Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

in ascending steps for 1366 persons; three tiers of boxes for 1000 persons; a balcony for 1800; and a gallery (the primary purpose of which was to serve as a picture gallery), which will accommodate 2000 more. The orchestra affords room for a band of 200 and a choir of 1000 performers. The organ, by Willis, one of the largest in existence, is 60 feet wide, 70 feet high, has nearly 9000 pipes, and two steamengines for working the bellows. Beneath the dome an immense velarium of calico (three quarters of a ton in weight) is suspended for tempering the light, and lessening reverberation. Her Majesty laid the foundation stone May 20, 1868, and formally opened the building March 29, 1871. The entire cost was about £200,000. The building was designed by Capt. Fowke, who, dying, was succeeded as architect by Major-General H. Y. D. Scott, C.B. The iron roof, a masterpiece of construction, was designed by the late Mr. R. M. Ordish.

Albert Memorial, KENSINGTON. The NATIONAL MEMORIAL MONUMENT to the PRINCE CONSORT stands a little west of the site of the Great Exhibition building of 1851, and opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It originated in a public meeting held at the Mansion House, January 14, 1862. The monument consists of a colossal statue of the Prince enshrined within a sumptuous Gothic tabernacle. The cost, over £120,000 was defrayed by public contributions, supplemented by a Parliamentary grant of £50,000, the Queen, as is understood, supplying the sum required to carry out the architect's intention in the completest manner. The design, selected in a limited competition, was that of Mr. G. G. Scott, R.A., who was knighted on its completion. "The idea" of the Memorial, as described by the architect, is that of "a colossal statue of the Prince placed beneath a vast and magnificent shrine or tabernacle, and surrounded by works of sculpture illustrating those arts and sciences which he fostered, and the great undertakings which he originated."

I have, in the first place, elevated the monument upon a lofty and wide-spreading pyramid of steps. From the upper platform rises a podium, or continuous pedestal, surrounded by sculptures in alto-rilievo, representing historical groups or series of the most eminent artists of all ages of the world; the four sides being devoted severally to Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Poetry, and Music. The figures are about six feet high, and are treated somewhat after the manner of Delaroche's Hémicycle des Beaux Arts. This forms, as it were, the foundation of the Monument, and upon it is placed the shrine or tabernacle already mentioned. This is supported at each of its angles by groups of pillars of polished granite, bearing the four main arches of the shrine. Each side is terminated by a gable, the tympanum of which contains a large picture in mosaic, and its mouldings are decorated with carving, and inlaid with mosaic-work, enamel, and polished gem-like stones: thus carrying out the characteristics of a shrine. The intersecting roofs are covered with scales of metal richly enamelled and gilded, and their crestings are of gilt beaten metal in rich leafwork. The whole structure is crowned by a lofty spire of rich tabernacle-work in partially gilt and enamelled metal, terminated in a cross, which reaches to a height of 180 feet above the surrounding ground. Beneath this vast canopy and raised upon a lofty pedestal is the statue of the Prince.-Sir G. Gilbert Scott.

At the outer angles of the pyramid of steps are groups of figures in

VOL. I

C

marble, representing allegorically the quarters of the globe-Europe, by P. Macdowell, R.A.; Asia, by J. H. Foley, R.A.; Africa, by W. Theed; and America, by John Bell. On the upper pedestals, which form the angles of the podium, are marble groups of─Agriculture, by W. Calder Marshall, R.A.; Manufactures, by H. Weekes, R.A.; Commerce, by T. Thorneycroft; and Engineering, by J. Lawlor. On the podium or stylobate, which forms the base of the great canopy, is a series of 178 life-sized figures in high relief, being portraits of the most eminent poets, painters, sculptors, architects and musicians; the poets and musicians on the south front and the painters on the east front executed by H. H. Armstead; the architects on the north front and sculptors on the west front by J. B. Philip. From the angles of the podium rise the groups of clustered columns of the richest polished red and gray granites, which support the lofty canopy, beneath which is the colossal gilded statue of the Prince, by Foley, seated and raised on a lofty pedestal—“the central feature around which all other works of art group themselves." The great groups of pillars bear on their outer faces, on pedestals of polished granite and gilt bronze, statues in bronze representing Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, and Geometry; and in niches immediately over the capitals, bronze statues representing Rhetoric, Medicine, Philosophy, and Physiology-both ranges executed by Armstead and Philip. The tympana, spandrels, and vaulting of the canopy are filled with mosaics designed by Clayton and Bell, and executed by Salviati. The flèche, or spire, which surmounts the stonework, is wholly of metal, and is supported by two enormous box girders of wrought iron, carried diagonally from corner to corner of the structure. The flèche, like the body of the monument, is richly decorated. In niches are figures of the four greater Christian virtues-Faith, Hope, Charity, and Humility; at the angles are statues of the moral virtues-Fortitude, Prudence, Justice, and Temperance; above are angels, and surmounting all a tall and richly decorated cross. The monument was completed in 1872, with the exception of the statue of the Prince, which, owing to the illness of the sculptor, was only placed on its pedestal in 1876.

