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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #67124 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67124)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Father Thames, by Walter Higgins
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Father Thames
-
-Author: Walter Higgins
-
-Release Date: January 7, 2022 [eBook #67124]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: Fiona Holmes and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-             at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-             generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
-             Libraries.)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FATHER THAMES ***
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Notes.
-
-
-[Illustration: Map of the River Thames from its Source to Windsor]
-
-[Illustration: Map of the River Thames to Windsor]
-
-
-
-
-FATHER THAMES
-
-[Illustration:
-
-Offices of The Port of London Authority
-
-_Frontispiece_]
-
-FATHER THAMES
-
-[Illustration]
-
-BY
-
-WALTER HIGGINS
-
-WELLS GARDNER, DARTON & CO., LTD.
-
-3 & 4 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, LONDON, E.C.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
-
-
-FATHER THAMES
-
-BOOK I.—LONDON RIVER. BOOK II.—THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE.
-BOOK III.—THE UPPER RIVER.
-
-_This book is also issued in separate parts, as above._
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-BOOK I
-
-LONDON RIVER
-
-CHAPTER PAGE
-
-INTRODUCTION: THE RIVER AND ITS VALLEY 1
-
-I. LONDON RIVER 15
-
-II. THE ESTUARY AND ITS TOWNS 31
-
-III. THE MEDWAY AND ITS TOWNS 40
-
-IV. GRAVESEND AND TILBURY 52
-
-V. THE MARSHES 64
-
-VI. WOOLWICH 77
-
-VII. GREENWICH 87
-
-VIII. THE PORT AND THE DOCKS 101
-
-
-BOOK II
-
-THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE
-
-I. HOW THE RIVER FOUNDED THE CITY 123
-
-II. HOW THE CITY GREW (ROMAN DAYS) 130
-
-III. HOW THE CITY GREW (SAXON DAYS) 137
-
-IV. HOW THE CITY GREW (NORMAN DAYS) 143
-
-V. THE RIVER’S FIRST BRIDGE 147
-
-VI. HOW THE CITY GREW (IN THE MIDDLE AGES) 157
-
-VII. THE TOWER OF LONDON 166
-
-VIII. HOW FIRE DESTROYED WHAT THE RIVER HAD MADE 181
-
-IX. THE RIVERSIDE AND ITS PALACES 193
-
-X. ROYAL WESTMINSTER—THE ABBEY 209
-
-XI. ROYAL WESTMINSTER—THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 220
-
-XII. THE RIVERSIDE OF TO-DAY 227
-
-
-BOOK III
-
-THE UPPER RIVER
-
-I. STRIPLING THAMES 237
-
-II. OXFORD 246
-
-III. ABINGDON, WALLINGFORD, AND THE GORING GAP 263
-
-IV. READING 271
-
-V. HOLIDAY THAMES—HENLEY TO MAIDENHEAD 279
-
-VI. WINDSOR 285
-
-VII. ETON COLLEGE 298
-
-VIII. HAMPTON COURT 305
-
-IX. KINGSTON 317
-
-X. RICHMOND 326
-
-XI. RICHMOND TO WESTMINSTER 332
-
-INDEX 349
-
-
-
-
-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-
-BOOK I
-
-LONDON RIVER
-
-CHART OF THE THAMES FROM THE SOURCE TO WINDSOR
-
-_Front end papers_
-
-PORT OF LONDON OFFICES _Frontispiece_
-
-PAGE
-
-HOW THE THAMES WAS MADE 4
-
-THE BIRTH OF THE RIVER 8
-
-MOUTH OF THE THAMES 16
-
-THE NORE LIGHTSHIP 17
-
-SHEERNESS 20
-
-TRAINING SHIPS OFF GREENHITHE 22
-
-LONDON’S GIANT GATEWAY 25
-
-THE POOL 27
-
-A THAMES-SIDE WHARF 29
-
-ROCHESTER CASTLE 48
-
-ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 50
-
-GRAVESEND 54
-
-A RIVER-SIDE CEMENT WORKS 56
-
-TILBURY FORT 58
-
-BUGSBY’S REACH 69
-
-WOOLWICH 79
-
-GREENWICH PARK 88
-
-GREENWICH HOSPITAL 94
-
-THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY 98
-
-DOCKLAND 103
-
-DOCKHEAD, BERMONDSEY 107
-
-WAPPING AND LIMEHOUSE 109
-
-A GIANT LINER 117
-
-
-BOOK II
-
-THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE
-
-THE THAMES AT LAMBETH, FROM THE AIR 120, 121
-
-THE LONDON COUNTY HALL 122
-
-ROMAN LONDON (PLAN) 133
-
-BASTION OF ROMAN WALL, CRIPPLEGATE CHURCHYARD 135
-
-THE CONQUEROR’S MARCH ON LONDON (PLAN) 143
-
-OLD LONDON BRIDGE 148
-
-AN ARCH OF OLD LONDON BRIDGE 150
-
-CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS BECKET ON THE BRIDGE 152
-
-LONDON BRIDGE IN MODERN TIMES 155
-
-BAYNARD’S CASTLE BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE 160
-
-GROUND PLAN OF THE TOWER 168
-
-TRAITOR’S GATE 178
-
-THE MONUMENT 182
-
-OLD ST. PAUL’S (A.D. 1500) 189
-
-THE FLEET RIVER AT BLACKFRIARS (A.D. 1760) 194
-
-OLD TEMPLE BAR, FLEET STREET 201
-
-THE STRAND FROM THE THAMES (SIXTEENTH CENTURY) 202, 203
-
-THE WATER-GATE OF YORK HOUSE 206
-
-THE BANQUETING HALL, WHITEHALL 208
-
-THE RIVER AT THORNEY ISLAND (PLAN) 210
-
-HENRY VII.’S CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY 214
-
-WESTMINSTER ABBEY 216
-
-THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 221
-
-ST. PAUL’S FROM THE SOUTH END OF SOUTHWARK BRIDGE 231
-
-
-BOOK III
-
-THE UPPER RIVER
-
-THE CASTLE KEEP, OXFORD 236
-
-THAMES HEAD 238
-
-LECHLADE FROM THE FIRST LOCK 240
-
-KELMSCOTT MANOR 242
-
-MAGDALEN TOWER, OXFORD 252
-
-ABINGDON 264
-
-THE GATEHOUSE, READING ABBEY 273
-
-SONNING 280
-
-HENLEY 281
-
-DIAGRAM OF THE THAMES VALLEY TERRACES 283
-
-WINDSOR CASTLE 286
-
-ETON COLLEGE 299
-
-HAMPTON COURT, GARDEN FRONT 306
-
-KINGSTON 322
-
-TEDDINGTON WEIR 324
-
-RICHMOND HILL FROM PETERSHAM MEADOWS 327
-
-FROM THE TERRACE, RICHMOND 330
-
-KEW GARDENS 334
-
-PUTNEY TO MORTLAKE (CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE) 338
-
-FULHAM PALACE 340
-
-RANELAGH 341
-
-THE POWER-STATION, CHELSEA 345
-
-THE LOLLARDS’ TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE 346
-
-CHART OF THE THAMES FROM WINDSOR TO THE NORE _Back end-papers_
-
-
-
-
-FATHER THAMES
-
-
-INTRODUCTION
-
-_The River and its Valley_
-
-
-England is not a country of great rivers. No mighty Nile winds lazily
-across desert and fertile plains in its three and a half thousand miles
-course to the sea; no rushing Brahmaputra plunges headlong down its
-slopes, falling two or three miles as it crosses half a continent from
-icy mountain-tops to tropical sea-board. In comparison with such as
-these England’s biggest rivers are but the tiniest, trickling streams.
-Yet, for all that, our little waterways have always meant much to the
-land. Tyne, Severn, Humber, Trent, Thames, Mersey, Ouse—all these, with
-many smaller but no less well-known streams, have played their part in
-the making of England’s history; all these have had much to do with the
-building up of her commercial prosperity.
-
-One only of these rivers we shall consider in this book, and that is
-old “Father Thames”: as it was and as it is, and what it has meant to
-England during two thousand years. In our consideration we shall divide
-the River roughly into three quite natural divisions—first, the section
-up to the lowest bridge; second, the part just above, the part which
-gave the River its chief port and city; third, the upper river.
-
-However, before we consider these three parts in detail, there is one
-question which we might well ponder for a little while, a question
-which probably has never occurred to more than a few of us; and that is
-this: Why was there ever a River Thames at all? To answer it we must
-go back—far, far back into the dim past. As you know, this world of
-ours is millions of years old, and like most ancient things it has seen
-changes—tremendous changes. Its surface has altered from time to time
-in amazing fashion. Whole mountain ranges have disappeared from sight,
-and valleys have been raised to make fresh highlands. The bed of the
-ocean has suddenly or slowly been thrust up, yielding entirely new
-continents, while vast areas of land have sunk deep enough to allow the
-water to flow in and create new seas. All this we know by the study of
-the rocks and the fossil remains buried in them—that is, by the science
-of geology.
-
-[Illustration: HOW THE THAMES WAS MADE.]
-
-Now, among many other strange things, geology teaches us that our own
-islands were at one time joined on to the mainland of Europe. In those
-days there was no English Channel, no North Sea, and no Irish Sea.
-Instead, there was a great piece of land stretching from Denmark and
-Norway right across to spots miles out beyond the western limits of
-Ireland and the northern limits of Scotland. This land, which you will
-best understand by looking carefully at the map, p. 4, was crossed by
-several rivers, the largest of them one which flowed almost due north
-right across what is now the North Sea. This river, as you will see
-from the map, was chiefly produced by glaciers of the Alps, and, in
-its early stages, took practically the same course as the River Rhine
-of these days. As it flowed out across the Dogger district (where now
-is the famous Dogger Bank of our North Sea fishermen) it was joined by
-a number of tributary rivers, which flowed down eastwards from what
-we might call the “back-bone of England”—the range of mountains and
-hills which passes down through the centre of our islands. One of these
-tributaries was a river which in its early stages flowed along what is
-now our own Thames Valley.
-
-In those days everything was on a much grander scale, and this river,
-though only a small tributary of the great main continental river,
-was a far wider and deeper stream than the Thames which we know. Here
-and there along the present-day river valley we can still see in the
-contours of the land and in the various rocks evidences of the time
-when this bigger stream was flowing. (Of this we shall read more in
-Book III.) Thus things were when there came the great surface change
-which enabled the water to flow across wide tracts of land and so form
-the British Islands, standing out separately from the mainland of
-Europe.
-
-All that, of course, happened long, long ago—many thousands of years
-before the earliest days mentioned in our history books—at a time about
-which we know nothing at all save what we can read in that wonderful
-book of Nature whose pages are the rocks and stones of the earth’s
-surface.
-
-By the study of these rocks and the fossil remains in them we can
-learn just a few things about the life of those days—the strange kinds
-of trees which covered the earth from sea to sea, the weird monsters
-which roamed in the forests and over the hills. Of _man_ we can learn
-very little. We can get some rough idea of when he first appeared in
-Britain, and we can tell by the remains preserved in caves, etc., in
-some small degree what sort of life he lived. But that is all: the
-picture of England in those days is a very dim one.
-
-How and when the prehistoric man of these islands grew to some sort
-of civilization we cannot say. When first he learned to till the soil
-and grow his crops, to weave rough clothes for himself, to domesticate
-certain animals to carry his goods, to make roads along which these
-animals might travel, to barter his goods with strangers—all these are
-mysteries which we shall probably never solve.
-
-Just this much we can say: prehistoric man probably came to a simple
-form of civilization a good deal earlier than is commonly supposed.
-As a rule our history books start with the year of Cæsar’s coming (55
-B.C.), and treat everything before that date as belonging to absolute
-savagery. But there are many evidences which go to show that the
-Britons of that time were to some considerable extent a civilized
-people, who traded pretty extensively with Gaul (France, that is), and
-who knew how to make roads and embankments and, perhaps, even bridges.
-
-As early man grew to be civilized, as he learned to drain the flooded
-lands by the side of the stream and turn them from desolate fens and
-marshes to smiling productive fields, and as he learned slowly how to
-get from the hillsides and the plain the full value of his labour, so
-he realized more and more the possibilities of the great river valley.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Thames flows in what may be regarded as an excellent example of a
-river-basin. A large area, no less than six thousand square miles, is
-enclosed on practically all sides by ranges of hills, generally chalk
-hills, which slope down gently into its central plain; and across
-this area, from Gloucestershire to the North Sea, for more than two
-hundred miles the River winds slowly seawards, joined here and there by
-tributaries, which add their share to the stream as they come down from
-the encompassing heights.
-
-[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF THE RIVER.]
-
-On the extreme west of the basin lie the Cotswold Hills of
-Gloucestershire. Here the Thames is born. The rain which falls on the
-hill-tops makes its way steadily into the soil, and is retained there.
-Down and down it sinks through the porous limestone and chalk, till
-eventually it reaches a layer of impenetrable material—clay, slate, or
-stone—through which it can no longer pursue its downward course. Its
-only way now is along the upper surface of the stratum of impermeable
-material. Thus it comes in time to the places on the hillsides where
-the stratum touches the open air (see diagram on p. 8), and there it
-gushes forth in the form of springs, which in turn become tiny streams,
-some falling westwards down the steep Severn valley, others running
-eastwards down the gentler declivity.
-
-At their northern end the Cotswolds sweep round to join Edge Hill; and
-then the hill-wall crosses the uplands of that rolling country which
-we call the Central Tableland, and so comes to the long stretch of the
-East Anglian Heights, passing almost continuously eastward through
-Hertfordshire and North Essex to Suffolk. On the south side the ring of
-hills sweeps round by way of the Marlborough Downs, and so comes to the
-long scarp of the “North” Downs, which make their way eastwards to the
-Kentish coast.
-
-Within the limits of this ring of hills the valley lies, not perfectly
-flat like an alluvial plain, but gently, very gently, undulating,
-seldom rising more than two or three hundred feet above sea-level,
-save where that great ridge of chalk—the Chiltern-Marlborough
-range—straddles right across the basin at Goring.
-
-Standing on one of the little eminences of the valley we can survey
-the scene before us: we can watch the River for many miles winding its
-way seawards, and note in all directions the same fertile, flourishing
-countryside, with its meadows where the soft-eyed cattle browse on the
-rich grass; its warm, brown plough-lands; its rich, golden fields of
-wheat, oats, and barley; its pretty orchards and farms close at hand;
-its nestling, tidy villages; its little pointed church steeples dotted
-everywhere. We can see in the distance, maybe, one or two compact
-little towns, for towns always spring up on wide, well-farmed plains,
-since the farmers must have proper markets to which to send their
-supplies of eggs, butter, cheese, and milk, and proper mills where
-their grain may be ground into flour.
-
-It is a pleasant, satisfying prospect—one which suggests industrious,
-thrifty farmers reaping the rich reward of their unsparing labours;
-and it is an interesting prospect, too, for this same prosperous
-countryside, very little altered during half-a-dozen centuries, has
-done much to establish and maintain the position of the Thames as _the_
-great river of England.
-
-The usefulness of a river to its country depends on several things. In
-the first place, it must be able to carry goods—to act as a convenient
-highway along which the traffic can descend through the valley towards
-the busy places near the mouth. That is to say, it must be navigable to
-barges and small boats throughout a considerable portion of its length.
-In the second place, there must be the goods to carry. That is to say,
-the river must pass through a countryside which can produce in great
-quantity things which are needed. In the third place, the chief port of
-the river must lie in such a position that it is within comparatively
-easy distance of good foreign markets.
-
-Now let us see how these three conditions apply to the River Thames.
-
-Firstly, with regard to the goods themselves. If we take our map of
-England, and lay a pencil across it from Bristol to the Wash, we
-shall be marking off what has been through the greater part of English
-history the boundary of the wealthy portion of Britain, for only in
-modern times, since the development of the iron and coal fields, and
-the discovery that the damp climate of the north was exactly suited to
-the manufacture of textiles, has the great industrial North of England
-come into being. England in the Middle Ages, and on till a century or
-more ago, was an agricultural country; its wealth lay very largely
-in what it grew and what it reared; and the south provided the most
-suitable countryside for this sort of production. The consequence
-was that the Thames flowed right down through the centre of wealthy
-England. All round it were the chalk-ranges on which throve the great
-herds of long-fleeced sheep that provided the wonderful wool for which
-England was famous, and which was in many respects the main source
-of her prosperity. In between the hills were the cornfields and the
-orchards. And dotted all down the course at convenient points were
-thriving towns, each of which could, as it were, drain off the produce
-of the area behind it, and so act as a collecting and forwarding
-station for the traffic of the main stream.
-
-The River, too, was quite capable of dealing with the great output,
-for it was navigable for barges and small boats as far as Lechlade, a
-matter of 150 miles from the mouth, and its tributaries were in most
-cases capable of bearing traffic for quite a few miles into the right
-and left interior. Moreover, its current at ordinary times was neither
-too swift nor too sluggish.
-
-So that, with the wealth produced by the land and the means of
-transport provided by the River, the only things needed to make the
-Thames one of Europe’s foremost rivers were the markets.
-
-Here again the Thames was fortunate in its situation, for its mouth
-stood in an advantageous position facing the most important harbours
-of Normandy, Flanders, Holland, and Germany, all within comparatively
-easy distance, and all of them ready to take our incomparable wool and
-our excellent corn in exchange for the things they could bring us.
-Moreover, the tides served in such a way that the double tides of the
-Channel and the North Sea made London the most easily reached port of
-all for ships coming from the south.
-
-Thus, then, favoured as it was by its natural situation and by its
-character, the Thames became by far the most important highway in our
-land, and this it remained for several centuries—until the coming of
-the railways, in fact.
-
-Now the River above London counts for very little in our system of
-communications. Like all other English waterways, canals and rivers
-alike, it has given place to the iron road, notwithstanding the fact
-that goods can be carried by water at a mere fraction of the cost of
-rail-transport. But our merchants do not seem to realize this; and so
-in this matter we find ourselves a long way behind our neighbours on
-the Continent.
-
-
-
-
-LONDON RIVER
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER ONE
-
-_London River_
-
-
-From its mouth inwards to London Bridge the Thames is not the Thames,
-for like many another important commercial stream it takes its name
-from the Port to which the seamen make their way, and it becomes to
-most of those who use it—London River.
-
-Now where does London River begin at the seaward side? At the Nore. The
-seaward limit of the Port of London Authority is somewhat to the east
-of the Nore Light, and consists of an imaginary line stretching from
-a point at the mouth of Havingore Creek (nearly four miles north-east
-of Shoeburyness on the Essex coast) to Warden Point on the Kent coast,
-eight miles or so from Sheerness; and this we may regard quite properly
-as the beginning of the River. The opening here is about ten miles
-wide, but narrows between Shoeburyness and Sheerness, where for more
-practical purposes the River commences, to about six miles.
-
-Right here at the mouth the River receives its last and most important
-tributary—the Medway.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-For some miles up the estuary and the lower reaches the character
-of the River is such that it is difficult to imagine anything less
-interesting, less impressive, less suggestive of what the river
-approach to the greatest city in the world should be; for there is
-nothing but flat land on all sides, so flat that were not the great
-sea-wall in position the whole countryside would soon revert to its
-original condition of marsh and fenland. Were we unfamiliar with the
-nature of the landscape, a glance at the map would convince us at once,
-for in continuous stretch from Sheerness and the Medway we find on
-the Kentish bank—Grain Marsh (the Isle of Grain), St. Mary’s Marshes,
-Halslow Marshes, Cooling Marshes, Cliffe Marshes, and so on. Nor is
-the Essex bank any better once we have left behind the slightly higher
-ground on which stand Southend, Westcliff, and Leigh, for the low, flat
-Canvey Island is succeeded by the Mucking and East Tilbury Marshes.
-
-[Illustration: The Nore Lightship. _Where London River joins the Sea._]
-
-The river-wall, extending right away from the mouth to London on the
-Essex side, is a wonderful piece of engineering—man’s continuously
-successful effort against the persistence of Nature—a feature strongly
-reminiscent of the Lowlands on the other side of the narrow seas. Who
-first made this mighty dyke? No one knows. Probably in many places it
-is not younger than Roman times, and there are certain things about it
-which tend to show an even earlier origin.
-
-Indeed, so long ago was it made that the mouth and lower parts of the
-River must have presented to the various invaders through the centuries
-very much the same appearance as they present to anyone entering the
-Thames to-day. The Danes in their long ships, prowling round the Essex
-and Thanet coasts in search of a way into the fair land, probably saw
-just these same dreary flats on each hand, save that when they sailed
-unhindered up the River they caught in places the glint of waters
-beyond the less carefully attended embankment. The foreign merchants
-of the Middle Ages—the men of Genoa and Florence, of Flanders and the
-Hanseatic Towns—making their way upstream with an easterly wind and a
-flowing tide; the Elizabethan venturers coming back with their precious
-cargoes from long and perilous voyages; the Dutch sweeping defiantly
-into the estuary in the degenerate days of Charles II.—all these must
-have beheld a spectacle almost identical with that which greets our
-twentieth-century travellers returning from the East.
-
-[Illustration: Sheerness on Sea]
-
-Perhaps, at first sight, one of the most striking things in all this
-stretch of the River is the absence of ancient fortifications. True,
-we have those at Sheerness, but they were made for the guarding of
-the dockyard and of the approach to the important military centre at
-Chatham, which lies a few miles up the River Medway. Surely this great
-opening into England, the gateway to London, this key to the entire
-situation, should have had frowning castles on each shore to call a
-halt to any venturesome, invading force. Thus we think at once with our
-twentieth-century conception of warfare—forgetting that the cannon of
-early days could never have served to throw a projectile more than a
-mere fraction of the distance across the stream.
-
-Not till we pass up the Lower Hope and Gravesend Reaches and come to
-Tilbury and Gravesend, facing each other on the two banks, do we reach
-anything like a gateway. Then we find Tilbury Fort on the Essex shore,
-holding the way upstream. Here, at the ferry between the two towns, the
-River narrows to less than a mile in width; consequently the artillery
-of ancient days might have been used with something like effectiveness.
-
-[Illustration: _Training Ships off Greenhithe._
-
-“Arethusa” for Homeless Boys
-
-“Worcester” Nautical Training College]
-
-From Gravesend westwards the country still lies very low on each bank,
-but the monotony is not quite so continuous, for here and there, first
-at one side and then at the other, there rise from the widespread
-flats little eminences, and on these small towns generally flourish.
-At Northfleet and Greenhithe, for instance, where the chalk crops out,
-and the River flows up against cliffs from 100 to 150 feet high, there
-is by contrast quite a romantic air about the place, and the same may
-be said of the little town of Purfleet, which lies four miles up the
-straight stretch of Long Reach, its wooded chalk bluffs with their
-white quarries very prominent in the vast plain. But, for the most
-part, it is marshes, marshes all the way, particularly on the Essex
-shore—marshes where are concocted those poisonously unpleasant mixtures
-known as “London specials,” the thick fogs which do so much to make
-the River, and the Port as well, a particularly unpleasant place at
-certain times in winter. When a “London special” is about—that variety
-which East Enders refer to as the “pea-soup” variety—the thick, yellow,
-smoke-laden mist obscures everything, effectively putting an end to all
-business for the time being.
-
-Passing Erith on the Kent coast, and Dagenham and Barking on the
-Essex, we come to the point where London really begins on its
-eastward side. From now onwards on each bank there is one long,
-winding line of commercial buildings, backed in each case by a vast
-and densely-populated area. On the southern shore come Plumstead
-and Woolwich, to be succeeded in continuity by Greenwich, Deptford,
-Rotherhithe, and Bermondsey; while on the northern side come in
-unbroken succession North Woolwich, Canning Town, and Silvertown
-(backed by those tremendous new districts—East and West Ham, Blackwall
-and Poplar, Millwall, Limehouse, Shadwell, and Wapping). In all the
-eleven miles or so from Barking Creek to London Bridge there is
-nothing to see but shipping and the things appertaining thereto—great
-cargo-boats moving majestically up or down the stream, little tugs
-fussing and snorting their way across the waters, wind-jammers of
-all sorts and sizes dropping down lazily on the tide, small coastal
-steamers, ugly colliers, dredgers, businesslike Customs motor-boats
-and River Police launches, vast numbers of barges, some moving
-beautifully under their own canvas, some being towed along in bunches,
-others making their way painfully along, propelled slowly by their
-long sweeps; there is nothing to hear but the noises of shipping—the
-shrill cry of the syren, the harsh rattling of the donkey-engines, the
-strident shouts of the seamen and the lightermen. Everything is marine,
-for this is the Port of London.
-
-[Illustration: London’s Giant Gateway]
-
-Here where the River winds in and out are the Docks, those tremendous
-basins which have done so much to alter the character of London River
-during the last hundred years, that have shifted the Port of London
-from the vicinity of London Bridge and the Upper Pool, and placed it
-several miles downstream, that have rendered the bascules of that
-magnificent structure, the Tower Bridge, comparatively useless things,
-which now require to be raised only a very few times in the course of a
-day.
-
-In its course from the mouth inwards to the Port the River is steadily
-narrowing. At Yantlet Creek the stream is about four-and-a-half miles
-across; but in the next ten miles it narrows to a width of slightly
-under 1,300 yards at Coalhouse Point at the upper end of the Lower Hope
-Reach. At Gravesend the width is 800 yards, at Blackwall under 400,
-while at London Bridge the width at high tide is a little less than 300
-yards.
-
-[Illustration: THE POOL.]
-
-Just above and just below the Tower Bridge is what is known as the Pool
-of London. Standing on the bridge, taking in the wonderful picture up
-and down stream—the wide, filthy London River, with its craft of all
-descriptions, its banks lined with dirty, dull-looking wharves and
-warehouses, we find it hard to think of this as the River which we
-shall see later slipping past Clevedon Woods and Bablock-hythe or under
-Folly Bridge at Oxford. Up there all is bright and clean and sunny:
-here even on the blithest summer day there is usually an overhanging
-pall of smoke which serves to dim the brightest sunshine and add to
-the dreariness of the scene.
-
-Yet, despite its lack of beauty, despite all the drawbacks of its
-ugliness and its squalor, this is one of the most romantic places in
-all England: a place to linger in and let the imagination have free
-rein. What visions these ships call up—visions of the wonderful East
-with its blaze of colour and its burning sun, visions of Southern
-seas with palm-clad coral islands, visions of the frozen North with
-its bleak icefields and its snowy forest lands, visions of crowded
-cities and visions of the vast, lonely places of the earth. For these
-ordinary-looking ships have come from afar, bearing in their cavernous
-holds the wealth of many lands, to be swallowed up by the ravenous maw
-of the greatest port in the world.
-
-[Illustration: Work and Wealth on a Thames-side Wharf.]
-
-Every minute is precious here. Engines are rattling as the cranes lift
-up boxes and bales from the interiors of the ships and deposit them in
-the lighters that cluster round their sides. Inshore the cranes are
-hoisting the goods from the vessels to the warehouses as fast as they
-can. Men are shouting and gesticulating; syrens are wailing out their
-doleful cry or screaming their warning note. Everything is hurry and
-bustle, for there are other cargoes waiting to take the place of those
-now being discharged, and other ships ready to take the berths of those
-unloading; and there are tides to be thought of, unless precious hours
-are to be wasted.
-
-It is a fascinating place, is the Pool, and one which never loses its
-interest for either young or old.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TWO
-
-_The Estuary and its Towns_
-
-
-Sheppey, on the coast of which is the Warden Point that forms one end
-of the Port of London boundary line, is an island, separated from the
-mainland of Kent by the Swale. People frequently speak of it as the
-“Isle of Sheppey,” but this title is not strictly correct, for the name
-Sheppey really includes the word “island.” William Camden, that old
-writer on geographical subjects, informs us that “this Isle of Sheepe,
-whereof it feedeth mightie great flocks, was called by our ancestours
-Shepey—that is, the Isle of Sheepe.”
