The Embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover, 1520
(From the original painting at Hampton Court.)
Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth
Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth I (From 'Archcæologia.')
South-east Part of London in the Fifteenth Century, showing the Tower and Wall
Shipping in the Thames, circa 1660
(From Pricke's 'South Prospect of London.')
Sir Francis Drake, in his Forty-third Year
The Globe Theatre
The first theatre was built in 1570. Thirty years after there were seven. The Queen had companies of children to play before her. They were the boys of the choirs of St. Paul's, Westminster, Whitehall, and Windsor. The actors called themselves the servants of some great lord. Lord Leicester, Lord Warwick, Lord Pembroke, Lord Howard, the Earl of Essex, and others all had their company of actors—not all at the same time. The principal Houses were those at Southwark, and especially at Bank Side, where there were three, including the famous Globe
Civil Costume about 1620
(From a contemporary broadside.)
A Countryman and Countrywoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
Costume of a Lawyer
(From a broadside, dated 1623.)
A Citizen and his wife
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
A Gentleman and gentlewoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
Paul Pindar's House
Coach of the latter half of the Seventeenth Century
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Waggon of the second half of the Seventeenth Century
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Dress of Ladies of Quality
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Temple Bar, London
(Built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1670; taken down in 1878 and since rebuilt at Waltham Cross.)
A Coach of the Middle of the Seventeenth Century
(From an engraving by John Dunstall.)
Early British Pottery
Roman London
Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes
(From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries.)
Saxon Horsemen
(Harl. MS. 603.)
Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts
City Gates
Let us examine into the history and the course of the Wall of London, if only for the very remarkable facts that the boundary of the City was determined for fifteen hundred years by the erection of this Wall; that for some purposes the course of the Wall still affects the government of London; and that it was only pulled down bit by bit in the course of the last century. You will see by reference to the map what was the course of the Wall. It began, starting from the east where the White Tower now stands. Part of the foundation of the Tower consists of a bastion of the Roman wall. It followed a line nearly north as far as Aldgate. Then it turned in a N.W. direction just north of Camomile Street and Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate. Thence it ran nearly due W., north of the street called London Wall, turning S. at Monkwell Street. At Aldersgate it turned W. until it reached Newgate, where it turned nearly S. again and so to the river, a little east of the present Blackfriars Bridge. It ran, lastly, along the river bank to join its eastern extremity. The river wall had openings or gates at Dowgate and Bishopsgate,{39} and probably at Queen Hithe. The length of the Wall, without counting the river side, was 2 miles and 608 feet. This formidable Wall was originally about 12 feet thick made of rubble and mortar, the latter very hard, and faced with stone. You may know Roman work by the courses of tiles or bricks. They are arranged in double layers about 2 feet apart. The so-called bricks are not in the least like our bricks, being 6 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1½ inch thick. The Wall was 20 feet high, with towers and bastions at intervals about 50 feet high. At first there was no moat or ditch, and it will be understood that in order to protect the City from an attack of barbarians—Picts or Scots—it was enough to close the gates and to man the towers. The invaders had no ladders.
Remains of the Wall
The City was thus protected by a great wall pierced by a few gates, with bastions and towers. At the East End after the Norman Conquest rose the Great White Tower still standing. At the West End was a tower called Montfichet's Tower.
Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester
Tower in the Earlier Style. Church at Earl's Barton
A Norman Ship
(From the Bayeux Tapestry.)
Building a Church in the later Style
(From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries.)
Costume of Shepherds in the Twelfth Century
Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century
Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century
Royal Arms of England from Richard I. to Edward III
(From the wall arcade, south aisle of nave, Westminster Abbey.)
Old London Bridge
Houses were erected in course of time along the Bridge on either side like a street, but with intervals; and along the roadway in the middle were chain posts to protect the passengers. As the Bridge was only 40 feet wide the houses must have been small. But they were built out at the back overhanging the river, and the roadway itself was not intended for carts or wheeled vehicles. Remember that everything was brought to the City on pack horse or pack ass. The table of Tolls sanctioned by King Edward I. makes no mention of cart or waggon at all. Men on horseback and loaded horses can get along with a very narrow road. Perhaps we may allow twelve feet for the road which gives for the houses on either side a depth of 14 feet each.
The Tower of London
Of all the prisoners who suffered death at the termination of their captivity in the Tower, there is none whose fate was so cruel as that of Lady Jane Grey. Her story belongs to English history. Recall, when next you visit the Tower, the short and tragic life of this young Queen of a nine days' reign.
A Bed in the Reign of Henry III
The Lepers Begging
Leprosy is supposed to have had its origin in Egypt: the laws laid down in the Book of Leviticus for the separation of lepers are stringent and precise: it was believed, partly, no doubt, on account of these statutes in the Book of the Jewish Law, that the disease was brought into Western Europe by the Crusaders; but this was erroneous, because it was in this country before the Crusaders. Thus the Palace of St. James stands upon the site of a lazar house founded before the Conquest for fourteen leprous maidens.
London before the Spire of St. Paul's was burned; showing the Bridge, Tower, Shipping, &c
Old St. Paul's, from the East
Old St. Paul's on Fire
Christ's Hospital
Chepe in the Fifteenth Century
The streets and lanes of London within the walls were very nearly the same as they are at present, except for the great thoroughfares constructed within the last thirty years. That is to say, when one entered at Lud Gate and passed through Paul's Churchyard, he found himself in the broad street, the market place of the City, known as Chepe.
A Sea-Fight
(From the 'Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick'; drawn by John Rous about 1485.)
Bear-baiting
(From the Luttrell Psalter.)
Tomb of Edward III. in Westminster Abbey