CHAPTER XXII.
PECKHAM AND DULWICH.
Situation of Peckham—Queen's Road—Albert Road—The Manor House of Peckham—Hill Street—Shard Square and the "Shard Arms"—Peckham House—Old Mansions in Peckham—Marlborough House—The "Rosemary Branch"—Peckham Fair—The "Kentish Drovers"—Hanover Street—Hanover Chapel—Basing Manor—Rye Lane—The Railway Station—The Museum of Fire—arms—Peckham Rye—Nunhead Green—The Asylum of the Metropolitan Beer and Wine Trade Association—Nunhead Cemetery—Nunhead Hill—The
Reservoirs of the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks—Heaton's Folly—Honour Oak—Camberwell Cemetery—Friern Manor Farm—Goose Green—Lordship Lane—The "Plough" Inn—The Scenery round Dulwich—The Haunt of the Gipsies—Visit of the Court of
Charles I. to Dulwich, for the Purposes of Sport—Outrages in Dulwich Wood—The Stocks and Cage at Dulwich—The "Green Man"
Tavern—Bew's Corner—Dulwich Wells—Dr. Glennie's School—Byron a Scholar there—The "Crown," the "Half Moon," and the
"Greyhound" Taverns—The Dulwich Club—Noted Residents of Dulwich—The Old Manor House—Edward Alleyn at Home—Dulwich
College—Dulwich Picture-gallery—The New Schools of Dulwich College.
Peckham, as a metropolitan suburb, has a history
completely of its own, made up of King John, Nell
Gwynne, the great Duke of Marlborough, Hannah
Lightfoot, Dr. Collyer, and other celebrities; yet it
is nevertheless curtly described by Priscilla Wakefield, in her "Perambulations of London," as "a
hamlet in the parish of Camberwell, on the road
proceeding to Greenwich." The only scrap of
information which she adds is that "a large fair
is held at Peckham annually, affording a holiday to
a vast number of the lower classes of Londoners."
Of this fair we shall have more to say presently.
The road above referred to leads from the Green
at Camberwell, passes the parish church, and,
continuing on through the village of Peckham,
terminates in Queen's Road, which winds in a
north-easterly direction, and ultimately unites with
the Old Kent Road, near New Cross. Queen's
Road, now a broad and well-built thoroughfare,
was formerly known as Deptford Lane, and was
re-named in honour of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
who often passed through it on her way to the
Royal Naval School at New Cross. It is not
so very long ago that Albert Road, a turning
out of the Queen's Road, was known by the
not very euphonious appellation of Cow Walk.
Within the present century Peckham rejoiced in
a park of considerable extent, extending at one
time from the High Street as far northward as the
Old Kent Road; but its existence is now merely
kept in remembrance by Peckham Park Road,
which, with Hill Street, unites the two thoroughfares, and has long been built upon. The Manor
House of Peckham, which occupied a central position, was standing in 1809, when Priscilla Wakefield wrote her work above quoted. It is said to
have been built by Sir Thomas Bond, (fn. 1) one of
the confidential friends of James II., and who
loyally accompanied that monarch into exile.
Sir Thomas Trevor, Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas, created Lord Trevor by Queen
Anne in 1711, and one of the twelve individuals
who were made peers at once during the struggle
for power, purchased the Peckham estate from Sir
Henry Bond. The judge resided here occasionally,
and after his decease, in 1731, the estate was purchased by a Mrs. Hill, from whom it descended to
her nephew, Isaac P. Shard, Esq.; in 1812 it
belonged to his second son, Mr. Charles Shard,
of Lovel's Hill, near Windsor, who inherited the
property from his elder brother. "In 1797," writes
Mr. Blanch, in his History of Camberwell, "this
ancient mansion was levelled to the ground for
the then commencing great metropolitan improvements, and the present Hill Street forms the site
of the once magnificent and stately mansion." The
Shards are kept in remembrance by Shard Square
and the "Shard Arms."
Branching out of the Peckham Road, a number
of new thoroughfares have sprung up within the
last quarter of a century, the names of which impart quite a legal tone to the district, the roads
being dedicated to Lords Lyndhurst, Denman, and
Selborne, and to Mr. Justice Talfourd. A few
steps out of the High Street is Peckham House,
formerly an old private mansion, but for the last
half century a lunatic asylum, kept by Dr. Stocker,
whose predecessor was a Dr. Armstrong. Its
interior has been more than once graphically
described by newspaper writers. The fine old
mansion and surrounding acres have not always
been connected with the sad side of humanity,
for prior to 1826 the noble building resounded
with the merry laughter of freedom. The wealthy
family of Spitta lived here in grand style, giving
fêtes, or what would now be termed gardenparties, to their neighbours, and dispensing charity
with no niggard hand amongst the poor of the
locality.
The High Street still boasts of many quaint
houses, some of which can date back more than
two centuries. The police-station forms part of
what was once a fine mansion, formerly occupied
by a wealthy family of the name of Dalton, and
subsequently used as a convent. The policestation occupies the site of one of its outbuildings.
Another house, now a draper's shop, was formerly
the head-quarters of the Royal Asylum of St.
Ann's Society, which was founded in 1702; whilst
Avenue House, now the central office of Miss
Rye's establishment for aiding the cause of female
emigration, was, in days of old, a family mansion
of some note.
Near the High Street, on the ground now
covered by Marlborough Road, formerly stood
Marlborough House, a fine old mansion, supposed
at one time to have been the residence of some
members of the Churchill family. The building
contained a noble entrance-hall and a fine oak
staircase, and frescoes adorned the walls and
ceilings. For some years prior to its demolition,
the building was used as a workhouse, where the
city paupers were farmed. Blenheim House, still
standing in the High Street, is thought to have
been a minor building attached to the mansion.
The "Rosemary Branch" tavern, in Southampton Street, which stands at the junction of the
Commercial Road, although possessing but a local
reputation at the present time, was a well-known
metropolitan hostelry at the commencement of the
century. The old house, which was pulled down
many years ago, was a picturesque structure, with
rustic surroundings. Its original sign, if we may
trust an entry in the churchwardens' accounts for
1707, appears to have been the "Rosemary Bush;"
at all events, the entry referred to runs thus:
"Received of Mr. Travers, for a stranger dying at
ye Rosemary Bush, 00. 00. 04d." Tradition has
it, that whenever the landlord of the old house
tapped a barrel of beer, the inhabitants for some
distance round were apprised of the fact by bell
and proclamation! When the new house was
erected it was described, in a print of the time,
as an "establishment which has no suburban rival."
The grounds surrounding it were most extensive,
and horse-racing, cricketing, pigeon-shooting, and
all kinds of out-door sports and pastimes were
carried on within them; just as at Belsize a century
ago. (fn. 2) The grounds have now been almost entirely
covered with houses.
The "Rosemary Branch" is by no means a
common sign for a public-house; but this house at
Peckham is perhaps one of the best known in the
metropolis. Rosemary was formerly an emblem of
remembrance, much as the forget-me-not is now.
"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance," says
Ophelia, in the play of Hamlet; and, in the
Winter's Tale, Perdita says:
"For you, there's rosemary and rue; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long;
Grace and remembrance be unto you both."