-
-Though it is only eleven miles long and five miles broad, this little
-island presents within its compass quite a variety of scenery,
-especially when the general flatness of the whole area round about
-is borne in mind; for, in addition to its riverside marshes, it has
-a distinctly hilly ridge, geologically related to the North Downs,
-surmounted by a little village rejoicing in the high-sounding name of
-Minster-in-Sheppey, wherein at one time was the ancient Saxon “minster”
-or “priory” of St. Saxburga. But the oft-repeated words concerning
-“prophets” and “honour” apply to this little out-of-the-way corner, for
-the men of Kent are wont to say that when the world was made Sheppey
-was never finished.
-
-Naturally, from its situation, right at the entrance to the Thames,
-Sheppey always played some considerable part in the warfare of the
-lower river. What happened in these parts in very early days we do
-not know. We can only conjecture that Celts, coming across from the
-mainland of Europe in their frail vessels, found this way into Britain,
-and without hindrance sailed up the River to found the tiny settlement
-of Llyndin hill: we can only surmise that later some of the Saxons
-worked their way guardedly up the wide opening while the main body of
-their comrades found other ways into this fair land. Not till the ninth
-century do we begin to get any definite record of invasion. Then in
-832 we find the Vikings, with their long-boats, hovering about the
-mouth of the River, landing in Sheppey and raiding that little island
-with its monastery on the hill. They returned in 839; and in 857 they
-came with a great fleet of their long-boats—350 of them—in order that
-they might advance up the River and make an attack on the city. In 893
-they came yet again, landing either at Milton Creek on the Swale, or
-at Milton nearly opposite Tilbury (it is uncertain which); but the men
-of London drove them off. So it went on for many years, invasion after
-invasion, till the days of Canute, when the River played a very great
-part in the warfare, now favouring, now hampering the Danish leaders.
-
-From the time of the Norman Conquest onwards there was, of course,
-nothing in the way of foreign invasions; and the Thames, ceasing to be
-a gateway by means of which the stranger might enter England, became
-a barrier impeding the progress of the various factions opposing each
-other in the national struggles—the War of the Barons, the Wars of the
-Roses, and the great Civil War. In these, however, the Thames below
-London played no very great part. Not till the days of Charles II.,
-when the Dutch helped to write such a sorry chapter in our history, did
-the Thames again loom large in our military annals.
-
-Sheerness is, of course, the most famous place on the island, for it
-has long been a considerable dockyard and port. The spot on which it
-was built was reclaimed from the marshes in the time of the Stuarts,
-and was chosen in the days of Charles II. as the situation for a new
-dockyard. If we turn up the “Diary” of old Samuel Pepys, the Secretary
-of the Admiralty of those days, we shall find under the date of August
-18, 1665: “Walked up and down, laying out the ground to be taken in
-for a yard to lay provisions for cleaning and repairing of ships, and
-a most proper place it is for the purpose;” while on February 27, two
-years later, His Majesty was at Sheerness to lay those fortifications
-which were destined within less than six months to be destroyed by the
-Dutch.
-
-The other important town in Sheppey is Queenborough, a well-known
-packet-station. Originally this was Kingborough, but it was
-rechristened by Edward III. in honour of his Queen, Philippa, at the
-time when William Wykeham (of whose skill as a builder we shall read in
-the chapter on Windsor in Book III.) erected a castle on the spot where
-the railway-station now stands. Eastchurch, towards the other end of
-the island, developed a splendid flying-ground during the War.
-
-On the other side of the Medway, forming a peninsula between that river
-and the Thames, lies the Isle of Grain—a place which is not an island
-and which has nothing whatever to do with grain. It consists of a
-marshy promontory with a packet-station, Port Victoria, and a seaplane
-base, Fort Grain, and very little else beside. At its western extremity
-is the dirty little Yantlet Creek, close to which stands the well-known
-“London Stone,” an obelisk set up to mark the point where, prior to the
-Port of London Act, ended the power of the Lord Mayor of London in his
-capacity as Conservator of the Thames.
-
-Westwards from Yantlet Creek are great flats out of which rise the
-batteries of Shornemead and Cliffe, considerable forts designed to
-serve with that of Coalhouse Point, opposite on the Essex shore, as a
-defence of the River. They were built in no very remote times, but were
-practically never anything else than useless against modern artillery,
-and were destined, so later military engineers said, to do more damage
-to each other than to any invading foes.
-
-On the Essex coast, opposite Sheerness, are two famous places, Southend
-and Shoeburyness—the one a famous resort for trippers, the other an
-important school of artillery.
-
-Not so very long ago Southend was unheard of. Defoe, who covered the
-ground hereabouts pretty thoroughly, makes no mention of it even
-as a hamlet; yet to-day it is a flourishing and constantly growing
-town—not so much a watering-place nowadays as a rather distant suburb
-of London. For here and in the adjacent district of Westcliff, now by
-the builders and the trams joined on, and even in Leigh still farther
-west, live many of London’s more successful workers, making the
-daily journey to and from town. Nor is this surprising, for Southend
-is an enterprising borough—one that makes the most of its natural
-advantages, and endeavours to cater equally well for the residents and
-the casual visitors. Of course, the town will always be associated with
-day-trippers from London, folk who come down with their families to get
-a “whiff of the briny,” and a taste of the succulent cockles for which
-Southend is noted, and to enjoy a ride in one of the numerous boats, or
-on the tram that runs along the mile and a half length of Southend’s
-vaunted possession, the longest pier in England. And while we laugh
-sometimes at these trippers with their ribald enjoyment of strange
-scenes, we must admit that they choose a most healthy and enjoyable
-place.
-
-At Shoeburyness, approached by way of the tramcars, things are far more
-serious. Cockney joviality seldom gets so far from the pier as this.
-Off the land here is a very extensive bank of shallows, and here the
-artillerymen carry out their practice, the advantage being that in
-such a spot the costly projectiles fired can be recovered and put in
-order for future use.
-
-Canvey Island, which lies tucked away in a little corner to the west
-of Leigh, is yet another example of man’s triumph over nature, for it
-has veritably been stolen from the waters. It was reclaimed as long
-ago as 1622, by one Joas Cropperburgh, who for his labours received
-about two thousand of its six thousand acres. And Dutch most assuredly
-Canvey is—with quaint Dutch cottages, one of them a six-sided affair,
-dated 1621, and set up by the very Dutchmen who came over to construct
-the dams, and with Dutch dykes dividing the fields instead of hedges.
-Robert Buchanan, in his novel “Andromeda,” wrote of it in these terms:
-“Flat as a map, so intermingled with creeks and runlets that it is
-difficult to say where water ends and land begins, Canvey Island lies,
-a shapeless octopus, right under the high ground of Benfleet and
-Hadleigh, and stretches out muddy and slimy feelers to touch and dabble
-in the deep water of the flowing Thames. Away across the marshes rise
-the ancient ruins of Hadleigh Castle, further eastwards the high spire
-and square tower of Leigh Church.”
-
-At the village of Benfleet, which he mentions, the Danes landed when in
-874 they made one of their characteristic raids on the Thames Estuary;
-and here they hoarded up the goods filched from the Essex villages till
-such time as there should come a wind favourable for the journey home.
-
-Like various other places on the Estuary and the lower reaches of
-the River, Canvey Island has on occasions been proposed as a place
-for deep-sea wharves, so that unloading might be carried out without
-the journey up river, but so far nothing definite has come of these
-suggestions.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER THREE
-
-_The Medway and its Towns_
-
-
-From its position right at the entrance to the River the Medway
-tributary has always offered a considerable contribution to the defence
-of London. Going off as it does laterally from the main stream, the
-Medway estuary has acted the part of a remarkably fine flank retreat.
-Our forces, driven back at any time to the refuge of the River, could
-always split up—part proceeding up the main stream towards London, and
-part taking refuge in the protected network of waterways behind Sheppey
-and the Isle of Grain. So that the indiscreet enemy, chasing the main
-portion of the fleet up the estuary of the River, would always be in
-danger of being caught between two fires. Which fact probably accounts
-for the tremendous importance with which the Medway has always been
-regarded in naval and military circles.
-
-Passing between the Isle of Grain and Sheppey, and leaving on our
-left hand the Swale, in which, so tradition says, St. Augustine
-baptized King Ethelbert at Whitsun, 596, and on the other bank Port
-Victoria, the packet-station, we find nothing very striking till we
-catch sight of Upnor Castle, on the western bank of the river, facing
-the Chatham Dockyard Extension. This queer old, grey-walled fortress
-with its cylindrical towers, built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
-is not a very impressive place. It does not flaunt its strength from
-any impregnable cliff, or even fling defiance from the top of a little
-hill. Instead, it lies quite low on the river bank. Yet it has had
-one spell of real life as a fortress, a few days of activity in that
-inglorious time with which the tributary will ever be associated—the
-days of “the Dutch in the Medway,” when de Ruyter and van Ghent came
-with some sixty vessels to the Nore and in about two hours laid level
-with the ground the magnificent and recently-erected fortifications of
-Sheerness. This and the happenings of the next few weeks formed, as
-old John Evelyn says in his “Diary,” “a dreadfull spectacle as ever
-Englishman saw, and a dishonour never to be wiped off!”
-
-In the pages of Charles Macfarlane’s story, “The Dutch in the Medway,”
-is to be found a most interesting account of these calamitous
-days, from which we cull the following extracts: “On the following
-morning—the memorable morning of the 12th of June—a very fresh wind
-from the north-east blew over Sheerness and the Dutch fleet, and a
-strong spring-tide set the same way as the wind, raising and pouring
-the waters upward from the broad estuary in a mighty current. And
-now de Ruyter roused himself from his inactivity, and gave orders
-to his second in command, Admiral van Ghent, to ascend the river
-towards Chatham with fire-ships, and fighting ships of various rates.
-Previously to the appearance of de Ruyter on our coasts, his Grace of
-Albemarle had sunk a few vessels about Muscle Bank, at the narrowest
-part of the river, had constructed a boom, and drawn a big iron chain
-across the river from bank to bank, and within the boom and chain
-he had stationed three king’s ships; and having done these notable
-things, he had written to Court that all was safe on the Medway, and
-that the Dutch would never be able to break through his formidable
-defences. But now van Ghent gave his Grace the lie direct; for,
-favoured by the heady current and strong wind, the prows of his ships
-broke through the boom and iron chain as though they had been cobwebs,
-and fell with an overwhelming force upon the ill-manned and ill-managed
-ships which had been brought down the river to eke out this wretched
-line of defence. The three ships, the _Unity_, the _Matthias_, and
-the _Charles V._, which had been taken from the Dutch in the course
-of the preceding year—the _Annus Mirabilis_ of Dryden’s flattering
-poem—were presently recaptured and burned under the eyes of the Duke of
-Albemarle, and of many thousands of Englishmen who were gathered near
-the banks of the Medway.
-
-“On the following morning (Thursday, the 13th of June) at about ten
-o’clock, as the tide was rising, and the wind blowing right up the
-river, van Ghent, who had been lying at anchor near the scene of his
-yesterday’s easy triumph, unfurled his top-sails, called his men to
-their guns, and began to steer through the shallows for Chatham.
-
-“The mid-channel of the Medway is so deep, the bed so soft, and the
-reaches of the river are so short, that it is the safest harbour in the
-kingdom. Our great ships were riding as in a wet dock, and being moored
-to chains fixed to the bottom of the river, they swung up and down with
-the tide. But all these ships, as well as many others of lower rates,
-were almost entirely deserted by their crews, or rather by those few
-men who had been put in them early in the spring, rather as watchmen
-than as sailors; some were unrigged, some had never been finished, and
-scarcely one of them had either guns or ammunition on board, although
-hurried orders had been sent down to equip some of them and to remove
-others still higher up the river out of the reach of danger.
-
-“It was about the hour of noon when van Ghent let go his anchor just
-above Upnor Castle. But his fire-ships did not come to anchor. No!
-Still favoured by wind and tide, they proceeded onward, and presently
-fell among our great but defenceless ships. The two first of these
-fire-ships burned without any effect, but the rest that went upward
-grappled the _Great James_, the _Royal Oak_, and the _Loyal London_,
-and these three proud ships which, under other names, and even under
-the names they now bore, had so often been plumed with victory, lay a
-helpless prey to the enemy, and were presently in a blaze.
-
-“Having burned to the water’s edge the _London_, the _James_, and the
-_Royal Oak_, and some few other vessels of less note, van Ghent thought
-it best to take his departure. Yet, great as was the mischief he had
-done, it was so easy to have done a vast deal more, that the English
-officers at Chatham could scarcely believe their own eyes when they saw
-him prepare to drop down the river with the next receding tide, and
-without making any further effort ... the trumpeters on their quarter
-decks playing ‘Loth to depart’ and other tunes very insulting and
-offensive to English pride.”
-
-What shall we say of Chatham, Rochester, and the associated districts
-of Stroud and New Brompton? It is difficult, indeed, to find a great
-deal that is praiseworthy. They may perhaps still be summed up in Mr.
-Pickwick’s words: “The principal productions of these towns appear to
-be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dockyard men.”
-
-Formerly the view from the heights of Chatham Hill must have been a
-splendid one, with the broad Medway and its vast marshlands stretching
-away for miles across to the wooded uplands of Hoo. Now it appears
-almost as if a large chunk of the crowded London streets had been
-lifted bodily and dropped down to blot out the beauties of the
-scene, for there is little other to be seen than squalid buildings
-huddled together in mean streets, with just here and there a great
-chimney-stack to break the monotony of the countless roofs.
-
-The dockyard at Chatham is much the same as any other dockyard, and
-calls for no special description. From its slips have been launched
-many brave battleships, right down from the days of Elizabeth to our
-own times. Here at all seasons may be seen cruisers, battleships,
-destroyers, naval craft of all sorts, dry docked for refitting. All day
-long the air resounds to the noise of the automatic riveter, and the
-various sounds peculiar to a shipbuilding area.
-
-For many years the dockyard was associated with the name of Pett, a
-name famous in naval matters, and it was on one member of the family,
-Peter Pett, commissioner at Chatham, that most of the blame for the
-unhappy De Ruyter catastrophe most unjustly fell. Somebody had to be
-the scapegoat for all the higher failures, and poor Pett went to the
-Tower. But not all people agreed with the choice, as we may see from
-these satirical lines which were very popular at the time:
-
-“All our miscarriages on _Pett_ must fall; His name alone seems fit
-to answer all. Whose Counsel first did this mad War beget? Who would
-not follow when the Dutch were bet? Who to supply with Powder did
-forget Languard, Sheerness, Gravesend and Upnor? _Pett_. _Pett_, the
-Sea Architect, in making Ships Was the first cause of all these Naval
-slips; Had he not built, none of these faults had bin: If no Creation,
-there had been no Sin.”
-
-[Illustration: Rochester Castle.]
-
-The river here is a very busy place, and is under certain circumstances
-quite picturesque. There is a weird blending of ancient and modern,
-of the dimly-comprehended past and the blatant, commercial present,
-along Limehouse Reach, with its tremendous coal-hoists, and its smoking
-stacks, and its brown-sailed barges and snorting tugs—with the great
-masses of Rochester Castle and Cathedral looming out behind it all.
-
-Limehouse Reach is, indeed, an appropriate name, for all along this
-part, especially in the suburbs of Stroud and Frindsbury, the lime and
-cement-making industries are carried on extensively. Throughout a great
-deal of its length the Medway Valley is scarred by great quarries cut
-into the chalk hills; for it is chalk and the river mud, mixed roughly
-in the proportion of three to one and then burned in a kiln, which give
-the very valuable Portland cement, an invention now about a century old.
-
-[Illustration: Rochester Cathedral]
-
-Rochester itself is a quaint old place, standing on the ancient Roman
-road from Dover to London, and guarding the important crossing of the
-Medway. It can show numbers of Roman remains in addition to its fine
-old Norman castle, and its Cathedral with a tale of eight centuries.
-The town stands to-day much as it stood when Dickens first described
-it in his volumes. The Corn Exchange is still there—“oddly garnished
-with a queer old clock that projects over the pavement out of a grave,
-red-brick building, as if Time carried on business there, and hung out
-his sign;” and so are Mr. Pickwick’s “Bull Hotel,” and the West Gate
-(Jasper’s Gateway), and Eastbury House (Nuns’ House) of “Edwin Drood”;
-also the famous house of the “Seven Poor Travellers.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FOUR
-
-_Gravesend and Tilbury_
-
-
-The dreary fenland district which stretches from the Isle of Grain
-inland to Gravesend is that so admirably used by Dickens for local
-colour in his novel, “Great Expectations.” Some of his descriptions of
-the scenery in this place of “mudbank, mist, swamps, and work” cannot
-be bettered.
-
-Here is Cooling Marsh with its quaint, fourteenth-century relic,
-Cooling Castle Gatehouse, built at the time of the Peasants’ Revolt,
-when the rich folk of the land found it expedient to do little or
-nothing to aggravate the peasantry. The builder, Sir John de Cobham,
-realizing the danger, saw fit to attach to one of the towers of his
-stronghold a plate, to declare to all and sundry that there was in his
-mind no thought other than that of protection from some anticipated
-foreign incursions. This plate is still in position on the ruin, and
-reads:
-
-“Knowyth that beth and schul be That I am mad in help of the cuntre In
-knowyng of whyche thyng Thys is chartre and wytnessynge.”
-
-According to Dr. J. Holland Rose, the authority on Napoleonic subjects,
-it was at a spot somewhere along this little stretch that Napoleon at
-the beginning of the last century proposed to land one of his invading
-columns. Other columns would land at various points on the Essex and
-Kent coasts, and all would then converge on London, the main objective.
-In fact, the Thames Estuary was such a vulnerable point that it
-occupied a considerable position in the scheme of defence drawn up for
-Pitt by the Frenchman Dumouriez.
-
-Gravesend itself from the River is not by any means an ill-favoured
-place, despite its rather commercial aspect. Backed by the sloping
-chalk hills, and with a goodly number of trees breaking up the mass
-of its buildings, it presents a tolerably picturesque appearance.
-Particularly is it a welcome sight to those returning to England after
-a long voyage, for it is frequently the first English town seen at all
-closely.
-
-[Illustration: Gravesend]
-
-At Gravesend the ships, both those going up and those going down,
-take aboard their pilots. The Royal Terrace Pier, which is the most
-prominent thing on Gravesend river front, is the headquarters of the
-two or three hundred navigators whose business it is to pilot ships
-to and from the Port of London, or out to sea as far as Dungeness on
-the south channel, or Orfordness, off Harwich, on the north channel.
-These men work under the direction of a “ruler,” who is an official of
-Trinity House, the corporation which was founded at Deptford in the
-reign of Henry VIII., and which now regulates lighthouses, buoys, etc.
-
-Gravesend is famous for two delicacies, its shrimps and its whitebait,
-and the town possesses quite a considerable shrimp-fishing fleet.
-
-As in the Medway Valley, the cement works form a conspicuous feature in
-the district round about. In fact, all this stretch, where the chalk
-hills crop out towards the River’s edge, has been famous through long
-years for the quarrying of chalk and the making of lime, and afterwards
-cement. As long ago as Defoe’s time we have that author writing: “Thus
-the barren soil of Kent, for such the chalky grounds are esteemed,
-make the Essex lands rich and fruitful, and the mixture of earth forms
-a composition which out of two barren extremes makes one prolific
-medium; the strong clay of Essex and Suffolk is made fruitful by the
-soft meliorating melting chalk of Kent which fattens and enriches it.”
-
-[Illustration: A River-side Cement Works]
-
-On the Essex coast opposite Gravesend are the Tilbury Docks and the
-Tilbury Fort—eloquent reminders of the present and the past. At the
-Fort the ancient and the new lie in close proximity, the businesslike
-but obsolete batteries of modern times keeping company with the quaint
-old blockhouse, which at one time formed such an important point in the
-scheme of Thames defence.
-
-This old Tilbury Fort, with its seventeenth-century gateway, has been
-so frequently painted that many folk who have never seen it are quite
-familiar with its outline. At the beginning of the fifteenth century
-the folk of Tilbury, realizing how vulnerable their settlement was, set
-to work to fortify it, and later Henry VIII. built a blockhouse here,
-probably on the site of an ancient Roman encampment. This, when the
-Spanish Armada threatened, was altered and strengthened by Gianibelli,
-the clever Italian engineer. Hither Elizabeth came, and, so tradition
-says, made a soul-stirring speech to her soldiers:
-
-[Illustration: THE GATEHOUSE, TILBURY FORT.]
-
-“My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of
-our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes
-for fear of treachery. But I assure you, I do not desire to live to
-distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have
-always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest
-strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects.
-And therefore I am come among you at this time, not as for any
-recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst of the heat and
-the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down for my God,
-and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in
-the dust. I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but
-I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think
-foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare
-to invade the borders of my realm. To which, rather than any dishonour
-should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your
-general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”
-
-She had need to feed them on words, for by reason of her own meanness
-and procrastination the poor wretches had empty stomachs, or would
-have had if the citizens of London had not loyally come to the
-assistance of their soldiers. In any case Elizabeth’s exertion was
-quite unnecessary, for the winds and the waves had conspired to do for
-England what the Queen’s niggardliness might easily have prevented our
-brave fellows from doing.
-
-An earlier and no less interesting drama was enacted at Tilbury and
-Gravesend in the reign of Richard II. Close in the train of that
-national calamity, the Black Death, came in not unnatural consequence
-the outbreak known as the Peasants’ Revolt. Just a short way east of
-Tilbury, at a little village called Fobbing, broke out Jack Straw’s
-rising; and almost simultaneously came the outburst of Wat Tyler, when
-the Kentish insurgents marched on Canterbury, plundered the Palace,
-and dragged John Ball from his prison; then moved rapidly across Kent,
-wrecking and burning. At Tilbury and Gravesend these two insurgent
-armies met, and thence issued their summons to the King to meet them.
-He, brave lad of fifteen, entered his barge with sundry counsellors,
-and made his way downstream. How he met the disreputable rabble, and
-how the peasants were enraged because he was not permitted to land and
-come among them, is a well-known story, as is the furious onslaught on
-London which resulted from the refusal.
-
-Thus far up the River came the Dutch in those terrible days of which
-we read in our last chapter. They sailed upstream on the day of their
-arrival, firing guns so that the sound was heard in the streets of
-London, but they came to a halt slightly below the point where the
-barricade, running down into the water from the Essex shore, largely
-closed up the waterway, and where the little Fort frowned down on the
-intruders. No attempt was made to stay them; indeed, none could have
-been made, for while the little blockhouse was well provided with
-guns, it was practically without powder; and the invaders could have
-proceeded right into the Pool of London without hindrance had they but
-known it. However, they were content for the time being with merely
-frightening the countryside with their terrible noise. As Evelyn says
-in his “Diary” (June 10): “The alarm was so great that it put both
-country and city into a panic, fear and consternation, such as I hope I
-shall never see more; everybody was flying, none knew why or whither.”
-Having done this, the Dutch passed downstream to Sheerness, where their
-companions were engaged in destroying the fortifications. How long
-they stayed in these parts may be judged by this other extract from
-Evelyn, dated seven weeks after (July 29): “I went to Gravesend, the
-Dutch fleet still at anchor before the river, where I saw five of His
-Majesty’s men-of-war encounter above twenty of the Dutch, in the bottom
-of the Hope, chasing them with many broadsides given and returned
-towards the buoy of the Nore, where the body of their fleet lay, which
-lasted till about midnight.... Having seen this bold action, and their
-braving us so far up the river, I went home the next day, not without
-indignation at our negligence, and the Nation’s reproach.”
-
-In 1904 it was proposed in the House of Commons that there should be
-made at Gravesend a great barrage or dam, right across the River
-Thames, with a view to keeping a good head of water in the stream above
-Gravesend, much as the half-tide lock (about which we shall read in
-Book III.) does at Richmond. This, the proposers said, would do away
-with the cost of so much dredging, and would make the building of
-riverside quays a much simpler and more satisfactory matter, for by
-it the whole length of river between Gravesend and London would be to
-all intents converted into one gigantic dock-basin. It was proposed
-that the barrage should have in it four huge locks to cope with the
-large amount of shipping, also a road across the top and a railway
-tunnel underneath. But many weighty objections were urged, and numerous
-difficulties were pointed out, so that the scheme fell through; and so
-far the only semblance of a barrage known to Gravesend has been that
-which was thrown right across the lower River for defensive purposes
-during the Great War.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FIVE
-
-_The Marshes_
-
-
-The stretch between Gravesend and the beginnings of the Metropolis can
-scarcely be regarded as an interesting portion of the River. True,
-there are one or two places which stand out from the commonplace level,
-but for the most part there is nothing much to attract; and certainly
-from the point of view of the navigator of big ships there is much in
-this stretch to repel, for here are to be found the numerous shoals
-which tend to make the passage of the River so difficult.
-
-Indeed, the problem of the constant filling of the bed of the River
-has always been a difficult one with the authorities. The River brings
-down a tremendous quantity of material (it is estimated that 1,000 tons
-of carbonate of lime pass beneath Kingston Bridge each day), and the
-tides bring in immense amounts of sand and gravel. Now, what becomes
-of all this insoluble material? It passes on, carried by the stream
-or the tidal waters, till it reaches the parts of the River where the
-downflowing stream and the incoming sea-water are in conflict, and
-so neutralize each other that there is no great flow of water. Then,
-no longer impelled, the material sinks to the bottom and forms great
-banks of sand, etc., which would in time grow to such an extent that
-navigation would be impeded, were not dredgers constantly engaged in
-the work of clearing the passage. It was largely this obstacle to
-efficient navigation that led to the creation of the great deep-sea
-docks at Tilbury.
-
-Northfleet, formerly a small village straggling up the side of a
-chalk hill, is now to all intents a suburb of Gravesend, so largely
-has each grown in recent years. Here, officially at any rate, are
-situated (about a mile to the west of Gravesend proper) those notorious
-Rosherville Gardens which in the middle of last century made Gravesend
-famous, and provided Londoners with a plausible reason for a trip down
-the River. The gardens were laid out in 1830 to 1835 by one Jeremiah
-Rosher, several disused chalk-pits being used for the purpose; and here
-the jovial Cockney visitors regaled themselves within quaint little
-arbours with tea and the famous Gravesend shrimps, and later danced to
-the light of Chinese lanterns till it was time to return citywards from
-the day’s high jinks.
-
-The Dockyard at Northfleet, constructed towards the end of the
-eighteenth century, was at one time a place of considerable importance,
-for here were built and launched numbers of fine vessels, both on
-behalf of the Royal Navy and of the East India Company. Now it has
-dwindled to comparative insignificance. Indeed, from a shipping point
-of view, the only interest lies in the numerous and familiar tan-sailed
-barges of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers; for Northfleet
-is one of the main centres of the cement industry so far as the
-Thames-side is concerned—an industry which is in evidence right along
-this stretch till the chalk hills end at Greenhithe, the town from
-which Sir John Franklin set out in 1845 on his illfated expedition to
-the North-West Passage.
-
-At Grays (or Grays Thurrock, as it is more properly called), on the
-Essex bank, are numbers of those curious subterranean chalk caves which
-are a feature of most of the chalk uplands on both sides of the River,
-and which have caused so much discussion among the archæologists. These
-consist of vertical shafts, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, dug down through
-anything from 50 to 100 feet of sand into the chalk below, where they
-widen out into caves 20 or more feet long. As many as seventy-two of
-them have been counted within a space of 4 acres in the Hangman’s Wood
-at Grays. What they were for no one can tell. All sorts of things
-have been conjectured, from the fabulous gold-mines of Cunobeline to
-the smugglers’ refuges of comparatively modern times. One thing is
-certain: they are of tremendous age. Probably they were used by their
-makers mainly as secret storehouses for grain. They are commonly called
-Dene-holes or Dane-holes, and are said to have served as hiding-places
-in that hazardous period when the Danes made life in the valley
-anything but pleasant. But this, while it may have been true, in no way
-solves the mystery of their origin.
-
-Purfleet, especially from a distance, is by no means unattractive, for
-quite close to the station a wooded knoll, quaintly named Botany, rises
-from the general flatness, and its greenery, contrasting strongly with
-the white of the chalk-pits, lifts the town out of that dreariness,
-merging into the positively ugly, which is the keynote of this part
-of the River beside the Long and Fiddler’s Reaches. The Government
-powder-magazine sets the fashion in beauty along a stretch which
-includes lime-kilns, rubbish heaps of all sorts, and various small and
-dingy works. Here at Purfleet (and also at Thames Haven, lower down
-the River) have in recent years been set down great installations for
-the storage of petrol and other liquid fuels—a riverside innovation of
-great and increasing importance.
