Southwark: Winchester House and Barclay's Brewery

CHAPTER IV.

SOUTHWARK (continued).—WINCHESTER HOUSE, BARCLAY'S BREWERY, &c.

"Kings and heroes here were guests,
In stately hall at solemn feasts;
But now no dais, nor halls remain,
Nor fretted window's gorgeous pane.
* * * * * *
No fragment of a roof remains
To echo back their wassail strains."—Sir W. Scott, "Kenilworth."

Stow's Description of Winchester House—Park Street Chapel—Marriage Feast of James I. of Scotland at Winchester House—The Palace attacked by the Insurgents under Sir Thomas Wyatt—John, Duke of Finland, lodged here—The Palace sold to the Presbyterians, and turned into a Prison for the Royalists—Its Recovery by the Bishop of Winchester—Remains of the Old Palace—The "Stews" on the Bankside—"Holland's Leaguer"—"Winchester Birds"—Old Almshouses—Messrs. Barclay and Perkins' Brewery—Its Early History—Mr. and Mrs. Thrale—Dr. Johnson's Intimacy with the Thrales—Purchase of the Brewery by Mr. David Barclay—Origin of the Firm of Barclay and Perkins—Mrs. Piozzi, and her Literary Acquaintances—Account of the various Processes of Malting, Brewing, &c.—The Brewery described—Monster Vats—Attack on General Haynau—Richard Baxter—Zoar Street Chapel—Oliver Goldsmith—Holland Street—Falcon Glass Works—The "Falcon" Tavern—Hopton's Almshouses—Messrs. Potts' Vinegar Works—St. Peter's Church—St. Saviour's Grammar School—Improvements in Southwark—Southwark Street—The Hop Exchange.

The site of the Priory of St. Mary Overy, and of Winchester House, the palace of the Bishops of Winchester, adjoins the north-west corner of the nave of St. Saviour's Church, and extends towards Southwark Bridge; it is now occupied by various wharves, warehouses, manufactories, and other buildings, among them being the new Bridge House Hotel, which opens on the main street, close by the foot of London Bridge. Of the priory we have already spoken in the preceding chapter. Winchester House was built early in the twelfth century, by Walter Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, on land held of the prior of Bermondsey. Stow, in his "Chronicles," mentions it as being in his time "a very fair house, well repaired, with a large wharf and landing-place, called the Bishop of Winchester's Stairs." It was, in fact, a stately palace, with gardens, fountains, fish-ponds, and an extensive park—long known as Southwark Park—which reached back nearly as far, in the direction of Lambeth, as Gravel Lane, and which is still kept in remembrance by "Park" Street. In New Park Street is—or rather was—the chapel in which Mr. C. H. Spurgeon first became known as a popular preacher. The congregation formerly assembling in the Baptist meeting-house in Carter Lane, Tooley Street, migrated to New Park Street Chapel in 1833, on the demolition of their old chapel to make room for the approaches to new London Bridge; and here they continued till, under the pastorate of Mr. Spurgeon, they migrated to the music-hall in the Surrey Gardens, Newington, and finally to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The chapel in Park Street has since become converted to business purposes, and has been made to serve as a store-room or goods depôt.

Winchester Yard, between St. Saviour's Church and Messrs. Barclay and Co.'s brewery, in Park Street, occupies the place of the court-yard of the old palace; and Messrs. Potts's extensive vinegar works, on part of the site of the park, are, we believe, still held under lease direct from the see of Winchester.

Cardinal Beaufort lived here in the early part of the fifteenth century, whilst holding the important see of Winchester. In his time the great hall of the palace, which ran east and west parallel with the river, was the scene of a splendid banquet, for here took place the marriage-feast on the occasion of the matrimonial alliance of James I. of Scotland with the Lady Joan Somerset, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, as stated in the previous chapter.' But the palace witnessed at times other scenes besides those of festivity; for we read of great "brawls" taking place between the cardinal's servants and the citizens at the Bridge Gate. Old Stow describes a disgraceful scene which took place in Winchester House, when the insurgents against the government of Queen Mary, under Sir Thomas Wyatt, had entered Southwark, on the 3rd of February, 1554. Wyatt's intention was to have entered the City by way of London Bridge, as we have already seen; but notwithstanding that the citizens of London had cut down the drawbridge, the inhabitants of the borough received him well. Sir Thomas issued a proclamation that no soldier of his should take anything without paying for it; notwithstanding which, some of them attacked the Bishop of Winchester's house, made havoc of his goods, and cut to pieces all his books, "so that men might have gone up to their knees in the leaves so torn out." Wyatt stayed here only two or three days, when the inhabitants, finding that the Governor of the Tower of London had planted several pieces of ordnance against the foot of the bridge and on the steeples of St. Olave and St. Mary Overy, became alarmed, and desired Sir Thomas to leave them, which he did.

The Swedish envoy, John, Duke of Finland, was lodged in the Bishop of Winchester's palace when he came to solicit the hand of Queen Elizabeth for his elder brother, Eric, the son and heir of the King of Sweden. He went in state to visit the Queen at Greenwich; but his father's death recalled him to Sweden.

Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, as we have already stated, died at Winchester House in 1626, and was carried hence to his last resting-place in St. Saviour's Church. Twenty years later, the Presbyterians turned the episcopal palace into a prison for the royalists; and in 1649 it was sold for £4,380 to one Thomas Walker, of Camberwell. It was recovered by the Bishop of Winchester, at the Restoration, but was not again used as a residence. Until the time of the civil wars, the Bishops of Winchester resided here during the sitting of Parliament; but afterwards they removed to Chelsea, where, as we have seen, (fn. 1) they had another house provided for them under the sanction of an Act of Parliament in 1661. A part of the palace was standing, occupied as tenements and warehouses, till within the last few years, a fire which occurred in August, 1814, having destroyed some of the surrounding buildings, and brought to view a portion of the old hall, with a magnificent circular window.