A local tradition says that King John, hunting
at Peckham, killed a stag, and was so pleased with
the sport, that he granted its inhabitants an annual
fair of three weeks' continuance; but no charter
to that effect has been found. Another account
says that it was granted, at the instance of Nell
Gwynne, by our "merry monarch," on his return
from a day's sport in the neighbourhood to the
residence of Sir Thomas Bond, already mentioned
as one of his favourites. The fair is stated, by the
author of "Merrie England in the Olden Time,"
to have been held in the immediate vicinity of the
"Kentish Drovers," an old-established tavern in
the Peckham Road, which is said to have existed
here for about two centuries. When Peckham was
a village, surrounded by green fields, the "Kentish
Drovers," as the sign implies, was a well-known
halting-place for cattle-dealers, &c., on the road to
Kent. Peckham Fair, with its wild beast and
other shows, was of venerable antiquity at the date
of its suppression. It was a famous place of resort
with holiday-makers in the last century, and always
had more than its share of curious monsters exhibited in its booths. Here, for instance, is one
of its programmes, at the top of which stands the
name of "George I. R.":—
To the Lovers of Curiosities.—To be seen, during
the time of Peckham Fair, a grand Collection of Living
Wild Beasts and Birds, lately arrived from the remotest
parts of the world
1. The Pelican, that suckles her young with her Heart's
blood, from Egypt.
2. The noble Vulture Cock, brought from Archangell,
having the finest tallons (sic) of any bird that seeks his prey.
The fore part of his head is covered with hair; the second
part resembles the wool of a Black; below that is a white
Ring, having a Ruff that he cloaks his head with at night.
3. An Eagle of the Sun, that takes the loftiest flight of
any Bird that flies. There is no bird but this that can fly to
the face of the sun with a naked eye.
4. A curious beast, bred from a Lioness, like a foreign
Wild Cat.
5. The he-Panther, from Turkey, allowed by the curious
to be one of the greatest rarities ever seen in England, on
which are thousands of spots, and no two of a likeness.
6 & 7. The two fierce and surprising Hyænas, Male and
Female, from the river Gambia. These creatures imitate
the human voice, and so decoy negroes out of their huts and
plantations to devour them. They have a mane like a horse,
and two joints in their hinder legs more than any other
creature. It is remarkable that all other beasts are to be
tamed, but Hyænas they are not.
8. An Ethiopian Tobo Savage, having all the actions of
the human species, which, when it is at its full growth, will
be upwards of five feet high.
9. Also several other surprising Creatures of different
sorts. To be seen from 9 in the morning till 9 at night till
they are sold. Also all manner of curiosities of different
sorts are bought and sold at the above place by John
Bennett.
THE "ROSEMARY BRANCH" IN 1800.
In August, 1787, were to be seen at the fair
such examples of the four-footed race as bears,
monkeys, dancing-dogs, learned pigs, &c. Mr.
Flockton, "in his theatrical booth opposite the
'Kentish Drovers,'" exhibited the Italian fantocini,
the farce of the Conjuror, and his "inimitable
musical clock." Mr. Lane, "first performer to the
king," played off his "snip-snap, rip-rap, crickcrack, and thunder tricks, that the grown babies
stared like worried cats." This extraordinary
genius "will drive about forty twelve-penny nails
into any gentleman's breech, place him in a loadstone chair, and draw them out without the least
pain! He is, in short, the most wonderful of all
wonderful creatures the world ever wondered at."
At this fair Sir Jeffrey Dunstan sported his handsome figure within his booth, outside of which
was displayed a likeness of the elegant original in
his pink satin smalls. "His dress, address, and
oratory fascinated the audience; in fact, 'Jeffy
was quite tonish.'" Peckham Fair was held on
the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of August. It grew,
however, to be a nuisance, as fairs generally do,
and was abolished in 1827.
At Peckham—though the statement is very
doubtful at best—George III. is said to have been
married to the fair Quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot,
on the 27th of May, 1759. We have already
introduced this lady to our readers in our account
of St. James's Market. (fn. 3)
"HEATON'S FOLLY," IN 1804.
There was in the High Street a theatre, at which,
says tradition, Nell Gwynne sometimes performed,
and her royal paramour attended the entertainments. Dramatic performances occasionally took
place here as late as the beginning of this century.
In 1822, however, the Lancasterian school for boys
took possession of the premises.
In the High Street, at the corner of Clayton
Road, there formerly stood a very quaint old house,
with a thatched roof; it had once been a farmhouse. It was pulled down in 1850.
The house at Peckham, where Goldsmith was
employed as tutor in a school under a Dr. Milner,
and where he wrote the best part of his "Vicar of
Wakefield," was pulled down in 1876. In the
Life of Goldsmith prefixed to his "Works" we
read: "Tired of practice, or disappointed of success, he soon exchanged the phial for the ferule,
and prescriptions for spelling-books. Goldsmith
came out in the character of a schoolmaster's
assistant at Peckham, a kind of employment to
which he had been used before; and at the table
of Dr. Milner—for so the master of the school
was named—he became acquainted with Smollett,
who first directed him to literature as a means of
subsistence, by employing him as a contributor
to the Monthly Review. Subsequently, physic and
literature were combined to eke out a maintenance,
and, in the double capacity of doctor and author,
he presents himself to our notice in a wretched
lodging by Salisbury Square, Fleet Street. Here
we have a peep into the life of a poor literary
man of the eighteenth century, to which parallels
are numerous enough in the nineteenth. Leaving
his lodgings, he kept his appointments at some
house of call; the Temple Exchange Coffee-house,
Temple Bar, was his most favoured resort. There,
indeed, was his ostensible abode; and the people
who saw him by day had little idea of the forlorn
lodging where he spent his nights." The school
was afterwards called in his honour Goldsmith's
House. An avenue of trees in the grounds was
once known as "Goldsmith's Walk," but it has
long since passed away.
Hanover Street, in Rye Lane (formerly South
Street), was doubtless intended as a compliment to
the House of Hanover, some members of that
family having been great patrons of Dr. Collyer,
whose chapel, at the entrance to Rye Lane, is
also known as Hanover Chapel. Basing Yard, in
the rear of Hanover Street, serves as a memorial
of Basing Manor, a well-known residence here
during the time of the first and second Charles.
Among the former residents of Peckham, there was
Sir T. Gardyner, of Basing Manor, who, when
writing to Lord Dorchester, in 1630, concerning
the Papal machinations in Spain, eccentrically
remarks that he would write a book on the subject
if his time "were not so much occupied with
growing melons and other fruits."
In Rye Lane is a large and well-built station, on
the South London and the London, Chatham, and
Dover Railways. Close by the station, a large
building was erected in 1867, as a Museum of
Fire-Arms, and for the exhibition of everything
connected with gunnery. After standing a few
years, it was burnt down, but was subsequently
rebuilt. A rifle-range was also connected with the
building, which, in process of time, was made to
serve the purposes of a pleasure resort; but this
in the end was converted into a manufactory of
fire-arms.
Peckham Rye—a tract of common said to be
upwards of fifty acres in extent—has from "time
immemorial" been used as a recreation-ground by
the inhabitants, not only of this district, but by
thousands upon thousands whose life is principally
spent amidst City smoke or over-built suburbs.
Peckham Rye formed part of two manors, known
as Camberwell Buckingham and Camberwell Friern;
but in the year 1868 the manorial rights were purchased by the vestry of the parish. Previous to
this acquisition of "the Rye"—as the common is
popularly called—by the vestry, the lord of the
manor, Sir William Bowyer Smyth, had granted to
a few of the inhabitants in its vicinity leases for
twenty-one years, all of which expired in December,
1866. The lessees usually expended about £100
per annum (partly contributed by the inhabitants
of the neighbourhood) in keeping the common in
good condition.
The lord of the manor formerly held considerable
property in the vicinity of Peckham Rye; indeed,
as Mr. Blanch tells us, at one time the Bowyer
family were the principal landowners in this parish.