-
-[Illustration: Bugsby’s Reach]
-
-To the west of Purfleet lies a vast stretch of flats, known as Dagenham
-Marshes, in many places considerably lower than the level of the River
-at high tide, but protected from its advances by the great river-wall.
-Apparently the wall at this spot must have been particularly weak,
-for right through the Middle Ages and onwards we find it recorded
-that great stretches of the meadows were laid under water owing to
-the irruption of the tidal waters into the wall. There were serious
-inundations in 1376, 1380, and 1381, when the landowners combined to
-effect repairs. Again in 1594 and 1595 there was a serious failure of
-the dyke, with the result that the whole adjacent flats were covered
-twice a day. Now, this in itself would not have been so extremely
-serious; but the constant passing in and out of the water caused a
-deep hole to be washed out just inside the wall, and made the material
-bank up and form a bar on the opposite side of the stream. For a
-quarter of a century nothing was done, but eventually the Dutchman
-Vermuyden was called in, and he repaired the wall successfully. But in
-the days of Anne came an even more serious irruption, when the famous
-Dagenham breach was formed. One night in the year 1707, owing to the
-carelessness of the official in charge, the waters broke the dyke
-once more, and swamped an area of a thousand acres or more, doing a
-vast deal of mischief. Once again the danger to navigation occurred,
-as the gravel, etc., swept out at each tide, formed a shoal half-way
-across the River, and fully a mile in length. So dangerous, indeed,
-was it that Parliament stepped in to find the £40,000 needed for the
-repairs—a sum which the owners of the land could not have found. The
-waters were partially drained off, and the bank repaired; but a very
-big lake remained behind the wall, and remains to this day, as most
-anglers are aware.
-
-Towards the end of last century a scheme was set on foot for the
-construction of an immense dock here, because, it was urged, the
-excavations already done by the water would render the cost of
-construction smaller. Parliament agreed to the proposal, and it
-appeared as if this lonely part of Essex might become a great
-commercial centre; but the construction of the Tilbury Docks
-effectively put an end to the scheme. Now there is a Dagenham Dock, but
-it is merely a fair-sized wharf, engaged for the most part in the coal
-trade.
-
-Barking stands on the River Roding, a tributary which comes down by
-way of Ongar from the Hatfield Forest district near Epping, and which,
-before it joins the main River, widens out to form Barking Creek, which
-was, before the rise of Grimsby, the great fishing harbour.
-
-Barking is a place of great antiquity, and of great historic interest,
-though one would scarcely gather as much from a casual glance at
-its very ordinary streets with their commonplace shops and rows of
-drab houses—just as one would scarcely gather any idea of the charm
-of the Roding at Ongar and above from a glimpse of the slimy Creek.
-The town, in fact, goes even so far as to challenge the rival claims
-of Westminster and the City to contain the site of the earliest
-settlements of prehistoric man along the River valley. And certainly
-the earthworks discovered on the north side of the town—fortifications
-more than forty acres in extent and quite probably of Ancient British
-origin—even if they do not justify the actual claim, at least support
-the town in its contention that it is a place of great age.
-
-Little or nothing is known, however, till we come to the time of the
-foundation of its Abbey in the year 670. In that year, perhaps by
-reason of its solitude out there in the marshes, the place appealed to
-St. Erkenwald, the Bishop of London, as a good place for a monastic
-institution, and the great Benedictine Abbey of the Blessed Virgin, the
-first English convent for women, arose from the low-lying fenlands,
-and started its life under the direction of the founder’s sister, St.
-Ethelburgha.
-
-It was destroyed by the Danes when they ventured up river in the year
-870, but was rebuilt by King Edgar, after lying practically desolate
-for a century. By the time of the Conquest it had become a place of
-very great importance in the land, and to it came William after the
-treaty with the citizens of London, and to it he returned when his
-coronation was over, and there established his Court till such time as
-the White Tower should be finished by the monk Gundulf and his builders.
-
-Certainly it is a strange commentary on the irony of Time that this
-present-day desolation of drab streets should once have been the centre
-of fashion, to which came all the nobles in the south of England,
-bringing their ladies fair, decked out in gay apparel to appear before
-the King.
-
-In 1376 the Abbey met with its first great misfortune. In that year
-Nature conspired to the undoing of man’s great handiwork on the River,
-and the tide made a great breach at Dagenham, thereby causing the
-flooding of many acres of the Abbey lands, and driving the nuns from
-their home to higher ground at Billericay. So much was the prosperity
-of the Abbey affected by this disaster that the Convent of the Holy
-Trinity, in London, granted the Abbess the sum of twenty pounds
-annually (a large sum in those days) to help with the reclaiming of the
-land.
-
-Now of all the fine buildings of the Abbey practically nothing is left.
-At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed into the
-King’s hands, and was afterwards sold to Lord Clinton. It has since
-gone through many ownerships, but no one has seen fit to preserve it.
-So that now practically all we can find is a sadly disfigured gateway
-at the entrance to the churchyard. This was at one time referred to
-as the “Chapel of the Holy Rood Loft atte Gate,” but the name was
-afterwards changed to the more conveniently spoken “Fire-bell Gate.” Of
-the actual Abbey buildings nothing remains.
-
-The London church of All Hallows, Barking, standing at the eastern end
-of Tower Street, quite close to Mark Lane Station, bears witness to
-the privileges and great power of the nunnery in ancient days, for the
-church was probably founded by the Abbey, and certainly the patronage
-of the living was in the hands of the Abbess from the end of the
-fourteenth century to the time of the suppression of the monasteries.
-
-Just to the west of the Creek mouth is the outfall of the northern
-drainage system of London. Vast quantities of sewage are brought daily,
-by means of a gigantic concrete outfall sewer, which passes across
-the flats from Old Ford and West Ham to Barking; and there they are
-deposited in huge reservoirs covering ten acres of ground. The sewage
-passes through four great compartments which together hold thirty-nine
-million gallons; and, having been rendered more or less innocuous, is
-discharged into the Thames at high tide. This arrangement was one of
-the chief objections urged against the great barrage at Gravesend.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SIX
-
-_Woolwich_
-
-
-For many years there was a local saying to the effect that “more wealth
-passes through Woolwich than through any other town in the world,” and,
-though at first sight this may seem a gross exaggeration, yet when we
-remember that Woolwich is in two parts, one on each side of the River,
-we can see at once the justice of that claim, for it simply meant that
-all the vast traffic to and from the Pool of London went along the
-Thames as it flowed between the two divisions of the town.
-
-To-day as we look at the drab, uninteresting place which occupies the
-sloping ground extending up Shooter’s Hill and the riverside extent
-from Charlton to Plumstead, we find it difficult to believe that this
-was ever a place of such great charm that London folk found in it a
-favourite summer-time resort. Yet we have only to turn up the “Diary”
-of good old Pepys to read (May 28, 1667): “My wife away down with Jane
-and Mr. Hewer to Woolwich, in order to a little ayre, and to lie there
-to-night, and so to gather may-dew to-morrow morning, which Mrs. Yarner
-hath taught her is the only thing in the world to wash her face with;
-and I am contented with it.”
-
-Of course, in those days Woolwich was in the country, surrounded by
-fields and woods, in the latter of which lurked footpads ever ready to
-relieve the unwary traveller of his purse. Thus we have Pepys writing
-in 1662: “To Deptford and Woolwich Yard. At night, I walked by brave
-moonlight with three or four armed men to guard me, to Rotherhithe,
-it being a joy to my heart to think of the condition that I was now
-in, that people should of themselves provide this for me, unspoke
-to. I hear this walk is dangerous to walk by night, and much robbery
-committed there”; and again in 1664: “By water to Woolwich, and walked
-back from Woolwich to Greenwich all alone; saw a man that had a cudgel,
-and though he told me he laboured in the King’s yard, yet, God forgive
-me! I did doubt he might knock me on the head behind with his club.”
-
-[Illustration: Woolwich]
-
-Even a hundred years ago Woolwich was a comparatively small place,
-consisting largely of the one main street, the High Street, with
-smaller ways running down to the riverside. Shooter’s Hill was then
-merely wild heathland, ill-reputed as the haunt of highwaymen.
-
-Yet, for all that, Woolwich has been an important place through long
-years, for here have existed for centuries various Government factories
-and storehouses—at first the dockyards, and afterwards the Arsenal.
-
-Just when the dockyards were founded it is difficult to say, but it is
-generally agreed that it was either at the end of the reign of Henry
-VII. or at the beginning of that of Henry VIII. Certain it is that from
-the latter’s reign down to the early days of Victoria the dockyard
-flourished. From its slips were launched many of the most famous of
-the early old “wooden walls of England”—the _Great Harry_ (afterwards
-called the _Henry Grace de Dieu_), the _Prince Royal_, the _Sovereign
-Royal_, and also many of those made famous by the glorious victories
-of Drake and Cavendish, and in the wonderful voyages of Hawkins and
-Frobisher. The _Sovereign Royal_, which was launched in the time of
-Charles I., was a fine ship of over 1,600 tons burden, and carried
-no less than a hundred guns. “This royal ship,” says old Stow, “was
-curiously carved, and gilt with gold, so that when she was in the
-engagement against the Dutch they gave her the name of the ‘Golden
-Devil,’ her guns, being whole cannon, making such havoc and slaughter
-among them.”
-
-With the passing away of the “wooden walls” and the advent of those
-huge masses of steel and iron which have in modern times taken the
-place of the picturesque old “three-deckers,” Woolwich began to decay
-as a Royal dockyard; for it soon became an unprofitable thing to build
-at Thames-side, and the shipbuilding industry migrated to towns nearer
-to the coalfields and the iron-smelting districts.
-
-Yet Woolwich continued, and has continued right down to this very day,
-its activities as a gun-foundry and explosives factory. Just when
-this part of the Royal works was founded we do not know. There is a
-story extant (and for years the story was accepted as gospel) to the
-effect that the making of the Arsenal was due entirely to a disastrous
-explosion at Moorfields in the year 1716. Apparently much of the
-Government work in those days was put out to contract, and a certain
-factory in the Moorfields area took a considerable share in the work.
-On one occasion a very large crowd had assembled to witness the casting
-of some new and more up-to-date guns from the metal of those captured
-by the Duke of Marlborough. Just as everything was ready, a clever
-young Swiss engineer, named Schalch, noticed that the material in the
-moulds was wet, and he warned the authorities of the danger. No notice
-was taken, the molten metal was poured into the castings, and there was
-a tremendous explosion. According to the story, the authorities were so
-impressed by the part which Schalch had played in the matter that they
-appointed him to take charge of a new Government foundry, and gave him
-the choice of a site on which to build his new place, and he chose the
-Woolwich Warren, slightly to the east of the Royal Dockyards. This is a
-most interesting story, and one with an excellent moral, no doubt—such
-a story, in fact, as would have delighted the heart of old Samuel
-Smiles; but, unfortunately for its veracity, there have been discovered
-at Woolwich various records which prove the existence of the Arsenal
-before Schalch was born.
-
-In normal times the Arsenal provides employment for more than eight
-thousand hands, but, of course, in war-time this number is increased
-tremendously. During the South African War, for instance, more than
-twenty thousand were kept on at full time, and the numbers during the
-Great War, when women were called in to assist and relieve the boys and
-men, were even greater.
-
-Of course, we cannot see everything at Woolwich Arsenal. There are
-certain buildings in the immense area where strangers are never
-permitted to go. In these various experiments are being carried out,
-various new inventions tested, and for this work secrecy is essential.
-It would never do for a rival foreign Power to get even small details
-of a new gun, or explosive, or other warlike device. But still there
-is much that can be seen (after permission to visit has been obtained
-from the War Office)—remarkable machines which turn out with amazing
-rapidity the various parts of cartridges and shells; giant rolling
-machines and steam-hammers that fashion the huge blocks of steel, and
-tremendous machines that convert them into huge guns; machines by which
-gun-carriages and ammunition-waggons are turned out by the dozen.
-
-Half a century ago there was a great stir at Woolwich when the Arsenal
-turned out for the arming of the good ship _Hercules_ a new gun known
-as the “Woolwich Infant.” This weapon, which required a fifty-pound
-charge of powder, could throw a projectile weighing over two
-hundredweights just about six miles, and could cause a shell to pierce
-armour more than a foot thick at a distance of a mile. Naturally, folk
-in those days thought them terrible weapons. But the “infants” were
-soon superseded, for a few years later Woolwich turned out what were
-known as “eighty-one-ton guns”—deadly weapons which could fire a shell
-weighing twelve hundred pounds. Folk lifted their hands in surprise
-at the attainments of those days; but it is difficult to imagine their
-amazement if they could have seen our present-day guns firing shells
-thirty miles, or the great “Big Bertha,” by means of which the Germans
-fired shots from a distance of seventy miles into Paris.
-
-The tremendous guns of to-day are built up, not cast in moulds all in
-one piece, as were those in the early years of the Woolwich foundry.
-There is an inner tube and an outer, the latter of which is shrunk
-on to the former. The larger tube is heated, and of course the metal
-expands. While it is in that condition the other is placed inside, and
-the whole thing is lowered by tremendous cranes into a big bath of oil.
-The metal contracts again as it cools, and in that way the outer tube
-is fixed so tightly against the inner that they become practically one
-single tube, but with greatly added strength. The tube is then carried
-to a giant lathe, where it receives the rifling on its inner surface.
-
-When we turn away from Woolwich it is perhaps with something like a
-sigh to think that men will spend all this money, and devote all this
-time and labour and material, merely in order that they may be able to
-blow each other to pieces.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SEVEN
-
-_Greenwich_
-
-
-The history of towns no less than the history of men can tell strange
-tales of failure and success. Some have had their era of intoxicating
-splendour, have been beloved of kings and commoners alike, have counted
-for much in the great struggles with which our tale is punctuated, and
-then, their little day over, have shrunk to the merest vestige of their
-former glory. Others, unknown and insignificant villages throughout
-most of the story, have sprung up, mushroom-like, almost in a night,
-and entered suddenly and confidently into the affairs of the nation.
-
-In the former class must, perhaps, be counted Greenwich. True, it has
-not had the disastrous fall, the unspeakable humiliation, of some
-English towns—Rye and Winchelsea on the south coast, for instance—yet
-over Greenwich now might well be written that word “Ichabod”—“The
-glory is departed.” For Greenwich to-day, apart from its two
-places of outstanding interest, the Hospital and the Park with its
-Observatory, is largely an affair of mean streets, a collection of
-tiny, uninteresting shops and drab houses. Yet Greenwich was for long
-a place of great fame, to which came kings and courtiers, for here was
-that ancient and glorious Palace of Placentia, a strong favourite with
-numbers of our monarchs.
-
-[Illustration: GREENWICH PARK.]
-
-Really it began its life as a Royal demesne in the year 1443, when the
-manor was granted to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and permission
-given for the fortification of the building and enclosing of a park of
-two hundred acres. The Duke interpreted his permission liberally, and
-erected a new palace, to which he gave the name of Placentia, the House
-of Pleasance. He formed the park, and at the summit of the little hill,
-one hundred and fifty feet or more above the River, constructed a tower
-on the identical spot where the Observatory now stands. On Humphrey’s
-death the Crown once more took charge of the property. Edward IV. spent
-great sums in beautifying it, so that it was held in the highest esteem
-by the monarchs that followed. Henry VII. provided it with a splendid
-brickwork river front to increase its comeliness.
-
-Here, in 1491, was born Henry VIII., and here he married Katherine of
-Aragon. Here, too, his daughters, Mary (1515) and Elizabeth (1533),
-first saw the light. Edward VI., his pious young son, breathed his last
-within the walls.
-
-In those days the River banks did not present quite the same commercial
-aspect as in our own times; the atmosphere was not quite so befouled
-by the smoke of innumerable chimneys, the water was not quite so muddy;
-and in consequence the journey by water from the City to that country
-place, Greenwich, was a little more pleasant. Indeed, it is said that
-the view up river from Greenwich Park rivalled that from Richmond Hill
-in beauty. In those days all who could went by water, for the River was
-the great highway. Then was its surface gay with brightly painted and
-decorated barges, threading their way downstream among the picturesque
-vessels of that time.
-
-From Placentia the sovereign could watch the ever-changing but
-never-ending pageant of the River, see the many great ships bringing
-in the wealth from all known lands, and watch the few journeying forth
-in search of lands as yet unknown. Thus on one occasion the occupants
-viewed the departure of three shiploads of brave mariners setting forth
-to search for a new passage to India by way of the Arctic regions—a
-scene which old Hakluyt describes for us: “The greater shippes are
-towed downe with boates and oares, and the mariners being all
-apparelled in watchet or skie-coloured cloth rowed amaine and made
-with diligence. And being come neare to Greenwiche (where the Court
-then lay) presently upon the newes thereof the courtiers came running
-out and the common people flockt together, standing very thicke upon
-the shoare; the privie counsel they lookt out at the windowes of the
-court and the rest ran up to the toppes of the towers; and shoot off
-their pieces after the manner of warre and of the sea, insomuch that
-the toppes of the hilles sounded therewith, the valleys and the waters
-gave an echo and the mariners they shouted in such sort that the skie
-rang againe with the noyse thereof. Then it is up with their sails, and
-good-bye to the Thames.”
-
-Nor in talking of Greenwich must we forget the famous Ministerial fish
-dinners which were for so many years a great event in the life of the
-town. This custom arose, it is said, from the coming of the Government
-Commissioners to examine Dagenham Breach, when they so enjoyed the
-succulent fare set before them that they insisted on an annual
-repetition, which function was afterwards transferred to the “Ship” at
-Greenwich.
-
-At the toe of the great horseshoe bend which gives us Millwall and the
-Isle of Dogs stands that famous group of buildings known as Greenwich
-Hospital, but more correctly styled the Greenwich Naval College.
-
-This is built on the site of the old Palace. When, following the
-Revolution, Charles II. came to the throne, he found the old place
-almost past repair, so he decided to pull it down and erect a more
-sumptuous one in its place. Plans were accordingly drawn up by the
-architect, Inigo Jones, and the building commenced; but only a very
-small portion—the eastern half of the north-western quarter—was
-completed during his reign.
-
-It was left to William and Mary, those eager builders, to carry on the
-work, which they did with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, to
-whose powers of architectural design London owes so much. Very little
-was done during the life of Queen Mary, but as the idea was hers,
-William went on with the work quite gladly, as a sort of memorial to
-his wife.
-
-Of course, a very large sum of money was needed for the erection of
-such a place. The King himself provided very liberally—a good deed in
-which he was followed by courtiers and private citizens. But quite
-a large amount was found in several very interesting ways. Since
-the buildings were designed to provide a kind of hospital or asylum
-for aged and disabled seamen who were no longer able to provide for
-themselves, it was decided to utilize naval funds to some extent. So
-money was obtained from unclaimed shares in naval prize-money, from the
-fines which captured smugglers had to pay, and from a levy of sixpence
-a month which was deducted from the wages of all seamen. Building went
-on apace, and (to quote Lord Macaulay) “soon an edifice, surpassing
-that asylum which the magnificent Lewis had provided for his soldiers,
-rose on the margin of the Thames. Whoever reads the inscription which
-runs round the frieze of the hall will observe that William claims
-no part in the merit of the design, and that the praise is ascribed
-to Mary alone. Had the King’s life been prolonged till the work was
-completed, a statue of her who was the real founder of the institution
-would have had a conspicuous place in that court which presents two
-lofty domes and two graceful colonnades to the multitudes who are
-perpetually passing up and down the imperial River. But that part of
-the plan was never carried into effect; and few of those who now gaze
-on the noblest of European hospitals are aware that it is a memorial of
-the virtues of the good Queen Mary, and the great victory of La Hogue.”
-
-[Illustration: GREENWICH HOSPITAL.]
-
-In 1705 the preparations were complete, and the first pensioners were
-installed in their new home. The place was very successful at the
-start, and it grew till at the beginning of the nineteenth century
-there were nearly three thousand men residing within the Hospital
-walls, and many more boarded out in the town.
-
-Then through half a century the prosperity of the place began to
-decline. The old pensioners died off, and the new ones, as they came
-along, for the most part preferred to accept out-pensions and live
-where they liked. So that in 1869 it was decided to abandon the place
-as an asylum for seamen and convert it into a Royal Naval College, in
-which to give training to the officers of the various branches of the
-naval services, and also a Naval Museum and a Sailors’ Hospital.
-
-Perhaps one of the most interesting places in the College is the
-Painted Hall, a part of Wren’s edifice, known as King William’s
-Quarter. The ceilings of this double-decked dining-hall—the upper part
-for officers and the lower for seamen—and the walls of the upper part
-are decorated most beautifully with paintings which it took Sir James
-Thornhill nineteen years to complete. Around the walls hang pictures
-which tell of England’s naval glory—pictures of all sizes depicting our
-most famous sea-fights and portraying the gallant sailors who won them.
-Naturally Lord Nelson is much in evidence here, and we can see in cases
-in the upper hall the very clothes he wore when he received that fatal
-wound in the cockpit of the _Victory_—the scene of which is depicted
-on a large canvas on the walls; also in cases his pigtail, his sword,
-medals, and various other relics.
-
-The Museum is a fascinating place, for it contains what is practically
-a history of our Navy set out, not in words in a dry book, but in
-models of ships; and we can study the progress right from the Vikings’
-long-boats, with their rows of oars and their shields hanging all
-round the sides, down to the massive super-dreadnoughts of to-day.
-Most interesting of all, perhaps, are the great sailing ships—the old
-“wooden walls of England”—which did so much to establish and maintain
-our position as a maritime nation—the great three-deckers which stood
-so high out of the water, and which with their tall masts and gigantic
-sails looked so formidable and yet so graceful. There in a case is
-the _Great Harry_—named after Henry VIII.—a double-decker of fifteen
-hundred tons burden, with three masts, and carrying seventy-two guns.
-She was a fine vessel, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1515, and was
-the first vessel to fire her guns from portholes instead of from the
-deck. In another case is the first steam vessel ever used in the Navy
-(1830), and a quaint little craft it is.
-
-This is indeed a splendid collection, and we feel as if we could spend
-hours studying these fascinating little models.
-
-[Illustration: THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY.]
-
-On the site of Duke Humphrey’s tower in Greenwich Park is the
-world-famous Observatory. If you take up your atlas, and look at the
-map of the British Isles or the map of Europe, you will see that the
-meridian of longitude (or the line running north and south) marked 0°
-passes through the spot where Greenwich is shown. This means that all
-places in Europe to the right or the left—east or west, that is—are
-located and marked by their distance from Greenwich; and, if for no
-other reason, this town is because of this fact a very important place
-in the world.
-
-The Observatory was founded in the reign of Charles II. This monarch
-had occasion to consult Flamsteed, the astronomer, concerning the
-simplifying of navigation, and Flamsteed pointed out to him the need
-for a correct mapping-out of the heavens. As a result the Observatory
-was built in 1695 in order that Flamsteed might proceed with the work
-he had suggested.
-
-The Duke’s tower was pulled down, and the new place erected; but it
-was left to Flamsteed to find his own instruments and pay his own
-assistants, all out of a salary of one hundred pounds per annum.
-Consequently, he became so poor that when he died in 1719 his
-instruments were seized to pay his debts. His successor, Dr. Halley,
-another famous astronomer, refitted the Observatory, and some of his
-instruments can be seen there now, though no longer in use, of course.
-
-Few people are allowed inside the Observatory to see all the wonderful
-telescopes and other instruments there; but there are several things to
-be seen from the outside, notably the time-ball which is placed on the
-north-east turret, and which descends every day exactly at one o’clock;
-also the electric clock with its twenty-four-hours dial.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER EIGHT
-
-_The Port and the Docks_
-
-
-Any person standing on London Bridge a couple of centuries ago would
-have observed a scene vastly different from that of to-day. Now we see
-the blackened line of wharves and warehouses on the two banks, and up
-against them steamers discharging or receiving their cargoes, while out
-in the stream a few vessels of medium size and one or two clusters of
-barges lie off, awaiting their turn inshore; otherwise the wide expanse
-of the stream is bare, save for the occasional craft passing up and
-down in the centre of the stream. But in days gone by, as we can tell
-by glancing at the pictures of the period, the River was simply crowded
-with ships of all kinds, anchored closely together in the Pool, while
-barges innumerable plied between them and the shore.
-
-In very early days only Billingsgate and Queenhithe possessed
-accommodation for ships to discharge and receive their cargoes
-actually alongside the quay; for the most part ships berthed out in the
-stream, and effected the exchange of goods by means of barges.
-
-Then, as trade increased by leaps and bounds, a number of “legal quays”
-were instituted between London Bridge and the Tower, and thither came
-the major part of the merchandise. Gradually little docks or open
-harbours were cut into the land in order to relieve the congestion of
-the quays. Billingsgate was the first of these, and for many years the
-most important. Now the dock has for the most part been filled in, and
-over it has been erected the famous fish-market, which still carries
-on one of the main trades of the little ancient dock. Others were St.
-Katherine’s Dock, a tiny basin formed for the landing of the goods of
-the monastery which stood hard by the Tower; St. Saviour’s Dock in
-Bermondsey on the Surrey side; and Execution Dock close to Wapping Old
-Stairs.
-
-However, with the tremendous growth of trade following the Great Fire
-of London, concerning which we shall read in Book II., and with the
-growth in the size of vessels and the consequent increase in the
-difficulties of navigation, the facilities for loading and unloading
-proved totally inadequate, and the merchants were led to protest, on
-the grounds that the overcrowding led to great confusion and many
-abuses, and for a great number of years they entreated Parliament to
-take some action.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-DOCKLAND.]
-
-The coming of the great docks ended the trouble, and also tremendously
-changed the Port of London. When the West India Docks were opened
-in 1802, ships concerned with the transport of certain articles of
-commerce were no longer allowed to lie in the Pool for the purpose of
-discharge: they were compelled to go to the particular dock-quays set
-aside for their use, and to land there the merchandise they carried.
-Thus practically at a stroke of the pen the riverside wharves lost
-their entire traffic in such things as sugar, rum, brandy, spices,
-and other goods from the West Indies. Similarly, when the East India
-Docks were opened all the commerce of the East India Company was
-landed there. Thus, gradually, as the various larger docks were made
-from time to time, the main business of the Port shifted eastwards to
-Millwall, Blackwall, etc. Nor did it stop there. With the coming of
-ships larger even than those already catered for, it became necessary
-to do something to avoid the passage of the shallow, winding reaches
-above Gravesend, and, in consequence, tremendous docks were opened at
-Tilbury. So that now vessels of the very deepest draught enter and
-leave the docks independent of the tidal conditions, and do not come
-within many miles of London Bridge.
-
-This does not mean that the riverside wharves and warehouses were
-rendered useless by the shifting of the Port. So great had been the
-congestion that even with the relief of the new docks there was
-still—and there always has been—plenty for them to do. To-day there
-are miles of private wharves in use: from Blackfriars down to Shadwell
-the River is lined with them on both sides all the way; and they share
-with the great docks and dock warehouses the vast trade of the Port of
-London.
-
-Let us take a short trip down through dockland, and see what this
-romantic place has to show us. We must go by water. That is essential
-if we are to see anything at all, for so shut in is the River by tall
-warehouses, etc., that we might wander for hours and hours in the
-streets quite close to the shore, and yet never catch a glimpse of the
-water.
-
-Leaving Tower Bridge, we find immediately on our left the St.
-Katherine’s Docks. These get their name from the venerable foundation
-which formerly stood on the spot. This religious house was created and
-endowed by Maud of Boulogne, Queen of Stephen, and lasted through
-seven centuries down to about a hundred years ago. It survived even
-the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which swept away all other London
-foundations, being regarded as more or less under the protection of
-the Queen. Yet this wonderful old foundation, with its ancient church,
-its picturesque cloisters and schools, its quaint churchyard and
-gardens—one of the finest mediæval relics which London possessed—was
-completely destroyed to make way for a dock which could have been
-constructed just as well at another spot. London knows no worse
-example of needless, stupid, brutal vandalism! St. Katherine’s Dock
-is concerned largely with the import of valuable articles: to it come
-such things as China tea, bark, india-rubber, gutta-percha, marble,
-feathers, etc.
