London, as may well be imagined, is largely supplied with institutions tending to the proper care of the young, the aged, the sick, and the impoverished. A few of the more important among them are worthy of the attention of strangers.
Colleges.—The two chief colleges in London are connected with theLondon University. This University is a body of persons, not (as many suppose) a building. The body was established in 1837,to confer degrees on the students or graduates of many different colleges in and about London. It occupies apartments at Burlington House, Piccadilly, lent by the government for examining purposes; but it neither teaches nor gives lectures.University College, in Gower Street, was originally calledLondon University; but since 1837, the more limited designation has been given to it.University CollegeIt was founded in 1828, on the proprietary system, to afford a good middle-class education at a moderate expense, without limitation as to religious tests. Hence it is much frequented by Jews, Parsees, Hindoos, &c. The whole range of college tuition is given, except divinity; with the addition of much fuller instruction in science and in modern languages than was before given in colleges. The building, with its lofty portico, might possibly have presented a good appearanceif the plans of the architect had been carried out; but, through want of funds, the wings have never been built, and the structure is ridiculously incomplete. The college possesses a fine collection of casts from Flaxman’s sculptures, usually open to inspection by strangers.King’s College, in the Strand, has been already mentioned as adjoining Somerset House on the east. It was founded in the same year as University College, expressly in connection with the Established Church of England. There was some sectarian bitterness between the two establishments at first, but both have settled down into a steady career of usefulness. The teaching of divinity, and the observance of church-service as part of the routine, are maintained at King’s College.Gordon College, orUniversity Hall, in Gordon Square, is an establishment mainly supported by Unitarians; the building itself, as a modern imitation of the old red-brick style, is worthy of a passing glance.New College, at St. John’s Wood, for Congregationalists or Independents; theBaptist College, in the Regent’s Park; theEnglish Presbyterian Theological College, Guildford Street, W.C.; theWesleyan College, in the Horseferry Road;Hackney College; and a few others of less note—are establishments maintained by various bodies of dissenters; some for educating ministers for the pulpit; some for training schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. Of the buildings so occupied, the handsomest is New College. This was established, a few years ago, as a substitute forHighbury,Homerton, andCowardColleges, all belonging to the Congregationalists.Gresham College: this is not a college in the modern sense of the term; it is only a lecture-room. Sir Thomas Gresham left an endowment for an annual series of lectures, and residences and stipends for the lecturers. The charity was greatly misused during the 17th and 18th centuries. Public attention having been called to the subject, a new lecture hall was built, a few years ago, at the corner of Basinghall and Gresham Streets, out of the accumulated fund; and lectures are delivered here at certain periods of each year. The subjects are divinity, physic, astronomy, geometry, law, rhetoric, and music. The lectures take place in the middle of the day, some in Latin, some in English; they are freely open to the public; butthe auditors, at such an hour and in such a place—surrounded by the busy hum of commerce—are very few in number. Among the training colleges for schoolmasters and mistresses may be named theNational Society’sat Battersea;St. Mark’s Training College, Fulham Road; theTraining Institutionfor schoolmistresses, King’s Road, Chelsea; theBritish and Foreignin the Borough Road; and theHome and Colonialin Gray’s Inn Road. At Islington is a Church of England Training College for missionaries. TheCollege of Preceptors, in Queen Square, resembles the London University in this, that it confers a sort of degree, or academical rank, but does not teach. Many so-called colleges are either proprietary or private schools.
Great Public Schools.—The chief of these in London isWestminster School, not for the building itself, but for the celebrity of the institution; although the college hall, once the refectory of the old abbots of Westminster, is interesting from its very antiquity. The school, which was founded in 1560, lies south-west of Westminster Abbey, but very near it. Some of our greatest statesmen and scholars have been educated here.St. Paul’s School, situated on the eastern side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, was founded in 1521, by Dean Colet, for the education of ‘poor men’s children.’ Like many others of the older schools, the benefits are not conferred so fully as they ought to be on the class designated. The presentations are wholly in the hands of the Mercers’ Company. The now existing school-house, the third on the same site, was built in 1823. TheCharter House School, near Aldersgate Street, is part of a charity established by Thomas Sutton in 1611. Among other great men here educated were the late Sir Henry Havelock, and W. M. Thackeray. There is an Hospital or Almshouse for about 80 ‘poor Brethren,’ men who have seen better days; and there is a school for the free education of 40 ‘poor Boys,’ with many more whose parents pay for their schooling. The chapel and ante-chapel, the great hall and staircase, and the governor’s room, are interesting parts of the building.Christ’s Hospital, or theBlue Coat School—as it is commonly called from the colour of the boys’ dress—is situated within an enclosure on the north side of Newgate Street, and is one of the most splendid among the charitable foundations ofLondon. The buildings stand on the site of a monastery of Grey-friars, which was granted by Henry VIII. to the city for the use of the poor; and his son and successor, Edward VI., greatly extended the value of the gift by granting a charter for its foundation as a charity school, and at the same time endowing it with sundry benefactions. The hospital was opened, for the reception and education of boys, in 1552. Charles II. added an endowment for a mathematical class; and with various augmentations of endowment, the annual revenue is now understood to be no less than £40,000. This income supports and educates nearly 1200 children, 500 of whom, including girls, are boarded at the town of Hertford, for the sake of country air. The management of the institution is vested in a body of governors, composed of the lord mayor and aldermen, twelve common-councilmen chosen by lot, and all benefactors to the amount of £400 and upwards. The children are admitted without reference to the City privileges of parents; about one hundred and fifty are entered annually. It is undeniable, however, that many children are admitted rather through interest than on account of the poverty of their parents. After instruction in the elementary branches of schooling, the greater number of the boys leave the hospital at the age of fifteen; those only remaining longer who intend to proceed to the university, or to go to sea after completing a course of mathematics. There are seven presentations at Cambridge, and one at Oxford, open to the scholars. The buildings of the institution embrace several structures of large dimensions, chiefly ranged round open courts, with cloisters beneath; and a Church, which also serves as a parochial place of worship. The only part of the establishment, however, worth examining for its architecture is the Great Hall, occupying the first floor of a building of modern date, designed by Mr. Shaw, in the Gothic style. It measures 187 feet long, 51 feet broad, and 47 high, and possesses an organ-gallery at the east end. In this magnificent apartment the boys breakfast, dine, and sup. Before meals, one of the elder inmates repeats a long grace or prayer, at the commencement of which the whole of the boys, in lines at their respective tables, fall on their knees. The boys are dressed in the costume selected forthem in Edward VI.’s reign; the outer garments consisting of a long dark-blue coat, breeches, and yellow worsted stockings. The ‘public suppers,’ on Thursdays in Lent, are worth the attention of strangers: (tickets from governors.)Merchant Taylors’ School, situated in a close part of the City behind the Mansion House, was founded in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors’ Company. The present structure was built in 1673, with the exception of some of the classrooms, which are much more modern. About 260 boys are educated, wholly on the presentation of members of the Company; and there are numerous fellowships at St. John’s College, Oxford, open to the scholars.Mercers’ Free Grammar School, in College Hill, is a small establishment of similar kind. TheCity of London School, in Milk Street, Cheapside, is one of the most modern of theseGrammarSchools, as they are called. It was founded in 1835, and possesses several Exhibitions for successful senior scholars.
