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writes John Stow, introducing his Survey (1598),
"as well because I have seen sundrie antiquities myself touching that place, as also for that through search of records to other purposes, divers written helps are come to my hands, which few others have fortuned to meet withal; it is a service that most agreeth with my professed travels; it is a dutie that I whillinglie owe to my native mother and countrie, and an office that of right I hold myself bound in love to bestowe upon the politic body and members of the same. What London hath been of ancient time men may here see, as it is now everie man doth behold."Stow's unimpeachable sentiments have only to be quoted to show the formidable nature of the task facing the present writer, the task, not of having or finding something new to say about London, but of compressing an intelligible notion of its enormous variety and interest into a necessarily limited space, without producing a mere catalogue of buildings or herding together a mere mass of facts. And to make the difficulty plainer, it need only be added that, in these days of a London rapidly changing in appearance, the last sentence quoted above might more appropriately be altered to read that "what London hath been of ancient time men may not here see, as what it is likely to be in the next generation or two everie man doth behold." With the shadow of the sky-scraper, or at any rate a new building line, looming in the foreground of the near future, the pre-eminently Victorian city of pre-War (World War One) times seems already to be slipping into the past. Eighteenth century London has become mainly sordid and squalid, and to that fact alone owes its preservation. Georgian London, the London of Nash and the Regency (and something to be definitely proud of ), is fast vanishing with the unhallowed rebuilding of Regent Street, and its unattractive successor will no doubt ultimately follow in its train.
For that reason this survey will in the main concentrate on those ancient and historic buildings and places which can safely be trusted to weather the storm of transformation, so great is their sanctity even in an age not renowned for its reverence for the past. If the effect be a certain lack of proportion and the omission of much historical and literary detail of high interest, the answer must be that any other course would reduce this article to the functions of a guidebook, and a guidebook foredoomed to futility for sheer shortage of space.
All who are not thrilled at the sight of minute and battered fragments of the Roman wall, will hardly quarrel with the selection of the Tower as a starting point. For the Tower is a symbol as well as a sight, and its grim walls recall in no uncertain fashion the vicissitudes of our story in the centuries when Britain was in the making.
Before dealing with the military aspect of this unique mediaeval fortress, palace, and prison, justice must be done to a building in the north east corner of the Inner Ward, which is endowed with that fascination of horror so necessary to the pure enjoyment of anything in these sensation-loving days.
For its wealth of memories, mainly tragic, there are few more notable in spots in the world than the little church of St Peter as Vincula, though it may be somewhat insignificant from an architectural point of view. The famous burial-place under its alter inspired Macaulay to a magnificent passage which deserves a place even in the briefest description of the sights of London:
"In truth there is no sadder spot on the earth than that little cemetery. Death is there associated, not, as in Westminster Abbey and Saint Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public veneration and imperishable re-known; not, as in our humblest churches and churchyards, with everything that is most endearing in social and domestic charities; but with whatever is darkest in human nature and in human density, with the savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the inconsistency, the ingratitude, the cowardice of friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness and of blighted fame. Thither have been carried, through successive ages, by the rude hands of gaolers, without one mourner following, the bleeding relics of men who had been the captains of armies, the leaders of parties, the oracles of senates, and the ornaments of courts. Thither was borne, before the window where Jane Grey was preying, the mangled corpse of Guildford Dudley. Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and Protector of the realm, reposes there by the brother whom he murdered. There he has moulded away the headless trunk of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and Cardinal of Saint Vitalis, a man worthy to have lived in a better age, and to have died in a better cause. There are laid John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, Lord High Admiral, and Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, Lord High Treasurer. There, too, is another Essex, on whom nature and fortune had lavished all their bounties in vain, and whom valour, grace, genius, royal favour, popular applause, conducted to an early and ignominious doom. Not far off sleep two chiefs of the great House of Howard, Thomas, fourth Duke of Norfolk, and Philip, eleventh Earl of Arundel. Here and there, among the thick graves of quiet and aspiring statesmen, lie more delicate sufferers; Margaret of Salisbury, and last the proud name of Plantagenet, and those two fair Queens who perished by the jealous rage of Henry."But though no other part of the Tower has been the subject of such an amazing piece of writing, its dramatic interest is divided fairly evenly over the whole building. It is impossible here to do more than indicate the chief historical associations of some of the most ancient portions. Distinguished prisoners come to mind first, and of these the Tower has had a host.