-
-London generally is the English port for _tea_: hither is brought
-practically the whole of the country’s consumption. During the War
-efforts were made to spread the trade more evenly over the different
-large ports; but the experiment was far from a success. All the vast
-and intricate organization for blending, marketing, distributing,
-etc., is concentrated quite close to St. Katherine’s Dock, and in
-consequence the trade cannot be managed so effectively elsewhere. The
-value of the tea entering the Port of London during 1913, the year
-before the War, and therefore the last reliable year for statistics,
-was nearly £13,500,000.
-
-[Illustration: Low water, Dockhead Bermondsey]
-
-A little below St. Katherine’s, on the Surrey shore, is one of the
-curiosities of dockland—a dock which nobody wants. This is St.
-Saviour’s Dock, Bermondsey—a little basin for the reception of smaller
-vessels. It is disowned by all—by the Port of London Authority, by
-the Borough Council, and by the individual firms who have wharves and
-warehouses in the vicinity. You see, there is at one part of the dock a
-_free_ landing-place, to which goods may be brought without payment of
-any landing-dues; and no one wants to own a dock without full rights.
-Shackleton’s _Quest_ berthed here while fitting out for its long voyage
-south.
-
-From St. Katherine’s onward for several miles the district on the north
-bank is known as Wapping. This was for many years the most marine of
-all London’s riverside districts. Adjoining the Pool, it became, and
-remained through several centuries, the sojourning-place of “those
-who go down to the sea in ships.” Here, at famous Wapping Old Stairs
-or one of the other landing-steps which ran down to the water’s edge
-at the various quay-ends, Jack said good-bye to his sweetheart as
-he jumped into one of the numerous watermen’s boats, and was rowed to
-his ship lying out in the stream; here, too, there waited for Jack,
-as he came home with plenty of money, all those crimps and vampires
-whose purpose it was to make him drunk and rob him of all his worldly
-goods. Harbouring, as it did, numbers of criminals of the worst type,
-Wapping for many years had a very bad name. Now all that has changed.
-The shifting of the Port deprived the sharks of their victims, for
-the seamen no longer congregated in this one area: they came ashore
-at various points down the River. Moreover, the making of the St.
-Katherine and later the London Docks cut out two big slices from the
-territory, with a consequent destruction of mean streets.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-LIMEHOUSE HOLE.]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-ENTRANCE TO WAPPING OLD STAIRS.]
-
-Close to Wapping Old Stairs was the famous Execution Dock. This was
-the spot where pirates, smugglers, and sailors convicted of capital
-crimes at sea, were hanged, and left on the foreshore for three tides
-as a warning to all other watermen. Now, with the improvements at Old
-Gravel Lane, all traces have vanished, and the wrong-doers no longer
-make that last wretched journey from Newgate to Wapping, no longer stop
-half-way to consume that bowl of pottage for which provision was made
-in the will of one of London’s aldermen.
-
-The goods which enter London Dock are of great variety—articles of food
-forming a considerable proportion.
-
-Limehouse follows on the northern shore, and is perhaps, even more than
-Wapping, the marine district of these days. Here, in a place known as
-the Causeway, is the celebrated Chinese quarter. Regent’s Canal Dock,
-which includes the well-known Limehouse Basin, a considerable expanse
-of water, is the place where the Regent’s Canal begins its course
-away to the midlands. The chief goods handled at Limehouse Basin were
-formerly timber and coal, but since the War this has become the centre
-for the German trade. Here are frequently to be seen most interesting
-specimens of the northern “wind-jammers.”
-
-Leaving Limehouse, the River sweeps away southwards towards Greenwich,
-and then turns sharply north again to Blackwall. By so doing it forms
-a large loop in which lies the peninsula known as the Isle of Dogs—a
-place which has been reclaimed from its original marshy condition, and
-covered from end to end with docks, factories, and warehouses, save at
-the southernmost extremity, where the London County Council have made a
-fine riverside garden. In the Isle are to be found the great West India
-Docks and the Millwall Docks. The former receive most of the furniture
-woods—mahogany, walnut, teak, satin-wood, etc.—and also rum, sugar,
-grain, and frozen meat; while the latter receive largely timber and
-grain.
-
-On the Surrey side of the River, practically opposite the West India
-and Millwall Docks, are the Surrey Commercial Docks, occupying the
-greater portion of a large tongue of land in Rotherhithe. To these
-docks come immense quantities of timber, grain, cattle, and hides—the
-latter to be utilized in the great tanning factories for which
-Bermondsey is famous.
-
-Blackwall, the last riverside district within the London boundary, is
-famous for its tunnel, which passes beneath the bed of the River to
-Greenwich. This is but one of a number of tunnels which have been made
-beneath the stream in recent years. There is another for vehicles and
-passengers passing across from Rotherhithe to Limehouse, while further
-upstream are those utilized by the various tube-railways in their
-passage from north to south.
-
-Blackwall has a number of docks, large and small. Among the latter are
-several little dry-docks which exist for the overhauling and repairing
-of vessels. There was a time when shipbuilding and ship-repairing were
-considerable industries on the Thames-side, when even battleships were
-built there, and thousands of hands employed at the work; but the trade
-has migrated to other dockyard towns, and all that survive now are the
-one or two repairing docks at Blackwall and Millwall.
-
-The Royal Albert and the Victoria Docks come within the confines of
-those great new districts, West Ham and East Ham, which have during the
-last thirty or forty years sprung up, mushroom-like, from the dreary
-flats of East London. Here are such well-known commercial districts as
-Silvertown and Canning Town. The former will doubtless be remembered
-through many years for the tremendous explosion which occurred there
-during the War—an explosion which resulted in serious loss of life and
-very great damage to property. It is also famous for several great
-factories, notably Messrs. Knight’s soap-works, Messrs. Henley’s cable
-and general electrical works, and Messrs. Lyle’s (and Tate’s) sugar
-refineries. These places, which employ thousands of hands, are of
-national importance.
-
-Canning Town has to some extent lost its prestige, for it was in
-time past the shipbuilding area. Here were situated the great Thames
-Ironworks, carrying on a more or less futile endeavour to compete with
-the Clyde and other shipbuilding districts.
-
-This district is, to a large extent, the coal-importing area. Coal is
-the largest individual import of the Port of London, as much as eight
-million tons entering in the course of a year. The chief articles of
-commerce with which the Royal Albert and Victoria Docks are concerned
-are: Tobacco, frozen meat, and Japanese productions.
-
-Vast, indeed, have been the revenues drawn from the various docks. You
-see, goods are not entered or dispatched except on payment of various
-dues and tolls, and these amount up tremendously. So that the Dock
-Companies get so much money from the thirty miles of dockside quays and
-riverside wharves that they scarcely know what to do with it, for the
-amount they can pay away in dividends to their shareholders is strictly
-limited by Act of Parliament. In one year, for instance, so large a
-profit was made by the owners of the East and West India Docks that
-they used up an enormous sum of money in roofing their warehouses with
-sheet copper.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In concluding our rapid tour through dockland, it is impossible to
-omit a reference to the Customs Officers—those cheery young men who
-work in such an atmosphere of unsuspected romance. To spend a morning
-on the River with one of them, as he goes his round of inspection of
-the various vessels berthed out in the stream, is a revelation. To
-visit first this ship and then the other; to see the amazing variety
-of the cargoes, the number of different nationalities represented,
-both in ships and men; to come into close touch with that strange and
-little-understood section of the community, the lightermen, whose work
-is the loading of the barges that cluster so thickly round the great
-hulls—is to move in a world of dreams. But to go back to the Customs
-Offices and see the huge piles of documents relating to each single
-ship that enters the port, and to be informed that on an average two
-hundred ocean-going ships enter each week, is to experience a rude
-awakening from dreams, and a sharp return to the very real matters of
-commercial life.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-Home From the Indies. A Giant Liner warping into the George V^{th}.
-Dock.]
-
-Nor must we forget the River Police, who patrol the River from Dartford
-Creek up as far as Teddington. As we see them in their launches,
-passing up and down the stream, we may regard their work as easy; but
-it is anything but that—especially at night-time. Then it is that the
-river-thieves get to work at their nefarious task of plundering the
-valuable cargoes of improperly attended lighters. The River Police must
-be ever on the alert, moving about constantly and silently, lurking
-in the shadows ready to dash out on the unscrupulous and dangerous
-marauders. The headquarters of the River Police are at Wapping, but
-there are other stations at Erith, Blackwall, Waterloo, and Barnes.
-
-In 1903 the question of establishing one supreme authority to deal with
-all the difficulties of dockland and take control of practically the
-whole of the Port of London was discussed in Parliament, and a Bill
-was introduced, but owing to great opposition was not proceeded with.
-However, the question recurred from time to time, and in 1908 the Port
-of London Act was at length passed.
-
-This established the Port of London Authority, for the purpose of
-administering, preserving, and improving the Port of London. The limits
-of the Authority’s power extend from
-
-Teddington down both sides of the River to a line just east of the Nore
-lightship. At its inception the Authority took over all the duties,
-rights, and privileges of the Thames Conservancy in the whole of this
-area.
-
-
-
-
-BOOK II
-
-
-[Illustration:
-
-_Reproduced from photographs by permission of Airco Aerials, Ltd._]
-
-[Illustration: THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE
-
-_Reproduced from photographs by permission of Airco Aerials, Ltd._]
-
-
-[Illustration: THE LONDON COUNTY HALL.]
-
-
-
-
-THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER ONE
-
-_How the River founded the City_
-
-
-England at the time when London first came into being was a very
-different place from the well-cultivated country which we know so
-well. Where now stretch hundreds of square miles of orderly green
-meadows and ploughed fields, divided from each other by trim hedges,
-or pretty little copses, or well-kept roads, there was then a vast
-dense forest, wherein roamed wolves and other wild animals, and into
-which man scarcely dared to penetrate. This stretched from sea to sea,
-covering hill and valley alike. Just here and there could be found the
-tiny settlements of the native Britons, and in some few cases these
-settlements were joined by rough woodland tracks.
-
-The only real breaks in this widespread covering of green occurred
-where the rivers flowed seawards along the valleys. These rivers for
-the most part ran their courses in practically the same directions
-as at present, but in appearance they were very different from the
-rivers we know to-day. No man-made embankments kept them in place in
-those days; instead they wandered through great stretches of marsh
-and fenland, and spread out into wide, shallow pools here and there
-in their courses, so that to cross them was a matter of the greatest
-difficulty.
-
-Such was the Thames when the first “Londoners” formed their tiny
-settlement. From the mouth of the River inland for many miles stretched
-widespread, impassable marshes; but at one spot—where now stands St.
-Paul’s Cathedral—there was a firm gravel bank and a little hill (or
-rather two little hills with a stream between), which stood out from
-the encompassing wastes. In front of this small eminence stretched a
-great lagoon formed by the over-flowing of the River at high tide. This
-covered the ground on which have since been built
-
-Southwark and Lambeth, and stretched southwards as far as the heights
-of Sydenham. West of the little hill, running down a deep ravine,
-where now is the street called Farringdon Street, was a tributary
-river, afterwards known as the Fleet; and beyond that yet another great
-marshland stretched away over Westminster, Belgravia, Chelsea, and
-Fulham. To the north was the pathless forest.
-
-This then appealed to the intelligence of a few Ancient Britons as an
-ideal spot for a settlement, and so sprang into existence _Llyndin_,
-the lake-fortress.
-
-But that, of course, did not make LONDON, did not raise London to the
-position of pre-eminence which it gradually attained, and which it has
-held almost without contest through so many centuries.
-
-Between the time of the formation of this little collection of huts
-with its slight protecting stockade and the coming of the Romans much
-happened. The Ancient Britons learned to make roads—primitive ones, of
-course—and in all probability they learned to make embankments to the
-River. Their greatest trade naturally was with Gaul—France, that is—and
-also, equally naturally, practically all such trade had to come through
-the one most suitable way, the spot which has always, through all the
-ages, been the gateway into England—Dover. In the days when sea-going
-craft had not reached a high stage of perfection it was necessary to
-choose the shortest passage across the channel, and, though no doubt
-other ports were used, undoubtedly the bulk of the merchandise came
-across the narrow Straits. This meant, without a doubt, an important
-road going north-westwards towards the centre of England.
-
-Now right across the country, from west to east, stretched the great
-natural barrier, the River, effectively cutting off all intercourse
-between the south of England and the Midlands and north; and at some
-place or other this road (afterwards known as Watling Street) had to
-cross the barrier. It was inevitable that the spot where this crossing
-was effected should be, both from a military and a commercial point
-of view, a place of the very greatest importance. In the earliest
-days the road skirted the south side of the marshes facing Llyndin,
-and passed on to the ford (or ferry) at Westminster, and thence on to
-Tyburn. But Llyndin was growing in strength, and the need of a lower
-crossing was probably soon felt by the inhabitants of the little hill.
-Now lower crossings of the River were by no means simple. As we said
-just now, right from the mouth westwards till we reach the spot where
-London now stands there was simply a great collection of marshes and
-fens. Here and there, on both banks, tiny patches of firmer soil jutted
-out from the impassable wastes—the spots where Purfleet and Grays now
-stand on the north side, the sites of Gravesend, Greenhithe, Erith,
-Woolwich, and Greenwich, on the south side; but in each of these cases
-the little gravel bed or chalky bank was faced on the opposite shore by
-the dreary flats (an ordinary natural happening caused by the washing
-away of the banks, to be seen in any little stream that winds in and
-out), so that never was there any possibility of linking up north and
-south.
-
-Only when the little hill at the junction of the River Thames with the
-River Lea, somewhere about sixty miles from the open sea, was reached
-could any such crossing be made. We said that in the earliest days of
-London there was, facing the hill, a great flat which at high tide
-became a wide lagoon, stretching southwards to Sydenham. Now this was
-quite shallow; moreover, a long tongue of fairly firm gravel ran right
-out northwards from the firmer ground till it came to a point nearly
-opposite the Llyndin Hill. This firm bed enabled the Britons to lay
-down, across the marsh, some sort of a road or causeway joining up with
-the main Kent road, and so gave them another lower and practicable
-crossing of the River, which, of course, meant a shorter road to the
-Midlands and the north.
-
-This crossing—in all probability a ferry—laid the foundation-stone of
-the prosperity of London town, and the building of the first bridge
-cemented that foundation.
-
-Why? Simply because such a bridge, in addition to being a passage
-_across_ the River, became a barrier to any passage up and down the
-stream. Bridge-building was not at a very advanced stage, and, of
-necessity, the arches were small and narrow. This effectively stopped
-traffic passing up from the seaward side. On the other hand, the small
-arches meant a very great current, and this, with any considerable
-tide, rendered the “shooting” of the bridge by smaller boats an
-extremely dangerous affair: thus traffic from the landward side came to
-a standstill at the bridge.
-
-This meant that ships, bringing goods up the River from the sea, must
-stop at the bridge and discharge their cargoes: also that goods, coming
-from inland to go to foreign parts, must of necessity be transhipped
-at London. It was inevitable, therefore, that once the bridge was in
-position a commercial centre must arise on the spot, and almost certain
-that in time a great port would grow into being. So that we may say
-quite truly that _the Thames founded London_.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TWO
-
-_How the City grew_ (_Roman Days_)
-
-
-Who built the first bridge? We cannot say for certain; but it is fairly
-safe for us to assume that the Romans shortly after their arrival in
-Llyndin set to work to make a strong wooden military bridge to link up
-the town with the important road from Dover. Thousands of Roman coins
-have been recovered from the bed of the Thames at this spot, and we
-may quite well suppose that the Roman people dropped these through the
-cracks as they crossed the roughly constructed bridge.
-
-This bridge established London once and for all. Previously there had
-been the two ferries—that of Thorney (Westminster) and that of Llyndin
-Hill, each with its own growing settlement. Either of these rivals
-might have developed into the foremost city of the valley. But the
-building of the bridge definitely settled the question and caused the
-diversion of Watling Street to a course across the bridge, through
-the settlement, out by way of what was afterwards Newgate, and on to
-Tyburn, where the old way was rejoined.
-
-Having built the bridge, they set to work to make of London a city,
-as they understood it. In all probability it was quite a flourishing
-place when they found it. But the Romans had their own thoughts about
-building, their own ideas of what a city should be. First, they built
-a citadel. The original British stockade stood on the western hummock
-of the twin hill, so the Romans chose the eastern height for their
-defences. This citadel, or fortress, was a large and powerful one, with
-massive walls which extended from where Cannon Street Station now is to
-where Mincing Lane runs. Inside it the Roman soldiers lived in safety.
-
-Gradually, however, the fortress ceased to be necessary, and a fine
-town spread out beyond its walls, stretching as far eastwards and
-westwards as Nature permitted; that is, to the marshes on the east and
-to the Fleet ravine on the west. In this space were laid out fine
-streets and splendid villas and public buildings. Along the banks of
-the River were built quays and river walls; and trade increased by
-leaps and bounds.
-
-Nor was this all. The Romans, as you have probably read, made
-magnificent roads across England, and London was practically the hub
-of the series, which radiated in all directions. The old British road
-through Kent became the Prætorian Way (afterwards the diverted Watling
-Street), and passed through the city to the north and west. Another,
-afterwards called Ermyn Street, led off to Norfolk and Suffolk. Yet
-another important road passed out into Essex, the garden of England in
-those days.
-
-“How do we know all these things?” you ask. Partly by what Roman
-writers tell us, and partly by all the different things which have been
-brought to light during recent excavations. When men have been digging
-the foundations of various modern buildings in different quarters of
-London, they have discovered the remains of some of these splendid
-buildings—all of them more or less ruined (for a reason which we shall
-see later), but a few in good condition. Fine mosaic pavements have
-been laid bare in one or two places—Leadenhall Street for one; and all
-sorts of articles—funeral urns, keys, statues, ornaments, domestic
-utensils, lamps, etc.—have been brought to light, many of which you can
-still see if you take the trouble to visit the Guildhall Museum and the
-London Museum. In a court off the Strand may still be seen an excellent
-specimen of a Roman bath.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-ROMAN LONDON]
-
-But perhaps the most interesting of all the Roman remains are the
-two or three fragments of the great wall, which was not built till
-somewhere between the years 350 and 365 A.D. At this time the Romans
-had been in occupation for several hundred years, and the city had
-spread quite a distance beyond the old citadel walls. The new wall
-was a splendid one, twenty feet high and about twelve feet thick,
-stretching for just about three miles. It ran along the river front
-from the Fleet River to the corner where the Tower stands, inland to
-Bishopsgate and Aldersgate, then across to Newgate, where it turned
-south again, and came to the River not far from Blackfriars.
-
-Several fine sections of the ancient structure can still be seen in
-position. There is a large piece under the General Post Office yard,
-another fine piece in some wine cellars close to Fenchurch Street
-Station, a fair piece on Tower Hill, and smaller remnants in Old Bailey
-and St. Giles’ Churchyard, Cripplegate.
-
-[Illustration: BASTION OF ROMAN WALL, CRIPPLEGATE CHURCHYARD.]
-
-What do these fragments teach us? That things were not all they should
-be in London. Instead of being built with the usual care of Roman
-masonry, with properly quarried and squared stones, this wall was made
-up of a medley of materials. Mixed in with the proper blocks were odd
-pieces of buildings, statues, columns from the temples, and memorials
-from the burying grounds. Probably the folk of London, feeling that the
-power of Rome was waning, were stricken with panic, and so set to work
-hurriedly and with such materials as were to hand to put together this
-great defence.
-
-Nor were they unwise in their preparations, for danger soon began to
-threaten. From time to time there swooped down on the eastern coasts
-strange ships filled with fierce warriors—tall, fair-haired men,
-who took what they could lay their hands on, and killed and burned
-unsparingly. So long as the Roman soldiers were there to protect the
-land and its people, nothing more happened than these small raids. The
-strangers kept to the coasts and seldom attempted to penetrate up the
-river which led to London.
-
-But these coast raids only heralded the great storm which was
-approaching, for the daring sea-robbers had set covetous eyes on the
-fair fields of Britain.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER THREE
-
-_How the City grew_ (_Saxon Days_)
-
-
-In the year 410 the Romans were compelled to leave Britain. Troubles
-had become so great in Rome itself that it was necessary to abandon
-all the outlying colonies to their fate. From that moment began a
-century and a half of pitiful history for our country. There was now
-no properly drilled army to ward off attacks; and the raids of the
-“sea-robbers” increased in number and intensity. Saxons, Angles, and
-Jutes, they came in vast numbers, gradually working their way inland
-from the coast.
-
-And what happened to Londinium, as the Romans called our city? We do
-not know, for there is a great gap in our history; probably it perished
-of starvation. We know that little by little the strangers increased
-their grip—the Jutes in Kent and Hampshire (and later in Surrey), the
-Saxons in Kent, Essex, and Sussex; and that as they did so London was
-gradually surrounded.
-
-Now London was a comparatively large place, with a considerable
-population, even after the Romans had gone; and the slow tightening of
-the Saxon grip must have meant starvation, for everything London wanted
-for its use came from a distance, owing to the impossibility of growing
-anything in the surrounding marshy districts. And in the absence of any
-reliable account we can only assume that in consequence the inhabitants
-little by little deserted the city, and made their way westwards; that
-the quays were deserted, the ships rotted at their moorings, the finely
-constructed streets were befouled with grass and briars, the splendid
-villas fell to pieces, the great wall in places crumbled to ruins.
-So that when eventually the Saxons did reach London, after years of
-struggle and fierce engagements, their victory was a hollow one. And
-there is much to support this assumption, for we find that in their
-chronicles the Saxons make practically no mention of the first city
-of the land, which they most assuredly would have done had it been
-anything other than derelict. Nor did they stay at London when they
-arrived. Probably such a place of desolation was of no use to them;
-they were not interested in ruined cities; they wanted open ground with
-growing crops. So they passed on, and London probably stood silent and
-dead for years, the empty skeleton of a city, while Time and Nature
-completed the ruin which savage assaulters might otherwise have carried
-out. Thus we may conjecture ended the first of London’s three lives.
-
-When, after a time, things settled down in Britain, a new London
-began to rise on the site of the old city. Gradually the folk, mainly
-the East Saxons, settled on the outskirts of the deserted city, and,
-little by little, they made their way within the old walls; numbers of
-the old fugitives crept back to join them; merchants came and patched
-up the broken, grass-grown quays; houses were built; and life began
-anew. Steadily the progress continued. At first the houses were rough
-wattle-and-mud affairs, set down in any fashion on the old sites, but
-gradually proper rows of small, timbered houses rose on all sides,
-with numbers of little churches dotted here and there.
-
-Then at the end of the eighth century the old trouble, invasion, began
-again. This time it was the Vikings (or Danes), the adventurous spirits
-of the fiords of Norway and the coasts of Denmark, men who risked the
-terrors of the hungry North Sea that they might plunder the monasteries
-and farms of the north and east of England. They, too, found our
-country a fair place, after their own cold, forbidding coasts; and the
-raids increased in frequency.
-
-In the year 832 they were at the mouth of the Thames, landing in
-Sheppey; and in 839 came their first attempt to sail up the Thames.
-They were beaten off this time, but they had learned of a proper entry
-to which they might return later. In 851 came their great attempt. With
-three hundred and fifty of their long ships they came, sailed right up
-the River to London Bridge, stormed and plundered the city. But their
-triumph was short-lived, for their army was well beaten at Ockley in
-Surrey, as it made its way southward down the Stane Street.
-
-It seemed as if England and London might be tranquil once more; but
-the Vikings came in still greater numbers, and began to winter in our
-land instead of returning as had been their custom. The record of
-the next twenty years is one of constant harrying, with great armies
-marching throughout the countryside—plundering, killing, burning, with
-apparently no object.
-
-When Alfred came to the throne, London was practically a Danish city;
-but he soon set to work and drove them out. And, though England
-suffered long and often from these foes, from that time onwards, the
-fortress being rebuilt, London never again fell to the invaders. When,
-eventually, Canute did enter London in 1017, after a considerable but
-entirely unsuccessful siege, it was at the invitation of the citizens,
-who accepted him as their King.
-
-Under this wise King followed an era of prosperity for the growing
-city. Danish merchants settled within its walls; the wharves were busy
-once again; foreign traders sailed up the River to Billingsgate, their
-boats laden with wine, cloth, and spices from the East; and so rapidly
-London became once more a great commercial centre. Indeed, such was
-its size and importance that it paid one-fifth of the whole tax which
-Canute levied on the kingdom.
-
-From this time onward London progressed steadily; and so, too, did
-that other city, Westminster, which had sprung into being at another
-crossing, a few miles higher up the Thames—one more city made by the
-River, as we shall see later on.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FOUR
-
-_How the City grew_ (_Norman Days_)
-
-
-The year 1066 was yet another fateful year for the people of England
-and the citizens of London. When William of Normandy defeated Harold at
-Senlac, near Hastings, many of the English fled to London, prepared to
-join the citizens in a stout defence of their great city; but no such
-defence was necessary.
-
-[Illustration: THE CONQUEROR’S MARCH ON LONDON]
-
-William skirted the dense forest of Andredeswealde, and, striking the
-main road at Canterbury, progressed to Southwark, which he destroyed.
-Now, good soldier and wise man that he was, William saw that a definite
-attack on London would be a difficult matter, and would profit him
-nothing. So he set to work to do what others had done before him—to cut
-off the city from its supplies. Marching westwards, he made his way to
-the crossing at Wallingford, and there reached the north bank of the
-River. Striking north-east again, he came soon to Watling Street once
-more, and thus cut off all the northern trade. London was in this way
-cut off from practically the bulk of its supplies; and the citizens
-were glad to make terms before worse things happened.
-
-Probably the surrender occurred sooner than it might otherwise have
-done, by reason of the exceedingly mixed nature of the population.
-London counted among its citizens, as we can tell by reference to
-the documents of the time, merchants from many different parts of
-France—Caen and Rouen in particular—and from Flanders and Germany.
-
-William kept loyally to the promises which he had made in the treaty,
-maintaining the rights of the city, and seeing that the thirty or
-forty thousand citizens had the proper protection he guaranteed. True,
-he built the great threatening Tower of London, about which we shall
-read in another chapter, but it is very probable that even in that the
-citizens saw only a strengthening of the old bastions built in former
-days for the guarding of the city.
-
-Practically all our knowledge of London life in Norman days comes to us
-from the writings of one FitzStephen, a faithful clerk in the service
-of Thomas Becket. FitzStephen, who was present at the Archbishop’s
-murder, wrote a life of his master, and prefaced it with a short
-account of the city. From his description we learn much of interest.
-We gather that, besides the great Cathedral, there were thirteen large
-churches and one hundred and twenty-six smaller parish churches; that
-the walls protected the city on all sides save the river front, where
-they had been pulled down to make room for wharves and stores. Says
-FitzStephen: “Those engaged in the several kinds of business, sellers
-of various things, contractors for various works, are to be found every
-morning in their different districts and shops. Besides there is in
-London, on the river bank, among the wines in ships, and in cellars
-sold by the vintners, a public food shop; there meats may be found
-every day, according to the season, fried and boiled, great and small
-fish, coarsest meats for the poor, more dainty for the rich.” He also
-has much to tell us about the sports, which included archery, leaping,
-wrestling, and football. “In Easter holidays they fight battles on
-the water. A shield is hung upon a pole in mid-stream, a boat is made
-ready, and in the forepart thereof standeth a youth, who chargeth the
-shield with a lance. If so be that he breaketh the lance against the
-shield, he hath performed a worthy deed; but if he doth not break his
-lance, down he falleth into the water.... To this city, from every
-nation under heaven, do merchants delight to bring their goods by
-sea.... The only pests of London are the immoderate quaffing of fools
-and the frequency of fires.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FIVE
-
-_The River’s First Bridge_
-
-
-From our point of view, engaged as we are in the study of London’s
-River and its influence on the city, perhaps the most interesting thing
-that happened in Norman days was the building of the first stone London
-Bridge.