Other Schools.—The schools established under the auspices of the National Society, calledNationalSchools, are very numerous, but need hardly be noticed here. TheBritish and Foreign School Society, in the Borough Road, and theHome and Colonial School Society, in Gray’s Inn Road, train up teachers without reference to religious tests; whereas theNational Societyis in connection with the Church of England. Many very superior schools for girls, under the designation ofLadies’ Colleges, have been established in the metropolis within the last few years, in Harley Street and in Bedford Square, &c. TheGovernment School of Art for Ladiesis in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. TheNational Art Training Schoolis at South Kensington.
The London School Board, elected in 1870, under the new Education Act, has itslocaleat 33 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. It has, practically speaking, almost entire control of the educational systems of the metropolis, and is armed with inquisitorial powers that remind us of the ancient Star Chamber. Still, the system of election of the members of the Board gives a certain guarantee of responsibility, that makes its prestige, at least, without suspicion.
Schools of Telegraphyare established at 138 Regent Street, W., and 24 City Road, E.C., where the art is fully instructed, to resident and non-resident pupils.
Hospitals and Charitable Institutions.—A small volume might readily be filled with a list of London’s charitable institutions. The charities connected in some way with the corporation of London areChrist’s Hospital, for boarding and educating youth, already mentioned;Bethlehem Hospital, Lambeth, for insane patients;St. Thomas’s Hospital, for treating poor patients diseased and hurt; andSt. Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield, for the same purpose. The City companies likewise support a number of beneficiary institutions, such as theIronmongers’ Almhousesat Kingsland, and others of like kind. The following hospitals are the most important among the large number founded and supported by private benevolence:—Guy’s Hospital, Southwark;London Hospital, Whitechapel Road;Westminster Hospital, near the Abbey;St. George’s Hospital, Hyde Park Corner;Middlesex Hospital, Charles Street, Oxford Street;University College Hospital, Gower Street;St. Luke’s Hospital, for the insane, City Road;King’s College Hospital, near Clare Market;Small-Pox Hospital, Highgate Rise; theFoundling Hospital, Great Guildford Street; theConsumption Hospital, Brompton;Charing Cross Hospital, Agar Street; theLock Hospital, Harrow Road; and theRoyal Free Hospital, Gray’s Inn Road. Besides these, there are several Lying-in hospitals, a Floating hospital on the Thames, now substituted by a part of Greenwich Hospital being devoted to a similar use; various Ophthalmic hospitals, and numerous Dispensaries and Infirmaries for particular diseases. Institutions for the relief of indigent persons, Deaf and Dumb asylums, Blind asylums, and Orphan asylums, are far too numerous to be specified. In short, there are in this great metropolis about 250 hospitals, dispensaries, infirmaries, asylums, and almshouses; besides at least 400 religious, visiting, and benevolent institutions for ministering to the various ills, mental and moral, bodily or worldly, to which an immense population is always subject. It is supposed that these several institutions receive in subscriptions considerably over £2,000,000 annually. Some of the hospital buildings above named are large and majestic in appearance. When, for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway, St. Thomas’s Hospital and site,which formerly stood close to London Bridge Station, were purchased for a sum not very much under £300,000, it was arranged to rebuild the hospital between the south end of Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Palace. This hospital, which is now completed, affords a fine object from a steamboat passing up the river, and is certainly one of the noblest buildings of its class in Europe.
This section treats of four important government buildings situated in the eastern half of the metropolis.
The Tower of London.—This famous structure, or rather group of structures, is a cluster of houses, towers, barracks, armouries, warehouses, and prison-like edifices, situated on the north bank of the Thames, and separated from the crowded narrow streets of the city by an open space of ground called Tower-hill. The Tower was founded by William the Conqueror, probably on the site of an older fortress, to secure his authority over the inhabitants of London; but the original fort which he established on the spot was greatly extended by subsequent monarchs; and in the twelfth century it was surrounded by a wet ditch, which was improved in the reign of Charles II. This ditch or moat was drained in 1843. Within the outer wall the ground measures upwards of twelve acres. Next the river there is a broad quay; and on this side also there was a channel (now closed) by which boats formerly passed into the main body of the place. This water-entrance is known by the name of Traitors’ Gate, being that by which, in former days, state prisoners were brought in boats after their trial at Westminster. There are three other entrances or postern-gates—Lion Gate, Iron Gate, and Water Gate—only two of which, however, are now used. The interior of the Tower is an irregular assemblage of short streets and courtyards, bounded by various structures. TheWhite Tower, orKeep, is the oldest of these buildings; and theChapelin it is a fine specimen of a small Norman church. Other towers are theLion Tower, near the principal entrance; theMiddle Tower, the first seenon passing the ditch; theBell Tower, adjacent to it; theBloody Tower, nearly oppositeTraitors’ Gate; theSalt Tower, near the Iron Gate;Brick Tower, where Lady Jane Grey was confined;Bowyer Tower, where the Duke of Clarence is said to have beenChapel in Towerdrowned in the butt of malmsey; andBeauchamp Tower, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned. These old towers are very curious, but few of them are open to the public. The principal objects of interest are a collection of cannon, being trophies of war; the horse armoury, a most interesting collection of suits of mail on stuffed figures; and the crown and other insignia of royalty. In theHorse Armoury, a long gallery built in 1826, is an extensive collection of armour, arranged by Sir Samuel Meyrick, a great authority on this subject. It comprises whole suits of armour, consisting of hauberks, chausses, surcoats, baldricks, breast-plates, back-plates, chain-mail sleeves and skirts, gauntlets, helmets, frontlets, vamplates, flanchards,and other pieces known to the old armourers. About twenty complete suits of armour are placed upon stuffed figures of men, mostly on stuffed horses. Four of the suits belonged to Henry VIII., Dudley Earl of Leicester, Henry Prince of Wales, and Charles I.; the others are merely intended to illustrate the kinds of armour in vogue at certain periods. One suit, of the time of Richard III.,Traitor’s Gate, Chapel White Towerwas worn by the Marquis of Waterford at the Eglinton tournament in 1839. The gallery also contains some other curiosities relating to the armour of past days.Queen Elizabeth’s Armouryis in the White Tower, the walls of which are 13 feet thick, and still contain traces of inscriptions by state prisoners in troubled times: the armoury contains many curious old shields, bows, Spanish instruments of torture, petronels, partisans, beheading axe andblock, thumb-screws, Lochaber axes, matchlocks, arquebuses, swords, &c. Immediately outside these Armouries, in the open air, are some curious cannon and mortars belonging to different ages and different countries. The newBarracksoccupy the site of the Small Arms Armoury, destroyed by fire in 1841, when 280,000 stand of arms were destroyed. TheLionsin the Tower were among the sights of the place for nearly 600 years; they were in a building near the present ticket-office, but were given to the Zoological Society in 1834. TheJewel House, a well-guarded room to the east of the Armouries, contains a valuable collection of state jewels. Among them are the following:—St. Edward’s Crown, used at all the coronations from Charles II. to William IV.; theNew State Crown, made for the coronation of Queen Victoria, and valued at more than £100,000; thePrince of Wales’sand theQueen Consort’s Crowns(the most recent wearer of the last was Queen Adelaide); theQueen’s Diadem; theRoyal Sceptre,Queen’s Sceptre, andQueen’s Ivory Sceptre; theOrband theQueen’s Orb;St. Edward’s Staffand theRod of Equity; theSwords of Mercy and of Justice; theCoronation BraceletsandRoyal Spurs; theAmpullafor the holy oil, and theCoronation Spoon; the silver-giltBaptismal Font, used at the christening of royal children; and the famousKoh-i-noor, or ‘Mountain of Light,’ the wonderful diamond once belonging to Runjeet Singh, chief of Lahore, but now the property of Queen Victoria,—it was an object of great interest at the two great Exhibitions in 1851 and 1862. Strangers, on applying at an office at the entrance from Tower-hill, are conducted through a portion of the buildings by warders, who wear a curious costume of Henry VIII.’s time—some years ago rendered incongruous by the substitution of black trousers for scarlet hose. These warders, orbeef-eaters(as they are often called), go their rounds with visitors every half-hour from 10 till 4. The word “beef-eaters” was a vulgar corruption ofbeaufetiers, battle-axe guards, who were first raised by Henry VII. in 1485. They were originally attendants upon the king’s buffet. A fee of 6d. is charged for seeing the Armouries, and 6d. for the Jewel House. From time to time, when foreign politics look threatening, the Tower undergoes alterations and renovationsto increase its utility as a fortress; and it is at all times under strict military government.