The Bell Tower, at the south western corner, was the prison of the future Queen Elisabeth. The splendid but sinister Traitor's Gate was the landing-place of numerous highly born prisoners, brought here by water, after trial at Westminster. In the Bloody Tower above, that noble captive, Sir Walter Raleigh, wrote his History of the World, and if tradition is to be believed, the two young sons of Edward IV were infamously done to death on the orders of their wicked uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. The adjoining Wakefield Tower was so named after the Battle of Wakefield, when the Lancastrians turned the tables on their foes, and populated this tower with Yorkist prisoners. A few years later it was the scene of the murder of the hapless Henry VI.
The list might be prolonged indefinitely, for practically all the towers could furnish a quota, whose presence is brought vividly to mind by initials and other inscriptions cut in the walls.
From the historical and architectural point of view, the outstanding feature of the Tower of London is William the Conqueror's grand keep, popularly known as the "White Tower." When it started life in 1078 it was not the centre of a double circumvallation (the work of William Rufus and Henry III respectively), nor was it surrounded by the moat, so it must be considered as a self-contained fortress. Regarded in that light, it is a magnificent specimen of its kind, for all the embellishments of later times. In the Chapel of St John, too, it can boast perhaps the most attractive piece of Norman architecture to be found in the country.
From the western side of the Tower Of London to the Temple is the area which was devastated and destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666, and for that reason it would be vain to search it for buildings other than a few churches prior in date to the second half of the seventeenth century. Even of that period practically the only monuments of importance are Wren's churches, which include his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral.
Grand though the present church is, three seems to be some ground for regretting the destruction of its predecessor in the great conflagration. Judging by the descriptions and ancient prints that have come down to us, it was a superb edifice, larger that the present church, and surmounted by a spire which attained a height of close on 500 feet. It is equally notorious, however, that before the reign of Charles I large parts of the building were put to all sorts of base and sacrilegious uses.
The existing cathedral was begun in 1675 after Wren's plans, and competed during his lifetime in 1710. But it must be remembered that Wren himself was compelled to modify his design in deference to the wishes of influential persons at court, who were even then expecting the restoration of the Roman Catholic faith, and regarded the edifice he projected as too Protestant in character.
Even by comparison with the great fame which it inevitably calls to mind, St Peter's at Rome, the cathedral must be adjudged a noble monument. Its harmonious proportions tend to obscure its vast size (the same observation applies with even greater force to St Peter's), but its sobriety of internal decoration - a feature greatly attacked by many competent authorities - seems to the present writer perhaps the most telling element in its undoubted dignity. Its great impressiveness, produced by simple means, recalls those plain but stately cathedrals which are the most effective monuments of Norman art in Britain.
Though not a national mausoleum, like Westminster Abbey, St Paul's has its company of noble and famous dead, which included many men distinguished in the arts and the profession of arms, notably Sir Christopher Wren (above whose tomb is the world-famed inscription: Lector, si monumentum requires, circumspice), Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Roberts.
Few of the monuments in the cathedral are of high artistic merit, but an outstanding exception is that of the victor of Waterloo, the finest work of Alfred Stevens, whose genius has only been fully recognised in comparatively recent times.
At the western end of the fire-stricken area, ie where the conflagration was at length arrested by blowing up a large number of buildings with gunpowder) is the Temple, that haunt of lawyers and abode of peace in which the atmosphere of olden times still seems to linger. Apart from its interesting legal and literary associations, the Temple is notable for two splendid old buildings, one of which is barely junior of the Tower.