Allen, in his "History of Surrey," published in 1829, says, "Vain would be the attempt to determine the extent and arrangement of this palace from its present remains. The site was probably divided into two or more grand courts, the principal of which appears to have had its range of state apartments fronting the river; and part of this range is now almost the only elevation that can be traced. Though its external decorations on the north or river front have been either destroyed or bricked up, yet in the other, facing the south, are many curious doorways and windows in various styles, from that of the Early Pointed down to the era of Henry VIII., but wofully mutilated, and concealed by sheds, stables, and warehouses." What little remained of the palace after the fire above mentioned was very soon considerably diminished. The great wall, which divided the hall from the other apartments, with the large circular window, some fourteen feet in diameter, was built against in the early part of 1828. There was likewise remaining a doorway, in the spandrils of which appeared the arms of Bishop Gardiner, and the same impaling those of the see of Winchester. A correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine, writing at the above period, observes that "this doorway is connected with, and, in fact, led into, a range of buildings shown in Hollar's 'View of London,' circa 1660, branching southward of the hall to a considerable distance, much of which is still standing."

The antiquary Pennant, whilst pretending to do nothing of the kind, insinuates that the Bishops of Winchester and Rochester, and the Abbots of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, Lewes, Hyde, Waverley, and Battel, had their town residences here on account of their adjoining the Bordello or "Stews" on the Bankside. These "stews" comprised nearly twenty houses along the river-side, and were licensed under certain regulations confirmed by Act of Parliament.

The houses, which were indeed a most unsavoury adjunct to Southwark, were nothing more nor less than a collection of public brothels, leased from the Bishops of Winchester by various persons, one of whom was no other than Sir William Walworth, who struck down Wat Tyler, and thus gave the dagger to the City arms. We read that, "on Thursday the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 13th, 1381, in the morning the Commons of Kent brake down the stew-houses near to London Bridge, at that time in the hands of the power of Flanders, who had farmed them of the Mayor of London. After which they went to London Bridge, in the hopes to have entered the City; but the mayor (the famous Sir William Walworth) coming thither before, fortified the place, caused the bridge to be drawn up, and fastened a great chaine of yron acrosse to restraine their entry." Thus wrote Stow, and the same story is told in other words by the old chronicler, Thomas of Walsingham.

As far back as 1162, some Parliamentary "Ordinances" were issued, "touching the government of the Stewholders in Southwark, under the direction of the Lord Bishop of Winchester;" the purpose of which seems to have been to restore the state of things there, "accordinge to the ovlde customes that hath been vsed and accustomed tyme out of mynde." These regulations were numerous; no single woman was to be kept against her will, and all were "to be voyded out of the lordship" on Sundays and other holidays. When the ordinances were first enjoined, the number of stewhouses was eighteen; but in the reign of Henry VII., when some fresh regulations were made, it was reduced to twelve. One of the houses, says Pennant, but he gives no authority for the statement, bore the sign of the "Cardinal's Hat." Cardinal's Cap Alley is, however—or, at all events, was till lately—to be found in the neighbourhood. If the holders of the houses broke certain wholesome rules which were issued respecting them, they were committed to the episcopal prison of the Clink, at the corner of Maid Lane. This prison was removed in 1745 to Deadman's Place, Bankside (so named from the number buried there during the great plague), but was burnt down in the riots of 1780, and no other prison has since taken its place. The poor women living in these houses, though licensed by the bishops, were not allowed Christian burial, but were thrown when dead into unconsecrated graves at a spot called the Cross Bones, at the corner of Redcross Street. Henry VII. closed these dens of infamy, but they were soon opened again, though his son and successor finally cleared them out, having issued a proclamation enjoining his subjects "to avoide the abominable place called the Stewes."

In Holland Street, at the end of Bankside, near Blackfriars Bridge, was another notorious "stew" frequented by King James I. and his court; amongst others by the royal favourite, George Villiers, as we learn from a little tract entitled "Holland's Leaguer." It is recorded that "many of the inhabitants of the Bankside, especially those who lived in the stews adjoining the palace of the Bishops of Winchester, were known throughout London by the court term of the 'Winchester Birds.' Low players also, then ranking (not, perhaps, quite undeservingly) with these and other similar characters, under the common designation of vagabonds, flocked together to the same spot, together with fraudulent bankrupts, swindlers, debtors, and all sorts of persons who had misunderstandings with the law, and were fearful of clearing them up, lest their goods and their bodies might be demanded in expiation. Here in former years stood the 'Mint' and the 'Clink;' and here in the present day (1840) stands the privileged King's Bench, within whose 'Rules' are congregated the same vicious and demoralised class of people that always inhabited it. 'Stews' also still abound, and penny theatres, where the performers are indeed 'vagabonds,' and the audience thieves." Thus wrote Charles Mackay, in his agreeable work, "The Thames and its Tributaries," as lately as 1840. Things, however, have much improved since that day; at all events, we may hope that such has been the case.

In Deadman's Place, on the south-west side of the Borough market, were almshouses for sixteen poor persons, which were founded in 1584, by Thomas Cure, and called Cure's College. Thomas Cure was saddler to Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, and was also member of Parliament for the borough of Southwark.

Another cluster of almshouses close by, in Soap Yard, were built and endowed by the retired actor, Edward Alleyn, of whom we shall have more to say when we come to Dulwich College. Alleyn's almshouses have been rebuilt at Norwood. Alleyn directed by his will (1626) that his executors should within two years of his death erect ten almshouses in this parish for five poor men and five poor women, who should be drafted hence, as vacancies occurred, into his college at Dulwich. The almshouses were accordingly "built on part of an enclosure called the Soap Yard belonging to the College of the Poor." The College of the Poor was founded by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth in 1584, and was largely endowed. It provided a home and sustenance for sixteen poor persons, one of whom was to act as warden and read prayers daily. In 1685 Henry Jackson founded almshouses in Southwark for two women, with twenty pence a week each; and sundry others of a like nature were founded in different parts of the parish. St. Saviour's is, in fact, particularly rich in benefactions. According to the "Account of Public Charities in England and Wales," published in 1828, it would appear that the annual income of the various charities of this parish amounted to nearly £2,700.

Between St. Saviour's Church and Southwark Bridge Road, with its principal entrance in Park Street, is the renowned brewery of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins. Southwark held a reputation for strong ale from very early times. We have met somewhere with an old couplet—
"The nappy strong ale of Southwirke
Keeps many a gossip from the kirke."
Chaucer's host at the Old Tabard drank it, doubtless; and so did the Knight and the Franklin, and perhaps the mincing "Nonne" herself. That there were breweries here as far back as the fourteenth century we have reason to know, for Chaucer speaks of "the ale of Southwark" in his time; and readers of that poet will not have forgotten, among the inhabitants of this part—
"The miller that for dronken was all pale,
So that unethes upon his hors he sat."