The Mint.—This structure, situated a little north-east of the Tower, is the establishment in which the coinage is in great part made, and wholly regulated. The rooms, the machinery, and the processes for coining, are all full of interest. The assaying of the gold and silver for coinage; the alloying and melting; the casting into ingots; the flattening, rolling, and laminating of the ingots to the proper thickness; the cutting into strips, and the strips into circular blanks; the stamping of those blanks on both surfaces; and the testing to ascertain that every coin is of the proper weight—are all processes in which very beautiful and perfect apparatus is needed. Copper and bronze coins are mostly made for the government at Birmingham. From a statement made in parliament, in August, 1869, by the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, we gathered that98 millions of sovereignshad been coined in the Mint since 1850. But of these no fewer than 44 millions had been lost to our coinage, because many of the sovereigns, being overweight, had been sent to the Continent to be melted down as bullion! There are nearly 500 millions of copper coin in circulation; and of silver coin, from crown pieces down to threepenny pieces, something like the astounding number of 286,220,000. Permission to view this interesting establishment could at one time only be obtained by special application to the Master of the Mint, who has an official residence at the spot; but since the death of the late Master, Dr. Graham, that office will not in future be filled up. A letter to the Deputy Master will probably obtain the required order to view. We should add that the removal of the Mint to Somerset House is now seriously contemplated. It is urged that the price of its present site, if sold, would readily defray cost of removal.
Custom House.—This important building, situated on the north bank of the Thames, between London Bridge and the Tower, occupies a site on which other and smaller custom houses had previously stood. The east and west ends of the present structure were finished in 1817 by Mr. Laing; but the central portion was rebuilt afterwards from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke. Theriver front is extensive, and although not architecturally fine, the general appearance is effective. One of the few broad terraces on the banks of the Thames is that in front of the Custom House; it is a good position from whence strangers can view the shipping in the river. The ‘Long Room’ in this building is 190 feet long by 66 broad. By way of illustrating the enormous amount of business done here, we may mention, that in the years 1867–68, the amount of Customs’ receipts collected in the port of London wasmorethanBillingsgate, Coal Exchange, and Custom House. (Fenchurch Station, behind at the right.)that of all theother portsofGreat Britaintaken together, and five times that of the whole of Ireland. In 1867, the port of London gross receipts were £10,819,711; and in 1868, £10,694,494. The vast Customs’ duties for the port of London, amounting to nearly half of those for the whole United Kingdom, are managed here.
General Post Office, &c. (Tower, Monument, and London Bridge in the distance.)
General Poet Office.—This large building, at the corner of Cheapside and St. Martin’s-le-Grand, was finished in 1829, from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke. It is in the Ionic style, with a lofty central portico; beneath which is the entrance to the spacious hall (80 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 53 feet high), having also an entrance at the opposite extremity; but the central Hall is now entirely enclosed, owing to the recent great extension of the Postal business. A Money-order Office has been built on the opposite side of the street; and the Post Office has been added to in various ways, to make room for increased business. The main building, which contains a vast number of rooms, is enclosed by a railing; and at the north end is a courtyard, in which mail-vans range up and depart with their load of bags, at certain hours in the morning and evening, for the several railway termini. At other portionsof the building the foreign, colonial, and India mails are despatched. From six to seven o’clock in the evening a prodigious bustle prevails in putting letters into the Post Office; and on Saturday evening, when the Sunday newspapers are posted, the excitement is still further increased—especially just before six, by which hour the newspapers must be posted. The establishment, some four years ago, employed 20,000 clerks, sorters, and letter-carriers in the various parts of the United Kingdom; and since the Post Office took over the business of the Telegraph Companies, the number of its employés is greatly increased. The postage charged on foreign and colonial letters is too small to pay for the mail-packets and other expenses; profit is derived only from the inland letters. There are now in London and the suburbs about 730 pillar-boxes and wall-boxes; without counting receiving houses. Newspapers and book packets must not be put in town pillar-boxes. A very useful novelty,Post Office Savings’ Banks, was introduced in 1861. In the year 1840, in which the uniform rate of one penny per letter of half an ounce weight, &c., commenced, the revenue of the Post Office was only £471,000. Its revenue received during the year 1871–72 was no less than £6,102,900, and every year the receipts are increasing. New postal buildings of great extent have been erected on the opposite side of the street.
It will be convenient to group here certain buildings belonging to the Corporation of London; and to prefix to a notice of them some account of the mode in which the city of London is governed.
The Corporation.—With respect to civic jurisdiction, the city of London is governed in a peculiar manner. In virtue of ancient charters and privileges, the city is a species of independent community, governed by its own laws and functionaries. While all other boroughs have been reformed in their constitution, London has been suffered to remain, as yet, in the enjoyment of nearly all itsold usages. The city is civilly divided into twenty-five wards, each of which has an alderman; and with one alderman without a ward, the number of aldermen is 26. Each is chosen for life, and acts as magistrate within his division. The freemen of the various wards elect representatives annually to the common-council, to the number of 206 members. The lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council, compose the legislative body for the city. The lord mayor is chosen by a numerous and respectable constituency, calledthe livery, or liverymen; these are certain qualified members of trading corporations, who, except in electing the lord mayor, sheriffs, members of parliament, &c., do not directly interfere in city management. The Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common-council have certain legislative and executive duties, partly with and partly without the immediate aid of the lord mayor. The revenue of the city corporation is derived from sundry dues, rents, interest of bequests, fines for leases, &c. The magistracy, police, and prisons cost about £40,000 annually; but this is exclusive of large sums disbursed by the court of aldermen. The lord mayor is elected annually, on the 29th of September, from among the body of aldermen. The livery send a list of two candidates to the court of aldermen, and one of these, generally the senior, is chosen by them. He enters office, with much pomp, on the 9th of November, which is hence called Lord Mayor’s Day. The procession through the streets on this occasion attracts citizens as well as strangers. The advocate and legal adviser of the corporation is an official with the title of Recorder. The lord mayor and corporation exercise a jurisdiction over Southwark and other precincts. Westminster, which is not connected in civic matters with London Proper, is under the jurisdiction of a high-bailiff. The city returns 4 members to Parliament, besides the 16 returned by Westminster, Southwark, Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, Finsbury, Lambeth, Chelsea, and Greenwich.