-
-Other bridges there had been from remote times, and these had taken
-their part in the moulding of the history of London, but they had
-suffered seriously from flood, fire, and warfare. In the year 1090,
-for instance, a tremendous storm had burst on the city, and while the
-wind blew down six hundred houses and several churches, the flood
-had entirely demolished the bridge. The citizens had built another
-in its place; but that, too, had narrowly escaped destruction when
-there occurred one of those dreadful fires which FitzStephen laments.
-The years 1135-6 again had brought calamity, for yet another fire
-had practically consumed the entire structure. It had been remade,
-however, and had lasted till 1163, when it had been found to be in such
-a very bad condition that an entirely new bridge was a necessity.
-
-[Illustration: OLD LONDON BRIDGE.]
-
-The new bridge was the conception of one Peter, the priest of a small
-church, St. Mary Colechurch, in the Poultry. This clergyman was a
-member of a religious body whose special interest was the building
-of bridges, in those times regarded as an act of piety. Skilled in
-this particular craft, he dreamed of a bridge for London such as his
-brother craftsmen were building in the great cities of France; and he
-set to work to amass the necessary funds. King, courtiers, common
-folk, all responded to his call, and at last, in 1176, he was able to
-commence. Unfortunately, he died before the completion of his project,
-for it took thirty-three years to build; and another brother, Isenbert,
-carried on after him.
-
-A strange bridge it was, too, when finished; but good enough to last
-six and a half centuries. It was in reality a street built across the
-River, 926 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and some 60 feet above the
-level of high water. Nineteen pointed arches, varying in width from 10
-to 32 feet, upheld its weight over massive piers which measured from 23
-to 36 feet in thickness. So massive were these piers that probably only
-about a third of the whole length of the Bridge was waterway. This,
-of course, meant that the practice of “shooting” the arches in a boat
-was a perilous adventure, for with such narrow openings the current
-was tremendous. So dangerous was it that it was usual for timid folk
-to disembark just above the Bridge, walk round the end, and re-embark
-below, rather than take the risk of being dashed against the
-stone-work. Which wisdom was embodied in a proverb of the time—“London
-Bridge was made for wise men to go over and fools to go under.”
-
-[Illustration: AN ARCH OF OLD LONDON BRIDGE: QUEEN ELEANOR BEING STONED
-IN 1263.]
-
-Strangely enough, old London Bridge forestalled the Tower Bridge by
-having in its centre a drawbridge, which could be raised to allow
-vessels to sail through, much as the bascules of the modern bridge can
-be lifted to allow the passage of the great ships of to-day. There were
-on each side of the roadway ordinary houses, the upper stories of which
-were used for dwellings, while the ground floors acted as shops. In the
-middle of the Bridge, over the tenth and largest pier, stood a small
-chapel dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, the youngest of England’s
-saints.
-
-But, even when a stone bridge was erected, troubles were by no means
-over. Four years after the completion, in July, 1212, came another
-disastrous fire, and practically all the houses, which, unlike the
-Bridge itself, were built of timber, were destroyed. In the year 1282
-it was the turn of the River to play havoc. As we said just now, only
-about a third of the length was waterway. This condition of things
-(avoided in all modern bridges) meant a tremendous pressure of the
-current, both at ebb and flow, and an enormous pressure at flood time.
-When, in the year mentioned, there came great ice-floods, five arches
-were carried away, and “London Bridge was broken down, my fair lady.”
-From that time onwards there was a considerable series of accidents
-right down to the time of the Great Fire of London, concerning which we
-shall read in a later chapter.
-
-[Illustration: CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS BECKET.]
-
-Old London Bridge, during its life, saw many strange happenings. In
-1263, for instance, a great crowd gathered, wherever the citizens could
-find a coign of vantage, for the Queen, Eleanor of Provence and wife
-of Henry III., was passing that way on her journey from the Tower to
-Windsor. But this was no triumphal passage, for the Queen was strongly
-opposed to the Barons, who were still working for a final settlement
-of Magna Charta. Enraged at her action, the people of London waited
-till her barge approached the Bridge, and then they hurled heavy stones
-down upon it and assailed the Queen with rough words; so that she was
-compelled with her attendants to return to the Tower, rather than face
-the enraged mob.
-
-The year 1390 saw yet another queer event. Probably most of you
-understand what is meant by a tournament. Well, at this time, there
-was much rivalry between the English and Scottish knights, and a tilt
-was proposed between two champions, Lord Wells of England and Earl
-Lindsay of Scotland. The Englishman, granted choice of ground, chose
-by some strange whim London Bridge for the scene of action rather than
-some well-known tournament ground. On the appointed day the Bridge
-was thronged with folk who had come to witness this unusual contest
-in the narrow street. Great was the excitement as the knights charged
-towards each other. Three times did they meet in the shock of battle,
-and at the third the Englishman fell vanquished from his charger, to be
-attended immediately by the gallant Scottish knight.
-
-[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE IN MODERN TIMES.]
-
-The Bridge, as the only approach to the city from the south, was the
-scene of many wonderful pageants and processions, as our victorious
-Kings came back from their wars with France, or returned to England
-with their brides from overseas. Such a magnificent spectacle was the
-crossing in state of Henry V. after the great victory of Agincourt
-in the year 1415. The battle, as most of you know, took place in
-October of that year, and at the end of November the King passed over
-the Bridge at the head of his most distinguished prisoners and his
-victorious soldiers, amid the tumultuous rejoicing of London’s jubilant
-citizens.
-
-Yet another strange scene was enacted when Wat Tyler, at the head of
-his tens of thousands, passed over howling and threatening, after being
-temporarily held back by the gates which stood at the south end of the
-Bridge.
-
-So the old Bridge lasted on, living through momentous days, till, in
-the year 1832, it was removed to give place to the new London Bridge
-which had been erected sixty yards to the westwards.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SIX
-
-_How the City grew_ (_in the Middle Ages_)
-
-
-London in that period which we speak of as the Middle Ages was indeed
-a remarkable city. Dotted about all over it, north and south, west and
-east, were great monasteries and nunneries and churches, for in those
-days the Church was a tremendous power in the land; while huddled
-together within its confines were shops, houses, stores, palaces,
-all set down in a bewildering confusion. Of palaces there was indeed
-a profusion; in fact, London might well have been called a City of
-Palaces. But they were not arranged in long lines along the banks
-of canals, as were those of Venice, nor round fine stately squares,
-as in Florence, Genoa, and other famous cities of the Continent.
-London’s palaces nestled in the city’s narrow, muddy lanes, between
-the warehouses of the merchants and the hovels of the poor. They
-paid little or no attention to external beauty, but within they were
-splendid structures.
-
-Now, what did this mean? That the common people of London constantly
-came into contact with the great ones of the land. The apprentice, sent
-on an errand by his master, might at any moment be held up as Warwick
-the King-maker, let us say, emerged from his gateway, followed by a
-train of several hundred retainers all decked out in his livery; or the
-Queen and her ladies might pass in gay procession to view a tournament
-in the fields just north of the Chepe. In that way the citizens learned
-right from their earliest day that London was not the only place in
-England, that there were other folk in the land, and great ones too,
-who were not London merchants and craftsmen.
-
-This constant reminder that they were simply part and parcel of the
-great realm of England did this for the people of London: it made them
-keen on politics, always ready to take sides in any national strife. On
-the other hand, it gave them great pride. The citizens soon discovered
-that, though they were not the only folk in the land, they counted for
-much, for whatever side or cause they supported always won in the end.
-This, of course, more firmly cemented the position of London as the
-foremost spot in the kingdom.
-
-Very beautiful indeed were some of the palaces, or inns, as they were
-quite commonly called. They were in no sense of the word fortresses;
-their gates opened straight on to the narrow, muddy lanes without
-either ditch or portcullis. Inside there was usually a wide courtyard,
-surrounded by the various buildings. Unfortunately the Great Fire and
-other calamities have not spared us much whereby we can recall such
-palaces to mind. Staple Inn, whose magnificent timbered front is still
-one of London’s most precious relics, is of a later date, but possesses
-many of the medieval characters. Crosby Hall, in Bishopsgate Street,
-was a fine specimen. This was erected in the fifteenth century by a
-grocer and Lord Mayor, Sir John Crosby, a man of great wealth; and
-for some time it was the residence of Richard III. For many years it
-remained to show us the exceeding beauty of a medieval dwelling; but,
-alas, that too has gone the way of all the others! A portion of it, the
-great Hall, has been re-erected in Chelsea.
-
-[Illustration: BAYNARD’S CASTLE BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE.]
-
-Otherwise most of these palaces remain only as a name. Baynard’s
-Castle, one of the most famous of all, which stood close to the western
-end of the river-wall, lasted for 600 years from the Norman Conquest to
-the time of the Great Fire, but it is only remembered in the name of a
-wharf and a ward of the city. Coldharbour Palace, which stood in Thames
-Street with picturesque gables overhanging the River, passed from a
-great place in history down to oblivion.
-
-So with all the rest of these elaborate, historic palaces, about which
-we can read in the pages of Stow, that delightful chronicler of London
-and her ways; they either perished in the flames or were pulled down to
-make way for hideous commercial buildings.
-
-London in the Middle Ages passed through a period of great prosperity;
-but, at the same time, it suffered terribly through pestilence, famine,
-rebellions, and so on. The year 1349 saw a dreadful calamity in the
-shape of the “Black Death”—a kind of plague which came over from
-Asia. The narrow, dirty lanes, with their stinking, open ditches, the
-unsatisfactory water-supply, all caused the dread disease to spread
-rapidly; and a very large part of London’s citizens perished.
-
-Moreover, famine followed in the path of the pestilence which stalked
-through the land. So great was the toll of human life throughout
-England that there were but few left to work on the land; and London,
-which depended for practically all its supplies on what was sent from
-afar, suffered severely. Still, despite all these troubles, the Middle
-Ages must be regarded as part of the “good old times,” when England
-was “merry England” indeed. True, the citizens had to work hard, and
-during long hours, but they found plenty of time for pleasure. Those of
-you who have read anything of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” will know
-something of the brightness of life in those times, of the holidays,
-the pageants and processions, the tournaments, the fairs, the general
-merrymaking.
-
-All of which, of course, was due to good trade. The city which the
-River had made was growing in strength. London now made practically
-everything it needed, and within its walls were representatives of
-practically every calling. As Sir Walter Besant says in his fine book,
-“London”: “There were mills to grind the corn, breweries for making
-the beer; the linen was spun within the walls, and the cloth made and
-dressed; the brass pots, tin pots, iron utensils, and wooden platters
-and basins, were all made in the city; the armour, with its various
-pieces, was hammered out and fashioned in the streets; all kinds of
-clothes, from the leathern jerkin of the poorest to the embroidered
-robes of a princess, were made here....
-
-“There was no noisier city in the whole world; the roar and the racket
-of it could be heard afar off, even at the risings of the Surrey hills
-or the slope of Highgate. From every lane rang out, without ceasing,
-the tuneful note of the hammer and the anvil; the carpenters, not
-without noise, drove in their nails, and the coopers hooped their
-casks; the blacksmith’s fire roared; the harsh grating of the founders
-set the teeth on edge of those who passed that way; along the river
-bank, from the Tower to Paul’s Stairs, those who loaded and those who
-unloaded, those who carried the bales to the warehouses, those who
-hoisted them up; the ships which came to port and the ships which
-sailed away, did all with fierce talking, shouting, quarrelling, and
-racket.”
-
-As we picture the prosperity of those medieval days there comes into
-our minds that winding silver stream which made such prosperity
-possible, and we seem to see the River Thames crowded with ships from
-foreign parts, many of them bringing wine from France, Spain, and other
-lands, for wine was one of the principal imports of the Middle Ages,
-and filling up the great holds of their empty vessels with England’s
-superior wool; others from Italy, laden with fine weapons and jewels,
-with spices, drugs, and silks, and all wanting our wool. A few of those
-ships in the Pool were laden with _coal_, for in the Middle Ages this
-new fuel—sea-coal, as it was called to distinguish it from the ordinary
-wood charcoal—made its appearance in London. Nor did London take to
-it at first. In the reign of Edward I. the citizens sent a petition,
-praying the King to forbid the use of this “nuisance which corrupteth
-the air with its stink and smoke, to the great detriment of the health
-of the people.”
-
-But the advantages of the sea-coal rapidly outweighed the disadvantages
-with the citizens, and the various proclamations issued by sovereigns
-came to nought. Before long several officials were appointed to act as
-inspectors of the new article of commerce as it came into the wharves.
-The famous Dick Whittington and various other prominent citizens of
-London made large fortunes from their coal-boats.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SEVEN
-
-_The Tower of London_
-
-
-London has many treasures to show us, if we take the trouble to look
-for them, but it has no relic of the past so perfect as its Tower—a
-place which every Briton, especially every Londoner, ought to see and
-try to understand.
-
-If only the Tower’s silent old stones could suddenly gain the power
-of speech, what strange tales they would have to tell of the things
-which have occurred during their centuries of history—tales of things
-glorious and tales of things unspeakably tragic. Though the latter
-would easily outweigh the former in number, I am afraid; for this grim
-stronghold is a monument to evil rather than to good.
-
-The Tower has often been spoken of as the _key_ to London, and there is
-truth in the saying, for its position is certainly an excellent one.
-When William of Normandy descended on England with his great company of
-knights and their retainers, he professed to have every consideration
-for the people of London, and certainly he treated the citizens quite
-fairly according to the terms of the treaty. But, at the same time, he
-apparently did not feel any too sure of them, and so he called in the
-monk, Gundulf, to erect a fortress, which to all appearances was merely
-a strengthening of the fortifications already there, but which in
-reality was intended to serve as a constant reminder of the power and
-authority of the conquering king.
-
-The spot chosen was the angle at the eastern corner, just where the
-wall turns sharply inland from the River, and no position round London
-could have been better chosen. In the first place it guarded London
-from the river approach, ready to hold off any enemy venturesome
-enough to sail up the Thames to attack the city. But also, and this
-undoubtedly was what was in the mind of the Conqueror, it frowned down
-on the city.
-
-A formidable Norman Keep was erected, with walls 15 feet thick, so
-strongly built that they stand to-day practically as they stood 900
-years ago, save that stone-faced windows were put in a couple of
-centuries ago to take the place of the narrow slits or loopholes which
-served for light and ventilation in a fortress of this sort.
-
-[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE TOWER.]
-
-To understand the Tower of London properly (and we really want some
-idea of it before any visit, otherwise it is merely a confusion of
-towers and open spaces without any meaning) we must realize that it
-consists of three separate lines of defences, all erected at different
-times. The innermost, the Keep or White Tower, we have touched upon.
-Beyond that, and separated from it by an open space known as the
-Inner Ward, is the first wall, with its twelve towers, among them the
-Beauchamp Tower, the Bell Tower, the Bloody Tower, and the Wakefield
-Tower. Then, beyond that again, and separated by another open space
-known as the Outer Ward, is yet another wall; and still beyond is
-the Moat, outside everything. So that any attacking army, having
-successfully negotiated the Moat, would find itself with the outer wall
-to scale and break, and within that another inner wall, 46 feet high.
-The garrison, driven back from these two, could even then retire to the
-innermost keep, with its walls 15 feet thick, and there hold out for a
-great length of time against the fiercest attacks. So that, you will
-readily see, the Tower was a fortress of tremendous strength in days
-before the use of heavy artillery.
-
-The outer defences were added to William’s White Tower from time to
-time by various monarchs. The first or inner wall, 8 feet thick, begun
-in the Conqueror’s days, was added to and strengthened by Stephen,
-Henry II., and John. The outer wall and the Moat were completed by
-Henry II.; and the Tower thus took its present shape.
-
-Most of our Sovereigns, from the Conqueror’s time right down to the
-Restoration, used the Tower of London. Kings and Queens who were
-powerful used it as a prison for their enemies; those who were weak and
-feared the people used it as a fortress for themselves. This latter
-use of the Tower was particularly instanced in the reign of Stephen—an
-illuminating chapter in the story of London.
-
-Stephen, following the death of Henry I., was elected King by the
-Great Council, and duly crowned in London; but the barons soon saw
-that he was unfitted for the task of ruling, and they took sides with
-the Empress Matilda, hoping thereby to get nearer the independence
-they desired. Stephen for a time held his own with the aid of a number
-of trusty barons, but in 1139 he offended the Church by his rough
-treatment of the Bishops of Lincoln and Salisbury, and his supporters
-fell away. Consequently he was compelled in the following year to seek
-safety in the Tower, close to his loyal followers, the citizens of
-London.
-
-Now the constable of the Tower in those days was one Geoffrey de
-Mandeville, about as unscrupulous and cruel a rascal as could be
-imagined. Stephen, to ensure his support, made him Earl of Essex, and
-for a time all went well. But when, following Stephen’s defeat and
-capture in 1141, the Empress Matilda moved to London to be crowned,
-Geoffrey de Mandeville had not the slightest compunction in taking
-sides with her, for which he was rewarded by the gift of castles,
-revenues, and the office of Sheriff of Essex. But Matilda offended
-the citizens of London to such an extent that they drove her from
-the city and attacked Mandeville in the Tower. Whereupon Mandeville,
-without any hesitation, transferred his allegiance to Maud of Boulogne,
-Stephen’s wife, who was rallying his scattered forces—which allegiance
-was purchased by making Mandeville the Sheriff of Hertfordshire,
-Middlesex, and London, as well. Nothing, however, could serve to make
-this treacherous man act straightly, and when later Stephen found him
-planning yet another revolt in favour of Matilda, he attacked him
-suddenly, took him prisoner, and removed him from all public affairs.
-
-This chapter in English history is far from showing the English nobles
-in a good light, but it is exceedingly interesting as revealing the
-extent to which London was beginning to count in the kingdom.
-
-To-day we enter from the city side by what is known as the Middle
-Tower—a renovated and modernized gateway, with a big, stone-carved
-Royal Arms above its arch. The name “Middle” strikes us as curious,
-seeing that it is the first protection on the landward side, until we
-remember or learn that originally there was another Tower, the Lion
-Tower, nearer the city (approximately where the refreshment room now
-stands) and separated from the Middle Tower by a drawbridge. But the
-Lion Tower disappeared many many years ago, and only two of the three
-outer defences remain, the Middle Tower and the Byward Tower, the
-latter reached by a permanent bridge over the Moat.
-
-Once through the Byward Gateway and we are between the inner and outer
-defences. Leaving on our left the Bell Tower, a strong, irregular,
-octagonal tower, which gets its name from the turret whence curfew
-bell rings each night, we walk along parallel to the River, past the
-frowning gateway of the Bloody Tower on our left, with its low arch
-which originally gave the only entrance to the Inner Ward, and on our
-right, and exactly opposite, the Traitor’s Gate, the riverside passage
-through the outer walls. Skirting the Wakefield Tower, we pass through
-a comparatively modern opening, and so come upon the amazing Norman
-Keep of William the Conqueror.
-
-This Keep is not quite square, though it appears to be, and no one of
-its four sides corresponds to any other. Its greatest measurements are
-from north to south 116 feet, and from east to west 96 feet. Inside,
-three cross walls, from 6 to 8 feet thick, divide each floor into three
-separate apartments of unequal sizes. It is a building complete in
-itself, with everything required for a fortress, a Royal dwelling, and
-a prison. Probably, as you walk about the cold, gloomy chambers, you
-will say to yourselves that you can understand the fortress and the
-prison parts, but that you could never imagine it as a dwelling. But
-you must remember that with coverings on the floor and with the bare
-walls hung with beautiful tapestries, as was the custom in early days,
-and with furniture in position, the apartments must have presented a
-much more comfortable appearance.
-
-The first story, or main floor, was the place where abode the
-garrison—the men-at-arms and their officers; and above on the other two
-floors were the State apartments—St. John’s Chapel and the Banqueting
-Hall on the second story, and the great Council Chamber of the
-Sovereign on the third floor. Beneath were great dungeons, terrible
-places without light or ventilation, having in those days no entrance
-from the level ground, but reached only by that central staircase which
-rose from them to the roof.
-
-In these days the Keep is largely used as an armoury; and we can gain a
-fine idea of the different kinds of armour worn in different periods,
-and of the weapons used and of the cruel implements of torture. It
-also contains several good models of the Tower at different times, and
-a short study of these will do much to get rid of the confusion which
-most folk feel as they hurry from tower to tower without any general
-idea of the place.
-
-Leaving the ancient Keep, we cross the only wide open space of
-the fortress, a paved quadrangle which keeps its antique and now
-inappropriate name of Tower Green, where in bygone days some of the
-Tower’s most famous prisoners have paraded in solitude on the grass.
-Here, marked by a tablet, is the site of the scaffold where died Lady
-Jane Grey, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and other famous prisoners of
-State. It is a quiet, moody spot, where the black ravens of the Tower,
-as they stand sentinel beneath the sycamore trees, at times seem the
-only things in keeping with the sadness of the place.
-
-To our right is the little Church of St. Peter ad Vinculam, which will
-be shown to us by one of the quaintly garbed “Beef-eaters” (if one
-can be spared from other duties), the famous Yeomen of the Guard who
-still wear the uniform designed in Henry the Eighth’s days. Concerning
-this little sanctuary Lord Macaulay wrote: “There is no sadder spot on
-earth.... Death is there associated with whatever is darkest in human
-nature and in human destiny, with the savage triumph of implacable
-enemies, with the inconstancy, 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.”
-
-Close together in a small space before the Altar, raised slightly
-above the level of the floor, lie the mortal remains of two Queens,
-Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, Margaret of Salisbury, last of the
-proud Plantagenets, Lord and Lady Rochford, the Dukes of Somerset,
-Northumberland, Monmouth, Suffolk, and Norfolk, the Earl of Essex, Lady
-Jane Grey, Lord Guilford Dudley, and Sir Thomas Overbury.
-
-As we pass on and come to the Beauchamp Tower, and later to the Bloody
-Tower, we see the tiny prisons where these unfortunates, and many
-others, languished in confinement, waiting their tragic end, whiling
-away the weary hours by carving quaint inscriptions on the stone walls;
-and, in the latter, we are shown the tiny apartment where perished the
-little Princes at the instigation of their uncle, Richard III.
-
-From our point of view there remains just one more thing to consider,
-and that is the Tower’s connection with the River. Probably few of us,
-as we try to think back through the centuries, realize how important
-the Thames was even as a highway. We know from our reading that
-London’s streets were narrow, crooked, and of very little use for a
-big amount of traffic; yet we do not see in our mind’s eye the great
-waterway which everybody, rich and poor, used in those days, alike
-for business and pleasure. And, of course, the Tower contributed very
-largely to this water traffic, for the King, his nobles, and all who
-had business at Westminster, travelled constantly to and fro in the
-great painted barges which made the River a gayer and brighter place
-than it is in our days. For the purpose of such travellers there was
-provided the Queen’s Steps at the Tower Wharf, in order to avoid the
-use of the sinister Traitor’s Gate—that low, frowning archway, which
-gave entrance from the River, and through which very many famous
-persons, innocent and guilty alike, passed to their doom, brought
-thither by water at the behest of the Sovereign.
-
-[Illustration: TRAITOR’S GATE.]
-
-According to John Stow, who wrote in Elizabeth’s reign, the Tower
-was then “a citadel to defend or command the city; a royal palace
-for assemblies or treaties; a prison of state for the most dangerous
-offenders; the only place of coinage for all England at this time; the
-armoury for warlike provision; the treasury of the ornaments and jewels
-of the Crown; and general conserver of most records of the King’s
-courts of justice at Westminster.” All that is changed now. The Tower
-has long since ceased to be a Royal residence. As a defence of the city
-it would not last more than a few minutes against modern artillery.
-Save for the period of the great war, when it held the bodies of
-numerous spies and traitors and saw the execution of several, it has
-for many years given up its claim to be a prison. The records which
-filled the little Chapel of St. John have now been moved to the Record
-Office, and the making of money goes on at the Mint just across the
-road. The Crown Jewels still find a home here, in the Wakefield Tower,
-the prison where Henry VI. came to his violent end. Yet, despite all
-these changes, the fortress is still the Tower of London—perhaps the
-city’s most fascinating relic.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER EIGHT
-
-_How Fire destroyed what the River had made_
-
-
-Leaving the Tower by the Byward Gate, and passing along Great Tower
-Street and Eastcheap, we come to the spot
-
-“Where London’s column pointing to the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts
-its head and lies.”
-
-This is, of course, the Monument, which for many years indicated to
-all and sundry that the Great Fire of 1666 was the work of the Roman
-Catholics. Till the year 1831 the inscription, added in 1681 at the
-time of the Titus Oates affair, perpetuated the lie in stone, but in
-that year it was removed by the City Council. Now the gilt urn with
-its flames, which we can see well if we ascend the 345 steps to the
-iron cage at the top, merely commemorates the Fire itself, without any
-reference to its cause, as in the original structure. From the top
-of the Monument we can get perhaps the very finest of all views of
-London and its River.
-
-[Illustration: THE MONUMENT.]
-
-But there is one thing which should preface our account of the Great
-Fire, and that is an account of the Great Plague which visited and
-afflicted London in the previous year. Of course, the Fire was in one
-sense a terrible disaster for London, yet the destruction which it
-wrought was in reality a great blessing to the plague-ridden city.
-
-The Plague, by no means the first to visit London, came over from the
-Continent, where for years it had been decimating the large cities. It
-broke out with terrible power in the summer of the year 1665—a dry,
-scorching summer which made the flushing of the open street drains an
-impossible thing, and gave every help to the dread pestilence. If we
-want to read a thrilling description of London at this time we have
-only to turn to the “Journal of the Plague Year,” by Defoe, the author
-of “Robinson Crusoe.” This was not actually a journal, for Defoe was
-only four years old in 1665, but it was a faithful account based on
-first-hand information. In its simply written pages (to quote from
-Sir Walter Besant) “we see the horror of the empty streets; we hear
-the cries and lamentations of those who are seized and those who are
-bereaved. The cart comes slowly along the streets with the man ringing
-a bell and crying, ‘Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!’ We think
-of the great holes into which the dead were thrown in heaps and covered
-with a little earth; we think of the grass growing in the streets;
-the churches deserted; the roads black with fugitives hurrying from
-the abode of Death; we hear the frantic mirth of revellers snatching
-to-night a doubtful rapture, for to-morrow they die. The City is filled
-with despair.” As we can well imagine, the King and his courtiers fled
-from Whitehall and the Tower away into the country; the Law Courts were
-shifted up river to Oxford. Naturally all business stopped, and trade
-was at a standstill. Ships in hundreds lay idle in the Pool, waiting
-for the cargoes which came not, because the wharves and warehouses
-were deserted; laden ships that sailed up the Thames speedily turned
-about and made for the Continental ports. So it went on, the visitation
-increasing in fury, till in September there were nearly 900 fell each
-day. Then it abated slightly, but continued through the winter, on into
-the following summer, and in the end more than 97,000 people perished
-out of a population of 460,000.
-
-Then, on September 2, came that other catastrophe, the Great Fire.
-Starting in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, near the Monument, it was
-driven westwards by a strong east wind.
-
-The London of Stuart days gave the Fire every possible help. Not much
-survives to-day to show us what things were like, but the quaint,
-timber-fronted houses of Staple Inn (Holborn) and No. 17, Fleet Street,
-and the pictures painted at the time, give us a fair idea of the
-inflammable nature of the buildings; and when we remember that these
-wooden houses, old, dry, and coated with pitch, were in some streets so
-close to those opposite that it was possible to shake hands from the
-overhanging upper stories, we are not surprised at the rapidity with
-which the Fire spread.
-
-The diaries of two gentlemen—Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, the former
-one of the King’s Ministers, the latter a wealthy and learned gentleman
-of the Court—bring home to us plainly the terror of the seven days’
-visitation. To begin with, very few took any special notice of the
-outbreak: fires were too common to cause great consternation. Even
-Pepys himself tells us that he returned to bed; but when the morning
-came and it was still burning, he was disturbed. Says he: “By and by
-Jane tells me that she hears that above 800 houses have been burned
-down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all
-Fish Street, by London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and
-walked to the Tower; and there got up upon one of the high places; and
-there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and
-an infinite great fire on this and the other side of the end of the
-bridge.”