As far back as 1766, and again in 1789, protests
were made by the parishioners against encroachments on the Rye, facts which are duly recorded
in the Vestry Minutes. In 1865, a meeting of the
inhabitants was held, to consider the best means
to be adopted to prevent the erection of buildings
on the Rye; and the matter was taken up by
Parliament. In his evidence before the Committee
of the House of Commons, in 1865, the deputysteward of the lord of the manor claimed for Sir
Bowyer Smyth the absolute ownership of the Rye,
and asserted that he was entitled to the full
building value of the land, there being at that
time, in his opinion, no copy-holder having rights
over it. In the end, however, as we have stated
above, the manorial rights, whatever they may
have been, were purchased by the vestry; and thus
the Rye has become the common property of the
parish, and made available for the free use of the
South Londoner. (fn. 4)
In former times, the people's claims to the
commons were stoutly defended—even to the
sacrifice of life—not so much for the right of
recreation as for the right of grazing or of gathering
fuel. An old ditty, embodying the feeling of the
people, runs thus:—
"'Tis very bad, in man or woman,
To steal a goose from off the common;
But who shall plead that man's excuse
Who steals the common from the goose?"
In some old documents the Rye is spelled
"Rey;" and the old word "ree," a water-course,
river, or expanse of water, is considered as probably
the origin of the term. On the Rye is a quaint
old farm-house, known as Homestead Farm, which
takes us back to the time when such holdings
abounded throughout the district.
On the north-east side of Peckham Rye is Nunhead, which is rapidly becoming a place of some
importance, with a large population, and the head
quarters of various centres of industry. Nunhead
Green, an open space about one acre in extent, still
remains; but its surroundings are now very different to what they were half a century ago, when
village lads and lasses were wont to dance and
romp there, and when the ancient "Nun's Head,"
which has been an institution in the locality for
above two hundred years, was an object of attraction, through its tea-gardens, to worn-out citizens.
Here is the Asylum of the Metropolitan Beer
and Wine Trade Association, which dates from
1851, when, at a general meeting of the beer-trade
as a protection society, the idea assumed a substantial form, and a subscription was opened. The
beer-sellers actively bestirred themselves to imitate
the good example set by the licensed victuallers,
by seeking to provide an asylum for their aged and
decayed members. Indeed, one of the original
objects contemplated by the promoters of the
society was, "To raise a fund from which to allow
temporary or permanent assistance to members of
the trade." It was considered that the most useful
permanent assistance that could be rendered would
be by the erection of almshouses. The present
plot of freehold ground, situate at Nunhead Green,
was consequently purchased with the funds in hand
for £550. An appeal was then made to the trade
for further funds to erect the building, the result of
which enabled the committee to commence the
work. The first stone was laid by Lord Monteagle
(the patron of the society) in June, 1852, and the
building was completed and opened for the reception of inmates in September, 1853, the total cost
being about £3,000. It comprises seven houses,
each containing four rooms and a kitchen, accommodating in all thirteen inmates, and a piece of
garden-ground in the rear for the use of the inmates
is attached to each holding. In 1872 a new wing
was completed, by the erection of eight six-roomed
houses, thus providing accommodation for sixteen
more inmates. There is an allowance of 6s. per
week to single inmates, and 9s. per week to married
couples.
Nunhead Cemetery, covering an area of about
fifty acres, occupies the summit of some rising
ground, whence a good view is obtained of the
surrounding neighbourhood. The cemetery was
consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester in 1840,
and is beautifully laid out with gravel walks, and
thickly planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers.
The chapels in the grounds are conspicuous objects
for miles round.
Nunhead Hill is mentioned by Hone in his
"Every-day Book" (1827), as being "the favourite
resort of smoke-dried London artisans." A narrow
path by the side of the cemetery is all that remains
for their Sunday promenade.
On the north side of Nunhead Cemetery are the
reservoirs of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water
Company, covering several acres of land. The
works include four reservoirs—two high-level and
two low-level; the former holding 6,000,000 gallons, and the latter double that number. The
water is drawn from the Thames, about six miles
above Teddington Locks. The water having been
pumped up by an engine at Hampton Court, is
forced on to Battersea, whence powerful engines
again send it on to the reservoirs at Nunhead.
The engine-house here, which stands between the
upper and lower reservoirs, is a handsome brick
structure, with a square tower seventy feet high,
and built in the Venetian style of architecture.
Within the grounds now occupied by St. Mary's
College, stood a building of some note in the
early part of the present century, and known as
"Heaton's Folly." This building was capped with
a tower, giving it the appearance of a religious
edifice. Lysons gives the following account of the
structure:—"On the right side of the path leading
from Peckham to Nunhead, appears this building,
environed with wood. It has a singular appearance,
and certainly was the effect of a whim. Various
tales are related of its founder; but the most
feasible appears his desire of giving employment to
a number of artificers during a severe dearth. It
is related that he employed five hundred persons
in this building, and adding to the grounds; which
is by no means improbable, as, on entering the
premises, a very extensive piece of water appears,
embanked by the properties taken from its bosom.
In the centre of it is an island, well cultivated;
indeed, the whole ground is now (1796) so
luxuriantly spread, that I much doubt if such
another spot, within a considerable distance from
the metropolis, can boast such a variety and
significance. The whole is within a fence; and,
time having assisted the maturity of the coppice,
you are, to appearance, enjoying the effects of a
small lake in the centre of a wood. Motives the
most laudable, as before observed, induced the
founder of this sequestered spot to give bread to
many half-starved and wretched families; and, to
use the phrase of our immortal Shakespeare, 'It is
like the dew from heaven, and doubly blesses.'
If from appearance we are to judge of the phrase,
it thrives indeed; and what was meant as assistance
to a neighbouring poor, and stragglers, wretched
and forlorn, is now, with all propriety, the Paradise
of Peckham."
In the neighbourhood of Peckham Rye, on the
road to Forest Hill and Sydenham, is a hill with an
oak upon its summit, called the "Oak of Honour:"
at present shortened into "Honour Oak." It is said
to have been so called because Queen Elizabeth,
in one of her excursions on horseback from Greenwich, dined beneath its shade. The original tree
has long since perished, having been struck by
lightning, but it has been replaced by a successor.
Mr. James Thorne, in his "Environs," writes:—"In the Chamberlain's papers for 1602 is this
entry: 'On May-day the Queen [Elizabeth] went
a-Maying to Sir Richard Buckley's, at Lewisham,
some three or four miles off Greenwich.' Bulkeley's house was probably on the Sydenham side
of Lewisham, where is Oak of Honour Hill, so
named, according to the local tradition, from Queen
Elizabeth having sat beneath the oak on its summit
when she went hither a-maying."
Honour Oak, which is one of the boundaries of
the parish, has witnessed many interesting gatherings, not the least impressive being that performed
there, in former times, on the occasion of "beating
the bounds," when it was customary for those
assembled to join in singing the 104th Psalm,
"under the shadow of the Oak of Honour Hill."
From the advantages offered by its elevated position, the place formerly served as a beacon-hill,
and a semaphore telegraph at one time was raised
upon its summit.
On the south side of Forest Hill Road, and
within a short distance of Oak of Honour Hill, is
Camberwell Cemetery.
Friern Place, on the south-west side of Peckham
Rye, keeps in remembrance the name of Friern
Manor, the farm of which was known in recent
times as a dairy-farm on a large scale. The Manor
Farm-house and all its sheds and out-buildings
were sold at the end of 1873. The house, which
was not the original manor-house, was built by
Lord St. John, in 1725; and there is a tradition
that Alexander Pope resided there for a season,
writing a portion of the "Essay on Man" beneath
its roof, but it is merely a tradition. Lordship
Lane, which lies on the west side of Friern
Manor—uniting Goose Green and East Dulwich
with Court Lane and the village of Dulwich—is
supposed to have taken its name from the lordship
of Friern Manor.
In Lordship Lane, there was, in the time of
William Hone, an inn called the "Plough"—an
old-fashioned wooden structure—on one of the
windows of which was the following inscription,
cut with a diamond:—"March 16, 1810. Thomas
Jones dined here, eat six pounds of bacon and
drank nineteen pots of beer." This record of disgusting gluttony was, no doubt, swept away when
the "Plough" was rebuilt some few years ago.