In 1829, the old mode of protection byWatchmenwas abolished in all parts of the metropolis except the city, and a newPolice Forceestablished by Act of Parliament. This has been a highly successful and beneficial improvement. The new police is underthe management of commissioners, who are in direct communication with the Secretary of State for the Home Department; under the commissioners are superintendents, inspectors, sergeants, and constables. The district under their care includes the whole metropolis and environs, with the exception of the city, grouped into 21 divisions, each denoted by a letter. The constables wear a blue uniform, and are on duty at all times of the day and night. Three-fourths of the expenses are paid out of the parish rates, but limited to an assessment of 8d. per pound on the rental; the remainder is contributed from the public purse. The corporation have since established a Police Force for the city on the model of that above mentioned. In addition to two Police Offices for the city, at the Mansion House and Guildhall, there are eleven for the remaining parts of the metropolis,—viz., Bow Street, Clerkenwell, Great Marlborough Street, Thames, Worship Street, Southwark, Marylebone, Westminster, Lambeth, Greenwich and Woolwich, and Hammersmith and Wandsworth. The Thames Police have a peculiar jurisdiction over the river. In 1836, a horse patrol was added to the Bow Street establishment, consisting of inspectors and patrols, whose sphere of action is the less frequented roads around the metropolis. With all these means of preserving the peace and preventing crime, the metropolis is now one of the most orderly cities in the world; and provided strangers do not seek the haunts of vice, but pursue their way steadily, they run little or no risk of molestation. The number of metropolitan police in 1872 was about 9,000; of city police, 700—including, in both cases, superintendents, inspectors, &c., &c. The commissioner of metropolitan police is Lieutenant-Colonel E. Y. W. Henderson, C.B., 4 Whitehall Place, S.W.; the commissioner of city police is Colonel James Fraser, C.B., 26 Old Jewry, E.C.
TheDrainageof London was a matter barely understood at all, and in no wholesome sense practised, till some time after the Board of Works was formed, in 1855, when their best efforts to check a rapidly growing evil—viz., the casting of London’s poisonous sewage into the Thames at our very doors—were called into play. The estimated cost of one of the most colossal schemes of modern times was,at its outset, put down at something over three millions; and when the vast plan for main drainage was commenced, in 1859, a sanitary revolution began. A far greater sum, however, must be expended ere the idea is wholly carried out. It is obviously out of our power, in our limited space, to do anything more than give the reader a mere rough notion of the good to be done and the difficulties to be overcome. The plan was to construct some 70 odd miles of gigantic sewers on either side of the Thames. The north side of the river has three different lines of sewers, which meet at the river Lea, and thereafter go along, in one huge embankment, to Barking Creek, on the Thames, 14 miles below London Bridge. With certain differences, the sewage of the south side of the Thames is amenable to the same kind of treatment. By some returns, furnished in June, 1870, by the engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, it appears that the average daily quantity of sewage pumped into the river Thames at Crossness was 170,934 cubic metres, and at Barking 152,808 cubic metres—equivalent to about as many tons by weight. That quantity, of course, will every year, as London grows, increase. As the sewers on the north side of the river get more near to the sea, they can be seen. The south side sewers are nearly all out of sight. As the tide flows, the filth of London, by their means, is poured into the water. As it ebbs, the sewage is carried out to sea. Powerful steam-engines, for pumping up sewage from low levels, are used as they are required. The clerk of the Metropolitan Board of Works, who may be seen at Spring Gardens, Charing Cross, will, we should fancy, oblige any gentleman with engineering proclivities with an order to view what has already been accomplished by marvellous ability and enterprise,—whose results can in no fair sense gain anything like fair appreciation without personal inspection.
London isLightedby sundry joint-stock gas companies; the parishes contract with them for street lights, and individuals for the house and shop lights. Gas was first introduced into London, in Golden Lane, in 1807; in Pall Mall in 1809; and generally through London in 1814. There are something like 2,500 miles of gas-pipes in and about London.
The first of the publicBathsandWash-houseswas established near the London Docks in 1844. The number, of course, has vastly increased. Many of them are maintained by the parish authorities, and are very cheap.
The first publicDrinking Fountainin London was erected, near St. Sepulchre’s Church, close to Newgate, in 1859. There are now nearly 200 such fountains and troughs for animals in London.
In 1833, by an agreement among the Fire Insurance offices, there was established a regular fire-suppression police, orFire Brigade, consisting of a superintendent, foremen, engineers, sub-engineers, and firemen; numerous engines are in constant readiness at fifty-four different stations. (The brigade is now placed under public control, supported by a house-rate.) The fires in London exceed 1,500 annually, on an average.
Mansion House.—This is a tall square mass of dark stone building, nearly opposite the Bank and the Royal Exchange, with a portico of six Corinthian columns in front, resting on a low rustic basement. This edifice, which extends a considerable depth behind, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, provided by the city corporation. Besides an extensive suite of domestic apartments, it contains a number of state-rooms, in which company is received and entertained. The chief of these rooms are the Egyptian hall and the ball-room, which have a grand appearance. Some fine sculptures by British artists—the best of which are Foley’s ‘Caractacus and Egeria,’ and Bailey’s ‘Genius and the Morning Star’—have recently been added; the corporation having voted a sum of money for this purpose. The lord mayor’s annual stipend is £5,997 8s. 4d., with certain allowances, we believe, not stated; and in the Mansion House he has the use of a superb collection of plate: he is likewise allowed the use of a state-coach, &c. Every lord mayor, however, expends more than this sum during his year of office in grand banquets.
Guildhall.—This may be regarded as theTown-hall, or what the French would call theHotel de Ville, of London; where are held meetings of the livery to elect members of parliament, lord mayor,sheriffs, and others, and where the grandest civic entertainments are given. It is situated at the end of King Street, Cheapside. The building is old, but received a new front, in a strange kind of Gothic, in 1789. The interior of the grand hall is 153 feet long, 48 feet broad, and 55 feet high; it is one of the largest rooms in London, and can accommodate about 3,500 persons at dinner. Two clumsy colossal figures, called Gog and Magog, the history of which has never clearly been made out, are placed at the west end of the hall. Around it are some fine marble monuments to Lord Mayor Beckford, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Chatham, and his son, William Pitt. Note the stained glass with the armorial bearings of the twelve great city companies; also observe, in the passage leading to the common-council chamber, the portrait of General Sir W. F. Williams, the heroic defender of Kars in 1855. At the top of the council chamber will be seen Chantrey’s statue of George III.; a picture of the siege of Gibraltar, by Copley; and Northcote’s ‘Wat Tyler slain by Lord Mayor Walworth,’ with other pictures and portraits. Near by are several offices for corporate and law courts. TheLibrarycontains many valuable antiquities, books, coins, pottery, &c., and some interesting autographs. Note that of Shakespere, on a deed of purchase of a house in Blackfriars. TheCryptis a curious underground vault. On Lord Mayor’s Day the grand dinner usually costs about £2,200. On the 18th June, 1814, when the Allied Sovereigns dined here, the gold plate was valued at £200,000.