"Foreigners are not a little amazed," writes Boswell, in his "Life of Johnson," "when they hear of brewers, distillers, and men in similar departments of trade, held forth as persons of considerable consequence. In this great commercial country it is natural that a situation which produces much wealth should be considered as very respectable; and no doubt honesty is entitled to esteem." Brewing is one of the oldest objects of industry among us; and in early ages the quantity of ale consumed was somewhat larger than is the case now, in proportion to the population and wealth of the nation. Little is known of the trading practices of the early brewers; but the process, so far as the malting and brewing is concerned, is, doubtless, essentially the same now as it was three centuries ago, when hops were imported into this country from Flanders. By a liberal attention to the improvements of the age, Messrs. Barclay and Perkins have placed their large establishment in its present eminence among the breweries of the world. "Formerly," writes Mr. Brayley, in his "History of Surrey," "our great porter brewers left ale to minor establishments: this is now partially but not entirely changed; two coppers at Barclay and Perkins' are therefore applied, as the occasion requires, to ale-brewing. On the other hand, some of the less extensive establishments, in former times only occupied with ale, now produce porter also. The difference of the two consists of modifications in the process, and of certain additions for the purpose of flavouring or colouring. The malt and hops are the same, but a very small portion of malt, when burnt black, suffices to colour porter and stout. These liquors are more luscious than ale, and less vinous from undergoing a less perfect fermentation, that process being considerably shortened, usually to one-third of the time allowed for ale."

Before proceeding to describe the brewery in its various details, it will be as well, perhaps, to speak of the firm to which it belongs. As early as the middle of the last century, or a hundred years or so after the "Globe" Theatre had passed away, there stood upon this site a small brewery, owned by a certain Mr. Edmund Halsey, whose daughter had married the Lord Cobham of that time. Having made a fortune out of the establishment, Mr. Halsey sold the brewery to the elder Mr. Thrale, who eventually became member of Parliament for Southwark, and being a landowner at Streatham, served as high sheriff of Surrey. Dr. Johnson used to give the following account of the rise of this gentleman:—"He worked at six shillings a week for twenty years in the great brewery, which afterwards was his own. The proprietor of it had an only daughter, who was married to a nobleman. It was not fit that a peer should continue the business. On the old man's death, therefore, the brewery was to be sold. To find a purchaser for so large a property was a difficult matter; and after some time it was suggested that it would be advisable to treat with Thrale, a sensible, active, honest man, who had been employed in the house, and to transfer the whole to him for thirty thousand pounds, security being taken upon the property. This was accordingly settled. In eleven years Thrale paid the purchase-money." On his death, in 1758, his son, Mr. Henry Thrale, succeeded him, and found the brewery so profitable a concern, that, although he had been educated to other tastes and habits, he determined not to part with it. This Mr. Thrale was a handsome man of fashion, and was wedded to a pretty and clever girl, Miss Hester Lynch Salusbury, of good Welsh extraction, and, as Boswell informs us, "a lady of lively talents, improved by education." The lady, we may add, was short, plump, and brisk. She has herself given us a lively view of the idea which Dr. Johnson had of her person, on her appearing before him in a dark-coloured gown: "You little creatures should never wear those sort of clothes; . . . . they are unsuitable in every way. What! have not all insects gay colours?" Mrs. Thrale was destined, nevertheless, as the mistress of Streatham Villa, the friend of Johnson, and the wife of Piozzi, to become a shining light in English literature. Boswell tells us, in his "Life of Johnson," that the great doctor's introduction into Mr. Thrale's family, which contributed so much to the happiness of his life, was owing to her desire for his conversation, is very probable and the general supposition; "but," he adds, "it is not the truth. Mr. Murphy," Boswell continues, "who was intimate with Mr. Thrale, having spoken very highly of Dr. Johnson, he was requested to make them acquainted. This being mentioned to Johnson, he accepted of an invitation to dinner at Thrale's, and was so much pleased with his reception, both by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, and they so much pleased with him, that his invitations to their house were more and more frequent, till at last he became one of the family, and an apartment was appropriated to him, both in their house at Southwark, and in their villa at Streatham."

"The first time," says Mrs. Piozzi, "I ever saw this extraordinary man was in the year 1764, when Mr. Murphy, who had long been the friend and confidential intimate of Mr. Thrale, persuaded him to wish for Johnson's conversation, extolling it in terms which that of no other person could have deserved, till we were only in doubt how to obtain his company, and find an excuse for the invitation."

Dr. Johnson had a very sincere esteem for Mr. Thrale, as a man of excellent principles, a good scholar, well skilled in trade, of a sound understanding, and of manners such as presented the character of a plain independent English squire. "I know no man," said he, "who is more master of his wife and family than Thrale. If he but holds up a finger, he is obeyed. It is a great mistake to suppose that she is above him in literary attainments. She is more flippant, but he has ten times her learning: he is a regular scholar, but her learning is that of a schoolboy in one of the lower forms."

Thrale, it has been stated, married Miss Salusbury "because she was the only pretty girl of his acquaintance who would consent to live in Southwark; and having married her, proceeded to enjoy himself with ladies of doubtful reputation at the theatres, leaving his gay wife to do the honours at Streatham to old Sam, Fanny Burney, and others of the set, not forgetting charming, learned Sophy Streatfield, the mysterous S. S., who won not only Thrale's heart, but those of right reverend bishops and grave schoolmasters, by her beauty, ready tears, soft caresses, and fluent Greek and Hebrew. But the time came when Thrale's gay career was suddenly stopped. The bailiffs and the auctioneer invaded the Southwark brewery; but his clever wife begged and borrowed till she bought it in."

Mr. Thrale resided in a house adjoining the brewery, and here he entertained his friends as well as at his country seat at Streatham. For some reason or other he appears to have been unpopular with the mob, for Boswell tells us that in the Gordon Riots his house and stock were in great danger: "The mob was pacified at their first invasion with about £50 in drink and meat; at the second they were driven away by the soldiers." It will be remembered that Dr. Johnson helped Mr. Thrale in his contests for the representation of Southwark, writing for him advertisements, letters, and addresses; one of these, dated September 5, 1780, is preserved by Boswell.