A writer in Hone's "Every-day Book" (1827)
thus describes the scenery in this neighbourhood:—"Below me, yet wearing its sober livery of brown,
lies the wood, the shadowy haunt of the gipsy
tribe ere magisterial authority drove them away.
Many a pleasant hour have I spent in my younger
days with its Cassandras, listening to their prophetic
voices and looking at their dark eyes. I proceed:
Sydenham lies before me; beyond it, in softened
distance, Beckenham and Bromley meet the eye,
with Dulwich below; and in the foreground lies a
rich variety of upland and dale, studded with snowwhite dwellings."
Dulwich, which we now enter, is described in
Hone's "Table-Book," with some little exaggeration, as "the prettiest of all the village entrances
in the environs of London;" and Priscilla Wakefield, in her "Perambulations" (1809), says it is "a
hamlet to Camberwell, and is pleasantly retired,
having no high road passing through it. It was
formerly," she adds, "the resort of much company,
on account of a medicinal spring, which has now
lost its reputation. The house which has the sign
of the 'Green Man' was for some time the residence of Lord Thurlow. A fine avenue through
the wood faces this house, and leads to a charming
prospect. The manor of Dulwich belongs to the
college founded there, in 1614, by Master Edward
Alleyn, the proprietor of the Fortune playhouse,
in Whitecross Street, and also a favourite actor.
The foundation was for a master and warden of
the lineage and surname of Alleyn (but the impossibility of finding them has obliged the name
of Allen to be of late years accepted), also four
fellows, six poor brethren, and six poor sisters;
twelve scholars, six assistants, and thirty outmembers or pensioners. It was originally built
after a design by Inigo Jones, and formed three
sides of a square. The picture-gallery, which is
on the first floor, contains some scarce and valuable
paintings. The chapel is a plain building, which
serves as a chapel of ease to the inhabitants of
the hamlet. The founder, his wife, and her mother,
are buried in it; and a clause in the statutes
permits that privilege to the master, warden, and
fellows, but excludes all others."
Notwithstanding the active building operations
that of late years have fenced in London and its
suburbs with miles of bricks and mortar, the village
of Dulwich still presents a rural aspect, and large
tracts of meadow-land are yet to be found within
its borders. From the high grounds of Champion
Hill, Denmark Hill, and Herne Hill, of which we
have spoken in the preceding chapter, through the
whole length of the intervening valley, and up the
opposite slopes to the summit of Sydenham and
Forest Hills, may still be heard the song of birds;
whilst the beauties of the place are spread out
in groves and pleasure-grounds, green lanes, and
flowery meadows. The southern portion of the
hamlet was formerly an immense wood, intersected
with devious paths. It was the sacred home of
the gipsy tribe, and the rendezvous of summer
parties. At the beginning of the present century,
before what may be termed modern Dulwich sprang
into existence, Byron, then a schoolboy here, made
Dulwich Wood one of his favourite haunts, and,
we are told, would there "daily hold converse with
motley groups of the vagabond class."But little
is left of the wood beyond a memory, which local
nomenclature has done something to preserve, in
the names of Dulwich Wood Park, Kingswood
Road, and Crescent Wood Road. We are told
how that, in the days of Charles I., the Court paid
frequent visits to Dulwich and its woods for the
purposes of sport; and how authority was given
by warrant to one Anthony Holland, one of the
yeomen-huntsmen in ordinary to his Majesty, to
make known his Majesty's commands to the inhabitants of Dulwich "that they forbeare to hunt,
chace, molest, or hurt the king's stagges with
greyhounds, hounds, gunnes, or any other means
whatsoever;" and also how the said Anthony
Holland was further authorised "to take from any
person or persons offending therein their dogges,
hounds, gunnes, crossbowes, or other engynes."
Dulwich Wood has been the scene of several
outrages, notably those which occurred in 1738,
when a man named Samuel Bentyman was murdered, and in 1803, when Samuel Matthews, known
as the Dulwich Hermit, met with a similar fate.
Mr. Blanch informs us that the wood has been
gradually disappearing from the time when Edward
Alleyn issued his statutes and ordinances for the
foundation of the college in the early part of the
seventeenth century, for by the 106th item it is
ordered "that twentye acres of woode be felled and
sold yearly, such wood-falls to be made at seasonable
times, and in accordance with the laws and statutes
of England, for the preservation of timber-trees,
such trees to be of the growth of ten yeares;" and
by the 110th item it is enacted "that no timber-trees
shall be sold to any pson. or psons. whatsoever, but
to the tenants of the lands belonging to the said
college in Dulwich, for the building or repayring
of their tenements."
The same writer justly remarks, in his "History
of Camberwell," that "the Dulwich College Building
Act of 1808, the Metropolis Local Management
Act of 1855, the Charity Commissioners' scheme
of 1857, the formation of the iron roads, and the
craving of merchants for suburban residences, have
done much to alter the aspect of the place;" but
that, "compared with neighbouring suburbs, it has
died hard, and not until Cowper's 'opulent, enlarged, and still-increasing London,' by sheer force
of circumstances, has laid its hands upon it, will
Dulwich surrender its individuality."
The village "stocks" and "cage," with the
motto, "It is a sport for a fool to do mischief;
thine own wickedness shall correct thee," formerly
stood at the corner of the pathway across the fields
leading to Camberwell, opposite the burial-ground;
and the college "pound," which formerly stood
near the toll-gate in the Penge Road, was, in 1862,
ordered to be removed to the end of Croxted Lane.
One of the most interesting spots within the hamlet
is that formerly known as Bew's Corner, Lordship
Lane. The "Green Man," a tavern of some note
in the middle of the last century, formerly occupied
the site, after which time Dr. Glennie's school was
built; and that in its turn having disappeared, a
beer-house was opened there, by a man named
Bew, formerly employed at the college, who made
use of some out-buildings of the once famous
school, and converted the grounds into a teagarden.
The famous Dulwich Wells were in close proximity to the "Green Man," and the Dulwich waters
were cried about the streets of London as far back
as 1678; and for many years, through the high
repute of the waters, much custom was drawn to
the adjoining tavern, which, in 1748, was described
as a "noted house of good entertainment." The
proprietor flourished so well, that a publication of
the time tells us that "he has lately built a handsome room on one end of his bowling-green for
breakfasts, dancing, and entertainment; a part of
the fashionable luxury of the present age, which
every village for ten miles round London has
something of." A full account of the Dulwich
mineral waters was communicated to the public
through the "Philosophical Transactions," by Professor Martyn, F.R.S. Mr. Bray, in his account
of this parish in his "History of Surrey," writes:—"In the autumn of 1739, Mr. Cox, master of the
"Green Man," about a mile south of the village of
Dulwich, having occasion to sink a well for his
family, dug down about sixty feet without finding
water. Discouraged at this, he covered it up, and
so left it. In the following spring, however, he
opened it again; when, the Botanical Professor in
the University of Cambridge being present, it was
found to contain about twenty-five feet of water, of
a sulphureous taste and smell." It was found by
experiment to be possessed of purgative qualities,
and was for some time used medicinally, but was
afterwards neglected.
DR. GLENNIE'S ACADEMY, DULWICH GROVE, IN 1820.
Dr. Webster, who has been considered a high
authority on the subject, writes as follows with
reference to these waters:—"The saline spring was,
and is, situated on Sydenham Common, in Wells
Lane, on the slope of the hill between Dulwich
and Sydenham. The little old cottage and garden
where the 'Sydenham Wells' are, belongs to two
elderly women of the name of Evans, and on my
expressing surprise that they had not been 'bought
out' for building, as the spot is surrounded by
modern mansions and good houses, they replied,
they kept possession, as the little property would
be beneficial to their deceased brother's children.