The Monument.—This may be regarded as a corporate structure, although it answers no useful purpose. It is a fluted Doric column, situated in a small space of ground adjoining the southern extremity of King William Street, on the descent to Lower Thames Street. It was begun in 1671, and finished in 1677, at a cost of about £14,500, in commemoration of the Great Fire of London, which began at the distance of 202 feet eastward from the spot, in 1666; and its height has on that account (so we are told) been made 202 feet. It is a handsome column, with a gilt finial intended to represent flames of fire. Visitors are allowed to ascend by a winding stair of 345 steps to the top; fee, 3d. No better place can bechosen from which to view the river, the shipping, and the city generally.
The Royal Exchange.—This is a handsome quadrangular building on the north side of Cornhill, having in the centre an open court with colonnades. The chief entrance faces an open paved space on the west, on which is placed an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington. The building was erected from plans by Mr. Tite, and was opened in 1844; it occupies the site of the former Exchange, which was accidentally destroyed by fire. The pediment contains sculptures by Sir R. Westmacott, R.A. The lower part of the exterior is laid out as shops, which greatly injure the architectural effect; the upper rooms are occupied as public offices, one of which isLloyd’s, or, more properly,Lloyd’s Subscription Rooms, where merchants, shipowners, shippers, and underwriters congregate. A statue of the Queen is in the centre of the quadrangular area. The busy time on ’Change is from 3 till 4 o’clock, Tuesday and Friday being the principal days.
The buildings noticed in this section belong partly to the crown, partly to the corporation of London, and partly to other bodies.
The Temple.—Contiguous to the south side of Fleet Street is a most extensive series of buildings, comprising several squares and rows, called theTemple; belonging to the members of two societies, theInnerandMiddle Temple, consisting of benchers, barristers, and students. This famous old place, taken in its completeness, was, in 1184, the metropolitan residence of the Knights Templars, who held it until their downfall in 1313; soon afterwards it was occupied by students of the law; and in 1608 James I. presented the entire group of structures to the benchers of the two societies, who have ever since been the absolute owners. The entrance to Inner Temple, from Fleet Street, consists of nothing more than a mere gateway; the entrance to Middle Temple was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.Middle Temple Hall, 100 feet long, 42 wide, and 47 high, is considered to have one of the finest Elizabethanroofs in London. A group of chambers, calledPaper Buildings, built near the river, is a good example of revived Elizabethan. A newInner Temple Hallwas formally opened, in 1870, by the Princess Louise. In October, 1861, when the Prince of Wales was elected a bencher of the Middle Temple, a newLibrarywas formally opened, which had been constructed at a cost of £13,000; it is a beautiful ornament to the place, as seen from the river. TheTemple Church, a few yards only down from Fleet Street, is one of the most interesting churches in London. All the main parts of the structure are as old as the time of the Knights Templars; but the munificent sum of £70,000 was spent, about twenty years ago, in restoring and adorning it. There are two portions, theRound Churchand theChoir, the one nearly 700 years old, and the other more than 600. The monumental effigies, the original sculptured heads in the Round Church, the triforium, and the fittings of the Choir, are all worthy of attention. The north side of the church has recently been laid open by the removal of adjoining buildings; and in their place some handsome chambers are erected. Hard by, in the churchyard, is the grave of Oliver Goldsmith, who died in chambers (since pulled down) in Brick Court. The Sunday services are very fine, and always attract many strangers. TheTemple Gardens, fronting the river, are probably the best in the city.
Lincoln’s Innwas once the property of the De Lacie, Earl of Lincoln. It became an Inn of Court in 1310. The fine new hall—worth seeing—was opened in 1845. The Chapel was built in 1621–3, by Inigo Jones. He also laid out the large garden in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, close by, in 1620. Lord William Russell was beheaded here in 1683. In Lincoln’s Inn are the Chancery and Equity Courts.
Graves Inn, nearly opposite the north end of Chancery Lane, once belonged to the Lords Gray of Wilton. It was founded in 1357. Most of its buildings—except its hall, with black oak roof—are of comparatively modern date. In Gray’s Inn lived the great Lord Bacon, a tree planted by whom, in the quaint old garden of the Inn, can yet be seen propped up by iron stays. Charles theFirst, when Prince Charles, was an honorary member of Gray’s Inn, and Bradshaw, who tried him, was one of its benchers.
Sergeant’s Inn, Chancery Lane, is what its name denotes—the Inn of the sergeants-at-law.Sergeants Inn, Fleet Street, is let out in chambers to barristers, solicitors, and the general public. The last remark applies to the other small Inns of Chancery in and about Holborn and Fleet Street.
Till the newLawCourts are erected in Central Strand, London has no Courts of Law well built or convenient. TheWestminster Courtsare little better than wooden sheds. So are theLincoln’s Inn Courts. But they still are worth a visit. At theOld Bailey, near Newgate, is theCentral Criminal Court, for the trial of prisoners accused of crimes committed within ten miles of St. Paul’s. Nominally, this court is free; but practically, a smalldouceuris always extorted by the ushers for a place. In the other courts this practice of ‘tipping’ is less common. TheBankruptcy Court, in Basinghall Street, theClerkenwell Sessions House, theCounty Courts, and thePolice Courts, are other establishments connected with the administration of justice; but the business of the first will shortly be transferred westward.
The Record Office.—Connected in some degree with the Courts of Law and Equity, is theNew Record Office, Fetter Lane, where is deposited a vast body of unprinted documents belonging to the state, of priceless value, including the far-famedDoomsday Book; they having been previously scattered in various buildings about the metropolis. Apply to the deputy-keeper for an order to inspect any but state papers of later date than 1688, for which the Home Secretary’s special order is requisite.
Prisons.—Newgate, the chief criminal prison for the city and county, in the Old Bailey, was a prison in thenew gateof the city as early as 1218. Two centuries after it was re-built, and in the Great Fire (1666) burnt down. It was re-constructed in 1778–80; its interior burnt in the Gordon ‘No Popery’ riots in 1780; and its interior again re-constructed in 1857. Debtors are no longer confined here; the few who come under the new law—which has almost abolished imprisonment for debt—being sent toHolloway Prisonunder the new law. Till public executions were abolished, criminals came out for execution in the middle of the Old Bailey, through the small iron door over which is suspended a grim festoon of fetters. They are now hanged privately inside the jail. The condemned cells are on the north-east side of Newgate. To view the prison, apply to the sheriff or the lord mayor. The chief debtors’ prisonwastheQueen’s Bench, in Southwark. It is now aMilitary Prison. TheCity Prison, Holloway, a castellated structure, was built in 1855, as a substitute for other and overcrowded jails in London. Other prisons are theHouse of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, capable of holding 1,200 prisoners; theHouse of Correction, at Wandsworth; theHouse of Correction, Westminster;Millbank Penitentiary, near the Middlesex end of Vauxhall Bridge, which could, if wanted, hold 1,200 prisoners, and cost £500,000;Pentonville Model Prison;Female Prison, Brixton;Surrey County Jail, Horsemonger Lane, on the top of which the infamous Mannings were hanged in 1849; and theHouse of Detention, Clerkenwell, which the Fenians tried to blow up. The last prison is for persons not convicted.