The Temple Church (St Mary's, to give it its proper dedication) consists of a circular nave, one of the four surviving round churches of the Knights Templars, to which an Early English choir was added in 1240. Both portions are grand work of their respective periods, the elaborate Norman doorway and Transitional Norman nave harmonising beautifully with the slender shafts and lancet windows of the choir. On the floor of the nave are the well-known effigies of Templars, described by Stow in his time as
"armed knights, five lying cross-legged as men vowed to the Holy Land, against the infidels and unbelieving Jews; the other straight-legged; the first of the cross-legged was W Marshall, the elder Earl of Pembroke, who died in 1219; Will Marshall his son, Earl of Pembroke, was the second, he died in 1231; and Gilbert Marshall his brother, Earl of Pembroke, slain in a tournament at Hertford, beside Ware, in the year 1241."Equally eminent in its way is the fine Elizabethan hall of the Middle Temple, completed in 1572. It too, has its memories of that performance of Twelfth Night in which Shakespeare himself is said to have played, memories of the most august member of his audience, Queen Elizabeth, and distant and indirect memories of her unhappy rival, Mary Stuart, whose death-warrant she is said to have signed seated at that oak table which she presented to the Inn.
Of the "Temple Bar Memorial," occupying the site of the old Temple Bar, the less said the better. The famous predecessor now decorates one of the entrances to Theobalds Park, near Waltham Cross; one can still inspect it to see Wren at his worst and (with the eye of the mind) the horrid heads of executed traitors which once formed one of the "sights" of Fleet Street. Dr Johnson (who is the real spirit of this "street of ink") was once passing Temple Bar with Goldsmith at a time when the structure was adorned with the heads of rebels who had been captured in the rebellion in favour of the Old Pretender. "Goldsmith stopped me," says Johnston, "pointed to the heads upon it, and slyly whispered to me:
"'Forsitan et nostrum nomen niscebitur istis.'"
Spots associated with Johnson are frequent enough hereabouts to satisfy the most exacting son of Boswell. The best is undoubtedly the house in Gough Square (No. 17), where the great philosopher spent ten years, during which his famous dictionary was taking shape. But, indeed, Johnson paid Fleet Street a greater compliment than by merely living in and near it, a compliment which is duly recorded by Boswell.
"We walked in the evening,"writes the faithful jackal,
"in Greenwich Park. He asked me, I suppose by way of trying my disposition, ‘Is not this very fine?' Having no exquisite relish of the beauties of nature, and being more delighted with the busy hum of men, I answered, ‘Yes, sir; but not equal to Fleet Street.' Johnson. ‘You are right, sir."Romance, or anything else that appeals to the eye or soul, is hard to find in modern Fleet Street, but its literary memories have an abiding fascination.
Turning up Chancery Lane, the Tudor gatehouse built by Sir Thomas Lovell gives access to Lincoln's Inn and Lincoln's Inn Fields. Here buildings of some renown are to be found, the chapel of the inn built by Inigo Jones, the Royal College of Surgeons, and the Soane Museum, not to mention whole blocks of houses (now mainly offices) dating from the eighteenth century. But it is chiefly as a place of memories that the great square grips the imagination. It was designed by Inigo Jones, who contrived that it should occupy the same space as the Pyramid of Cheops. Many duels, murders, executions, and other horrors has it witnessed. Who can forget the lines of the poet Gay:
"Where Lincoln's Inn, wide space, is railed around.Geographically, Gray's Inn stands somewhat outside the legal world of London, but none who know it will deny it the old-world charm which seems to linger around the haunts of the great profession. It has a fine Elizabethan Hall, where the Comedy of Errors is traditionally said to have been performed in Shakespeare's lifetime, and many associations with men of note, particularly its most famous member, Lord Bacon.