It is not at all resorted to now for medicinal
purposes; but the water is strongly saline, similar
to that at the quondam 'Beulah Spa,' at Streatham
Common, and at Epsom. It is situated in the
parish of Lewisham, Kent. The Dulwich Spa was
a chalybeate spring, situated about a mile S.E. of
Dulwich College, close to, or rather, I believe, in
the premises of the 'Green Man,' then a place of
resort on the verge of Dulwich Common. This
was as far back as the seventeenth century; but
this house of entertainment was, when I first knew
it (1815), a house of instruction, as Dr. Glennie's
well-known academy, at which Lord Byron was a
pupil for two years. The old house was taken
down about ten years after, when Dr. Glennie had
left, but I remember then seeing a well within the
premises, which had been long shut up or disused,
and I tasted the water, which was decidedly
chalybeate. On the site of the old 'Green Man'
now stands the 'Grove Tavern,' of no celebrity in
any way unless from the circumstances now stated,
and which very few knew besides myself. I knew
the supposed localities of both these places many
years ago, but it is only recently that Evelyn's
"Diary" fell in my way, and it is remarkable that
he incidentally mentions them so as to identify
the two springs. Under date September and,
1675, he notes: 'I went to see Dulwich Colledge,
being the pious foundation of one Allen, a famous
comedian in King James's time. The chapell is
pretty; the rest of the hospital very ill contriv'd;
it yet maintaines divers poore of both sexes. 'Tis
in a melancholy part of Camerwell parish. I came
back by certaine medicinal Spa waters at a place
called Sydnam Wells, in Lewisham parish, much
frequented in summer.' And further on: '1677,
August 5th, I went to visit my Lord Brounker,
now taking the waters at Dulwich.' So you see,"
adds Dr. Webster, "there were two distinct spas
within a mile, but in different parishes and counties,
as Dulwich is in Surrey." So, as our readers will
observe, fashionable persons resorted to Dulwich
for the purpose of "taking the waters," just as they
did at Hampstead a century later.
VIEWS IN CAMBERWELL AND DULWICH.
1. St. Mary-le-Strand House, Old Kent Road. 2. Goldsmith's House. 3. Bew's Corner, Dulwich. 4. Old Camberwell. 5. Old Crown Iun, Dulwich. 6. Plough Inn, Lordship Lane.
Among the pupils at Dr. Glennie's academy in
Dulwich Grove, were several who in after years
rose to fame and fortune—Lord Byron, General Le
Marchant, Sir Donald M'Leod, Captain Barclay,
the celebrated pedestrian, and others. "Once a
week did the little party meet together in the
spacious entrance-hall for a little rational amusement, and the Saturday evening concerts at
Dulwich attracted visitors from outside the family
circle. 'Tom' Campbell the poet, Howard and
Wilkie, artists and academicians, and Barker the
well-known painter of panoramas, and many others,
often found themselves at Dulwich. Campbell
had not far to come, for he resided at Sydenham
for seventeen years before that retired little village
became an 'endless pile of brick.' Here the
happiest of the poet's days were spent in genial
and congenial society, and much concerning
'evenings' there may be found in the memoirs of
Moore, Hook, Hunt, the brothers Smith, and
others.
"The narrow lane, lined with hedgerows, and
passing through a little dell watered by a rivulet—the extensive prospect of undulating hills, parklike enclosures, the shady walks," where the poet
was "safe from all intrusion but that of the Muses,"
as he himself describes them—
"Spring green lanes,
With all the dazzling field-flowers in their prime,
And gardens haunted by the nightingale's
Long trills and gushing ecstasies of song."
With respect to Byron's school-days at Dulwich,
there is nothing remarkable for us to record. In
a letter to Tom Moore, Dr. Glennie speaks of
Byron's ambition to excel in all athletic exercises,
notwithstanding his lameness; "an ambition,"
writes Dr. Glennie, "which I have found to prevail in general in young persons labouring under
similar defects of nature." It is said that Byron
and his schoolfellows kept up a mimicry of
brigandage, and that the stern demand of "Stand
and deliver" was often made, to the amusement
of the boys, and the fright of the passing stranger.
"It must not be imagined," adds Mr. Blanch,
in writing of this epoch, "that brigandage in
Dulwich was all play, for at the commencement
of the present century Sydenham Hill had then
a reputation somewhat akin to Hounslow Heath.
Dulwich Wood was the halting-place for gipsies;
and highwaymen and footpads abounded in the
locality."
Dulwich has long been a favourite resort for the
working men of London, for the purpose of holding
their annual gatherings at one or other of its
taverns, the chief of which are the "Greyhound,"
the "Half Moon," and the "Crown." The
"Crown" has been an "institution" in Dulwich for
upwards of a century and a half; the greater part
of the present house was rebuilt in 1833, and it
was further modernised about twenty years later.
In the garden of the "Half Moon," at the northern
extremity of the village, for many years was to be
seen the old tombstone of Edward Alleyn, the
founder of Dulwich College, and it doubtless
proved advantageous to the landlord in drawing
visitors to his house. It has, however, been
superseded by a new tombstone in the college
chapel. The "Greyhound" is a well-known
hostelry here, and has been held by the same
family for upwards of a century. Here the Dulwich Club holds its meetings. This association
was established in 1772, for the purposes of friendly
converse and social cheer among a large body of
literary gentlemen; and the club has entertained
at its table during its career many distinguished
men, such as Dr. Glennie, Thomas Campbell, Dr.
Babington, Dickens, Thackeray, Mark Lemon, and
others.
Among the residents at Dulwich in recent times
have been several whose names have become
famous. Of these we may mention Mr. Howard
Staunton, who lived at Ivy Cottage, while engaged
in his Shakespearean researches at the college.
Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall, the well-known authors,
at one time lived here. Another noted name in
connection with Dulwich is that of Henry Bessemer,
the inventor of a new process in the manufacture
of steel, and whose numerous patents connected
with improvements in machinery have been such
as to have established his reputation as a scientific
and practical engineer of the highest order.
Numerous mansions and seats are scattered
about in the neighbourhood of Dulwich, notably
Casino, on Dulwich Hill; Mr. Bessemer's house
on Denmark Hill; Woodhall, formerly the residence of the late Mr. George Grote, the historian
of Greece; the Hoo, on Sydenham Hill; and
lastly, the Manor House. This last-mentioned
edifice is a building of more than ordinary interest,
from the fact that it was once the residence of
Edward Alleyn, the Lord Mayor of London, and
perhaps, at an earlier period, the summer retreat
of the Abbots of Bermondsey. It was formerly
called Hall Court. "The house, since Alleyn's
time," writes Mr. Blanch, "has undergone sundry
additions and alterations, and at the present time
is in a marvellous condition for so old a building—a fact which seems to confirm the belief that it
was built before Alleyn's time, as the erection of
the old college, which was closely watched by the
founder, began to tumble to pieces soon after his
death. The Manor House had been designed and
built in a very different style. The magnificent
oak staircase, and spacious entrance-hall, and lofty
rooms, are worthy of the majestic actor; and, as
one looks around, the form of its dignified host
is conjured up; now receiving the poor brethren
and sisters, holding consultations with the master,
warden, and fellows, and anon holding converse
and correspondence with the great men of the
land, Alleyn's life at Dulwich must have been delightful. Possessing ample means—much given to
home comforts and duties, to which he was so
attached that within three months of losing 'his
good sweete harte and loving mouse,' he took
unto himself another partner—regarded by his
neighbours as a man of considerable substance,
and treated in a manner befitting the squire of
the place—having great worldly knowledge, serene
temper, and considerable tact—he made many
friends and few enemies; and as his journal teems
with payments for sundry bottles of wine when he
went to London to see his friends, it is fair to
assume that his cellar at the Manor House was
well filled, and at the service of his visitors.
