Memorials of Old London Volume I   By: Peter H. Ditchfield (1854-1930)

General Editor:

REV. P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., F.R.S.L., F.R.Hist.S.

MEMORIALS OF OLD LONDON

VOLUME I.

[Illustration: OLD BELL INN, HOLBORN, 1897

From the painting by Philip Norman, LL.D. ]

MEMORIALS OF OLD LONDON

EDITED BY P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A. FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

AUTHOR OF The City Companies of London and their Good Works The Story of our Towns The Cathedral Churches of Great Britain &c. &c.

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. I.

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON BEMROSE & SONS LIMITED, 4 SNOW HILL, E.C. AND DERBY 1908

[ All Rights Reserved ]

TO THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN CHARLES BELL, BART. LORD MAYOR OF LONDON THESE MEMORIALS OF THE ANCIENT CITY OVER WHICH HE RULES ARE DEDICATED, WITH HIS LORDSHIP'S KIND PERMISSION, BY THE EDITOR

PREFACE

In the year of grace one thousand nine hundred and nine the citizens of London are celebrating their Pageant, a mighty spectacle representing some of the stately scenes of splendour and magnificence which London streets have witnessed from the days of Alfred to the nineteenth century. It is perhaps fortunate that these volumes of the MEMORIALS OF OLD LONDON should appear when the minds of the people of England are concerned with this wonderful panorama of the past history of the chief city of the Empire. The Pageant will be all very beautiful, very grand, instructive and edifying, and profoundly interesting; but, after all, London needs no Pageant to set forth its attractions, historical and spectacular. London is in itself a Pageant. The street names, the buildings, cathedral, churches, prisons, theatres, the river with its bridges, and countless other objects, all summon up the memories of the past, and form a Pageant that is altogether satisfying. Many books have been written on the greatest city of England's Empire some learned and ponderous tomes, others mere guide books; some devoted to special buildings and foundations, others to the life, manners, and customs of the citizens. This work differs from other books in that each chapter is written by an expert who has made a special study of the subject, and is therefore authoritative, and contains all the information which recent investigations have brought to light. It is not exhaustive. London contains so much that is of profound interest, that many additional volumes would be needed in order to describe all its treasures. The city of Westminster, the suburbs and the West End, have for the most part been excluded from the plan of this work, and possibly may be treated of in a subsequent volume. The domain of the city of London, not of the London County Council, provides the chief subjects of these volumes, though occasionally our writers have strayed beyond the city boundaries.