Bank of England.—This large establishment is situated north of the Royal Exchange; the narrow thoroughfare between beingThreadneedle Street, in which is the principal front. This is unquestionably the greatest bank in the world. The present structure was mostly the work of Sir John Soane, at various periods between 1788 and 1829. About 1,000 clerks, messengers, &c., are employed here, at salaries varying from £50 to £1,200 per annum. The buildings of the Bank are low, but remarkable in appearance. In the centre is the principal entrance, which conducts to an inner open court, and thence to the main building. The Dividend and Transfer Offices, with which fund-holders are most concerned, lie in the eastern part of the building. Thus far the place is freely open to visitors. The whole buildings and courts include an area of about eight acres. The teller’s room shews a scene of great activity—clerks counting and weighing gold and silver, porters going to and fro, and crowds of tradesmen and others negotiating business at the counters. The other and more private parts of the Bank can be seen only by an order from a director. The most interesting departments are the bullion-office, in a vaulted chamber beneath—where there commonly are some 14 to 17 millions in bullion, as a reserve—entering from one of the many open courts; the treasury; the apartments in which the notes of the Bank are printed; and the weighing-office, where coin-balances of exquisite construction are used. In the printing department there is a large steam-engine, which moves printing-machines, plate-presses, and other mechanism—the whole being in beautiful order, and forming a very interesting sight. The Bank is guarded at night by its own watchmen, and a detachment of Foot Guards.
Joint-Stock and Private Banks.—Some of the handsomest modern buildings in London are those belonging to the Banking Companies. TheLondon and Westminster, theLondon Joint-Stock, theUnion, theCity, theAustralian, and numerous other Companies, have two or more establishments each, some as many as half-a-dozen—the head bank always being in the busy centre of trade, the ‘City.’ Some of these are elegant structures; and all are planned with great skill in reference to interior arrangements. The private bankers, such as Glyn, Barclays, Lubbocks, Coutts, &c., rival the companies in the architectural character of their banks; and some of their establishments, such as Child’s, near Temple Bar, are curious old places. Many have lately been rebuilt in a substantial and handsome style.
Insurance Offices.—These form another extensive group, which has conduced much to the improved street appearance of modern London. All the best conducted Life and Fire Insurance Companies are wealthy; and they have devoted part of their wealth to the construction of commodious and often elegant offices. TheCounty, theRoyal Exchange, theSun, thePhœnix, theAmicable, theEquitable, theImperial, are among the most noted of these insurance offices. The chief buildings are within a small circle, of which the Royal Exchange is the centre; another group is aboutFleet Street and Blackfriars; and a western group lies in and near the Regent Street line.
Stock Exchange.—This building, of which scarcely anything can be seen on the outside, lies up a paved passage called Capel Court, in Bartholomew Lane, on the east side of the Bank of England. Dealers and brokers in the public funds, and in all kinds of joint-stock shares and debentures, meet and transact business here. They buy and sell, not only for themselves, but for the public generally; and the amount of business transacted every day is enormous. The establishment is maintained by about 900 members, who pay £10 a-year each. They endeavour to enforce strict honesty in each other’s dealings; but they sedulously refuse to allow a stranger even to pass the threshold of their Temple of Wealth.
Various Commercial Buildings.—A stranger has only to look at a detailed map or a directory, to see how numerous are the buildings, especially in the city, applied in various ways to commerce and trading on a large scale. TheTrinity HouseonTower Hill; the chambers of the building that was once theSouth Sea House, near Leadenhall Street; those of the large but irregular structure calledGresham House, in Bishopsgate Street—are all worthy of a glance, some for their architectural character, and all for the importance of the work transacted in them. TheEast India House, in Leadenhall Street, has been pulled down; commercial chambers in great number, and let at enormous rentals, have been built on the site.
City Companies.—In nothing is the past history of the metropolis, the memory ofOldLondon, kept alive in a more remarkable way than by theCity Companies, orTrading Guilds, which are still very numerous. All were established with a good purpose, and all rendered service in their day; but at the present time few have any important duties to fulfil. The age for such things is nearly past; but the companies have revenues which none but themselves can touch; and out of these revenues many excellent charities are supported. Several of the companies have halls of great architectural beauty, or curious on account of their antiquity.Twelve, from their wealth and importance, are called theGreatCompanies; and all of these have halls worthy of note. They are theMercers’,Drapers’,Fishmongers’,Goldsmiths’,Skinners’,Merchant Taylors’,Haberdashers’,Salters’,Ironmongers’,Vintners’,Grocers’, andClothworkers’. Every year banquets are given in the halls of these great companies—often under such circumstances as to give political importance to them.Mercers’ Hall, on the north side of Cheapside, has a richly ornamental entrance.Grocers’ Hall, in the Poultry, is remarkable rather for the age of the company (more than 500 years) than for the beauty of the building; it is interesting to note that the Long Parliament was entertained at city-dinners in this hall.Drapers’ Hall, in Throgmorton Street, built in 1667, replaced a structure which had belonged to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in the time of Henry VIII., and which was destroyed by the Great Fire.Fishmongers’ Hall, the most majestic of the whole, stands at the northern end of London Bridge, on the west side; it was built in 1831, as part of the improvements consequent on the opening of New London Bridge, on a site that had been occupied by an older hall since the time of the Great Fire.Goldsmiths’ Hall, just behind the General Post-Office, is too closely hemmed in with other buildings to be seen well; it is one of Mr. Hardwick’s best productions, and was finished by him in 1835, on the site of an older hall.Skinners’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, was built (like so many others of the city halls) just after the Great Fire in 1666; but was newly fronted in 1808.Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Threadneedle Street, is the largest of the city halls. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and has long been celebrated for the political banquets occasionally given there—this being considered the leading Tory Company, and the Fishmongers’ the leading Whig Company.Haberdashers’ Hall, near Goldsmiths’ Hall, is quite modern; the present building having been constructed in 1855.Salters’ Hall, St. Swithen’s Lane, was rebuilt in 1827.Ironmongers’ Hall, Fenchurch Street, was erected in 1748, on the site of an older structure; the banqueting-room was remodelled a few years ago with great richness. In 1861 this company held anExhibition of Art, notable for the rarity and beauty of the objectscollected; it was the first thing of the kind organized among these companies, and was in all respects creditable to those who planned and managed it.Vintners’ Hall, Upper Thames Street, is small and unpretentious.Clothworkers’ Hall, Mincing Lane, is an elegant Italian Renaissance edifice, erected in 1858, from the designs of Mr. Angell.
Among the minor halls are theApothecaries’, Blackfriars;Stationers’, behind Ludgate Hill;Armourers’, Coleman Street;Barber Surgeons’, Monkwell Street, (which contains some fine paintings;)Weavers’, Basinghall Street;Saddlers’, Cheapside; andPaper Stainers’, Little Trinity Lane. At the last-named hall an interesting exhibition of specimens of decorative painting was held in 1864. The city companies are about eighty altogether. Some, which tell most singularly of past times, and of the difference between the past and the present, are theCooks’, theBowyers’, theFletchers’, theWoolmen’s, theScriveners’, theBroderers’, theHorners’, theLoriners’, theSpectacle Makers’, theFelt Makers’, thePatten Makers’, theParish Clerks’, and theFan Makers’companies. All these, except theSpectacle Makers’and theParish Clerks’, have now no halls. Eight others, formerly existing, have become extinct. The only three which are actually trading companies at the present day are theGoldsmiths’, theApothecaries’, and theStationers’. The Goldsmiths’ company assay all the gold and silver plate manufactured in the metropolis, stamp it with the ‘Hall-mark,’ and collect the excise duty upon it for the Government; the Apothecaries’ sell medicines, and have a certain jurisdiction in relation to medical practice; the Stationers’ publish almanacs, and register all copyright books.