-
-London Bridge, as you will remember from a former chapter, was very
-narrow, and the houses projected out over the River, held in place
-by enormous timber struts; and these, with the wooden frames of the
-three-storied houses, gave the fire a good hold. Moreover the burning
-buildings, falling on the Bridge, blocked the way to any who would
-have fought the flames. After about a third of the buildings had been
-destroyed the fire was stopped by the pulling down of houses and the
-open space; but not before it had done great damage to the stone
-structure itself. The heat was so intense that arches and piers which
-had remained firm for centuries now began to show signs of falling to
-pieces, and it was found necessary to spend £1,500, an enormous sum in
-those days, on repairs before any rebuilding could be attempted.
-
-Day after day the Fire continued. Says Evelyn: “It burned both in
-breadth and length, the churches, public halls, Exchange, hospitals,
-monuments, and ornaments, leaping after a prodigious manner from
-house to house and street to street, at great distances one from the
-other....
-
-“Here we saw the Thames covered with goods floating, all the barges
-and boats laden with what some had time and courage to save, as, on
-the other, the carts, etc., carrying out to the fields, which for many
-miles were strewed with movables of all sorts, and tents erected to
-shelter both people and what goods they could get away....
-
-“(Sept. 7) At my return I was infinitely concerned to find that goodly
-Church (cathedral), St. Paul’s, now a sad ruin. It was astonishing to
-see what immense stones the heat had in a manner calcined, so that
-all the ornaments, columns, friezes, capitals, and projectures of
-massie Portland stone flew off, even to the very roof, where a sheet
-of lead covering a great space (no less than six acres by measure)
-was totally melted; the ruins of the vaulted roof falling broke into
-St. Faith’s, which being filled with the magazines of books belonging
-to the Stationers, and carried thither for safety, they were all
-consumed, burning for a week following.... Thus lay in ashes that
-most venerable Church, one of the most ancient pieces of early
-piety in the Christian world, besides near 100 more. The exquisitely
-wrought Mercers’ Chapel, the sumptuous Exchange, the august fabric of
-Christchurch, all the rest of the Companies’ Halls, splendid buildings,
-arches, entries, all in dust....
-
-[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL’S (A.D. 1500).]
-
-“The people who now walked about the ruins appeared like men in some
-dismal desert or rather in some great city laid waste by a cruel
-enemy....The by-lanes and narrower streets were quite filled up with
-rubbish, nor could one have possibly known where he was, but by the
-ruins of some Church or Hall, that had some remarkable tower or
-pinnacle remaining....”
-
-Just as the Plague was by no means the first plague which had visited
-the city, so there had been other serious outbreaks of fire, but those
-two visitations were by far the worst in the history of London. We can
-gather some idea of the scene of desolation which resulted when we read
-that the ruins covered an area of 436 acres—387 acres, or five-sixths
-of the entire city within the walls and 73 acres without; that the Fire
-wiped out four city gates, one cathedral, eighty-nine parish churches,
-the Royal Exchange, Sion College, and all sorts of hospitals, schools,
-etc.
-
-Yet gradually, not within three or four years, as is commonly stated
-in history books, but slowly, as the ruined citizens found money for
-the purpose, there rose from the débris another London—a London with
-broader, cleaner streets, with larger and better-built houses of stone
-and brick; with fine public buildings and a new Cathedral—a London more
-like the city which we know. So _modern_ London began its life.
-
-The River did not make a new London as it had made the old city. Shops,
-markets, quays, public buildings, did not spring up naturally in places
-where the trade of the time demanded them, as they had done in the old
-days, otherwise much would have changed. Instead, the new city very
-largely rebuilt itself on the foundations of the old, quite regardless
-of comfort or utility.
-
-Its supremacy as a Port was never in doubt. With the tremendous break
-in London’s commerce, caused first by the Plague and then by the
-devastation of the Fire, it would have seemed possible for the shipping
-to decrease permanently; but it never did. So firmly was London Port
-established in the past that it lived on strongly into modern times,
-despite many excellent reasons why it should lose its great place.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER NINE
-
-_The Riverside and its Palaces_
-
-
-To-day, when we stand upon Waterloo Bridge and let our gaze rest upon
-the Embankment, as it sweeps round in the large arc of a circle from
-Blackfriars past Charing Cross to Westminster, it is hard indeed to
-picture the time when these massive buildings—hotels, public buildings,
-suites of offices, etc.—were not there, when the green grass grew
-right down to the water’s edge on the left _strand_ or bank of the
-River, when a walk from the one city to the other was a walk through
-country lanes and fields. It is hard indeed to brush away all the ugly,
-grey reminders of the present, and see a little of the past in its
-beauty—for beautiful the River undoubtedly was in Plantagenet, Tudor,
-and Stuart times.
-
-We have spoken of the growth of the city, and what the River meant
-to it; of the wharves and warehouses which extended from the Tower
-to the Fleet River. That was the commercial London of those days.
-Westwards from the Fleet, along the side of the Thames, spread the more
-picturesque signs of London’s prosperity—the dwellings of some of the
-wealthy and influential.
-
-[Illustration: THE FLEET RIVER AT BLACKFRIARS (A.D. 1760).]
-
-From the western end of the city—Ludgate and Newgate—spread out
-westwards the suburbs, part of the city, though not actually within
-its walls, until an outer limit was reached at Temple Bar, situated at
-the western extremity of one of London’s most famous thoroughfares,
-Fleet Street, named after the little river which flowed down where
-Farringdon and New Bridge Streets are, and which emptied itself, and
-still empties itself, in the shape of a main drain, into the Thames
-beneath Blackfriars Bridge.
-
-Between Fleet Street and the River stood the Convent of the White
-Friars, and that most famous of places the Temple.
-
-In the Middle Ages the Church was far more intimately concerned with
-the everyday life of the people than it is to-day, for the simple
-reason that the clergy attended to the care of the sick and aged, to
-the teaching of the young, and other charitable works. Now it must be
-understood that there were in this country two classes of clergy—the
-monks, who were known as “regular clergy” (who lived by a regulus
-or rule), and the ordinary clergy, much as we have them to-day, in
-charge of our cathedrals, parish churches, etc., these last being
-known as “secular clergy.” For the upkeep of the Church folk paid
-what were known as “tithes.” To begin with, this “tithe,” or tax, was
-handed over to the bishop, who divided it out into four parts—one for
-the building itself, one for the poor, one for the priest, and one
-for himself. Gradually, however, the “regulars” obtained control of
-affairs, receiving the tithes, and, instead of giving the full quarters
-to the “seculars,” they simply paid them what they thought fit, and
-appropriated the remainder for themselves. This led to two things:
-the monasteries became enormously wealthy, and the seculars became
-exceedingly poor and dissatisfied; so that there was constant strife
-between the two branches. Many nobles, ignorant of the true condition
-of affairs, and wishing the excellent charitable work of the Church to
-be continued, made great gifts to the Church. Unfortunately these very
-great gifts were sometimes apt to do the very opposite to what their
-donors intended. Instead of the monks devoting themselves more and
-more earnestly to the care of the needy, they began to think more of
-their own comfort and position. They erected for themselves extensive
-and comfortable dwellings, with their own breweries, mills, and farms,
-and they lived on the fat of the land. They indulged themselves until
-their luxury became a byword with the common people. Then arose two
-great teachers, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic, who were led
-to protest against the abuses. They founded new Orders of religious
-men—called the Friars—who went from place to place with no money and
-only such clothes as covered them. These men believed in and taught the
-blessedness of poverty.
-
-Many of them came over from the Continent and settled in various parts
-of the city. If you pick up a map of London, even one of to-day, you
-will see such names as Blackfriars, Whitefriars, Crutched Friars,
-Austin Friars—showing where they made their homes. Some, the Black
-Friars, took up a position and eventually built for themselves a fine
-monastery and church just outside the city walls at the mouth of
-the Fleet River. Others, the White Friars or Carmelite Monks, made
-themselves secure just to the west of the Fleet.
-
-Whitefriars was one of London’s sanctuaries; within its precincts
-wrong-doers were safe from the arm of the Law. Now, in certain periods
-of our history, such things as sanctuaries were good; they frequently
-prevented innocent men and women suffering at the hands of tyrants and
-unscrupulous enemies. So that the right of sanctuary was always most
-jealously guarded. But, as time went on, this led to abuses, and when
-the monasteries were closed by Henry VIII., the Lord Mayor of London
-asked the King to abolish the sanctuary rights of Blackfriars; but he
-would not do so. The consequence was that Blackfriars and Whitefriars,
-particularly the latter, became sinks of iniquity. In the latter, which
-was nicknamed Alsatia, congregated criminals of all sorts—thieves,
-coiners, forgers, debtors, cut-throats, burglars—as we can read in
-Scott’s novel, “The Fortunes of Nigel.” For years it held its evil
-associations, but it became so bad that in 1697 there was passed a
-Bill abolishing for ever the sanctuary rights of Whitefriars.
-
-West of Whitefriars is the Temple, which, with its quiet old
-courtyards, its beautiful church, and its restful gardens stretching
-down to the Embankment, is one of London’s most fascinating places.
-
-It gets its name from its founders, the Knights Templars—a great Order
-of men who lived in the time of the Crusades, and whose white mantles
-with a red cross have been famous ever since. These knights, who took
-vows to remain unmarried and poor, set themselves the great task of
-guarding the pilgrims’ roads to the Holy Land.
-
-In 1184 the Red Cross Knights settled on the banks of the River Thames,
-and made their home there in what was called the New Temple. For 130
-years they abode there, gradually increasing in wealth and power, till
-in the end their very strength defeated them. Princes and nobles who
-had given them great gifts of money for their worthy work saw that
-money used, not for charitable purposes, but to keep up the pomp and
-luxury of the place, and soon various folk in high places coveted the
-Templars’ wealth and power, and determined to defeat them.
-
-So well did these folk work that in 1313 the Order was broken up, and
-the property came into the King’s hands. A few years later the Temple
-was leased by the Crown to those men who were studying the Law in
-London, and in their hands it has been ever since, becoming their own
-property in the reign of King James I.
-
-Originally the Temple was divided into three parts—the Inner Temple,
-the Outer Temple, and the Middle Temple. The Outer Temple, which stood
-west of Temple Bar, and therefore outside the city, was pulled down
-years ago, and now only the two remain.
-
-Here in their chambers congregate the barristers who conduct the cases
-in the Law Courts just across the road; and here are still to be found
-the students, all of whom must spend a certain time in the Temple (or
-in one of the other Inns of Court—Gray’s Inn or Lincoln’s Inn) before
-being allowed to practise as a barrister.
-
-[Illustration: OLD TEMPLE BAR, FLEET STREET (NOW AT THEOBALD’S PARK).]
-
-The Temple Church, which belongs to both Inns of Court, is one of the
-few pieces of Norman architecture which survive to us in London. It
-is round in shape, now a rare thing. On the floor, and in many other
-places, may be seen the Templars’ emblem—the red cross on a white
-ground with the Paschal Lamb in the centre. Figures of departed knights
-keep watch over this strange church, their legs crossed to signify (so
-it is said) that they had fought in one or other of the Crusades.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-The Strand from the ... Castle Hill. Ealing. York House. Durham House.
-Bedford House.]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-... Thames in the XVI^{cent} Temple Church. Somerset House. Arundel
-House. Essex House. Whitefriars Stairs.]
-
-The Temple Gardens, which still run down to the Embankment, were one
-time famous for their roses, and, according to Shakespeare, were the
-scene of that famous argument which led to the bitter struggle known as
-the War of the Roses. You probably remember the famous passage, ending
-with the lines—
-
-“And here I prophesy—this brawl to-day, Grown to this faction in the
-Temple Garden, Shall send between the red rose and the white A thousand
-souls to death and deadly night.”
-
-_First Part of King Henry VI._, Act II. Sc. 4.
-
-Westwards from the Temple as far as Westminster stretched a practically
-unbroken line of palaces, each standing in beautiful grounds which
-sloped down in terraces to the water’s edge. There was Somerset House,
-which for long was a Royal residence. Lord Protector Somerset began
-the building of it in 1549, pulling down a large part of St. Paul’s
-cloisters and also the churches of St. John’s, Clerkenwell, and St.
-Mary’s le Strand to provide the materials for his builders; but long
-before its completion Somerset was executed for treason, and the
-property went to the Crown.
-
-Here Elizabeth lived occasionally while her sister Mary was reigning.
-The old palace was pulled down in 1756, and the present fine building
-erected on the site. This modern structure, with its fine river front,
-so well combines strength and elegance that it seems a pity it does not
-stand clear of other buildings.
-
-The rest of the palaces, westwards, survive for the most part only as
-names. Where now rises the great mass of the Savoy Hotel once stood
-the ancient Palace of the Savoy, rising, like some of the city houses,
-straight out of the River, with a splendid water-gate in the centre.
-It was the oldest of the Strand palaces, being built by Peter of
-Savoy as early as 1245. After various ownerships, it passed into the
-hands of John of Gaunt, and was his when it was plundered and almost
-entirely burnt down by the followers of Wat Tyler in 1381. From that
-time onwards it had a chequered existence, being in turn prison and
-hospital, till at last in 1805 it was swept away when the approach to
-Waterloo Bridge was made. There is still in the street leading down to
-the Embankment the tiny Chapel Royal of the Savoy, but it has been too
-often restored to have much more interest than a name.
-
-Where now comes the Cecil Hotel stood originally the famous palace or
-inn of the Cecils, the Earls of Salisbury. York House, the town palace
-of the Archbishops of York, stood where now is Charing Cross Station.
-This at one time belonged to the famous Steenie, Duke of Buckingham and
-favourite of James I. Buckingham pulled down the old house in order
-that another and more glorious might rise in its place; but this was
-never done. Only the water-gate was built, and this lovely relic still
-stands in the Embankment Gardens, and from its position, some distance
-behind the river-wall, shows us how skilful engineers have saved quite
-a wide strip of the foreshore.
-
-In all probability each of these Strand palaces had its water-gate,
-from which the nobles and their ladies set out in their gay barges
-when about to attend the Court at Westminster or go shopping in London.
-
-[Illustration: THE WATER-GATE OF YORK HOUSE.]
-
-Just beyond York House came Hungerford House, which has given its
-name to the railway bridge crossing from the station; and then came
-Northumberland House, which was the last of the great historic
-riverside palaces to be demolished, being pulled down in comparatively
-modern times to make way for Northumberland Avenue. Other famous
-palaces are remembered in the names of Durham Street and Scotland Yard.
-
-When in 1529 Wolsey fell from his high estate, Henry VIII., his
-unscrupulous master, at once took possession of his palace at
-Whitehall, and made it the principal Royal residence. To give it
-suitable surroundings he formed (for his own sport and pleasure)
-the park which we now call St. James’s Park. When later he
-dissolved the monasteries he seized a small hospital, known as St.
-James-in-the-Fields, standing on the far side of the estate, and
-converted it into a hunting lodge. This afterwards became the famous
-Palace of St. James’s.
-
-Of Whitehall Palace all that now remains is the Banqueting Hall (now
-used to house the exhibits of the United Service Institution), built
-in the reign of James I. by the famous architect Inigo Jones; the rest
-perished by fire soon after the revolution of 1688. For some time
-afterwards St. James’s Palace was the only Royal residence in London,
-but the Sovereigns soon provided themselves with the famous Kensington
-and Buckingham Palaces.
-
-[Illustration: THE BANQUETING HALL, WHITEHALL PALACE.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TEN
-
-_Royal Westminster—The Abbey_
-
-
-The story of Westminster is nearly as old as that of London itself.
-
-In our first chapter we spoke of the position of London being fixed to
-a large extent by the Kent road passing from Dover to the Midlands.
-That road, heading from Rochester, originally passed over—and still
-passes over—the Darent at Dartford, the Cray at Crayford, the
-Ravensbourne at Deptford; and then made its way, not to the crossing
-at Billingsgate, but to a still older ford or ferry which existed in
-very early days at the spot where Westminster now stands. If you look
-at the map of London, you will see that the Edgware Road, passing in a
-south-easterly direction from St. Albans, comes down, with but a slight
-curve, as if to meet this north-westerly Kent road. That they did so
-meet there is but little doubt, and this meeting gave us the Royal City
-of Westminster.
-
-[Illustration: THE RIVER AT THORNEY ISLAND.]
-
-In pre-Roman days Lambeth and Westminster, Belgravia and Chelsea, were
-simply reedy marshes. Out of them rose a number of gravelly islands
-of various sizes, and one of these, larger and more solid than the
-rest—Thorney or Bramble Island—became in due course the site of the
-city which for centuries was second only to London itself; for though
-the building of the Bridge and the rapid growth of the Port meant the
-diversion of the Kentish Watling Street to a new route through London,
-the Thorney Island settlement grew just as steadily as that of the
-bluff lower down the stream, till eventually it held England’s most
-celebrated Abbey and Royal Palace, and its Houses of Parliament.
-
-As so often happened in early days, the settlement developed round
-a religious house. Probably it originated in a British fortress.
-Certainly it comprised a considerable Roman station and market. But all
-that lies in the misty past. The legend remains that in the year 604
-Sebert, King of the East Saxons, there founded a minster of the west
-(St. Peter’s) to rival the minster of the east (St. Paul’s) which was
-being erected within the City of London; and indeed we are still shown
-in the Abbey the tomb of this traditional founder.
-
-When we come to the reign of Edward the Confessor we begin to get to
-actual definite things. Edward, as we know from our history books, was
-a very religious man, almost as much a monk as a King; and he took
-special delight in rebuilding ruined churches. While he was in exile in
-Normandy he made a vow to St. Peter that he would go on pilgrimage to
-Rome if ever he came into his kingdom. When, in the passage of time, he
-became King, and proposed to carry out his vows, his counsellors would
-not hear of such a journey; and, in the end, the Pope of Rome released
-him from his vow on condition that he agreed to build an Abbey to the
-glory of St. Peter.
-
-This Edward did. His own particular friend, Edwin, presided over the
-small monastery of Thorney, so Edward determined to make this the site
-of his new Abbey. Pulling down the old place, he devoted a tenth part
-of his income to the raising of the new “Collegiate Church of St. Peter
-of Westminster.” Commenced in the year 1049, it became the King’s
-life-work, and was consecrated only eight days before his death.
-
-In order that he might see the builders at work on his favourite
-project, he built himself a palace between the Abbey and the River, and
-for fifteen years he watched the rising into being of such an Abbey as
-England had never known. He endowed it lavishly with estates, and gave
-it the right of sanctuary, whereby all men should be safe within its
-walls.
-
-Of course, the fine structure we see as we stand in the open space
-known as Broad Sanctuary is not the Confessor’s building. Of that, all
-that now remains is the Chapel of the Pyx, the great schoolroom of
-Westminster School, which was the old monks’ dormitory, and portions
-of the walls of the south cloister. The rest has been added from time
-to time by the various Sovereigns. Henry III., in 1245, pulled down
-large portions of the old structure, and erected a beautiful chapel
-to contain the remains of the Abbey’s founder, and this chapel we can
-visit to-day. In it lies the sainted Confessor, borne thither on the
-shoulders of the Plantagenet nobles whose humbler tombs surround the
-shrine; also his Queen, Eleanor; Edward III., and that Queen who saved
-the lives of the burghers of Calais; also the luckless Richard II.
-
-[Illustration: Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.]
-
-Other Sovereigns also took a share; but it was left to Henry VII. to
-give us the body of the Abbey mainly in the shape we know. At enormous
-expense he erected the famous Perpendicular chapel, called by his
-name—one of the most beautiful and magnificent chapels in the whole
-world.
-
-When we stand in the subdued light in this exquisite building, and
-examine the beautifully fretted stone-work of its amazing roof—a “dream
-in stone,” its “walls wrought into universal ornament,” the richly
-carved, dark-oak stalls of the Knights of the Bath with the banners
-of their Order drooping overhead—we find it hard to recall that this
-miserly man was one of the least popular of England’s Kings.
-
-In this spot lie, in addition to the remains of Henry himself, those of
-most of our later Kings and Queens. Here side by side the sisters Mary
-and Elizabeth “are at one; the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and the
-daughter of Anne Boleyn repose in peace at last.” Here, too, rests that
-tragic figure of history, Mary Queen of Scots; and James I., Charles
-I., William III., Queen Anne, and George II.
-
-For numbers of us one of the most interesting parts of the Abbey will
-always be “Poets’ Corner,” in the south transept. Here rest all that
-remains of many of our mightiest wielders of the pen, from Chaucer, the
-father of English poetry, down to Tennyson and Browning. Many of the
-names on the monuments which cluster so closely together are forgotten
-now, just as their works are never read; but the tablets to the memory
-of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Dickens, Tennyson, and Browning,
-will always serve to remind us of the mighty dead. The north transept
-is devoted largely to the monuments to our great statesmen and our
-great warriors.
-
-[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY.]
-
-In the Choir we come upon the Coronation Chairs. The Confessor in
-building his church had in mind that the Abbey should be the place of
-coronation of England’s Sovereigns; and down through the centuries
-this custom has been observed. Indeed, certain parts of the regalia
-worn by the King or Queen on Coronation Day are actually the identical
-articles presented to the Abbey by Edward himself. The old and battered
-chair is that of Edward I., the “hammer of the Scots,” who lies buried
-with his fellow Plantagenets in the Confessor’s Chapel. Just under
-the seat of the chair is the famous “stone of destiny,” brought from
-Scone by Edward, to mark the completeness of the defeat. Its removal to
-Westminster sorely troubled our northern neighbours, for they believed
-that the Supreme Power travelled with that stone. Since those days
-every English Sovereign has been crowned in this chair. Its companion
-was made for Mary, wife of William III.
-
-In the Nave lies one of the most frequently visited of all the
-tombs—the last resting-place of the Unknown Warrior, who, brought over
-from France and buried with all the grandeur and solemnity of a Royal
-funeral, typifies for us the thousands of brave lads who made the great
-sacrifice—who died that we might live.
-
-What most of us forget is that the place which we call Westminster
-Abbey was only the Chapel belonging to the Abbey, the place where the
-monks worshipped. In addition there was a whole collection of buildings
-where the monks ate, slept, studied, worked, etc. Of these most have
-been swept away. If we pass out through the door of the South Aisle we
-can see the ancient cloisters where the monks washed themselves, took
-their exercise and such little recreation as they were allowed, and
-where they buried their brothers. There was also the Abbot’s House,
-which afterwards became the Deanery, and there was the Chapter House,
-a building which fortunately has been preserved to us almost in its
-original condition. This was the place where the business of the Abbey
-was conducted, where the monks came together each day after Matins in
-order that the tasks of the day might be allotted and God’s blessing
-asked, where afterwards offenders were tried and penances imposed. Till
-the end of the reign of Henry VIII. the House of Commons met in this
-chamber when the monks were not using it; and afterwards it was set
-aside as an office for the keeping of records. When in 1540 came the
-dissolution of the Abbey, the Chapter House became Royal property, and
-that is why we now see a policeman in charge of it instead of one of
-the Abbey vergers.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER ELEVEN
-
-_Royal Westminster—The Houses of Parliament_
-
-
-When in the eleventh century Edward the Confessor built the palace from
-which to survey the erection of his beloved Abbey, he little dreamed
-that upon the very spot would meet the Parliament of an Empire greater
-even than Rome; nor did he realize that through several centuries
-Westminster Palace would be the favourite home of the Kings and Queens
-of England.
-
-William Rufus added to the Confessor’s edifice, and also partially
-built the walls of the Great Hall, which is the sole thing that
-remains of the ancient fabric. Other Kings enlarged the palace from
-time to time. Stephen erected the Chapel of St. Stephen, in which met
-the Commons from the time of Edward VI. till the year 1834, when a
-terrible fire wiped out practically the whole of the ancient Palace of
-Westminster.
-
-[Illustration: THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.]
-
-To-day, when we stand on Westminster Bridge or Lambeth Bridge, and
-survey the huge building which provides London with one of its greatest
-landmarks, we are looking at a new Palace: from the River not a stone
-of the old structure is visible. A magnificent Palace it is too! Its
-towers, one at each end, rise high into the air, one of them 320 feet
-high, the other 20 feet more; and its buildings cover a matter of 8
-acres. From Westminster Bridge we see the whole of the river front,
-900 feet long, with the famous “terrace” in front, where in summer the
-Members of Parliament stroll and take tea with their friends.
-
-Westminster Hall, which fortunately survived the disastrous fire of
-1834, is on the side farthest from the River: it runs parallel with the
-House of Commons, and projects from the main building just opposite the
-end of the Henry VII. Chapel in the Abbey.
-
-If we enter the Parliament buildings we shall very possibly do so by
-the famous hall known as St. Stephen’s Hall—built on the site of the
-ancient House of Commons. Westminster Hall then lies to our left, as
-we enter, down a flight of steps.
-
-Let us descend for a few moments, for the Hall is perhaps the finest
-of its kind in all our land. Its vast emptiness silences the words
-which rise to our lips: we feel instinctively that this is a place
-of wonderful memories. Our eyes travel along the mighty, carved-oak
-roof which spans the great width of the building, and we can scarcely
-believe that this roof was built so long ago as the time of Richard
-II., or even earlier, and that it is still the actual timbers we see in
-places.
-
-What stories could these ancient stones beneath our feet tell us,
-had they but the power! What tales of joy and what tales of terrible
-tragedy! Here were held many of the festivities which followed the
-coronation ceremonies in the Abbey. Henry III. here showed to the
-citizens his bride, Eleanor of Provence, when “there were assembled
-such a multitude of the nobility of both sexes, such numbers of the
-religious, and such a variety of stage-players, that the City of
-London could scarcely contain them.... Whatever the world pours forth
-of pleasure and glory was there specially displayed.” And yet a few
-years later saw that same Henry taking part in a vastly different
-spectacle—when, in the presence of a gathering equally distinguished,
-he was compelled to watch the Archbishop of Canterbury as he threw to
-the stone floor of the Hall a lighted torch, with these words: “Thus be
-extinguished and stink and smoke in hell all those who dare to violate
-the charters of the Kingdom.”
-
-A plate let into the floor tells us that on that spot stood Wentworth,
-Earl of Strafford, strong Minister of a weak King, when he was tried
-for his life; while upon the stairs which we have descended is another
-tablet to mark the spot whence that weak King himself, Charles I.,
-heard his death sentence. Here, too, were tried William Wallace, Thomas
-More, and Warren Hastings, while just outside in Old Palace Yard the
-half-demented Guido Fawkes and the proud, scholarly Sir Walter Raleigh
-met their deaths.
-
-Returning to St. Stephen’s Hall, which is lined with the statues
-of the great statesmen who were famous in the older chamber, and
-passing up another flight of steps, we find ourselves in the octagonal
-Central Hall, or, as it is more usually called, the Lobby. Here we are
-practically in the middle of the great pile of buildings. To our right,
-as we enter, stretches the House of Lords and all the apartments that
-pertain to it—the Audience Chamber, the Royal Robing Room, the Peers’
-Robing Room, the House of Lords Library—ending in the stately square
-tower, known as the Victoria Tower. To our left lies the House of
-Commons and all its committee, dining, smoking, reading-rooms, etc.,
-ending in the famous “Big Ben” tower. “Big Ben” is, of course, known
-to everybody. Countless thousands have heard his 13½ tons of metal
-boom out the hour of the day, and have set their watches right by the
-14-foot minute-hands of the four clock-faces, which each measure 23
-feet across.
-
-The House of Lords itself is a fine building, 90 feet long and 45
-feet wide, its walls and ceiling beautifully decorated with paintings
-representing famous scenes from our history. At one end is the King’s
-gorgeous throne, and beside it, slightly lower, those of the Queen and
-the Prince of Wales. Just in front is the famous “Woolsack,” an ugly
-red seat, stuffed with wool, as a reminder of the days when wool was
-the chief source of the nation’s wealth. On this, when the House is in
-session, sits the Lord Chancellor of England, who presides over the
-assembly.