After Mr. Thrale's death, in 1781, the brewery was put up for sale by auction, and Johnson, of course, was present as one of the executors. Lord Lucan (writes Boswell) tells a very good story, which, if not precisely exact, is at least characteristic—that while the sale was going on, Johnson appeared bustling about, with an ink-horn and a pen in his button-hole, like an exciseman; and on being asked what he considered to be the value of the property which was to be disposed of, answered, "Sir, we are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice."

The brewery was bought by Mr. David Barclay, junior, then the head of the banking firm of Barclay and Co., for the sum of £135,000. This gentleman placed in the brewing firm his nephew, from America, Mr. Robert Barclay, who afterwards settled at Bury Hill, and Mr. Perkins, who had been in Thrale's establishment as manager or superintendent; so that while Mr. Barclay brought the money to carry on the business, Mr. Perkins may be said to have contributed the "brains"—hence the firm of "Barclay and Perkins."

So far and so wide are the joint names of Barclay and Perkins known upon the sign-boards of wayside inns, in London and the country, that Mr. G. A. Sala, in his "Gaslight and Daylight," suggests that "a future generation may be in danger of assuming that Messrs. Barclay and Perkins were names possessed in an astonishing degree by London citizens, who, proud of belonging to such respectable families, were in the habit of blazoning the declaration of their lineage in blue and gold on oblong boards, and affixing the same to the fronts of their houses!"

But we have not yet quite done with the beautiful Mrs. Thrale. After the death of her first husband, as we have already intimated, she became—contrary to the wishes and advice of Dr. Johnson—the wife of a Mr. Piozzi, and spent much of her time in her charming abode at Streatham, in the enjoyment of a select circle of literary acquaintances. Rogers was very intimate with the Piozzis, and often visited them at Streatham. He says, "The world" (in which Dr. Johnson was, of course, included) "was most unjust in blaming Mrs. Thrale for marrying Piozzi; he was a very handsome, gentlemanly, and amiable person, and made her a very good husband. In the evening he used to play to us most beautifully on the piano. Mrs. Piozzi's daughters would never see her after that marriage; and, poor woman, when she was of a very great age, I have heard her say that she would go down on her knees to them if they only would be reconciled to her."

Tom Moore, who breakfasted with her after she was turned eighty, speaks of her as still a "wonderful old lady," with all the quickness and intelligence of a gay young woman: "faces of other times seemed to crowd over her as she sat—the Johnsons, Reynoldses, &c." Madame D'Arblay speaks of her as "a wonderful character for talents and eccentricity, for wit, genius, generosity, spirit, and powers of entertainment." Miss Seward said that "her conversation was that bright wine of the intellect which has no lees;" and even Dr. Johnson, who did not think very highly of the female sex, owned that "her colloquial wit was a fountain of perpetual flow." Indeed, he used to dwell on her praises with a peculiar delight and a paternal fondness, which showed that he was quite proud and vain of being so intimately acquainted with her. Macaulay commends her as "one of those clever, kind-hearted, engaging, vain, pert young women, who are perpetually saying or doing something that is not exactly right; but who, do or say what they may, are always agreeable." Add to this the words of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall: "She was the provider and conductor of Dr. Johnson, who lived almost constantly under her roof, or more properly under that of Mr. Thrale both in London and at Streatham. He did not, however, spare her any more than other women in his attacks if she courted and provoked his animadversions." She was also a butt of the satirists; thus Gifford writes:—
"See Thrale's gay widow with a satchel roam,
And bring in pomp laborious nothing home."
And Dr. Wolcot (Peter Pindar), even more maliciously:—
"For that Piozzi's wife, Sir John, exhort her
To draw her immortality from porter;
Give up her anecdotical inditing,
And study housewif'ry instead of writing."

Mrs. Thrale left three daughters. One of them was a Mrs. Mostyn; her collection of curiosities and relics of Mr. Thrale and Dr. Johnson was sold at Silwood Lodge, Brighton, in the autumn of 1857, soon after Mrs. Mostyn's death.

The brewery of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins, one of the greatest establishments of the kind in the world, occupies some thirteen or fourteen acres of ground; the present building dates its erection from 1832, the old brewery having been in that year burnt to the ground, with the exception of a very small portion of the walls. As it is one of the "sights" of the metropolis, and indeed of Europe, our readers may be interested with a somewhat detailed account of the establishment, and of the various processes of malting, brewing, &c., as here carried on. To begin at the beginning, then, we will commence with a description of the process of malting, the object of which is—by forced vegetation of the grain, and then checking that tendency, by gradually and slowly increasing heat from 130 to 160 degrees—to separate the particles of starch, and render the saccharine matter formed easily soluble in hot water. For this purpose, the barley is steeped for about two days, in which time it imbibes nearly half its weight of water. It next lies, a few inches deep, on a floor for a fortnight, during which time it is repeatedly stirred to prevent its heating. When the grain is sprouted, its roots extending about half an inch in length, it is kilndried on an iron floor heated by coke, gradually and slowly, commencing at 90 degrees, and not exceeding at last 160 degrees, an operation of two or three days; after this the sprouts are separated by sifting from the malt, which is then fit for the brewer or distiller. In describing the process of brewing, the author above quoted says: "The brewer, having first ground the malt, mixes it with as much hot water as it will imbibe, stirring the mixture until it is perfectly and equally soaked; the heat of the water must be some degrees below the boiling-point, or it will cake the meal. When well stirred, or mashed, it is covered up from external air for about three hours; then the liquor is drawn off, and boiled for an hour or more with a due proportion of hops (hop blossom), say a pound to the bushel. As all the saccharine matter is not by this first mashing extracted, a second, and even a third, is had recourse to, requiring, however, less time, and allowing hotter water than the first. When the liquor, or wort, as it is called, is drawn from the copper duly boiled, the hop dregs are strained off, and the wort must be cooled as fast as possible, otherwise the disposition of the beer to turn sour will be much greater; even a larger proportion of hop will hardly save it. When the wort is quite cool it is to be fermented. Wine from grapes will ferment of itself, but beer requires yeast, or barm, from a previous brewing. This is usually added gradually as the wort appears to require it, and in various proportions, according to the intention of the brewer, whether he wishes to save time in the operations, and to produce a full luscious beverage for early use, or a more vinous and clear liquor of great strength for long preservation. Such are the simple objects of brewing; but a variety of circumstances in the practice requires great care and experience, and not a little acuteness of perception. Even with all these qualifications, the effects of weather used often to be highly injurious, and are so still to persons who brew in a small way without the improvements lately acquired from science. These are so great that with them brewing is carried on indifferently in hot or cold weather, throughout the year, and not as formerly, in March and October chiefly. The principal improvements are in the formation of mashing-tuns or rakes, whereby the malt is mashed in an exceedingly small space of time, and without exposure to the atmosphere, so that all is equally soaked; boilers that afford the most speedy and controllable supply of hot water at the least expense of fuel, an arrangement for drawing off the wort and passing it through iron pipes laid in cold water many hundreds or thousands of yards in continuity, so that the wort is cooled in an incredible short time, and other modes of effecting the same purpose by quick evaporation in metallic shallow vessels. The fermentation is, on the contrary, carried on in wooden vessels of very great depth, perhaps of thirty feet; whilst a perfect control is maintained that enables the superintendent to promote the generation of carbonic acid gas, or to draw it off, as the case may require."

At the brewery of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins all these operations are to be seen in the utmost perfection, and on the most magnificent scale. The brewhouse, or mashing stage, is 225 feet long, by 60 feet in width, and very lofty, with an ingenious and elaborate iron roof. Within this large space are five complete sets of brewing apparatus, perfectly distinct in themselves, but directly connected with the great supply of malt from the floor above, of water-cisterns from below, and of motive force from the steam-engine behind, as well as the vast coolers, fermenting vats, &c. Each of the copper boilers cost nearly £5,000 (about £24,000 altogether); each consists of a furnace, a globular copper that holds 350 barrels, a pan or covering boiler that contains 280 barrels, and a cylindrical cistern that will contain 120 barrels, on arrangements equally beautiful and useful, from its compactness and the economy of heat. The hot water is drawn from one of these copper boilers to the corresponding mash-tun underneath, which measures about twenty feet in diameter, and holds 150 quarters of malt. It is supplied with machinery that works from a centre on a cog-rail which extends over the circumference of the tun, and stirs the malt. The mash-tun has a false bottom, which in due time lets off the "wort" through small holes to an under-back, whence it is pumped back to the emptied copper, from which it received the hot water, and there mixed with hops, to be boiled, and again run off into a cistern thirty feet each way, where, passing through a perforated bottom, it leaves the hops, and is pumped through the cooling tubes, or refrigerator, into an open cooler, and thence to the fermenting squares, which are coffers about twenty-five or thirty feet deep, and fifteen feet square, in which the fermentation by yeast is carried on for some days; from these it is drawn off into pontoons, where the fermentation acquires a fresh activity for a few days longer, when it gradually ceases, and the liquor becomes clearer: it is then put into the large vat, where it remains till required for use. The vats at Barclay and Perkins' establishment are nearly 200 in number, the smallest containing 600 barrels of beer, and the largest 3,300 barrels, measuring 36 feet in diameter at top, 40 feet at the bottom (or 125 feet in circumference), and 40 feet in height. Altogether, they must hold more than 150,000 barrels; and the number of casks (butts or barrels), many of them filled, amount to something over 64,000.

We have stated that the brewery contains five magnificent boilers with corresponding mash-tuns, and every adjunct. So far the arrangement and explanation are simple enough, and so is, to the eye of an experienced engineer, the machinery that connects and keeps in motion every part of these stupendous operations. It is otherwise to persons unaccustomed to the variety and multiplicity of cog-wheels working at different angles, which communicate action in different and opposite directions from one end of the premises to the other, in what may be denominated a maze of systematic order. The malt is conveyed from one building to another, even across a street, entirely by machinery, and again to the crushing rollers and mash-tun; the cold and the hot water, and the wort and the beer, are pumped in various directions, almost to the exclusion of human exertions, nearly every portion of the heavy toil being accomplished by the steam-engine. Of all the combinations, none is more complete than what is called the "Jacob's ladder:" this consists of an endless chain working on two rollers at a considerable distance from each other. Along this chain buckets are fastened close to each other; these buckets dipping into a heap of malt near one extremity of the chain, carry it on to the other end, where, revolving on the other roller, they are capsized, and thus emptied; they, of course, return to the first roller, where a second inversion places them again in the position required for filling by their own progress through the heap of malt to be removed. There are no less than twenty-four lofts, each capable of containing 1,000 quarters of malt. The "Jacob's ladders" and the refrigerators are among the greatest improvements achieved: the one saves immense labour, simplifies and perfects the work, and, of course, reduces the expenses, and concentrates the operations; the other economises time, and improves the beverage. More space and more hands can be applied to those portions of the business that require them; and hence a remarkable degree of method, neatness, cleanliness, and quiet are observable throughout the establishment.

The portions of the brewery which we have described above lie on either side of Park Street, being connected by a bridge, which is reached from the upper storeys. On leaving these parts of the establishment, we pass through the engineroom, on the ground-floor, and emerging into the yard, notice the well from which the great supply of water is drawn for consumption in the brewery. In connection with this well, we may state a curious geological fact. This brewery, as we have shown above, is situated near the south bank of the Thames; that of the City of London Brewery Company is in Thames Street, on the opposite side of the river. It is not a little singular that when the pump of the well at Messrs. Barclay's is worked, the level of the water in the well of the City brewery is visibly affected, thus proving that the watery stratum passes clean under the Thames, just as it would under dry land, without being in any way connected with the water of the river.

The long ranges of building on the north side of the brewery are used as the carpenters' shops, the cooperage, &c. In the former a very large amount of work is done in connection with fittings for the various public-houses belonging to the firm, besides other work which may be required in the brewery. On the south side of the yard is another range of buildings, separated from the other by an avenue, over which a large pipe crosses to convey the beer from the "rounds"—as the huge tanks which contained it are called—to the store-vats. These vats are contained in a series of store-rooms, apparently almost interminable. Long galleries, branching off north, south, east, and west, are crammed as full of vats as the circular form of the vessels will permit, some larger than others, but all, nevertheless, of gigantic proportions. Some idea may be formed of the extent of the vatgalleries when we state that there are nearly 200 vats, the average capacity of which, large and small together, is upwards of 30,000 gallons. Two of the vats are each capable of containing 3,500 barrels of thirty-six gallons each, and the weight, when full of porter, is stated to be about 500 tons. By the aid of a guide we ascend one of the steep ladders, and mounting to the top, obtain a kind of bird's-eye view of these mighty monsters, and then emerging through a small doorway in the roof, obtain a good view not only of the whole range of buildings forming the brewery, but also of St. Saviour's Church and other places round about. The store-rooms in front of us, as we look down on the north side, we were informed, had gradually and completely enclosed a small graveyard, which has at last been partially built upon, and all traces of its previous uses swept away. As this grave-yard does not appear to have been parochial, or attached to any church, it was, in all probability, the same as that which we have mentioned above as having been formerly used as the burial-place of the unfortunate victims of the plague in Bankside. On the south side of the brewery is an extensive range of stabling, spacious enough to afford proper accommodation for 200 dray-horses.