"And what more delightful walks could any
mortal have had than those surrounding the fine
old mansion in Alleyn's time?—when the meadows
were yellow with the crowfoot, flushed with the
sorrel, or purple with clover; the thornbushes,
white or pink with their blossoms; the commons,
golden with mellowing fern or glowing with purple
heather; and deciduous trees contributing their
varied tints to the scene—all this was then a
reality! Would that it were so now—and to the
same extent!—and the shade of wood and grove,
and the ramble
"'O'er many a heath, through many a woodland dun,
Through buried paths, where sleepy twilight dreams
The summer-time away;'
and the feast of satisfaction as the founder viewed
the progress of his college, at the end of a summer's
stroll—all this must have made life more than
endurable at the Manor House.
"That Alleyn received at his board many distinguished men of his day is beyond doubt; but,
strange to relate, no scrap of evidence has yet been
produced in support of the supposition that Shakespeare ever made pilgrimage to Dulwich. It is, to
say the least of it, an extraordinary circumstance,
that two such prominent characters in the same
profession should not have been brought together—or rather, that no evidence should be forthcoming in support of such a natural supposition.
Garrick, Malone, Collier, Ingleby, Staunton, and
other able and industrious workers have toiled
diligently, and hoped unfalteringly, but without
success. And yet Ben Jonson and Michael
Drayton were intimate associates both of Shakespeare and Alleyn. They were not divided by
disparity of age, for Alleyn was Shakespeare's
junior by only two years, four months, and a week,
and both relinquished the stage, and invested
their earnings in houses and lands, at about the
same time."
From the old Manor House, the home of
Edward Alleyn, it is but an easy transition to pass
to the College, of which he was the founder—or, to give it its full title, to "Alleyn's College
of God's Gift." Born in the parish of St.
Botolph, Bishopsgate, in September, 1566, Alleyn
lived to attain extraordinary celebrity as an actor
in an age prolific beyond all others in dramatic
talent. Fuller, in his "Worthies," describes him
as "the Roscius of our age, so acting to the life
that he made any part (especially a majestick one)
to become him." The following epigram, addressed
by Ben Jonson to Edward Allen, will serve to
show the reputation in which the latter was held
among the poets and men of letters of his time:—
"If Rome, so great, and in her wisest age,
Feared not to boast the glories of her stage,
As skilful Roscius and grave Æsop, men
Yet crowned with honours as with riches then,
Who had no less a trumpet of their name
Than Cicero, whose every breath was fame:
How can so great example die in me
That, Allen, I should pause to publish thee?
Who both their graces in thyself hast more
Outstript, than they did all that went before;
And present worth in all dost so contract,
As others speak, but only thou dost act.
Wear this renown. 'Tis just, that who did give
So many poets life, by one should live."
"The connection of the name of Allen (usually
spelt Alleyn, but now printed Allen) with the
munificent endowment of Dulwich College," writes
Mr. Robert Bell, "has eclipsed his reputation as
an actor; but, independently of this high encomium
of Jonson, ample evidence has been traced, not
only of the influential position he held in relation
to the stage, but of his great skill as a player.
He appears to have been the chief manager of
the business of the company for Henslowe, with
whom he was part-proprietor of the Fortune, and
to whose stepdaughter he was married. He
negotiated with authors, and made engagements
with actors, for which he was better qualified, in
some respects, than Henslowe, who, although an
excellent man of business, was illiterate. There
is reason to believe, also, from certain entries in
Henslowe's diary, that he sometimes helped to
reconstruct, or adapt, pieces for the stage. As an
actor he certainly stood in the first rank, and his
special merits in particular parts are testified by
Nash, Dekker, and Heywood. All the particulars
of his life that are now likely to be recovered have
been collected by Mr. Collier, in the 'Memoir'
of him, and in the 'Alleyn Papers,' published by
the Shakespeare Society."
In 1606 Alleyn had already commenced the
acquisition of property at Dulwich. The most
important of the valuable estates which now
collectively form the endowment of the college
were the lands and lordship of the manor,
purchased in the above-mentioned year from Sir
Francis Calton, to whose ancestor, Thomas Calton,
they had been granted by Henry VIII. upon the
dissolution of the Monastery of Bermondsey. The
college land stretches southwards from the high
ground, known in its several parts as Champion
Hill, Denmark Hill, and Herne Hill, through the
whole length of the intervening valley, and up the
opposite slopes to the summit of Sydenham and
Forest Hills, a length of more than three miles as
the crow flies. The breadth of the estate from
east to west is quite a mile and a half in its widest
part. The village of Dulwich occupies a central
position on the college lands. It lies, as we have
stated above, in the bottom of the valley between
the ridge on which rests the Crystal Palace and
the less lofty ridge midway between Sydenham
Hill and the Thames. It is so shut in by near
hills, or by lofty trees, in all directions, that its
horizon is nowhere more distant than a mile or
two. Visitors constantly remark that when in
Dulwich they are as much in the country as if they
were fifty miles from London; and yet the village
milestone in front of the college, bearing the
hospital invitation to wayfarers, "Siste, Viator,"
records the distance of that spot from the Treasury,
Whitehall, or from the Standard at Cornhill, to be
only five miles.
In 1613 Alleyn contracted with a certain John
Benson, of Westminster, for the erection of "a
Chappell, a Schoole-house, and twelve Almeshouses," and in the course of the years 1616 and
1617 the first members of his foundation were
admitted into the college. But Alleyn's great
work was still far from completed. For some
years he was engaged in harassing and apparently
futile negotiations to obtain a royal patent for
the permanent establishment of his foundation.
It is interesting to observe that the impediments
which Alleyn experienced seem to have proceeded
chiefly from no less eminent a man than the great
Lord Bacon, then Lord Chancellor. In a letter
to the Marquis of Buckingham, dated August 18th,
1618, Bacon, while he says, with characteristic
point and quaintness, "I like well that Allen
playeth the last act of his life so well," yet pleads
with the king, through Buckingham, for the curtailment of Alleyn's eleemosynary foundation, and the
promotion in preference of endowments for the
encouragement of learning. In spite, however, of
all difficulties, Alleyn's unflinching perseverance
at last prevailed, and on the 21st of June, 1619,
the great seal of England was affixed to letters
patent from James I., giving licence to Edward
Alleyn "to found and establish a college in
Dulwich, to endure and remain for ever, and to be
called 'The College of God's Gift in Dulwich, in
the county of Surrey.'"
Aubrey has recorded an amusing story, which
the reader may believe or not as he thinks best,
that Alleyn was frightened into his generous and
charitable scheme by an apparition of the Prince
of Darkness, in propria personâ, among six theatrical
demons in a certain piece in which he was playing.
In the fright thus occasioned he was said to have
made a vow, which he redeemed by the founding
of the College of God's Gift.
The college was formally opened with great
ceremony on the 13th of September, 1619; and
Alleyn had the satisfaction of recording in his
diary: "This day was the fowndacion of the
Colledge finisht;" and so, in the quaint words of
old Fuller, "He who out-acted others in his life,
out-did himself before his death." Amongst the
distinguished guests on this occasion, of whom
Alleyn gives a list, we find "the Lord Chancellor
(Lord Bacon), the Lord of Arondell, Lord Ciecell
(Cecil), Sir John Howland, High Shreve (Sheriff),
and Inigo Jones, the king's surveyor." He adds,
"They first herd a Sermond, and after the
instrument of creacion was by me read, and after
an anthem, they went to dinner."
Alleyn survived the opening of his college seven
years, but there is some difficulty in determining
the exact day of his death. On the present tombstone (which is, however, of recent erection) it is
stated to have been November 21st; but documentary evidence seems to point to Saturday,
November 25th, as the correct date. At all
events, be this as it may, he affixed his signature
to the draft of his Ordinances and Statutes on
November 20th, and was buried in the chapel of
his college on November 27th, 1626.