Albion Mills, SOUTHWARK, were situated on the banks of the river at the south-east end of Blackfriars Bridge. They were established for the purpose of grinding flour on a large scale by means of Watt's steam-engines. The scheme was started by Boulton in 1783, and a sufficient number of shareholders having been got together application was made for a charter of incorporation in 1784, but in consequence of the violent opposition of the millers and meal-men this was refused, and the Albion Mill Company was constituted on the ordinary principles of partnership.1 The building was designed by Mr. Samuel Wyatt, the architect, and John Rennie (then a young man) designed and fitted up the flour-grinding and dressing machinery. In 1786 the mill was ready to

1 Smiles's Lives of Boulton and Watt, p. 354.

start. The engines, which combined all Watt's improvements, were the most complete and powerful which had up to that time been produced from the Soho manufactory.

They consisted of two double-acting engines, of the power of 50 horses each, with a pressure of steam of five pounds to the superficial inch-the two engines, when acting together, working with the power of 150 horses. They drove twenty pair of millstones, each 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, twelve of which were usually worked together, each pair grinding 10 bushels of wheat per hour, by day and night if necessary. The two engines working together were capable of grinding, dressing, etc. complete, 150 bushels an hour-by far the greatest performance achieved by any mill at that time, and probably not since surpassed, if equalled. But the engine power was also applied to a diversity of other purposes, then altogether novel -such as hoisting and lowering the corn and flour, loading and unloading the barges, and in the processes of fanning, sifting, and dressing-so that the Albion Mills came to be regarded as amongst the greatest mechanical wonders of the day.— Smiles's Lives of the Engineers, vol. ii. p. 137.1

The mill was made a public show of, and was constantly crowded by curious visitors, much to Watt's annoyance. The millers and their men looked on with feelings of extreme dislike, but on March 3, 1791, the whole building was destroyed by fire, the work apparently of incendiaries. There are several views of this extensive fire, and one is entitled The Bakers' glory on the conflagration of Albion Mill.

The Albion Mills are burnt down. I asked where they were; supposing they were powder mills in the country, that had blown up. I had literally never seen or heard of the spacious lofty building at the end of Blackfriars Bridge. At first it was supposed maliciously burnt, and it is certain the mob stood and enjoyed the conflagration as of a monopoly. The building had cost £100,000, and the loss in corn and flour is calculated at £140,000. I do not answer for the truth of the sums; but it is certain that the Palace Yard and part of St. James's Park were covered with half-burnt grain.-Walpole to the Misses Berry, Letters, 1877, vol. ix. p. 295.

According to Mr. Smiles the loss sustained by the Company was about £10,000, of which amount Boulton and Watt lost the greater part, the former holding £6000 and the latter £3000 interest in the undertaking.2

Albion Street, HYDE PARK. At No. 14 lived Tyrone Power, the Irish comedian.

A hundred years ago Albion Street (where comic Power dwelt, Milesia's darling son)-was a desert. The Square of Connaught was without its penultimate, and, strictly speaking naught. The Edgware Road was then a road 'tis true; with tinkling waggons passing now and then, and fragrant walls of snowy hawthorn blossoms. The ploughman whistled over Nutford Place; down the green solitudes of Sovereign Street the merry milkmaid led the lowing kine.—Thackeray's Catherine (1839), chap. viii.

Albion Tavern, No. 153 ALDERSGATE STREET, one of the largest establishments of the kind in London, and famed for its good dinners, both public and private, and also its good wines. The tavern acquired much of its celebrity under Mr. John Kay, who was succeeded

1 On p. 138 of this volume is a woodcut of the mills.

2 Smiles's Lives of Boulton and Watt, p. 359.

in 1842 by Mr. (afterwards Alderman Sir) John Staples and Mr. Thos. Staples. In 1864 it was transferred to the London Taverns Company, by whom it is still held. The farewell dinners given by the East India Company to their Governors of India were generally given at the Albion; several of the City Companies give their dinners here; and here (after dinner) the annual trade sales of the principal London publishers take place.

Aldermanbury. A street in CRIPPLEGATE WARD, the continuation of Milk Street, Cheapside, north of Gresham Street to London Wall.

How Aldermanbury Street took that name, many fables have been bruited, all which I overpass as not worthy the counting; but to be short, I say this street took the name of Alderman's burie (which is to say a court), there kept in their bery or court, but now called the Guildhall. . . . I myself have seen the ruins of the old court hall in Aldermanbury Street, which of late hath been employed as a carpenters' yard.-Stow, p. 109.

