch;length of ditto, 10 feet 11¾ inches; area of fire-grate, 10.25 square feet; pressure of steam, 140 lbs. per square inch; tube surface, 1,125 square feet; fire-box surface, 112 feet; total surface, 1,237. The total weight of this class of engine and tender when loaded is about 50 tons, and will convey a load of 236 tons at a speed of 40 miles an hour.
This class of engine was constructed for running the express traffic, which in the season is very heavy on this line. Cost of engine about £2500.
"A pint of water is converted into two hundred and sixteen gallons of steam by two ounces of coal, and has sufficient power to lift thirty-seven tons; the steam thus produced has a pressure equal to that of common atmospheric air. By allowing it to expand, by virtue of its elasticity a further mechanical force may be obtained, at least equal in amount to the former. A pint of water therefore, and two ounces of coal are thus rendered capable of raising seventy-four tons a foot high. Two hundred feet of steam can be condensed in one second by four ounces of water, and their expansive power reduced to one-fifth."
The first person who sought to apply the expansive force of steam as a motive power to machinery was an Egyptian, Hero of Alexandria, who lived about 15 years before Christ.
In the year 1543, Basco de Garay, a Spanish captain, astonished the world by asserting that he would propel a vessel without sails or oars. The Emperor Charles V. ordered the experiment to be made, and on the 17th of June a vessel called the "Trinity," of 200 tons burden was moved by wheels turned by steam at the rate of two leagues in three hours. To Spain belongs the honour of having invented the first steam vessel.
In the annals of the steam-engine are enumerated the names of Solomon de Caus, Giovanni Branci (1629). Edward Somerset, (1698). Newcomen, Cawley, Humphrey Potter (an engine boy), and Smeaton. But it is to the master spirit and inventive genius of James Watt the mathematical instrument maker who was born at Greenock in Scotland January 19, 1736, that we are indebted for the high state of efficiency to which our modern steam-engine has been brought. Matthew Bolton of Birmingham undertook the enterprise of introducing Watt's condensing engine into general use as a great working power.
Samuel Smiles says, "Many skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to the steam-engine; and by numerous modifications rendered it capable of being applied to nearly all the purposes of manufacture—driving machinery, impelling ships, grinding corn, printing books, stamping money, hammering, planing, and turning iron; in short of performing every description of mechanical labour where power is required. One of the most useful modifications in the engine was that devised by Trevithick, and eventually perfected by George Stephenson and his Son, in the form of the railway locomotive, by which social changes of immense importance have been brought about of even greater consequence, considered in their results on human progress and civilization than the condensing engine of Watt."
The Stockton and Darlington Railway was one of the first examplesof locomotive power on a railway for passengers. Mr. Murdock was the first Englishman who in the year 1784 constructed a non-condensing steam locomotive of lilliputian dimensions. It is to be seen at South Kensington, in the Patent Museum.
Battersea Wharf, belonging to the Brighton, and South-Coast Railway Company, close to Chelsea Bridge, combines a water frontage affording facility for discharging cargoes of goods for and from all parts of the Brighton, South-Eastern, London, Chatham and Dover Railways. The traffic during the last ten years has very sensibly increased, and the point itself has become an important place and of great convenience to the public.—Manager, Mr. William Everest.
The London and Brighton Railway was opened 21st September, 1841. In 1873, Number of miles open 345; gross receipts for the same year including 31st December, £1,618,461.
Comparative statement of traffic returns for week ending October 6th, 1877, to corresponding week in 1876. Total miles open 379¾.
Receipts, 1877,Receipts, 1876,Increase,£40,425.£37,210.£3,215.
That part of Battersea known as Long-Hedge Farm which was kept by a Mr. Matson and afterwards by Mr. Graham, is now partially inclosed by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Locomotive Works. The land originally purchased by the Railway Company was about 75 acres, and nearly one-half this space is appropriated to the Locomotive Department and Goods traffic yard.