"God's Gift College," thus founded and endowed by Edward Alleyn, "to the honour and
glory of Almighty God, and in a thankful
remembrance of His guiftes and blessings bestowed
upon me," consisted of a master and a warden
(both to be of the name of Alleyn), four fellows,
six poor brethren, six poor sisters, and twelve
poor scholars. The almspeople and scholars were
chosen in equal proportions from the four parishes
severally of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate; St.
Saviour's, Southwark; St. Luke's, Middlesex; and
St. Giles's, Camberwell. In the letters patent a
right was reserved to the founder to frame statutes
for the government of the college. Alleyn seems,
however, to have overrated the powers thus vested
in him, and consequently several of his provisions,
after long disputes and litigation, were set aside by
the courts of law.
The most important of the modifications introduced by Alleyn's maturer judgment into his
original scheme, it appears, were those designed
to extend the basis of his educational foundation.
He now ordained that his school should be for
the instruction of eighty boys, consisting of three
distinct classes:—(1) Twelve poor scholars; (2)
children of inhabitants of Dulwich (who were to
be taught freely); and (3) "Towne or Forreign
Schollers," who were to pay "such allowance as
the master and warden should appoint."
Though to some extent the issue and production of the stage, Dulwich College never greatly
benefited the members of the dramatic profession.
Alleyn had resolved to found and endow in his
own lifetime an institution of a semi-monastic
character, like the Charterhouse, for the reception
of aged pensioners, and for the nurture and education of orphan boys. The original statutes and
ordinances define the qualifications and duties of
the several members of the college, and regulate
the distribution of the income. They embrace
provisions which have many times proved a fruitful
source of costly litigation. Thus, the second
statute provides for a large addition, under the
designation of six "chanters," six assistants in the
government of the college, and thirty out-members,
beyond the personnel authorised by the letters
patent.
In the dietary for the boys is included "a
cup of beere" at breakfast and "beere without
stint" at dinner, "with such increase of diett in
Lent and gawdy days as the surveyor of diett may
think fitt." The beef and mutton for the boys
were to be "sweet and good, their beere well
brewed, and their bread well baked, and made of
clean and sweete wheatten meal." Their coats were
to be of "good cloth, of sad cullor, the boddys
lined with canvass." A statute fixed twenty-one
years as the maximum term of a lease of any part
of the college property. This restriction hampered
more than any other the development of the college
property, and it was eventually rescinded by the
Dulwich Building Act of 1808.
Vacancies on the foundation, whether of scholars
or old pensioners, or in the superior offices of fellow
or warden, were to be filled up by the "drawing
of lots" by two selected candidates. Even the
mastership was to be filled up in the same way, if
at the time of a vacancy there was no warden to
succeed. The manner of drawing the lots is
minutely described in one of the statutes, and the
process continued in force till the re-organisation of
the college in 1857. "God's Gift" was written on
one of two equal small rolls of paper; the other
roll was left blank. Both were placed in a box
and shaken thrice up and down. The elder of the
two selected candidates then took up one roll, the
younger took the other. The fortunate drawer of
the God's Gift roll carried the prize. The founder's
preference for the four parishes from which the
poor scholars and brethren and sisters should be
selected was based on his perception of the
doctrine that property has its duties as well as its
rights. As we have already seen, he owned
theatres and houses in St. Saviour's and St. Luke's;
his patrimonial estate was in St. Botolph's; and he
had acquired by purchase the whole lordship of
Dulwich, in the parish of Camberwell.
In spite of Fuller's declaration that "no hospital
is tyed with better or stricter laws, that it may not
sagg (swerve) from the intention of the founder,"
there can be little doubt that the want of elasticity
in its original constitution prevented, for more than
two centuries, any healthy development of the
college, and thus effectually frustrated the true
"intentions" of Edward Alleyn. Some partial
attempts were made under injunctions of several
Archbishops of Canterbury, as visitors of Dulwich
College, to extend the educational benefits of the
foundation; but little was really effected until the
passing of the Act of Parliament in 1857, under
the provisions of which the college is now administered.
"The founder's scheme," observes a writer in
Macmillan's Magazine, "too rigid and inelastic to
sustain the shock of modern notions, had long
ceased to be seriously defended, even by those
who dispensed its gifts and luxuriated in its most
substantial rewards. Hampered by the fixity of
inflexible statutes, embarrassed by riches which it
could not spend without shame, and which invited incessant onslaught from the four interested
parishes, Alleyn's College succumbed on the last
day of 1857 to public opinion, released its members
from monastic rule, sent them forth well pensioned
into the outer world, and opened its gates next
day to its new rulers."
By the Act of Parliament, passed in 1857,
Alleyn's foundation was completely re-constituted.
The government of the college is now vested in
nineteen governors, of whom eleven are nominated
by the Court of Chancery, the rest being elected
by the four parishes to which special privileges
were attached by the terms of the original foundation. The officers of administration are a "Master
of the College" (whose office, however, is no longer
restricted to a person of the founder's name), a
Chaplain, an Under-Master of the Upper School, a
Master of the Lower School, a Receiver, and a
Clerk, together with such Assistant-Masters, Professors, and Lecturers as may be required to ensure
thorough efficiency to the educational department.
DULWICH COLLEGE IN 1790.
The revenue of the college, which at the time of
the founder's death was £800 a year, now amounts
to more than £17,000. The surplus revenue (after
provision has been made for the maintenance of
the fabric, and of the chapel and library) is divided
into four portions, of which three are assigned to
the educational and one to the eleemosynary
branch. The educational foundation comprises
two distinct schools—the "upper school" and the
"lower school." In the "upper school" liberal
provision is made for the endowment of exhibitions,
tenable either at one of the English Universities, or
by a student of any learned or scientific profession
or of the fine arts. Sundry scholarships of £20 a
year, tenable in the school, were likewise established in 1870, under authority of the Charity Commissioners. The "lower school" is described as
being for the instruction and benefit of the children
of the industrial and poorer classes resident in any
of the four parishes. It is a separate school, and
is entirely distinct in its conduct and arrangements
from the "upper school." Provision is made for
the establishment in the "lower school" of scholarships and "gratuities" to be awarded to deserving
boys, for the purpose of advancing them in the
world.
The old college, though the central attraction of
the village, has but limited pretensions to architectural merit. It has been thought by some topographers that it was built by the famous Inigo
Jones, but it is scarcely probable that so good an
architect could have been employed upon it, as we
find that the tower fell down in 1638; moreover,
the specification for Benson's erection is still preserved, with memoranda showing payments made
to him as the work progressed. The fall of the
tower so injured the revenues of the college, as to
occasion its being suspended for six months, during
which time the master and fellows received no
salary, but the poor people and scholars had two
shillings a week each. Not long after this another
portion of the building fell down; and, in 1703,
the porch and other parts followed. Frequent
repairs were accordingly made, which were marked
by dates in different parts of the old building.
Dulwich College suffered its full share of the
havoc committed by fanatics in the Civil Wars.
It was turned into quarters for a company of
soldiers of Fairfax's army, who, it is said, took up
the leaden coffins in the chapel, and melted them
into bullets. The fellows of the college were in
arms for the king; in consequence of which they
were deprived of their fellowships, and a schoolmaster and usher were appointed in their stead.
During the government of Oliver Cromwell, and
the short power of his son Richard, the lands and
goods of the college were taken away, and its rights
set aside; but at the Restoration these were recovered, and have since remained secure.
DULWICH COLLEGE IN 1750.
The old college building are spacious, having
regard to the limited numbers for whom they were
built, and comprise a chapel, dining-hall, parlour,
library, school-room, kitchen, and appurtenances.
They occupy three sides of a square. The entrancegates are of curiously wrought iron, surmounted
with the founder's arms, crest, and the motto,
"God's Gift." These lead into an outer court or
green. The old chapel, a very plain structure, has
long served as a chapel of ease, for this village, to
the church of Camberwell. Although built for the
college, it is frequented by the inhabitants also, and
was long ago enlarged for their accommodation.
The font is inscribed with a palindrome, in which
the sequence of the letters is the same backwards
as forwards—
nipson anomima mi monan opsin
(Wash sin, not the face only.)
In the chancel is a marble slab, marking the tomb
of Edward Alleyn, the founder.
A curious collection of pictures and portraits,
more remarkable, however, with a few exceptions,
for their historical associations than for any artistic
excellence, was bequeathed sixty years after the
founder's time by the grandson of his confrère,
Cartwright. In this collection (including a few left
by Alleyn) are striking and characteristic portraits of
the founder himself; one of Frobisher, the scourge
of the Spaniards in the old Armada days; Michael
Drayton, the poet, who, with Ben Jonson, was a
guest at Shakespeare's table at that last "merry
meeting," a few days before his death; and also
of many players who trod the same stage and
shared the same social gatherings with Shakespeare
and Alleyn, such as Burbage, Nathaniel Field,
Sly, Bond, Perkins, and Cartwright. These pictures were formerly hung in the corridors and
staircases of the old college, but are now transferred to the new buildings. In 1840 Mr. J. O.
Halliwell exhibited before the Society of Antiquaries a copy of a pen-and-ink drawing from the
back of a letter in Dulwich College, and supposed
to be a portrait of Shakespeare, by Henslowe,
to whom the letter is addressed. The college, as
might have been expected, was particularly rich
in old plays; these were collected by Henslowe,
Alleyn, and Cartwright, and were treasured here
until Garrick acquired them from the then master,
warden, and fellows, for the inadequate recompense
of a parcel of new books. The collection passed,
on Garrick's decease, to the British Museum.
The pictures mentioned above are in no way
connected with those belonging to the Dulwich
College Picture Gallery, which is situated at the
south-west corner of the old buildings. The
gallery was built from the designs and under the
direction of Sir John Soane, and was first opened
to the public in the year 1817. The history of the
collection is, in many ways, a remarkable one. It
owes its foundation to "a noble trio of benefactors."
Towards the close of the last century there was
living in London, and plying there an active trade
in pictures of the highest class, one Noel Joseph
Desenfans, who is considered to have been a
keen critic of art, and a no less shrewd judge of a
bargain. He was a native of Douai, in France,
but had settled in London first of all as a teacher
of languages. His taste for art, however, and the
advantageous sale of a "Claude" in his possession
to George III. for 1,000 guineas, induced him to
devote himself entirely to the more lucrative employment of a picture-dealer. In course of time
he was commissioned by the unhappy Stanislaus—then almost in the dying throes of the fated kingdom of Poland—to purchase pictures to form a
National Gallery for Poland. In his negotiations,
Desenfans had been constantly aided by his friend
Sir Francis Bourgeois, R.A. On the overthrow of
the Polish kingdom, Desenfans offered his pictures
to the Czar, Paul I. of Russia, but without success;
and in the end it became the nucleus of the Dulwich Gallery. Desenfans spent the last few years
of his life at the house of Sir Francis Bourgeois, in
Charlotte Street, Portland Place, and on his death,
in 1807, bequeathed to him the whole of his large
and valuable collection of pictures. Bourgeois,
like Desenfans, had no children to claim inheritance
in it, and he resolved to carry out what appears to
have been the desire also of his friend, and to place
their joint collection of pictures in the custody of
some public body for the encouragement of the
study of fine arts. An accidental acquaintance
with one of the fellows of the foundation, we are
told, directed his attention to Dulwich College.
Accordingly, in 1811, he bequeathed his pictures
"to the master, wardens, and fellows of Dulwich
College in trust for the public use, under the
direction of the Royal Academy." The bequest
was accompanied by a condition that a mausoleum
should be contained in the gallery, where his own
remains and those of his two friends, Monsieur
and Madame Desenfans, should be placed. A
separate building attached to the rooms where the
pictures hang was therefore erected for the purpose.
The collection (including four or five pictures which
have been presented subsequently by other donors,
and a few unfinished sketches) consists of upwards
of 370 pictures. It is particularly rich in works
of the Dutch and Flemish schools, and contains
examples of the Spanish schools which, it is said, are
not surpassed by any in this country. The pictures
are fully described by Dr. Waagen. (fn. 5) One of the
chief ornaments in the gallery is the celebrated
"Madonna" of Murillo. At first the gallery was
opened to the public on Tuesdays only, and some
little difficulty was thrown in the way of free access
to the collection: all intending visitors were obliged
to obtain tickets previously from one or other of
the great London printsellers, who were authorised
to supply them gratis, and notice was given both
at the gallery and in the catalogue that "without a
ticket no person can be admitted, and no tickets
are given at Dulwich." The limitation to a single
day in the week was not long retained, and since
1858 visitors have been admitted without tickets
or introduction, on the sole condition of entering
their name in the visitors' book.
The new school buildings, now popularly known
as "Dulwich College," are situated about a quarter
of a mile south of the old building. They are
in the "Northern Italian style of the thirteenth
century," and were built from the designs of Mr.
Charles Barry. The first stone of the new building
was laid in June, 1866, and in June, 1870, the
edifice was formally opened by the Prince of Wales.
The schools comprise three distinct blocks: viz., a
central building, containing the public and official
rooms, the great hall, the lecture-theatre, library,
&c.; and two wings, connected with the centre
building by corridors or cloisters—the south wing
being appropriated to the senior section of the
upper school, with the residence of the master of
the college; and the north wing to the junior
section, with the residence of the under-master of
the upper school. The buildings are constructed of
red brick with terra-cotta ornamentation, the front of
the centre building being the most profusely ornamented; the decoration is carried entirely round
the building. For the most part, the ornamentation
is architectural, but a distinctive and characteristic
feature is a series of heads, in very high relief,
from concave shields, of the principal poets, historians, orators, philosophers, &c., of Greece, Rome,
Italy, Germany, and England—the names of each
being legibly inscribed in the hollow of the shield.
The cost of the new schools was about £100,000;
the building provides accommodation for between
600 and 700 boys. The college stands in an area
of forty-five acres, of which about thirty acres have
been appropriated to the schools and playground.
The lower school is at present located in the old
buildings of the college.
There can be no doubt that the art-schools of
the college owe much of their remarkable success
to their association with the splendid collection of
pictures forming the Dulwich Gallery. It is at
least certain that the study of art has been carried
much farther and to higher perfection at Dulwich
than at any other public school in the kingdom.
On the annual "speech day," when the distribution
of prizes takes place, dramatic performances are
given by the boys in the great hall; and from 700
to 800 visitors can be readily accommodated on
these occasions. Since its new birth, Dulwich
College has started on an era of educational advancement; and the extraordinary increase in the
number of boys, and the numerous honours obtained
by them in almost every competition open to our
public schools—for this college holds its own both
at Oxford and Cambridge—speaks eloquently, not
only of the appreciation of the school throughout
the districts south of the Thames, but of the great
need which formerly existed there of increased
educational facilities.
In a small brochure, entitled "Alleyn's College
of God's Gift at Dulwich," issued at the opening of
the new schools in 1870, the writer concludes:
"Thus, after many struggles and difficulties, and a
long period of lethargy more fruitless still, Dulwich
College has started at length into fresh and vigorous
life, with powers of influence and means of usefulness which few foundations can rival, and with wellfounded hopes for the future which far surpass
the utmost expectations of its pious and munificent founder."