-
-The House of Commons is not quite so ornate: here the benches are
-upholstered in a quiet green. At the far end is the Speaker’s Chair.
-The Speaker, as you probably know, is the chairman of the House of
-Commons, the member who has been chosen by his fellows to control the
-debates and keep order in the House. In front of the Speaker’s Chair is
-a table, at which sit three men in wigs and gowns, the Clerks of the
-House. On the table lies the Mace—the heavy staff which is the emblem
-of authority.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TWELVE
-
-_The Riverside of To-day_
-
-
-The Riverside of to-day is noticeable for many things, but for nothing
-more so than the very great difference between the two banks. On the
-one hand we have a magnificent Embankment sweeping round through almost
-the entire length of the River’s passage through London, with large and
-important buildings surmounting the thoroughfare; while on the other
-hand we have nothing but a huddled collection of commercial buildings,
-right on the water’s edge—unimposing, dingy, and dismal, save in the
-one spot where the new County Hall breaks the ugly monotony and gives
-promise of better things in future for the Surrey shore.
-
-The Embankment on the Middlesex side may perhaps be said to be one of
-the outcomes of the Great Fire, for, though its construction was not
-undertaken till 1870, it was one of the main improvements suggested
-by Sir Christopher Wren in his scheme for the rebuilding of London.
-The Victoria Embankment, which sweeps round from Blackfriars to
-Westminster, is a mile and a quarter long. Its river face consists of a
-great granite wall, 8 feet in thickness, with tunnels inside it for the
-carrying of sewers, water-mains, gas-pipes, etc., all of which can be
-reached without interfering with that splendid wide road beneath which
-the Underground Railway runs. There is a continuation of the Embankment
-on the south side from Westminster to Vauxhall, known as the Albert
-Embankment, while on the north it runs, with some interruptions, as far
-as Chelsea.
-
-One of the most interesting sights of the Embankment is Cleopatra’s
-Needle—a tall stone obelisk, which stands by the water’s edge. This
-stone, one of the oldest monuments in the world, stood originally
-in the ancient city of On, in Egypt, and formed part of an enormous
-temple to the sun-god. Later it was shifted with a similar stone to
-Alexandria, there to take a place in the Cæsarium—the temple erected in
-honour of the Roman Emperors. Centuries passed: the Cæsarium fell into
-ruins, and Cleopatra’s obelisk lay forgotten in the sand. Eventually
-it was offered to this country by the Khedive of Egypt, but the task
-of transporting it was so difficult that nothing was done till 1877-8,
-when Sir Erasmus Wilson undertook the enormous cost of the removal. It
-has nothing to do with Cleopatra.
-
-Of the bridges over the River we have already dealt with the most
-famous—the remarkable old London Bridge which stood for so many
-centuries and only came to an end in 1832. Westminster Bridge, built in
-1750, was the first rival to the ancient structure, and though it was
-but a poor affair it made the City Council very dissatisfied with their
-possession. Nor was this surprising, for the old bridge had got into a
-very bad state, so that in 1756 the City Fathers decided to demolish
-all the buildings on the bridge, and to make a parapet and proper
-footwalks.
-
-Up to the time of King George II. there was at Westminster merely a
-jetty or landing-stage used in connection with the ferry that was used
-in place of the ancient ford; but during this King’s reign Westminster,
-and, shortly afterwards, Blackfriars Bridge, came into being. Battersea
-and Vauxhall, Waterloo (built two years after the battle), Southwark,
-Chelsea, and Lambeth followed in fairly rapid succession. Of these,
-Westminster, Blackfriars, Battersea, Vauxhall, and Southwark have
-already been rebuilt.
-
-Old Vauxhall Bridge was the first cast-iron bridge ever built;
-Wandsworth was the first lattice bridge; Waterloo Bridge the first ever
-made with a perfectly level roadway. Hungerford Bridge, which stretched
-where now that atrociously ugly iron structure, the Charing Cross
-Railway bridge, defiles the River, was originally designed by Brunel,
-the eminent engineer, to span the gorge over the Avon at Clifton,
-but it was eventually placed in position across the Thames. When the
-atrocity was built the suspension bridge was taken back to Clifton,
-where it now hangs like a spider’s web over the mighty gap in the hills.
-
-[Illustration: ST. PAUL’S FROM THE SOUTH END OF SOUTHWARK BRIDGE.]
-
-Until the close of the nineteenth century London Bridge enjoyed the
-distinction of being the lowest bridge on the River’s course; but in
-1894 the wonderful Tower Bridge was opened. This mighty structure,
-which was commenced in 1886, cost no less than £830,000. In its
-construction 235,000 cubic feet of granite and other stone, 20,000 tons
-of cement, 10,000 yards of concrete, 31,000,000 bricks, and 14,000 tons
-of steel were used. In its centre are two bascules, each weighing 1,200
-tons, which swing upwards to allow big ships to pass into the Pool.
-Although these enormous bascules, the largest in the world, weigh so
-much, they work by hydraulic force as smoothly and easily as a door
-opens and shuts.
-
-Of the buildings on the south side of the River practically none
-are worthy of notice save the Shot Tower—where lead-shot is made by
-dropping the molten metal from the top of the shaft—the new County
-Hall, and St. Thomas’s Hospital at Westminster. The County Hall is a
-splendid structure, one of the finest of its kind in the whole world.
-It possesses miles of corridors, hundreds of rooms, and what is more,
-a magnificent water frontage. The architect is Mr. Ralph Knott. St.
-Thomas’s Hospital, which stands close to it, is one of a number of
-excellent hospitals in various parts of London. When in 1539 the
-monasteries were closed, London was left without anything in the way
-of hospitals, or alms-houses, or schools; for the care of the sick,
-the infirm, and the young had always been the work of the monks and
-the nuns. In consequence, London suffered terribly. Matters became so
-extremely serious that the City Fathers approached the King with a
-view to the return of some of these institutions. Their petition was
-granted, and King Henry gave back St. Bartholomew’s, Christ’s Hospital,
-and the Bethlehem Hospital. Later King Edward VI. allowed the people
-to purchase St. Thomas’s Hospital—the hospital of the old Abbey of
-Bermondsey. When in 1871 the South-Eastern Railway Company purchased
-the ground on which the old structure stood, a new and more convenient
-building was erected on the Albert Embankment opposite the Houses of
-Parliament.
-
-As we stand once more on Westminster Bridge and see the two great
-places, one on each side, where our lawmakers sit—those of the Nation
-and those of the great City—our glance falls on the dirty water of
-old Father Thames slipping by; and we think to ourselves that great
-statesmen may spring to fame and then die and leave England the poorer,
-governments good and bad may rise and fall, changes of all sorts may
-happen within these two stately buildings, the very stones may crumble
-to dust, but still the River flows on—silent, irresistible.
-
-
-
-
-BOOK III
-
-THE UPPER RIVER
-
-
-[Illustration: THE CASTLE KEEP, OXFORD.]
-
-
-
-
-THE UPPER RIVER
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER ONE
-
-_Stripling Thames_
-
-
-Just where the Thames starts has always been a matter of argument, for
-several places have laid claim to the honour of holding the source of
-this great national possession.
-
-About three miles south-west of Cirencester, and quite close to that
-ancient and famous highway the Ackman Street (or Bath fosseway),
-there is a meadow known as Trewsbury Mead, lying in a low part of the
-western Cotswolds, just where Wiltshire and Gloucestershire meet; and
-in this is situated what is commonly known as “Thames Head”—a spring
-which in winter bubbles forth from a hollow, but which in summer is so
-completely dried by the action of the Thames Head Pump, which drains
-the water from this and all other springs in the neighbourhood, that
-the cradle of the infant Thames is usually bone-dry for a couple of
-miles or more of its course. This spot is usually recognized as the
-beginning of the River.
-
-[Illustration: THAMES HEAD.]
-
-If, however, we consider that the source of a river is the point at
-greatest distance from the mouth we shall have to look elsewhere;
-for the famous “Seven Streams” at the foot of Leckhampton Hill, from
-which comes the brook later known as the River Churn, can claim the
-distinction of being a few more miles from the North Sea; and this
-distinction has frequently been recognized as sufficient to grant the
-claim to be the true commencement.
-
-But the Churn has always been the Churn (indeed, the Romans named the
-neighbouring settlement from the stream—Churn-chester or Cirencester);
-and no one has ever thought of calling it the Thames. Whereas the
-stream beginning in Trewsbury Mead has from time immemorial been known
-as the Thames (Isis is only an alternative name, not greatly used in
-early days); and so the verdict of history seems to be on its side,
-whatever geography may have to say.
-
-Nevertheless it matters little which can most successfully support
-its claim. What does matter is that Churn, and Isis, and Leach, and
-Ray, and Windrush, and the various other feeders, give of their waters
-in sufficient quantity to ensure a considerable river later on. From
-the point of view of their usefulness both the main stream and the
-tributaries are negligible till we come to Lechlade, for only there
-does navigation and consequently trade begin. But if the stream is not
-very useful, it is exceedingly pretty, with quaint rustic bridges
-spanning its narrow channel, and fine old-world mills and mansions and
-cottages and numbers of ancient churches on its banks.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-Lechlade from the First Lock.]
-
-The first place of any size is the little town of Cricklade, which can
-even boast of two churches. Here the little brooks of infant Thames
-(or Isis) and Churn join forces, and yield quite a flowing stream. At
-Lechlade the rivulet is joined by the Colne, and its real life as a
-river commences. From now on to London there is a towing-path beside
-the river practically the whole of the way, for navigation by barges
-thus early becomes possible.
-
-From Lechlade onwards to Old Windsor, a matter of about a hundred
-miles, the upper Thames has on its right bank the county of Berkshire,
-with its beautiful Vale of the White Horse, remembered, of course,
-by all readers of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays.” On the left bank is
-Oxfordshire as far as Henley, and Buckinghamshire afterwards.
-
-In and out the “stripling Thames” winds its way, clear as crystal as
-it slips past green meadows and little copses. There is very little to
-note as we pass between Lechlade and Oxford, a matter of forty miles or
-so. Owing to the clay bed, not a town of any sort finds a place on or
-near the banks. Such villages as there are stand few and far between.
-
-Just past Lechlade there is Kelmscott, where William Morris dwelt for
-some time in the Manor House; and the village will always be famous
-for that. There in the old-world place he wrote the fine poems and
-tales which later he printed in some of the most beautiful books ever
-made, and there he thought out his beautiful designs for wall-papers,
-carpets, curtains, etc. He was a wonderful man, was William Morris, a
-day-dreamer who was not content with his dreams until they had taken
-actual shape.
-
-[Illustration: KELMSCOTT MANOR.]
-
-On we go past New Bridge, which is one of the oldest, if not the very
-oldest, of the many bridges which cross the River. Close at hand the
-Windrush joins forces, and the River swells and grows wider as it
-sweeps off to the north. Away on the hill on the Berkshire side is
-a little village known as Cumnor, which is not of any importance in
-itself, but which is interesting because there once stood the famous
-Cumnor Hall, where the beautiful Amy Robsart met with her untimely
-death, as possibly some of you have read in Sir Walter Scott’s novel
-“Kenilworth.” Receiving the Evenlode, the River bends south again,
-and a little later we pass Godstow Lock, not far from which are the
-ruins of Godstow Nunnery, where Fair Rosamund lived and was afterwards
-buried. Between Godstow and Oxford is a huge, flat piece of meadowland,
-known as Port Meadow: this during the War formed one of our most
-important flying-grounds.
-
-Henceforward the upper Thames is interrupted at fairly frequent
-intervals by those man-made contrivances known as _locks_—ingenious
-affairs which in recent years have taken the place of or rather
-supplemented the old-fashioned weirs. For any river which boasts of
-serious water traffic the chief difficulty, especially in summer-time,
-has always been that of holding back sufficient water to enable the
-boats to keep afloat. Naturally with a sloping bed the water runs
-rapidly seawards, and if the supply is not plentiful the river soon
-tends to become shallow or even dry. In very early days man noticed
-this, and, copying the beaver, he erected dams or weirs to hold
-back the water, and keep it at a reasonable depth. And down through
-the centuries until comparatively recent years these dams or weirs
-sufficed. As man progressed he fashioned his weirs with a number of
-“paddles” which lifted up and down to allow a boat to pass through.
-When the craft was moving downstream just one or two paddles were
-raised, and the boat shot through the narrow opening on the crest of
-the rapids thus formed; but when the boat was making its way upstream
-more paddles were raised so that the rush of water was not so great,
-and the boat was with difficulty hauled through the opening in face of
-the strong current. This very picturesque but primitive method lasted
-until comparatively recent years. Now the old paddle-locks have gone
-the way of all ancient and delightful things, and in their places we
-have the thoroughly effective “pound-locks”—affairs with double gates
-and a pool or dock in between—which in reality convert the river into
-a long series of water-terraces or steps, dropping lower and lower the
-nearer we approach the mouth.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TWO
-
-_Oxford_
-
-
-One hundred and twelve miles above London Bridge there is the second
-most celebrated city on the banks of the Thames—Oxford, the “city of
-spires,” as it has been called. By no means a big place, it is famous
-as the home of our oldest University.
-
-Seen from a distance, Oxford is a place of great beauty, especially
-when the meadows round about are flooded. Then it seems to rise from
-the water like some English Venice. Nor does the beauty grow less as
-we approach closer, or when we view the city from some other point.
-Always we see the delicate spires of the Cathedral and the churches,
-the beautiful towers of the various colleges, the great dome of the
-Radcliffe Camera, all of them nestling among glorious gardens and fine
-old trees.
-
-The question at once comes into our minds, Why is it that there is a
-famous city here? Why should such a place as this, right out in the
-country, away from what might be called the main arteries of the life
-of England, be one of the most important seats of learning?
-
-To understand this we must go back a long way, and we must ask
-ourselves the question, Why was there ever anything—even a village—here
-at all? If we think a little we shall see that in the early days, when
-there were not very many good roads, and when there were still fewer
-bridges, the most important spots along a river were the places where
-people could cross: that is to say, the fords. To these spots came
-the merchants with their waggons and their trains of pack-horses, the
-generals with their armies, the drovers with their cattle, the pilgrims
-with their staves. All and sundry, journeying from place to place, made
-for the fords, while the long stretches of river bank between these
-places were never visited and seldom heard of.
-
-Now, what made a ford? Shallow water, you say. Yes, that is true. But
-shallow water was not enough. It was necessary besides that the bed of
-the stream should be firm and hard, so that those who wished might
-find a safe crossing. And places where such a bottom could be found
-were few and far between along the course of the Thames. Practically
-everywhere it was soft clay in which the feet of the men and the
-animals and the wheels of the waggons sank deep if they tried to get
-from bank to bank.
-
-But, just at the point where the Thames bends southwards, just before
-the Cherwell flows into it, there is a stretch of gravel which in years
-gone by made an excellent ford and provided a suitable spot on which
-some sort of a settlement might grow.
-
-How old that settlement is no one knows. Legend tells us that a Mercian
-saint by the name of Frideswide, together with a dozen companions,
-founded a nunnery here somewhere about the year 700. Certainly the
-village is mentioned under the name of Oxenford (that is, the ford of
-the oxen) in the Saxon Chronicle, a book of ancient history written
-about a thousand years ago; and we know that Edward the Elder took
-possession of it, and, building a castle and walls, made a royal
-residence. So that it is a place of great antiquity.
-
-Another question that comes into our minds is this, When did Oxford
-become the great home of learning which it has so long been? Here
-again the truth is difficult to ascertain. Legend tells us that King
-Alfred founded the schools, but that is rather more than doubtful. We
-do know that during the twelfth century there was a great growth in
-learning. Right throughout Europe great schools sprang into existence,
-one of the most important being that in Paris. Thither went numbers of
-Englishmen to learn, and they, returning to their own land, founded
-schools in different parts, usually in connection with the monasteries
-and the cathedrals. Such a school was one which grew into being at St.
-Frideswide’s monastery at Oxford. Also King Henry I. (Beauclerc—the
-fine scholar—as he was called) built a palace at Oxford, and there he
-gathered together many learned men, and from that time people gradually
-began to flock to Oxford for education. They tramped weary miles
-through the forest, across the hills and dales, and so came to the
-little town, only to find it crowded out with countless others as poor
-as themselves; but they were not disheartened. There being no proper
-places for teaching, they gathered with their masters, also equally
-poor, wherever they could find a quiet spot, in a porch, or a loft, or
-a stable; and so the torch was handed on. Gradually lecture-rooms, or
-schools as they were called, and lodging-houses or halls, were built,
-and life became more bearable. Then in 1229 came an accident which yet
-further established Oxford in its position. This accident took the form
-of a riot in the streets of Paris, during the course of which several
-scholars of Paris University were killed by the city archers. Serious
-trouble between the University folk and the Provost of Paris came of
-this; and, in the end, there was a very great migration of students
-from Paris to Oxford; and, a few years after, England could boast of
-Oxford as a famous centre of learning.
-
-But it was not till the reign of Henry III. that a real college, as we
-understand it, came into being. Then, in the year 1264, one Walter
-de Merton gathered together in one house a number of students, and
-there they lived and were taught; and thus Merton, the oldest of the
-colleges, began. Others soon followed—Balliol, watched over by the
-royal Dervorguilla; University College, founded by William of Durham,
-who was one to come over after the Paris town and gown quarrel; New
-College; and so on, college after college, until now, as we wander
-about the streets of this charming old city, it seems almost as if
-every other building is a college. And magnificent buildings they
-are too, with their glorious towers and gateways, their beautiful
-stained-glass windows, their panelled walls. To wander round the city
-of Oxford is to step back seemingly into a forgotten age, so worn and
-ancient-looking are these piles of masonry. Modern clothes seem utterly
-out of place in such an antique spot.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-MAGDALEN TOWER _from the_ BRIDGE.]
-
-Different folk, of course, will regard different colleges as holding
-pride of place; but, I am sure, all will agree that one of the finest
-is Magdalen College, a beautiful building standing amid cool, green
-meadows. Very fine indeed is the great tower, built in 1492, from the
-top of which every May morning the College choir sings a glad hymn of
-praise; and very fine too are the cloisters below, and the lovely leafy
-walks in whose shade many famous men have walked in their youthful days.
-
-If we grant to Magdalen its claim to be the most beautiful of the
-colleges, we must undoubtedly recognize Christ Church as the most
-magnificent. We shall see something of the splendour of Cardinal
-Wolsey’s ideas with regard to building when we talk about his palace
-at Hampton Court, and we need feel no surprise at the grandeur of
-Christ Church. Unfortunately, Wolsey’s ideas were never carried out:
-his fall from favour put an end to the work when but three sides of the
-Great Quadrangle had been completed; and then for just on a century
-the fabric stood in its unfinished state—a monument to o’erleaping
-ambition. Nevertheless it was completed, and though it is not all that
-Wolsey intended it to be, it is still one of the glories of the city.
-Built round about the old Cathedral, it stands upon the site of the
-ancient St. Frideswide’s priory.
-
-The famous “Tom Tower” which stands in the centre of the front of the
-building was not a part of the original idea: it was added in 1682
-by Dr. Fell, according to the design of Sir Christopher Wren, the
-architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral. “Tom Tower” is so called because of
-its great bell, brought from Osney Abbey. “Great Tom,” which weighs no
-less than six tons, peals forth each night at nine o’clock a hundred
-and one strokes, and by the time of the last stroke all the College
-gates are supposed to be shut and all the undergraduates safely within
-the College buildings.
-
-The most wonderful possession of Christ Church is its glorious “Early
-English” hall, in which the members of the College dine daily: 115 feet
-long, 40 feet broad, and 50 feet high, it is unrivalled in all England,
-with perhaps the exception of Westminster Hall. Here at the tables have
-sat many of England’s most famous men—courtiers, writers, politicians,
-soldiers, artists—and the portraits of a number of them, painted by
-famous painters, look down from the ancient walls.
-
-But these are only two of the colleges. At every turn some other
-architectural beauty, some dream in stone, discloses itself, for the
-colleges are dotted about all over the centre of the town, and at every
-other corner there is some spot of great interest. To describe them all
-briefly would more than fill the pages of this book.
-
-Nor are colleges the only delightful buildings in this city of
-beautiful places. There is the famous Sheldonian Theatre, built from
-Wren’s plans: this follows the model of an ancient Roman theatre,
-and will seat four thousand people. There is the celebrated Bodleian
-Library, founded as early as 1602, and containing a rich collection of
-rare Eastern and Greek and Latin books and manuscripts. The Bodleian,
-like the British Museum, has the right to call for a copy of every book
-published in the United Kingdom.
-
-But Oxford has known a life other than that of a university town:
-it has been in its time a military centre of some importance. As we
-sweep round northwards in the train from London, just before we enter
-the city, the great square tower of the Castle stands out, one of the
-most prominent objects in the town. And it is really one of the most
-interesting too, though few find time to visit it. So absorbed are most
-folk in the churches and chapels, the libraries and college halls, with
-their exquisite carvings and ornamentations and their lovely gardens,
-that they forget this frowning relic of the Conqueror’s day—the most
-lasting monument of the city. Built in 1071 by Robert d’Oilly, boon
-companion of the Conqueror, it has stood the test of time through all
-these centuries. Like Windsor, that other Norman stronghold, it has
-seen little enough of actual fighting: in Oxford the pen has nearly
-always been mightier than the sword.
-
-One brief episode of war it had when Stephen shut up his cousin, the
-Empress Maud, within its walls in the autumn of 1142. Then Oxford
-tasted siege if not assault, and the castle was locked up for three
-months. However, the River and the weather contrived to save Maud,
-for, just as provisions were giving out and surrender was only a
-matter of days, there came a severe frost and the waters were thickly
-covered. Then it was that the Empress with but two or three white-clad
-attendants escaped across the ice and made her way to Wallingford,
-while her opponents closely guarded the roads and bridges.
-
-Nor in our consideration of the glories of this beloved old city must
-we forget the River—for no one in the place forgets it. Perhaps we
-should not speak of _the_ River, for Oxford is the fortunate possessor
-of two, standing as it does in the fork created by the flowing together
-of the Thames and the Cherwell. The Thames, as we have already
-seen, flows thither from the west, while the Cherwell makes its way
-southwards from Edgehill; and, though we are accustomed to think of
-the Thames as the main stream, the geologists, whose business it is to
-make a close study of the earth’s surface, tell us that the Cherwell
-is in reality the more important of the two; that down its valley in
-the far-away past flowed a great river which with the Kennet was the
-ancestor of the present-day River; that the tributary Thames has grown
-so much that it has been able to capture and take over as its own
-the valley of the Cherwell from Oxford onwards to Reading. But that,
-of course, is a story of the very dim past, long before the days of
-history.
-
-The Cherwell is a very pretty little stream, shaded by overhanging
-willows and other trees, so that it is usually the haunt of pleasure,
-the place where the undergraduate takes his own or somebody else’s
-sister for an afternoon’s excursion, or where he makes his craft fast
-in the shade in order that he may enjoy an afternoon’s quiet reading.
-A walk through the meadows on its banks is, indeed, something very
-pleasant, with the stream on one side of us and that most beautiful of
-colleges, Magdalen, on the other. Here as we proceed down the famous
-avenue of pollard willows, winding between two branches of the stream,
-we can hear almost continuously the singing of innumerable birds, for
-the Oxford gardens and meadows form a veritable sanctuary in which live
-feathered friends of every sort.
-
-But the Thames (or Isis as it is invariably called in Oxford) is the
-place of more serious matters. To the rowing man “the River” means
-only one thing, and really only a very short space of that: he is
-accustomed to speak of “the River” and “the Cher,” and with him the
-latter does not count at all. Everybody in the valley, certainly every
-boy and girl, knows about the Oxford and Cambridge Boatrace, which is
-held annually on the Thames at Putney, when two selected crews from the
-rival universities race each other over a distance. Probably quite a
-few of us have witnessed the exciting event. Well, “Boatrace Day” is
-merely the final act of a long drama, nearly all the scenes of which
-take place, not at Putney, but on the river at the University town.
-For the Varsity “eight” are only chosen from the various college crews
-after long months of arduous preparation. Each of the colleges has its
-own rowing club, and the college crews race against each other in the
-summer term. A fine sight it is, too, to see the long thin “eights”
-passing at a great pace in front of the beautifully decorated “Barges,”
-which are to the college rowing clubs what pavilions are to the cricket
-clubs.
-
-These “barges,” which stretch along the river front for some
-considerable distance, resemble nothing so much as the magnificent
-houseboats which we see lower down the river at Henley, Maidenhead,
-Molesey, etc. They are fitted up inside with bathrooms and
-dressing-rooms, and comfortable lounges and reading-rooms, while their
-flat tops are utilised by the rowing men for sitting at ease and
-chatting to their friends. Each college has its own “barge,” and it is
-a point of honour to make it and keep it a credit to the college. The
-long string of “barges” form a very beautiful picture, particularly
-when the river is quiet, and the finely decorated vessels with their
-background of green trees are reflected in the smooth waters.
-
-May is the great time for the River at Oxford, for then are held the
-races of the senior “crews” or “eights.” Then for a week the place,
-both shore and stream, is gay with pretty dresses and merry laughter,
-for mothers and sisters, cousins and friends, flock to Oxford in their
-hundreds to see the fun. But to the rowing man it is a time of hard
-work—with more in prospect if he is lucky; for, just as the “eights” of
-this week have been selected from the crews of the February “torpids”
-or junior races, so from those doing well during “eights week” may be
-chosen the University crew—the “blues.”
-
-Many have been the voices which have sung the praises of the “city of
-spires,” for many have loved her. None more so perhaps than Matthew
-Arnold, whose poem “The Scholar Gypsy”—the tale of a University lad
-who was by poverty forced to leave his studies and join himself to a
-company of vagabond gipsies, from whom he gained a knowledge beyond
-that of the scholars—is so well known. Says Arnold of the city: “And
-yet as she lies, spreading her gardens to the moonlight, and whispering
-from her towers the last enchantments of the Middle Ages, who will
-deny that Oxford, by her ineffable charm, keeps ever calling us nearer
-to the true goal of all of us, to the ideal, to perfection—to beauty,
-in a word?”
-
-There are many interesting places within walking distance of Oxford,
-but perhaps few more delightful to the eye than old Iffley Church. This
-ancient building with its fine old Norman tower is a landmark of the
-countryside and well deserves the attention given to it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER THREE
-
-_Abingdon, Wallingford, and the Goring Gap_
-
-
-Between Oxford and Reading lies a land of shadows—a district dotted
-with towns which have shrunk to a mere vestige of their former
-greatness. To mention three names only—Abingdon, Dorchester, and
-Wallingford—is to conjure up a picture of departed glory.
-
-[Illustration: ABINGDON.]
-
-At Abingdon, centuries ago, was one of those great abbeys which
-stretched in a chain eastwards, and helped to ensure the prosperity
-of the valley; and the town sprang up and prospered, as was so often
-the case, under the shadow of the great ecclesiastical foundation.
-Unfortunately the monks and the citizens were constantly at
-loggerheads. The wealthy dwellers in the abbey, where the Conqueror’s
-own son, Henry Beauclerc, had been educated, and where the greatest
-in the land were wont to come, did not approve of tradesmen and
-other common folk congregating so near the sacred edifice. Thus in
-1327 the proud mitred Abbot refused to allow the citizens to hold a
-market in the town, and a riot ensued, in which the folk of Abingdon
-were backed up by the Mayor of Oxford and a considerable crowd of the
-University students. A great part of the Abbey was burned down, many
-of its records were destroyed, and the monks were driven out. But
-the tradesmen’s triumph was short-lived, for the Abbot returned with
-powerful support, and certain of the ringleaders were hanged for their
-share in the disturbance.
-
-However, the town grew despite the frowns of the Church, and it soon
-became a considerable centre for the cloth trade. Not only did it
-make cloth itself, but much of the traffic which there was between
-London and the western cloth-towns—Gloucester, Stroud, Cirencester,
-etc.—passed through Abingdon, particularly when its bridge had been
-built by John Huchyns and Geoffrey Barbur in 1416.