Messrs. Barclay and Perkins, down to a comparatively recent period, stood quite at the head of the principal porter and ale brewers of London; but latterly Messrs. Hanbury and Co. seem to have taken the lead. Nevertheless, a very large business is done annually by Messrs. Barclay and Perkins, not only in the way of home consumption, but also for shipment abroad, and the average quantity of malt consumed by them amounts to about 130,000 quarters annually, or about 650 quarters every working day throughout the year, besides a proportionably large quantity of hops. The brewery is a great attraction for visitors to London, and more especially foreigners, and the "visitors' book" will be found to contain the names of many eminent personages. One of the bestremembered visitors, perhaps, is Marshal Haynau, who was speedily and unceremoniously ejected by the draymen some years ago, in consequence of his alleged ill-treatment of Polish or Hungarian women, which had come to the knowledge of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins' draymen.

Marshal Haynau, during the sanguinary war in 1849 against the Hungarians, had gained considerable notoriety from his excessive cruelty towards the Magyars, particularly the women. The following year, having fallen into disgrace with the Imperial Court of Vienna, and losing his military command, he occupied himself in a tour through Europe, visiting London in due course. On the 4th of September, 1850, he paid a visit to Barclay's brewhouse, and complied with the customary practice of signing the visitors' book on entering the brewery. In less than two minutes the word was passed throughout the establishment that the notorious Hungarian woman-flogger was then in the building. A number of the men quickly gathered round him as he was viewing the large vat, and commenced showing signs of hostility. Finding that his presence was so decidedly objectionable, the marshal was about to retire, but this he was not permitted to do without receiving some marks of violence from the draymen and workmen employed in the brewery. A truss of straw was dropped on his head as he was passing through the stables, his hat was then beaten over his eyes, his clothes torn off his back, and he was almost dragged along by his beard and moustaches, which were of enormous length. Some of the carters employed in the brewery and labourers from the Borough Market commenced lashing him with their whips, accompanied with the cry, "Down with the Austrian butcher!" "Give it him!" Both himself and his two companions endeavoured to defend themselves against the mob of workmen, now swelled to upwards of 500. In his attempts to escape from his pursuers he rushed along Bankside, and entered the "George" public-house, close by, followed by the throng. Several rooms were entered by the mob, but in vain. At last the marshal was discovered crouching in a dust-bin attached to the house. In the meantime the police having been sent for, appeared on the scene, and with some difficulty the crowd was dispersed and the marshal conveyed through a back-door to a police galley which happened to be near at hand. He was then rowed to Waterloo Bridge, and conveyed to Morley's Hotel.

"We have often," writes Charles Knight, "had occasion to sigh over the poverty of London in the article of genuine popular legends; one brewhouse is among the exception. The names of Henry Thrale and Dr. Samuel Johnson must go down to posterity together. The workmen at Barclay and Perkins's will show you a little apartment in which, according to the tradition of the place, Johnson wrote his dictionary. Now this story," he adds, "has one feature of a genuine legend—it sets chronology at defiance." He might have added that it sets at defiance topography also; for it is well known that the dictionary was compiled, as shown by us in our first volume, (fn. 2) in the neighbourhood of Fleet Street.

The site of the Globe Theatre, of which we shall speak in the following chapter, is believed to be covered by part of the premises of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins' brewery, at a short distance from the spot on which once stood the town-house of Mr. Thrale.

Deadman's Place, according to tradition, took its name from the number of dead interred there in the great plague, soon after the Restoration. Elmes, in his "Topographical Dictionary," says it is the second turning on the left in Park Street, going from the Borough Market; as shown above, it has now become partly absorbed in Messrs. Barclay and Perkins' brewery. Pike tells us that little more than fifty years ago there existed in Southwark Park a burial-ground in which many of the Nonconformist worthies were interred. This cemetery was called Deadman's Place, and was situated not far from New Park Street Chapel.

Not far from the brewery, in Park Street, there stood formerly a timber edifice, where Mr. Wadsworth's congregation was accustomed to assemble, and where Richard Baxter was wont occasionally to preach. "Just when I was kept out of Swallow Street," says Baxter, "his [Mr. Wadsworth's] flock invited me to Southwark, where, though I refused to be their pastor, I preached many months in peace, there being no justice willing to disturb us." Baxter died in the Charterhouse in 1691.

At a short distance westward, in Zoar Street, an obscure part of the Borough, close by Gravel Lane, which forms the western boundary of Southwark, there is, or, at all events, there was till very lately, an old Dissenting meeting-house, but now converted into a carpenter's shop, which tradition affirms to have been used by John Bunyan for religious worship. "It is known," says Mr. R. Chambers, in his "Book of Days" (vol. ii., p. 290), "to have been erected a short while before the Revolution, by a few earnest Protestants, as a means of counteracting a Catholic school which had been established in the neighbourhood under the auspices of James II. But Bunyan may have preached in it once or twice, or even occasionally during the year preceding his death in 1688." One of its ministers was John Chester, the ejected minister of Wetherby, in Leicestershire. When Bunyan preached in this chapel, thousands of people were attracted by the charm of his magic eloquence. It mattered not whether the service was held on the Sunday, or "a morning lecture by seven o'clock on a working-day in the dark winter-time." In 1740 this congregation removed to Deadman's Place, and about fifty years later they migrated to Union Street. The old chapel in Zoar Street was subsequently used by the Wesleyans, and at last became a brewery and a factory. A view of the chapel, as it appeared in 1812, has been engraved for the standard edition of Bunyan's works; and another view of the edifice, as it was in 1864, will be found in the "Book of Days," at the page quoted above.

It was in Bankside at one time that poor Oliver Goldsmith was practising medicine on his own account, though without much success. This was in the interval after he had been engaged as an assistant in a chemist's shop near Fish Street Hill, and before he became a schoolmaster at Peckham. Goldsmith's strong passion for dress, at this period of his checkered career, we are told, exhibited itself in a second-hand suit of green and gold, which made him a rather conspicuous personage in the thoroughfares of the Borough; while a want of neatness, and of money to pay the washerwoman, was clearly betrayed in his shirt and neckcloth, often of a fortnight's wear. But contentment or pride provided a covering for his poverty, and he told a friend that "he was practising physic, and doing very well." The green suit was afterwards changed for a black one, with a patch on the left breast, which he ingeniously concealed by holding up his cocked hat when he was conversing with his patients. A polite person once endeavoured to relieve him from this apparent incumbrance, "which only made him press it more devoutly to his heart."

Bankside is described in the "New View of London," published in 1708, as lying "between Upper Ground Street and St. Saviour's Dock." The thoroughfare now bearing the name extends from St. Saviour's Church westward nearly to Blackfriars Bridge. Not far from Bankside there was a Crucifix Lane, near Barnaby (now Bermondsey) Street and Parish Street, which, with Cardinal's Hat Court, seem to have been so named as belonging at some distant period to the old religious house of St. Mary Overies.

A little to the west of St. Saviour's Church is Stoney Street, which ran down to the water-side, nearly opposite to Dowgate, and probably was the continuation of the Watling Street road. "This," says Pennant, "is supposed to have been a Roman trajectus, and the ferry from Londinum into the province of Cantium." Marks of the ancient causeway have been discovered on the London side. Of this the name evinces the origin. The Saxons always gave the name of Street to the Roman roads, and here they gave it the addition of Stoney, from the pavement they found it composed of.

Between Southwark Bridge Road and the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge is Holland Street, which marks the site of the ancient moated manor-house, called Holland's Leaguer, of which we have spoken above. All vestiges of the house have long been swept away. In Holland Street, on the spot where once stood the tide-mill of the old manor of Paris Garden, are the Falcon Glass Works, one of the most important manufactories in Southwark. It may be mentioned here, in passing, that old Southwark was noted for its artists in glass, who are known to have glazed the windows of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, in the reign of Henry VIII. The Falcon Works have existed here for more than a century. "Their present importance and excellence," as we learn from Brayley's "History of Surrey" (1843), "are mainly due to the taste and exertions of the present proprietor [Mr. Apsley Pellatt], and the employment of skilful hands on materials that science and experience approve. By these means the most elegant productions of the Continent are advantageously rivalled, and in some respects surpassed. The number of persons employed is from one hundred to one hundred and twenty in the glasshouse, and about thirty elsewhere. The weight of glass manufactured in the course of a year, into chandeliers, illuminators for ships or cellars, toilet or smelling-bottles, ornamental glasses of every description for the table, and various objects for medical and philosophical purposes, has been 20,000 lbs." Since the repeal of the excise duty on glass the quantity worked has been very largely increased, and the quality improved. Mr. Apsley Pellatt, who was for some years M.P. for Lambeth, died in 1864.

Close by the glass works, on the site of the Falcon drawing-dock, was situated the "Falcon Tavern," famous for its connection with the name of William Shakespeare. Here the great "poet of all time" and his companions would refresh themselves after the fatigue of the afternoon performances at the Globe hard by. "It long continued," says Mr. Larwood, "to be celebrated as a coaching inn for all parts of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, till it was taken down in 1808." The name, as shown above, is still preserved in the Falcon Glass Works, and also in the Falcon Stairs. A house is still standing, or was till lately, which is considered to have been part of the original tavern, and, at all events, occupies its site and immortalises his name.

In the rear of the Falcon Glass Works, opening upon Holland Street—or that part of it which was till lately called the "Green Walk"—is a small cluster of almshouses, founded in 1730, by a Mr. Hopton, for the purpose of affording shelter for "poor decayed householders of the parish of Christchurch," together with a yearly pension of £12 to each inmate.

Previous to the erection of Southwark Bridge, in 1814, Bankside, from London to Blackfriars Bridges, presented a comparatively uninteresting succession of wharves and warehouses, together with irregular-built dwelling-houses; but upon the formation of the viaduct to the new bridge, extensive improvements were planned on each side, the most important of which was the erection of a huge pile of building westward, by the Messrs. Pott, upon a tract of ground which, for upwards of two centuries, has been used for manufacturing purposes. These premises were occupied as vinegar-works by a Mr. Rush, so long ago as 1641, and continued in his family till 1790, when they came into the possession of the Messrs. Pott, whose family had carried on a manufactory of the same kind for seventy years in Mansel Street, Whitechapel. The ground here, as we have already shown, originally formed a portion of the park of the ancient palace of the Bishops of Winchester. The property, as we have stated, is still held of the see of Winchester, by Messrs. Pott, who, conjointly with the Bishop of Winchester, in 1838–9, gave a portion of the grounds for the site of the new parish church of St. Peter's, and of the new grammar-school of St. Saviour's.

The church and school stand on the north side of Sumner Street—so named after Dr. Sumner, late Bishop of Winchester—which connects Southwark Bridge Road with Park Street. The church is a neat building, in imitation of the Pointed style, and is constructed of fine light brick, with stone dressings. At the western end rises an embattled tower, with square turrets at the angles; the eastern gable is surmounted with an enriched cross, turrets, &c.; the principal entrances are at the west end, and at the south side, under an enriched stone headway, beneath the central window. The cost of building was contributed by the trustees of "Hyndman's Bounty;" being a portion of the donation of £100,000 devoted, in fulfilment of the wish of a certain Miss Hyndman, to the erection of churches in populous districts. A further sum of about £1,700 was raised by subscription, among the parishioners, for the enclosure, decoration, and furniture of the edifice.

Since the annexation of Southwark to London, as stated in a previous chapter, its ecclesiastical divisions have gradually been increased by subdivisions. The two parishes of St. Mary's and St. Margaret's, indeed, as we have already shown, have been united, the old church of St. Saviour's being made to do duty for both; but the parish of Christ Church, as nearly as possible co-extensive with the Manor of Paris Garden, has been formed out of St. Saviour's, as also has the still more modern parish of St. Peter's, of which we have spoken above. The parish of St. John's, Horselydown, has in like manner been taken out of St. Olave's; and the hospital church of St. Thomas has been made parochial. Of the churches belonging to the two last-named parishes, and also of Christ Church, Blackfriars Road, we shall speak in due course.