We shall next describe certain features connected with trafficon,under, andoverthe Thames.
The River and its Shipping.—The Thames stream rises in the interior of the country, at the distance of 138 miles above London, and enters the sea on the east coast about sixty miles below it. It comes flowing between low, fertile, and village-clad banks, outof a richly ornamented country on the west; and, arriving at the outmost suburbs of the metropolis, it pursues a winding course, between banks thickly lined with dwelling-houses, warehouses, manufactories, and wharfs, for a space of several miles, its breadth being here from an eighth to a-third of a mile. The tides affect it for fifteen or sixteen miles above the city; but the salt water comes no farther than Gravesend, or perhaps Greenhithe. However, such is the volume and depth of water, that vessels of great magnitude can sail or steam up to London. Most unfortunately, the beauty of this noble stream is much hidden from the spectator, there being very few quays or promenades along its banks. With the exception of the summit of St. Paul’s or the Monument, and the Custom House quay, the only good points for viewing the river are the bridges, which cross it at convenient distances, and by their length convey an accurate idea of the breadth of the channel. Formerly there were many light and fanciful boats for hire on the Thames; but these are now greatly superseded by small steamers, which convey crowds of passengers up and down the river.
The part of the river between London Bridge and Blackwall, an interval of several miles, constitutes thePort; and here are constantly seen lying at anchor great numbers of vessels. The portion immediately below the bridge is called thePool, where coal-ships are usually ranged in great number. It is curious to watch, while passing up and down the river, the way in which coals are transferred, by labourers calledcoal-whippers, from the ships into barges, in which they are conveyed to the wharfs of the several coal-merchants. At wharfs between the Custom House and the bridge lie numerous steam-vessels which ply to Greenwich, Woolwich, Gravesend, Margate, and other places of resort down the Thames; also steamers for continental ports. London, as has already been observed, possesses no line of quays on the river. The trade with the ships is carried on at wharfs jutting upon the water. The Thames is placed under strict police regulations with respect to trade; certain places being assigned to different classes of vessels, including those which arrive from the Tyne, Wear, and Tees with coal, and all coasters. The trade connected with thePort is mostly carried on in the closely built part of the metropolis adjacent to the Thames. Almost the whole of this district consists of narrow streets, environed by warehouses and offices, making no external show, but in which an incalculable amount of trade is transacted.
Entrance West India Docks
The Docks.—As a relief to the river, and for other reasons, there are several very largeDocks. The lowest or most eastern are theVictoria Docks, in Essex, just beyond the river Lea. They cover an area of 200 acres, and have been the means of introducing many improvements in the accommodation of shipping. Thehydraulic liftat these docks, for raising and supporting ships during repair, is well worth looking at. Next are theEast India Docks, constructed in 1806; they consist of two docks and a basin, covering 32 acres. Near these are theWest India Docks, the entrances towhich are at Blackwall and Limehouse; in these largedepôtsof shipping connected with the West India and other trade may at all times be seen some hundreds of vessels, loading or unloading in connection with the warehouses around. The largest of these docks is 24 feet deep, 510 feet long, and 498 wide; and, with a basin, they cover nearly 300 acres. Farther up the river, and near the Tower, in the district called Wapping, are theLondon DocksandSt. Katharine’s Docks. The London Docks consist of one enclosure to the extent of 20 acres, another of smaller dimensions, a basin, and three entrances from the river. These are surrounded by warehouses for the reception of bonded goods, and beneath the warehouses are vaults for bonded liquors. The principal warehouse for the storing of tobacco in bond till it is purchased and the duties paid, is situated close beside a special dock called the Tobacco Dock. The Tobacco Warehouse occupies no less than five acres of ground, and has accommodation for 24,000 hogsheads of tobacco. The sight of this extraordinary warehouse, and of the Wine-Vaults, is not soon to be forgotten. The vaults are arched with brick, and extend east and west to a great distance, with diverging lines also of great length, the whole being like the streets of an underground town. Along the sides are ranged casks of wine to an amount apparently without limit. There is accommodation for 65,000 pipes. These cellars being dark, all who enter and go through them carry lights. Admission may be had by procuring an order from a wine-merchant to taste and examine any pipes he may have in bond: a cooper accompanies the visitor to pierce the casks. Besides this large vault, which principally contains port and sherry, there are other vaults for French wines, &c.St. Katharine’s Docks, between the Tower and the London Docks, were formed in 1828, on a site which required the removal of more than 1,200 houses and 13,000 inhabitants; the earth obtained by the excavation was employed in raising the site for some of the new streets and squares of Pimlico. There are twelve acres of water area, and about as much of quays and warehouses. On the south of the Thames are theCommercialand theGrand Surrey Docks, the great centre of the timber trade. The various docks are the property ofjoint-stock companies, who receive rents and dues of various kinds for their use.
Thames Tunnel.—With the view of effecting a ready communication for wagons and other carriages, and foot-passengers, between the Surrey and Middlesex sides of the river, at a point where, from the constant passage of shipping, it would be inconvenient to rear a bridge, atunnelor sub-river passage was designed by a joint-stock company. The idea of tunnelling under the river, by the way, was not a novel one. In 1802 a company was got up with a similar notion, Trevethick, the inventor of the high-pressure engine, being its engineer. It came to nought; and in 1825 Mr. (afterwards Sir) Marc Isambard Brunel began his tunnel, at a point about two miles below London Bridge, entering on the southern shore at Rotherhithe, and issuing at Wapping on the other. The water broke in in 1827, and again in 1828, when six men perished. After all the funds were exhausted, and the Government had advanced no less than £246,000 by way of loan, the work, after many delays, was opened in 1843. The total, cost was £468,000. The tunnel consisted of two archways, 1,300 feet long, the thickness of the earth being about 15 feet between the crown of the tunnel and the river’s bed. As a speculation—toll 1d.—it never paid. The descent was by a deep, dirty staircase; and only one arch was open for foot-passengers. But now that the East London Railway Company have purchased it, a wholesome change has come. Some 40 trains are now running backwards and forwards through it, from Wapping to Rotherhithe, and thence to Deptford and New Cross, andvice versâ. And so, at last, the once well-nigh useless scheme, which wore out Brunel’s heart, has been, some twenty-two years after his death, made of great service to that part of London.
The Tower Subway.—In the neighbourhood of the Tunnel a subway has been formed, consisting of an iron tube, 7 feet in diameter, laid below the bed of the Thames. It belongs to a Limited Liability Company. It was commenced in February, 1869, and opened for tramway traffic on 12th April, 1870. Being a losing speculation, the tramway cars ceased to run on 7th December,1870; but it was opened for foot-passengers on the 24th of that month, and it is the intention of the Company to continue it only as such. It is reached at each end by a spiral staircase of 96 steps. Its whole length is 1225 feet. A charge of ½d. is made for each person passing through this Tunnel. The Tunnel is well lighted up with gas, and the average heat by the thermometer is 65 degrees.
Albert Bridge, Chelsea
Bridges.—The communication between the northern and southern sections of the metropolis is maintained by means of various bridges. ExcludingAlbert Suspension Bridge, (between Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, and Albert Road, leading into Battersea Park,) commenced in 1865, and not yet open, the number is 14—as follow: 1.London Bridge, built by Rennie, and opened in 1831; it is 928 feet long, and 54 wide; it has 5 arches, of which the centre is 152 feet span, and cost, with the approaches, £2,000,000. This is regarded as one of the finest granite bridges in the world.2.South-Eastern Railway Bridge, to connect the London Bridge Station with a new terminus in Cannon Street; this bridge, having five lines of railway, is midway between London Bridge and the one next to be named. 3.Southwark Bridge, by Rennie, was opened in 1819; it is of iron, 708 feet long, with three magnificent arches, the centre one of 402 feet span; it was a toll bridge, and cost £800,000. In 1865, it was made free, and remains so, by arrangement between the Company and the Corporation. 4.Blackfriars Railway Bridge, with four lines of rail, connects the Metropolitan Railway north of the Thames with the Chatham and Dover Railway on the south.Blackfriars Bridge5.Old Blackfriars Bridge, by Mylne, was opened in 1769; it consisted of 19 arches, and was 995 feet long. The foundations, however, having become decayed, the bridge was pulled down, and a magnificent new one, by Mr. Cubitt, built its place. A wooden bridge of remarkable construction, with a foot-wayoverthe carriage-way, did duty for traffic till the opening of Mr. Cubitt’s present structure. This was formally done by theQueen in person, November 6, 1869. The entire width of the new bridge is 75 feet, the foot-paths being 15 feet each, with a fine road between them, 45 feet in breadth from kerb to kerb. The entire length of the bridge, including approaches, is 1,272 feet, and its centre arch has a span of 185 feet in the clear. It has four piers. All its iron (except the ornamental portion, which is of cast metal) is hammered. With its handsome polished red granite piers, Portland stone capitals, and florid Venetian Gothic ornamentation, light-looking yet massive iron arches, spandrils, and parapets, and its generaltout ensemble, new Blackfriars is, bearing all things in mind, one of the cheapest permanent bridges thrown across the Thames. Its total cost is under £400,000. 6.Waterloo Bridge, one of the most magnificent in the world, was built by Rennie, and was opened in 1817; it is flat from end to end, 1,380 feet long, or 2,456 with the approaches; it consists of nine beautiful arches of 120 feet span, and cost £1,000,000; a toll of one halfpenny per passenger yields a very poor return on this outlay. 7.Hungerford Suspension Bridgehas been replaced by a fine new bridge, partly for foot-passengers, and partly for the Charing Cross extension of the South-Eastern Railway. 8.Old Westminster Bridge, opened in 1750, is now all removed, to make way for a beautiful new bridge of iron, with granite piers, built by Mr. Page, opened for traffic in 1862. It is about 1,160 feet long by 85 feet wide. 9.Lambeth Bridge, a wire-rope suspension bridge of economical construction, from Westminster to near Lambeth Church, was opened in 1862. 10.Vauxhall Bridge, built by Walker, was opened in 1816; it is of iron, 798 feet long, and consists of nine equal arches. 11.Pimlico Railway Bridge, from Pimlico to the commencement of Battersea Park, connects the Victoria Station with the Brighton and other railways. 12.Chelsea Suspension Bridge, very near the bridge last named, gives easy access from Chelsea to Battersea, and is a light and elegant structure. 13.Battersea Bridgeis an old wooden structure, unsightly in appearance, inconvenient to passengers over it, and still more so to steamboats under it. 14.West London Extension Railway Bridge, opened in 1863, crosses the Thames from a point a little aboveCremorne Gardens to Battersea town; it is a link to connect various railways on the north of the river with others on the south.Putney Bridge,Hammersmith Suspension Bridge,Barnes Railway Bridge, andKew Bridge, may or may not be included in this series, according to the acceptation of the indefinite word ‘Metropolis.’
Steam-boat Piers.—If you wish to go eastward of London Bridge, on the north side of the river, you will find steam-boats at London Bridge to take you to Thames Tunnel Pier, Limehouse, Blackwall, and North Woolwich. On the south side, at the Surrey end of London Bridge, you can take boat for Rotherhithe, Commercial Docks, Greenwich, Charlton, and Woolwich. If you wish to go westward from London Bridge, on the north side, you can take boat thence for the following piers:—Bridge, Paul’s Wharf, Temple Stairs, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Millbank, Pimlico, Thames Bank, Chelsea, and Battersea; and on the south side, at Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Stairs, Vauxhall, Battersea Park, Wandsworth, Putney, Hammersmith Bridge, and Kew. The steamers make an amazing number of trips each way daily, between these several piers, at intervals varying with the season, and at fares ranging from one penny to fourpence. For example, the fare by theCitizenboats from London Bridge to Westminster is 1d.; to Pimlico, 2d.; Chelsea and Battersea, 3d. If you wish to goquicklyfrom Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, you will avoid delays at piers by getting one of the penny boats which run every ten minutes from Westminster to London Bridge, only calling at Hungerford. Steamers for Kew, in the summer, run about every half-hour from London Bridge, calling at intermediate up-river piers—return ticket, 1s. From Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, you can go to Kew for 4d. And on Sundays and Mondays you can go up as far as Richmond, if the tide allow, at half-past 10 a.m. from Hungerford—return ticket, about 1s. 6d. For more distant journeys, such as to Erith, Gravesend, Sheerness, Southend, &c., by excursion steam-boats. To Gravesend and back, the fare is 1s. 6d.; Sheerness and Southend and back, 2s. 6d. Boats generally leave Hungerford Bridge for Gravesend and Erithevery half-hour up to 12, and leave London Bridge at 2 and half-past 4 p.m.; they leave Hungerford Bridge for Southend and Sheerness at various times from half-past 8, calling at London Bridge, returning in the afternoon or early evening.
The Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankmentis one of the noblest works in the metropolis. As long ago as 1666 Sir Christopher Wren advocated such a scheme. Till Mr. Bazalgette, the engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, (who, by the way, planned the main drainage,) came forward with his plans, there had been scores of others, all over-costly and few practicable. The work was virtually begun in 1862. Both south and north embankments are now open. The former (orAlbert Embankment) was opened the entire length, from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall, on the 1st September, 1869; the latter, (orVictoria Embankment,) from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars, in the middle of July, 1870. What the ultimate cost will be of both these gigantic works it is for us hereimpossible to tell. Already the metropolitan public hare paid for their new Thames boulevard £1,650,000.
And now—in the case of the northern embankment, for example—let us consider what vast difficulties have had to be surmounted. The words of an excellent authority put the matter very concisely as follows:—“The river had to be dammed out for some thirty-eight acres—the mud had to be dredged out down to the London clay—the granite walls had to be built below low-water mark; behind these the low-level sewer had to be constructed. Over this, again, had to come the subway, and behind all the District Railway, which runs at an average of about eighteen feet below the surface. It is not known what materials were required for the railway; but what was used for the Embankment is known. It was:—Granite, 650,000 cubic feet; brickwork, 80,000 cubic yards; concrete, 140,000 cubic yards; timber, (for cofferdam, &c.,) 500,000 cubic feet; caissons, (for ditto,) 2,500 tons; earth filling, 900,000 cubic feet; excavation, 144,000 cubic feet; York paving, 90,000 superficial feet; broken granite, 50,000 yards superficial. The railway works would make these totals still more formidable. London is now the metropolis of engineering works, but there is no part of it in which so many and such varied and difficult kinds centre as in the Thames Embankment. A section of it would be a study for engineers for all time.”