Turning back city-wards we soon reach the site of Newgate Prison, of notorious and unhappy memory. But the palm for interest hereabouts must be awarded to two buildings which are associated with the more pleasant side of human activity.
The church of St Bartholomew the Great is one of the finest and, with exception of the chapel in the Tower, the oldest in the City. The edifice is little more than the nave of the church of the priory which Rahere, Henry I's favourite, founded in 1123, the rest having been destroyed in the reign of Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries. The grand columns are a splendid and impressive example of the Norman style in its best period, but the finest of feature of the whole building is the tomb of the founder himself. The figure dates from the time of his death (in 1143), and the elaborate canopy is good Perpendicular work of a century and a half later.
The other building of special note in this quarter is the Charterhouse, descendant of a Carthusian monastery which was founded in 1371. After the Dissolution it passed into secular hands, and in 1611 the whole property was sold to Thomas Sutton, whose will provided for the foundation of a hospital for eighty poor men and a school for forty poor boys.
The present buildings are mainly the remains of the great mansion built after the Dissolution (largely with the materials of the former monastery), but the church goes back to earlier times, though it has been considerably altered. Everyone knows that the famous Charterhouse School was removed to Godalming, but the educational atmosphere still survives, as the equally famous Merchant Taylors' school has been established here in its place.
Cheapside is a standing invitation to wander into many a merry bypath of history; but here there is only room to wander into Bow Church, if only for the important part is plays in the definition of a "Cockney." Incidentally, it might be remarked that if there is no Cockney save him (or her) who is born within the sounds of Bow bells, Cockneys must be a small and dying race, for the residential population hereabouts is almost non-existent.
In addition to this claim to fame, Bow Church can boast of possessing perhaps the finest of Wren's steeples and an interesting Norman crypt, pathetic relic of the ancient church devastating in the Great Fire.
A survey of the City properly concludes with its civic headquarters, the Guildhall. Time was when the Guildhall played quite a prominent part in State affairs. Was it not here that, as Stow tells us Richard Duke of Gloucester was "elected by the nobles and commons" and "took on him the title of the realm and kingdom." Did not poor Lady Jane Grey here plead guilty to the charge of treason and hear her hard but inevitable sentence pronounced?
Little of the pre-Carolingian building remains, the principal exceptions being the porch and the crypt. This porch attained a certain renown in Elizabeth's time by reason of the fact that its statues, "Jesu Christ," "Law," "Learning," "Discipline in the Devil's Necke," "Justice," "Fortitude," and "Temperance," escaped destruction in the iconoclastic outbreaks of the Reformation. Elderton celebrated the fact in some rude doggerel:
Though most of the images be pulled downe,The "Great Hall" may be a restoration, but it is a magnificent chamber and its modern roof is by no means unworthy of comparison with the splendid specimens of earlier times which can be found elsewhere.
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This small selection of historic images of London (City Centre) are from our British National Image Library. You may click on the thumbnail pictures to view larger versions and read what information we have regarding the image.
1950's Single Decker
As Seen from Bread Street
The Aldermen's Court Room
Vestry of St Lawrence Jewry
Mosaic in St Lawrence Jewry
There may be more historic images of London (City Centre) here.
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The visitor accommodation options for London listed below are supplied by LATE ROOMS and BOOKING.COM from a selection of over 16,000 hotels located throughout the UK.
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We only display the first 8 available hotels above so the table below displays all the different types of accommodation option that are available in London (City Centre) from our database.
We find that most people book hotels within a particular price/quality range and therefore you can see at a glance what these options are in London (City Centre) and then by clicking on the number of these options you will be able to view extensive detail including their locations, in many cases pictures and in all cases the ability to book on-line via the two major agencies Late Rooms and Booking-dot-com. For a wider choice of accommodation please use the Map of accommodation in the City of London area
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Note: Unrated may also mean the accommodation is new and has not yet been rated
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