St. Saviour's Grammar School, as we have already had occasion to state, stood originally on the south side of St. Saviour's Church; it was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1562, for the use of the parishioners, "poor as well as rich." It was burnt down a few years after its establishment, but was rebuilt. In 1839 the school was removed to a more convenient site in Sumner Street, where the present school and schoolhouse were built about the year 1838. At the same time the statutes were revised by the Court of Chancery, and the education now given is that of a public school, while the endowment is sufficient to allow of the charges being reduced to a most moderate scale. The school was reformed in 1850 under a scheme approved by the Court of Chancery, the usual classical and commercial course being prescribed. The visitor is the Bishop of Winchester, under the shadow of whose palace the old school had grown up. By the statutes it is provided that the master shall be "a man of a wise, sociable, loving disposition, not hasty or furious, or of any ill example, but wise and of good experience to discern the nature of every several child; to work upon the disposition for the greatest advantage, benefit, and comfort of the child, and to learn with the love of his book, if such an one can be got."

The school and master's house, &c., which nearly adjoins the western end of St. Peter's Church, are built of brick, with stone dressings, in the Elizabethan Domestic style, from the designs of Mr. Christopher Edmonds, architect. By the charter of incorporation, the original endowment amounted to £40 per annum; six governors were appointed, who were to be advised in the appointment and government of the master and usher by the Bishop of Winchester, "or any other good and learned man." Immediately after the charter, the governors ordered that the schoolmaster's wages should be £20 yearly; that children of the parish should be taught free, paying 2s. 6d. entrance, and 8d. per annum towards brooms and rods. The whole number of scholars was not to exceed 100; the head-master taking forty for his own advantage; in 1614 he was allowed a dwellinghouse in the parish, rent-free; and the governors had the discretion of increasing his stipend, and taking children of other parishes and places. In the above year also, John Bingham, one of the governors of the school, founded an endowment for two poor scholars at Cambridge or Oxford—"none but poor and such as were forward in learning, and might be fit for the University." According to the Parliamentary Report, in 1818, the annual income of this school amounted to £387 15s. 1d. At that time there were sixtyeight boys upon the foundation; each paid £1 entrance, and 5s. a quarter to the writing-school, and the like to the classical school. The above report states, "With the exception of writing and arithmetic, the education given at the school is, according to the provisions of the charter, entirely classical. It appears that this has operated to deter poor persons who might be entitled to send their children there from so doing; but we are assured that no poor child, whose parents have applied for his admission, has been refused." The average number of children is now about 120, and the school is thrown entirely open. There are several valuable scholarships; and the pupils are prepared for the Universities, Civil Service, and other public examinations, combined with a thorough commercial education.

To the south of Sumner Street, and connecting the two great thoroughfares of the Borough and Blackfriars Road, is a broad roadway, called Southwark Street. It was formed about the year 1860, and its sides are lined with some lofty and handsome warehouses, offices, and other places of business, which present a marked improvement on the ordinary street architecture of old Southwark. In the formation of this street a large number of courts and alleys were swept away, and a great alteration was made in the west side of the High Street, by the removal of the Town Hall, of which we shall presently speak. The preparations for the erection of Southwark Bridge had cleared away several narrow streets on the Surrey side of the river, and materially altered the appearance of the neighbourhood. Bandyleg Walk, a dirty lane between Maid Lane (now New Park Street) and Queen Street (now Union Street), are on the spot where formerly was a waste piece of ground. The Dyers' Field, with a filthy pond in the centre, became Great Guildford Street; and the name of Union Street was conferred upon the thoroughfare between the end of Charlotte Street and the Borough. The district between the Blackfriars Road and Bandyleg Walk had an unsavoury reputation in the last century. Gravel Lane, Ewer Street, and the adjacent courts and alleys, were the St. Giles's of Southwark, inhabited by a dense colony of Irish, whose frequent drunken bouts and faction fights were, in those days of the old "Charlies," sufficiently desperate to warn off steady-going people from the locality. On the north side of the street, westward of Southwark Bridge Road, are some extensive blocks of model lodging-houses, erected by the Peabody trustees. The range of buildings covers a large extent of ground; and the houses themselves, which are constructed of brick, and upon the most improved principles, are several storeys in height.

At the eastern end of Southwark Street, near its junction with the High Street, and close by the Borough Market, stands the Hop Exchange, which was built about 1865, from the designs of Mr. Moore. This is a large and magnificent range of buildings, several storeys in height, in which are offices, &c., used by hop merchants and others, and enclosing a lofty hall, in which the business of the exchange is carried on. The hall, which is approached from the street by a short flight of steps, and a vestibule, in which are some handsome iron gates, is surrounded by three galleries, which serve as means of communication to the various offices. In the rear are some extensive warehouses and stowage for hops, &c. The railings of the galleries are appropriately decorated, and the hall itself is covered in with a glass roof.

It has been said of St. Petersburg that more labour is expended in the foundations of the houses than on the houses themselves; and so it is with Southwark Street. The subway which runs along its centre, as stated in a previous part of this work, (fn. 3) is a piece of building which will last for many generations. Underneath that subway, which is seven feet high in the centre, is the sewer; the gas and water pipes are laid in the subway. There is a communication from it for gas and water to every house, the repair of the pipes will not necessitate the opening of the streets, and passengers are saved the disagreeable intelligence of "No thoroughfare," when driving in a cab to catch a train. This subway, indeed, is a most excellent piece of building, and has been finished in a masterly manner; and the same degree of excellent workmanship may be said to have been bestowed upon the fronts of the houses on either side of the street. Altogether, Southwark Street is more like an old Roman street, especially in its subway, than anything of modern times. In architecture it may be called Parisian, for the style of the houses is borrowed from that which dominates in Paris, and is identified with the period of Louis XIV. Near the eastern end of the street the roadway is crossed by a railway arch, over which passes the lines connecting London Bridge and Cannon Street Stations with Waterloo and Charing Cross; whilst the other end of the street passes under the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, close by Blackfriars Bridge Station. In the middle of the roadway, at either end of the street, are ornamental shafts, surrounded by lamps, for the ventilation of the subway.

Altogether, the Bankside of to-day is a notably different place from the Bankside of theatres and pleasure-gardens as it appeared two centuries ago and which we shall now proceed to describe.