Expens and chargis in the clensyng of certeyn olde ruinouse houses and grounde lying in Aldenmanbury, sumtyme the Place of Saincte Aethelbert Kyng . . and in the erection, settyng uppe and makyng of fyve newe Tenementes . . which began in London, Tuysday the xxix day of Auguste the xxiii yere of the reigne of Kyng Henry grace the viiith.-Report on MSS. of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, by Maxwell Lyte.1

In 6 Richard II. (1383) one William Berham was accused of slandering John Northamptone, Mayor of London, and John Boseham, to "Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justiciar of our Lord the King, at his house in Aldermannebury," and the case being tried before "the country [jury] of the venue of Aldermannebury," he was found guilty and sentenced to be exposed on the Pillory for one hour on six consecutive days, "with one large whetstone hung from his neck, in token of the lie told by him against the said Mayor, and another smaller whetstone in token of the lie told by him against the said John Boseham.2

In 1680 when the House of Commons compelled Jeffreys to resign the Recordership of London, he was also called to account for the "great sums of money disbursed in fitting up his dwelling-house in Aldermanbury, which he held of the city." 3

Aldermanbury Conduit stood opposite to the south side of St. Mary's Church. It was erected under the will of Sir W. Eastfield, but was destroyed in the great fire. It was rebuilt, and removed early in the 18th century.

Aldermanbury Postern, a continuation northward of ALDERMANBURY to Fore Street, marks the path through the postern in London wall. The postern in the City wall, from which the street took its name, seems to have been originally called "The Little Postern," but in its later years was commonly known as Aldermanbury Postern.

Aldermary Churchyard, CITY. [See Mary (St.) Aldermary.]

Aldersgate, a gate in the City wall, near the church of St. Botolph, and south end of the present Castle and Falcon Inn; the exact site is

1 Historical MSS. Comm., Ninth Report, Appendix, p. 44.

2 Riley, Memorials, p. 476.

3 Life of Judge Jeffreys, p. 79.

marked by No. 62 on the east side of the street.

[ocr errors]

As early as 1289 a

house called Redehalle [Redhall], belonging to Henry le Galeys, is described as being "without Aldredesgate." In 1460 it occurs as Aldresgate. In 1375, in the mayoralty of William Waleworthe, the Corporation granted to Ralph Strode, Common Counter [Common Sergeant], for the good service rendered by him to the City, "all the dwelling-house, together with the garden, and all other its appurtenances, situate over the Gate of Aldrichesgate; to have and to hold the same so long as he shall remain in the said office of Counter."2 It is written Aldrichegate in the City Record of 27 Henry III. 3 (1243), and in the London Chronicle of Edward IV.'s time, printed by Sir Harris Nicolas (p. 99).

Ældresgate, or Aldersgate, so called not of Aldrich or of Elders, that is to say, ancient men, builders thereof; not of Eldarne trees, growing there more abundantly than in other places, as some have fabled; but for the very antiquity of the gate itself, as being one of the first four gates of the city, and serving for the northern parts, as Aldegate for the east; which two gates being both old gates, are, for difference' sake, called, the one Ealdegate, and the other Aldersgate.—Stow, p. 14. The gate described by Stow was taken down in 1617, and rebuilt the same year from a design by Gerard Christmas, the architect, as Vertue thought, of old Northumberland House. On the outer front was a figure in high relief of James I. on horseback, with the prophets Jeremiah and Samuel in niches on each side: on the inner or City front an effigy of the King in his chair of state. King James, on his way to take possession of his new dominions, entered London by the old gate: the new gate referred to this circumstance, with suitable quotations from Jeremiah and Samuel placed beneath the figures of the two prophets. The heads of several of the regicides were set on this gate.

October 20, 1660.-This afternoon, going through London, and calling at Crowe's, the upholsterer's, in St. Bartholomew's, I saw the limbs of some of our new traytors set upon Aldersgate, which was a sad sight to see; and a bloody week this and the last have been, there being ten hanged, drawn, and quartered.”—Pepys's Diary. The gate suffered by the Great Fire, but was soon after repaired and "beautified." The whole fabric was sold, April 22, 1761, for £91, and immediately taken down. John Daye, the printer of Queen Elizabeth's time, dwelt "over Aldersgate," much in the same manner as Cave subsequently did at St. John's. One of the earliest English. almanacs, "A Prognostication for the yere of our Lord, 1550," "was imprynted at London by John Daye, dwelling over Aldersgate." He also printed there The Scholemaster of Roger Ascham in 1570, and Tyndal's Works, 1572. Daye carried his works outside the gates, building "much upon the City wall, towards the parish church of St. Anne."-Seymour, Survey, p. 38. In March 1567, Foxe, the martyrologist, was living "at Mr. Daye's, over Aldersgate." John Daye was the printer of his great work.-Life, pp. 132-134. Faithorne, the en3 Liber Albus, p. 94. 4 Jer. xvii. 25; 1 Sam. xii. 1.

1 Riley, Memorials, p. 11.

2 Riley, p. 388.

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »