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.

VIEW OF ST. MARY OVERY. (From an Etching by Hollar, 1647.)
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."

WINCHESTER HOUSE. (From a View by Hollar, 1660.)
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.

HALL OF WINCHESTER HOUSE. (From an Etching by Hollar, 1647.)
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.
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."

BARCLAY'S BREWERY, 1829.
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.

PLAN OF BANKSIDE, EARLY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
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 GLOBE THEATRE, TEMP. ELIZABETH. (See page 45.)
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.