The Works were built by Messrs. Peto and Betts, from designs furnished by Joseph Cubitt, Esq., engineer, and finished in the year 1863, (two years ago the erecting shop was enlarged). The name, however, is still retained and the Works are called Long-Hedge Works. These Works are surrounded with a wall ten feet high. There are six gates, but the principal entrance to the Works is at the gate by the time-keeper's office; the other five gates are used for shunting purposes. Within this enclosure no person is allowed to go except on business, and this rule is strictly carried out. There are the boiler-shop, the tender-shop, erecting shop, copper-smiths' shop, fitting-shop, brass-finishers' shop, pattern-makers' shop, smiths' shop, boiler-house with three large boilers, which drive the large stationary engine. The whole of these buildings, which consists of a series of ranges, are substantially built of brick, with walls of immense thickness. On the south side is the stores department. At the east-end of the turnery is the Superintendent's office, clerks' offices, etc. The area between each shop has an intersection of rails communicating with the line.
The lower turnery is 250 feet long and 44 wide. It has twenty-five windows on either side; the dimensions of each window is 12 feet by 3, and a third portion of each window can be opened or closed at pleasure for ventilation; also three pairs of double doors of the same height as the windows, and wide enough to admit a truck or carriage. There are lines of rails laid parallel with the building, both on the outside and through the centre. Opposite each of the large doors, both inside and out, are turn tables to connect the shops with any part of the yard. The floor is laid with blocks of wood about five inches square. Around large steam-pipesare laid on either side of the shop to add to the comfort and convenience of the men. The shaft which gives motion to the machinery passes through the centre of the shop and the machinery on each side. Towards one extremity of this range of building is the engine house, in which are two beautifully-finished high and low pressure horizontal engines of one hundred horse power, which drive all the machinery and fan-blasts for smiths. There are three boilers, each thirty feet long, and six feet in diameter, having pressure of forty pounds upon every square inch. The shaft belonging to the stationary engine is forty-seven yards high.
In the lower turnery there is a double-headed slot-wheel, three large wheel lathes, and two small wheel lathes; the small are for carriage wheels. There are also three fifteen-inch lathes, two crank lathes for turning crank axles, two twelve-inch lathes, two large boring machines—one of these is a radial machine for boring tube plates; one boring machine for cylinders, also one large planing machine for the same purpose, and one hydraulic press for taking off axles. On the same basement with the turnery is the Loco. Manager's office.
Leaving the turnery we ascend a broad and substantial staircase of wood overlaid with sheet-lead, leading to the fitting-shop which is over the turning shop. On the same story is the brass-finishers' and pattern loft. The fitting-shop is light, clean, well ventilated, and comfortable. Here, as in the shop below, the shafting runs through the centre with a continuous branch of counter shafts on one side, extending the entire length of the building. The whole machinery is propelled by the same engine as that below. In this shop there is one large planing machine, nine shaping machines, six drilling machines, three slotting machines, one double-headed slot drill for cutting key-ways in axles, one twelve-inch lathe, four ten-inch lathes, four eight-inch lathes, two six-inch lathes, one ten-inch break lathe, six small planing machines of different sizes, four screwing machines, one nut-cutting machine, two grindstones, one hoist, twenty pairs of vices, etc., etc. In the brass-fitters' shop are four six-inch lathes in use for cocks, plugs, injectors, etc. Length of fitting, brass and pattern shops (inclusive) 406 feet.
The boiler shop is 200 feet in length and 48 feet in width. It has a stationary engine with machines for punching, drilling and bending the boiler-plates; also a powerful travelling crane, arranged for conveying boilers from one end of the shop to the other. The second building on the left-hand-side and facing the turnery is the erecting shop, 380 feet in length and 100 feet wide. This shop has a travelling table which runs from one end to the other, and is worked by a small engine. The use that is made of the table is to convey those engines which need repairing to the different pits. There are 42 pits in this shop with room for 42 engines. There are two travelling cranes above which run on girders; these are worked by the hand and are employed for engines. There is also a small stationary engine for driving drilling machine and grindstone, and each side has a row of vice-benches extending from one end of the shop to the other.
Not an uninteresting department is the smithery. Its length is 306 feet and it is 48 feet wide. On entering one seems to have gotinto a region where Vulcan and his Cyclops are at work, not forging thunderbolts for Jupiter, but giving shape and form to bars of half-molten iron, which shall afterwards be used in the structure of steam-engines and for other practical purposes. The scene is grand, and might supply a study for such painters as West, Stothard, Conway and Northcote. In the back ground is a depth of gloom, sombrous and murky which is relieved at intervals by the fierce glare of thirty fires. At as many anvils strong, athletic, Titan-like figures, with uplifted arm and heavy stroke scatter "as from smitten steel," sparks like brilliant stars, in all directions. Here are thirty smiths' forges, and the tools used by the smiths, as tongs, hammers, swages, etc., are arranged in racks against the walls. Here also are two steam-hammers, one fifteen tons, the other five tons. Either can be most scrupulously adjusted by aid of a small lever. Here also are furnaces, a stationary engine with fan, grindstone, and powerful shears for cutting bar-iron. Lines of rails run throughout the shop, so that the coal and iron can be conveyed to any part where it is required.
A Second Shop for Carriages, Waggons, etc., is being erected at an estimated cost of nearly £14,000.
The carriage shop is 370 feet long, 150 feet wide, 30 feet high in the centre, and is capable of containing 80 railway carriages. It is divided longitudinally into three parts by the two rows of iron pillars which support the roof. The central division is forty feet wide and is occupied by the traversing table which is used for shifting the carriages. The two side divisions are the parts for vehicles under repairs, and are also occupied by the workmens' benches, etc. The roof is composed of a light but strong iron framing covered first with deal boards, and with slates over all except the central part, which is composed almost entirely of glass. The floor consists of wood bricks, laid on a solid foundation of concrete, and is intersected by the iron rails for the carriages and traverser. At the south end are the offices, with the trimming shops above them. The shop is well and efficiently ventilated, and is furnished with a system of heating apparatus consisting of a double row of large steam-pipes passing all round under the windows. Water is laid on in ample quantities, and one of the regulations carried out with unvarying rule, is to fix hose pipes in two separate parts of the shops every night with stand pipes ready for instant use in case of fire. There are 130 windows in the shop exclusive of the roof. Most of the carriages are made of teak instead of mahogany, as being more durable as well as economical and not so likely to split when exposed to the heat of the sun.
The saw-mills are used for cutting the timber, with rack and vertical saws. It is then prepared by eleven other different machines, such as general joiner, rabbeting, grooving, tenoning, mortising, boring and moulding machines, of every description. The timber is first cut out with the hand-saw, and then shaped by a large shaping machine 5 feet 4 by 2 feet 10, with two perpendicular spindles performing upwards of 1200 revolutions a minute. The saw-mills are well arranged, the driving wheel and shafting being all underneath. Next to the saw-mills is an engine-house in which is a horizontal engine of forty horse power with two large boilers,sixty pounds pressure, made by Walter May and Co., Chelsea.
At the west end, and near "Long-Hedge House," is a small building containing the gas-meter; this, like the water-meter in the traffic yard, has its index taken every morning to show the amount of gas that has been consumed in the works.
The stores department consists of a large building, with various offices for the store keeper, clerks, and warehousemen. One half is upstairs which is fitted up with shelves, tables and pigeon-holes for the various articles kept in stock. The lower part is arranged for heavier goods, such as brass, copper, steel, and iron. There is a large yard for goods of different descriptions, and for the purpose of receiving goods brought by carriers, etc. The design of this department is to keep for immediate use almost every article used on a railway, to supply all the departments with materials for the making and keeping of the line in good condition, and to forward the goods as required to their destination on the line, and the quality of the goods is there determined before received for use.
In the running sheds engines are cleaned and running engines kept repaired, etc.[1]There are 82 locomotives, 65 of which are daily running on the line. Since the opening of the Ludgate Station on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Metropolitan Extension Line a very considerable portion of the Goods traffic is carried on at Blackfriars.—Locomotive Superintendent, W. Kirtley, Esq.; Works Manager, Mr. G. Leavers; Manager of Carriage Department, Inspector, etc., Mr. C. Spencer; Superintendent of Stores Department Mr. John Ward.