-
-When, in 1538, the abbey was suppressed, the townsfolk rejoiced at
-the downfall of the rich and arrogant monks, and sought pleasure and
-revenge in the destruction of the former home of their enemies. So that
-in these days there is not a great deal remaining of the ancient fabric.
-
-A few miles below Abingdon is Dorchester (not to be confused with the
-Dorset town of the same name), not exactly on the River, but about a
-mile up the tributary river, the Thame, which here comes wandering
-through the meadows to join the main stream. Like Abingdon, Dorchester
-has had its day, but its abbey church remains, built on the site of the
-ancient and extremely important Saxon cathedral; and, one must confess,
-it seems strangely out of place in such a sleepy little village.
-
-Wallingford, even more than these, has lost its ancient prestige,
-for it was through several centuries a great stronghold and a royal
-residence. We have only to look at the map of the Thames Valley, and
-note how the various roads converge on this particularly useful ford,
-to see immediately Wallingford’s importance from a military and a
-commercial point of view. A powerful castle to guard such a valuable
-key to the midlands, or the south-west, was inevitable.
-
-William the Conqueror, passing that way in order that he might discover
-a suitable crossing, and so get round to the north of London (p. 143),
-was shown the ford by one Wygod, the ruling thane of the district; and
-naturally William realized at once the possibilities of the place. A
-powerful castle soon arose in place of the old earthworks, and this
-castle lasted on till the Civil War, figuring frequently in the many
-struggles that occurred during the next three or four hundred years.
-
-It played an important part in that prolonged and bitter struggle
-between Stephen and the Empress Maud, and suffered a very long siege.
-Again, in 1646, at the time of the Civil War, it was beset for
-sixty-five days by the Parliamentary armies; and, after a gallant stand
-by the Royalist garrison, was practically destroyed by Fairfax, who saw
-fit to blow it up. So that now very little stands: just a few crumbling
-walls and one window incorporated in the fabric of a private residence.
-
-Between Wallingford and Reading lies what is, from the geographical
-point of view, one of the most interesting places in the whole length
-of the Thames Valley—Goring Gap.
-
-You will see from a contour map that the Thames Basin, generally
-speaking, is a hill-encircled valley with gently undulating ground,
-except in the one place where the Marlborough-Chiltern range of chalk
-hills sweep right across the valley.
-
-By the time the River reaches Goring Gap it has fallen from a height
-of about six hundred feet above sea-level to a height of about one
-hundred feet above sea-level; and there rises from the river on each
-side a steep slope four or five hundred feet high—Streatley Hill on the
-Berkshire side and Goring Heath on the Oxfordshire side.
-
-The question arises, Why should these two ranges of hills, the
-Marlborough Downs and the Chiltern Hills, meet just at this point? Is
-it simply an accident of geography that their two ends stand exactly
-face to face on opposite sides of the Thames?
-
-Now the geologists tell us that it is no coincidence. They have studied
-the strata—that is, the different layers of the materials forming the
-hills—and they find that the strata of the range on the Berkshire side
-compare exactly with the strata of the other; so that at some remote
-period the two must have been joined to form one unbroken range. How
-then did the gap come? Was it due to a cracking of the hill—a double
-crack with the earth slipping down in between, as has sometimes
-happened in the past? Here again the geologists tells us, No. Moreover
-they tell us that undoubtedly the River has _cut its way_ right through
-the chalk hills.
-
-“But how can that be possible?” someone says. “Here we have the Thames
-down in a low-lying plain on the north-west side of the hills, and
-down in the valley on the south-east side. How could a river flowing
-across a plain get up to the heights to commence the wearing away at
-the tops?” Here again the geologists must come to our aid. They tell us
-that back in that dim past, so interesting to picture yet so difficult
-to grasp, when the ancient, mighty River flowed (see Book I., Intro.),
-the chalk-lands extended from the Chilterns westwards, that there was
-no valley where now Oxford, Abingdon, and Lechlade lie, but that the
-River flowed across the top of a tableland of chalk from its sources
-in the higher grounds of the west to the brink at or near the eastern
-slope of the Chilterns; and that from this lofty position the River
-was able to wear its way down, and so make a =V=-shaped cutting in
-the end of the tableland. Afterwards there came an alteration in the
-surface. Some tremendous internal movement caused the land gradually
-to fold up, as it were; so that the tableland sagged down in the
-middle, leaving the Marlborough-Chiltern hills on the one side and
-the Cotswold-Edgehill range on the other, with the Oxford valley in
-between. But by this time the =V=-shaped gap had been cut sufficiently
-low to allow the River to flow through the hills, and to go on cutting
-its way still lower and lower.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FOUR
-
-_Reading_
-
-
-Reading is without doubt the most disappointing town in the whole of
-the Thames Valley. It has had such a full share of history, far more
-than other equally famous towns; has been favoured by the reigning
-monarch of the land through many centuries; has taken sides in internal
-strife and felt the tide of war surging round its gates; it has counted
-for so much in the life of England that one feels almost a sense of
-loss in finding it just a commonplace manufacturing town, with not a
-semblance of any of its former glory.
-
-Like many other towns in England, it sprang up round a religious
-house—one of the string of important abbeys which stretched from
-Abingdon to Westminster. But before that it had been recognized as an
-important position.
-
-We have seen that Oxford, Wallingford, and other places came into
-existence by reason of their important fords across the River. Reading
-arose into being because the long and narrow peninsula formed by the
-junction of the Kennet with the Thames was such a splendid spot for
-defensive purposes that right from early days there had been some sort
-of a stronghold there.
-
-Here in this very safe place, then, the Conqueror’s son established his
-great foundation, the Cluniac Abbey of Reading, for the support of two
-hundred monks and for the refreshment of travellers. It was granted
-ample revenues, and given many valuable privileges, among them that
-of coining money. Its Abbot was a mitred Abbot, and had the right to
-sit with the lords spiritual in Parliament. From its very foundation
-it prospered, rising rapidly into a position of eminence; and, like
-the other abbeys, it did much towards the growth of the agricultural
-prosperity of the valley, encouraging the countryfolk to drain and
-cultivate their lands properly.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-The Gatehouse Reading Abbey]
-
-Though we first hear of it as a fortified place, and though at
-different times in history it felt the shock of war, Reading was never
-an important military centre, for the simple reason that it did
-not guard a main road across or beside the River. Consequently the
-interruptions in its steady progress were few and far between, and the
-place was left to develop its civilian and religious strength. This
-it did so well that during the four hundred years of the life of the
-Abbey it always counted for much with the Sovereigns, who went there
-to be entertained, and even in time of pestilence brought thither
-their parliaments, whose bodies were in the end buried there. By the
-thirteenth century the Abbey had risen to such a position that only
-Westminster could vie with it in wealth and magnificence.
-
-And now what remains of it all? Almost nothing. There is what is
-called the old Abbey gateway, but it is merely a reconstruction with
-some of the ancient materials. In the Forbury Gardens lie all that
-is left, just one or two ivy-grown fragments of massive masonry,
-outlining perhaps the Chapter House, in which the parliaments were
-held, and the great Abbey Church, dedicated to St. Thomas Becket, where
-were the royal tombs and where in 1339 John of Gaunt was married.
-For the rest, the ruins have served all and sundry as a quarry for
-ready-prepared building stone during several centuries. Much of it was
-used to make St. Mary’s Church and the Hospital of the Poor Knights of
-Windsor; while still more was commandeered by General Conway for the
-construction of the bridge between Henley and Wargrave.
-
-How did the Abbey come to such a state of dilapidation? Largely as
-a result of the Civil War. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539, and the
-Abbot actually hung, drawn, and quartered, because of his defiance. The
-royal tombs, where were buried Henry I., the Empress Maud, and others,
-were destroyed and the bones scattered; and from that time onwards
-things went from bad to worse. Henry VII. converted parts of it into
-a palace for himself and used it for a time, but in Elizabethan days
-it had got into such a very bad state that the Queen, who stayed there
-half-a-dozen times, gave permission for the rotting timbers and many
-cartloads of stone to be removed. But it remained a dwelling till the
-eventual destruction during the Rebellion.
-
-During the war which proved so disastrous for the great Abbey, Reading
-was decidedly Royalist, but the fortunes of war brought several changes
-for it. It withstood for some time during 1643 a severe siege by the
-Earl of Essex, and, just as relief was at hand, it surrendered. Then
-Royalists and Parliamentarians in turn held the town; and naturally
-with these changes and the fighting involved the place suffered
-greatly, especially the outstanding building, the Abbey. St. Giles’
-Church, which escaped destruction, still bears the marks of the
-bombardment.
-
-But the town refused to die with the Abbey. The Abbey had done much
-to establish and vitalize the town. In its encouragement of the
-agriculture of the districts it had created the necessity for a central
-market-town, and Reading had grown and flourished accordingly. Thus,
-when the Abbey came to an end, the town was so firmly established that
-it was enabled to live on and prosper exceedingly.
-
-Now Reading passes its days independent, almost unconscious, of the
-past, with its glory and its tragedy. Nor does the River any more
-enter into its calculations. To Reading has come the railway; and the
-railway has made the modern town what it is—an increasingly important
-manufacturing town and railway junction, and a ready centre for the
-rich agricultural land round about it; a hive of industry, with
-foundries, workshops, big commercial buildings, and a University
-College; with churches, chapels, picture-palaces, and fast-moving
-electric-tramcars, clanging their way along streets thronged with busy,
-hurrying people—in short, a typical, clean, modern industrial town,
-with nothing very attractive about it, but on the other hand nothing to
-repel or disgust.
-
-Reading’s most famous industries are biscuit-making and seed-growing.
-Messrs. Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, in the making of which four or
-five thousand people are employed, are known the world over; and so
-are Messrs. Sutton’s seeds, grown in, and advertised by, many acres of
-beautiful gardens.
-
-The Kennet, on which the town really stands, is a river which has lost
-its ancient power, for the geologists tell us that along its valley the
-real mighty river once ran, receiving the considerable Cherwell-Thames
-tributary at this point. Now, whereas the tributary has grown in
-importance if not in size, the main stream has shrunk to such an
-enormous extent that the tributary has become the river, and the river
-the tributary. Of course, passing through Reading the little river
-loses its beauty, but the Kennet which comes down from the western end
-of the Marlborough Downs and flows through the Berkshire meadows is a
-delightful little stream.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER FIVE
-
-_Holiday Thames—Henley to Maidenhead_
-
-
-The western half of that portion of the River which has for its bank
-the county of Buckinghamshire might well be spoken of as “holiday
-Thames,” for it is on this lovely stretch that a great part of the more
-important river pleasure-making is done. Certainly we get boating at
-Richmond, Kingston, Molesey, etc., nearer the metropolis, but it is of
-the Saturday or Sunday afternoon sort, where Londoners, weary from the
-week’s labours, find rest and solace in a few brief hours of leisurely
-punting or rowing. But, between Maidenhead and Henley, at places like
-Sonning, Pangbourne, and Cookham, folk live on or by the River, either
-in houseboats or waterside cottages, and the River is not just a
-diversion, but is for the time being the all-important thing.
-
-[Illustration: SONNING.]
-
-Nor is this difficult to understand, for the River here is
-extraordinarily beautiful—a place to linger in and dream away the
-hours. Henley, which commences the stretch, lies just within the
-borders of Oxfordshire, and here is celebrated what is, next to the
-Boatrace at Putney, the most famous of all Thames festivals—for Henley
-Regatta draws rowing men (and women) from all parts, and crews come
-from both the Old World and the New to compete in the open races. The
-River then is almost covered with craft of all sorts moored closely
-together, with just a narrow water-lane down the centre for the passage
-of the competing boats; and the bright dresses and gay parasols of the
-ladies, with the background of green trees, all reflected in the water,
-make a brilliant and pleasing spectacle.
-
-[Illustration: HENLEY.]
-
-A few miles below Henley is Great Marlow, a clean and compact little
-riverside town, whose chief interest lies, perhaps, in the fact that
-here the poet Shelley lived for a time, writing some of his wonderful
-poems. Shelley spent much of his time on the River, and learned to love
-it very much, so that in after years we find him writing from Italy:
-“My thoughts for ever cling to Windsor Forest and the copses of Marlow.”
-
-The seven miles between Marlow and Maidenhead contain the most glorious
-scenery in the whole valley, for the River here for a considerable
-distance flows between gently rising hills whose slopes are richly
-wooded, the trees in many places coming right down to the water’s
-edge. Alike in spring, when the fresh young green is spreading over
-the hillsides, and in autumn, when the woods are afire with every
-tint of gold and brown, the Cliveden Woods and the Quarry Woods of
-Marlow, with their mirrored reflections in the placid waters below,
-are indescribably beautiful. Above the woods, high on the Buckingham
-bank, stands Cliveden House, magnificently situated. In the old mansion
-which formerly stood on the spot was first performed Thomson’s masque
-“Alfred.” This is very interesting, for the masque contained “Rule,
-Britannia,” composed by Dr. Arne; so here the tune was sung in public
-for the first time.
-
-At various spots along the stretch we can see quite clearly the
-terraces which indicate the alteration in the position of the
-river-bed. High up towards the tops, sometimes actually at the tops of
-the hillsides, are the shallow, widespread gravel beds which show where
-in the dim past the original great Thames flowed (see Book I., Intro.).
-Then lower down come other terraces, with more gravel beds, to show a
-second position of the River, when, after centuries, it had cut its way
-lower and diminished in volume. Thus:
-
-[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF THE THAMES VALLEY TERRACES.]
-
-Well-marked terraces can be found on the Berkshire side of the River
-between Maidenhead and Cookham, also at Remenham not far from Henley.
-They are visible on both sides of the River at Reading. Above Reading
-similar terraces, with their beds of river gravel, may be seen at
-Culham and Cholsey, between Radley and Abingdon, and also at Oxford.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SIX
-
-_Windsor_
-
-
-Windsor Castle, seen from the River at Clewer as we make our way
-downstream, provides us with one of the most magnificent views in the
-whole valley. Standing there, high on its solitary chalk hill, with
-the glowing red roofs of the town beneath and the rich green of the
-numerous trees clustering all round its base, the whole bathed in
-summer sunshine, it is a superb illustration of what a castle should
-be—ever-present, magnificent, defiant.
-
-Yet, despite its wonderful situation, the finest without doubt in all
-the south of England, Windsor has had little or no history, has rarely
-beaten off marauding foes, and seldom taken any part in great national
-struggles. Built for a fortress, it has been through the centuries
-nothing more than a palace.
-
-Erected by the builder of the Tower, William of Normandy, and
-probably for the same purpose, it has passed in many ways through a
-parallel existence, has been just what the Tower has been—an intended
-stronghold, a prison, and a royal residence. Yet, whereas the Tower
-has been intimately bound up with the life of England through many
-centuries, Windsor has, with just one or two brief exceptions, been
-a thing apart, something living its life in the quiet backwaters of
-history.
-
-[Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.]
-
-The Windsor district was always a favourite one with the rulers of the
-land even before the existence of the Castle. Tradition speaks of a
-hunting lodge, deep in the glades of the Old Windsor Forest, close by
-the river, as belonging to the redoubtable King Arthur, and declares
-that here he and his Knights of the Round Table stayed when they
-hunted in the greenwood or sallied forth on those quests of adventure
-with which we are all familiar. What is more certain, owing to the
-bringing to light of actual remains, is that Old Windsor was a Roman
-station. Certainly it was a favourite haunt of the Saxon kings, who in
-all probability had a palace of some sort there, close to the Roman
-road which passed by way of Staines to the camp at Silchester; and
-its value must have been thoroughly recognized. Edward the Confessor
-in particular was especially fond of the place, and when he founded
-and suitably endowed his wonderful Abbey at Westminster he included
-“Windsor and Staines and all that thereto belongs” among his valuable
-grants to the foundation over which his friend Edwin presided.
-
-In those days the Castle Hill was not even named. True, its
-possibilities as a strategic point were recognized, by Harold if by no
-other, for we read in the ancient records that Harold held on that spot
-four-and-a-half hides of land for defensive purposes.
-
-But it remained for William the Conqueror, that splendid soldier and
-mighty hunter, to recognize the double possibilities of Windsor.
-Naturally, following his victory, he made himself familiar with
-Harold’s possessions, and, coming shortly to Windsor, saw therein the
-means of gratifying two of his main interests. He inspected the ancient
-Saxon royal dwelling and saw at once its suitability as a retiring
-place for the King, surrounded by the great forest and quite close to
-that most convenient of highways, the River. And at the same time,
-warrior as he was, he understood the value of the little chalk hill
-which stood out from the encompassing clay.
-
-Certainly it belonged to the Abbey as a “perpetual inheritance,” but
-to such as William that was not likely to matter much. All England was
-his: he could offer what he liked. So he chose for exchange two fat
-manors in Essex—Wokendune and Feringes—fine, prosperous agricultural
-places, totally different from the unproductive wastelands of Windsor
-Hill; and the Abbot, wise man that he was, jumped at the exchange. Thus
-the Church was satisfied, no violence was done, and William secured
-both the Forest and the magnificent little hill commanding then, as it
-does now, many miles of the Thames Valley.
-
-Why did he want it? For two reasons. In the first place, he wanted an
-impregnable fortress within striking distance of London. True, under
-his orders Gundulf had built the Tower, frowning down on the city of
-London; but a fortress which is almost a part of the city, even though
-it be built with the one idea of striking awe into the citizens, is
-really too close at hand to be secure. A fortress slightly aloof,
-and therefore not quite so liable to sudden surprise, yet within a
-threatening distance, had vastly greater possibilities.
-
-William’s other great passion was “the chase.” Listen to what the
-ancient chronicler said about him: “He made many deer-parks; and he
-established laws therewith; so that whosoever slew a hart or a hind
-should be deprived of his eyesight. He loved the tall deer as if he
-were their father. Hares he decreed should go free. His rich men
-bemoaned it; and the poor men shuddered at it. But he was so stern,
-that he recked not the hatred of them all; for they must follow withal
-the King’s will if they would live, or have land, or possessions, or
-even his peace.” For this the surrounding forests rendered the position
-of Windsor a delightful one.
-
-Thus came into existence the Norman Keep of Windsor Hill, and beneath
-it shortly after the little settlement of New Windsor. When Domesday
-Book was prepared the little place had reached the number of one
-hundred houses, and thenceforward its progress was steady. By the time
-of Edward I. it had developed to such an extent that it was granted a
-charter—which document may still be seen in the Bodleian Library at
-Oxford.
-
-With the Kings that came after the Conqueror Windsor soon became a
-favourite residence. Henry I., marrying a Saxon Princess, Edith, niece
-of the Confessor, lived there and built a fine dwelling-place with a
-Chapel dedicated to the Confessor and a wall surrounding everything.
-
-During the reign of John, Windsor was besieged on more than one
-occasion, and it was from its fastness that the most wretched King
-who ever ruled—or misruled—England crept out to meet the Barons near
-Runnymede, just over the Surrey border.
-
-Henry III., finding the old fabric seriously damaged by the sieges,
-determined to rebuild on a grander scale, and he restored the walls,
-raised the first Round Tower, the Lower and Middle Wards, and a Chapel;
-but, save one or two fragments, all these have perished.
-
-However, it is to Edward of Windsor—the third King of that name—that we
-must look as the real founder of the Windsor of to-day. He rebuilt the
-Chapel and practically all the structures of Henry III., and added the
-Upper Ward.
-
-In connection with this last a very interesting story is told. Edward
-had on the spot two very distinguished prisoners—King David of
-Scotland and King John of France—rather more like unwilling guests
-than prisoners, since they had plenty of liberty and shared in the
-amusements of the Court. One day the two were strolling with Edward in
-the Lower Ward, taking stock of the new erections, when King John made
-some such remark as this: “Your Grace’s castle would be better on the
-higher ground up yonder. You yourself would be able to see more, and
-the castle would be visible a greater way off.” In which opinion he was
-backed by the King of Scotland. Edward’s reply must have surprised the
-pair of them, for he said: “It shall be as you say. I will enlarge the
-Castle by adding another ward, and your ransoms shall pay the bill.”
-But Edward’s threat was never carried out. King David’s ransom was paid
-in 1337, but it only amounted to 100,000 marks; while that of King
-John, a matter of a million and a half of our money, was never paid,
-and John returned to England to die in the year 1363 in the Palace of
-the Savoy.
-
-In the building of Windsor, Edward had for his architect, or
-superintendent, a very famous man, William Wykeham, the founder and
-builder of Winchester School and New College, Oxford. Wykeham’s salary
-was fixed at one shilling a day while at Windsor, and two shillings
-while travelling on business connected with the Castle. Wykeham’s chief
-work was the erection of the Great Quadrangle, a task which took him
-ten years to complete. While there at work, he had a stone engraved
-with the Latin words, _Hoc fecit Wykeham_, which translated means
-“Wykeham made this.” Edward was enraged when he saw this inscription,
-for he wanted no man to share with him the glory of rebuilding Windsor;
-and he called his servant to account for his unwise action. Wykeham’s
-reply was very ingenious, for he declared that he had meant the motto
-to read: “This made Wykeham” (for the words can be translated thus).
-The ready answer appeased the King’s wrath.
-
-The method by which the building was done was that of forced labour—a
-mild form of slavery. Edward, instead of engaging workmen in the
-ordinary way, demanded from each county in England so many masons, so
-many carpenters, so many tilers, after the fashion of the feudal method
-of obtaining an army. There were 360 of them, and they did not all come
-willingly, for certain of them were thrown into prison in London for
-running away. Slowly the work proceeded, but in 1361 the plague carried
-off many of the craftsmen, and new demands were made on Yorkshire,
-Shropshire, and Devon, to provide sixty more stone-workers each. When
-at length the structure was completed in 1369, it included most of the
-best parts of Windsor Castle—the Great Quadrangle, the Round Tower,
-St. George’s Hall and Chapel, and the outer walls with their gates and
-turrets.
-
-The Chapel was repaired later on, under the direction of another
-distinguished Englishman, Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English
-poetry, who for over a year was “master of the King’s works” at
-Windsor. In 1473 the Chapel had become so dilapidated that it was
-necessary to pull it down, and Edward IV. erected in its place an
-exceedingly beautiful St. George’s Chapel, as an act of atonement for
-all the shed blood through which he had wallowed his way to the throne.
-
-Queen Elizabeth was very fond indeed of Windsor, and frequently came
-thither in her great barge. She built a banqueting hall and a gallery,
-and formed the fine terrace which bears her name. This terrace, on the
-north side, above the steep, tree-planted scarp which falls away to
-the river valley, is an ideal place. Behind rise the State Apartments:
-in front stretches a magnificent panorama across Eton and the plain.
-On this terrace the two Charleses loved to stroll; and George III. was
-accustomed to walk every day with his family, just an ordinary country
-gentleman rubbing shoulders with his neighbours.
-
-It is a wonderful place, is Windsor Castle—very impressive and in
-places very beautiful; but there is so much to write about that one
-scarcely knows where to begin. Going up Castle Hill, we turn sharp to
-the left, and, passing through the Gateway of Henry VIII., we are in
-the Lower Ward, with St. George’s Chapel facing us in all its beauty.
-
-This fine perpendicular Chapel is, indeed, worthy of the illustrious
-order, the Knights of the Garter, for whom it is a place both of
-worship and of ceremonial.
-
-The Order of the Knights of the Garter was founded by Edward III. in
-the year 1349, and there were great doings at Windsor on the appointed
-day—St. George’s Day. Splendid pageants, grand tournaments, and
-magnificent feasts, with knights in bright armour and their ladies in
-the gayest of colours, were by no means uncommon in those days; but on
-this occasion the spectacle was without parallel for brilliance, for
-Edward had summoned to the great tournament all the bravest and most
-famous knights in Christendom, and all had come save those of Spain,
-forbidden by their suspicious King. From their number twenty-six were
-chosen to found the Order, with the King at their head.
-
-St. George’s Chapel has some very beautiful stained-glass windows,
-some fine tracery in its roof, and a number of very interesting
-monuments. The carved stalls in the choir, with the banners of the
-knights drooping overhead, remind us certainly of the Henry VII.
-Chapel at Westminster. Within the Chapel walls have been enacted some
-wonderful scenes—scenes pleasing, and scenes memorable for their
-sorrow. Here have been brought, at the close of their busy lives, many
-of England’s sovereigns, and here some of them—Henry VI. and Edward IV.
-among them—rest from their labours. Queen Victoria, who loved Windsor,
-lies with her husband in the Royal Tomb at Frogmore, not far away.
-
-The Round Tower, which stands practically in the centre of the
-clustered buildings and surmounts everything, is always one of the most
-interesting places. From its battlements may be seen on a clear day no
-less than twelve counties. We can trace the River for miles and miles
-as it comes winding down the valley from Clewer and Boveney, to pass
-away into the distance where we can just faintly discern the dome of
-St. Paul’s.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER SEVEN
-
-_Eton College_
-
-
-Standing on the north terrace, or on the hundred steps which ascend
-from Thames Street, with behind us the fabric which William Wykeham did
-so much to fashion, we gaze out to yet another place which Wykeham made
-possible—the famous College of Eton.
-
-True, he had nothing whatever to do with the building of Eton itself,
-but he founded Winchester School, which is commonly spoken of as
-England’s oldest public school; and this served the boy-king, Henry
-VI., as a model for his new foundation, so that Eton is in many
-respects, both as regards buildings and management, a copy of the older
-place.
-
-The first charter is dated 1441. Henry was then only nineteen years
-old, yet he says that “from the very foundation of his riper age” he
-dreamed of “a solemn school at Eton where a great number of children
-should be freely taught the rules of grammar.” The school was to be
-called “The Kynges College of oure Ladye of Eton, beside Wyndesore.”
-
-[Illustration: Eton College]
-
-Henry, in order that he might be certain he and his assistants were
-following the excellent Winchester model, paid a number of visits to
-that school, and made a close study of its ways. There he was brought
-much into contact with William Waynflete, who had become master of
-Winchester in 1429 and done much to keep the school at its high level;
-and the result was that in 1442 Henry persuaded him to become the
-first master of Eton, whither he came, bringing with him from the
-older foundation half-a-dozen favourite scholars to be a model for all
-newcomers. Eton began with “twenty-five poor scholars” to be educated
-at the King’s cost, but this number was soon increased to seventy.
-
-Henry did not live to see his splendid scheme in being. In fact, the
-beautiful chapel which he had designed was never completed at all;
-moreover, the fabric itself, which he had desired to be made of “the
-hard stone of Kent,” was very largely built of brick. Nor did the
-College as a whole rise into being in one great effort. Like most
-historic buildings, it grew little by little into its present self,
-with just a bit added here and a bit renovated there, so that the whole
-thing is a medley of styles.
-
-In these days Eton, like most of the big public schools, is far from
-being what its founder intended it to be—a school for the instruction
-of deserving poor boys. Instead it has become a very exclusive college
-for the education of the sons of the rich.
-
-There are usually just over eleven hundred boys in residence, seventy
-of whom are known as “collegers,” while the other thousand odd are
-called “oppidans.” For the old statute which decided on the number of
-“collegers” as seventy is still obeyed, and Henry’s wish is kept in
-the letter, if not in the spirit. The “collegers” live in the actual
-College buildings, have their meals in the College Hall; and they wear
-cloth gowns to distinguish them from the rest of the scholars. These
-other thousand odd boys, the sons of gentlemen and other folk who can
-afford to pay the great sum of money necessary, live in the various
-masters’ houses, which are built close at hand.
-
-The “collegers,” who win their positions as the result of a stiff
-examination, are practically the holders of very valuable scholarships,
-for they pay only small sums towards their expenses. And, generally
-speaking, they have a better time of it, even though they may be looked
-down on and called “tugs” by some of the more snobbish “oppidans”; for
-the College buildings are better than most of the houses. Moreover,
-the “collegers” have two large playing fields of their own, so that
-they can avoid the crush in the school fields.
-
-Just when the “oppidans” began to take their place is by no means
-certain; but it could not have been very long after the foundation, for
-there is actually in existence the letter of an “oppidan” written in
-the year 1467, forty years after the opening. It is a very interesting
-letter, written to the boy’s elder brother, and enclosing for his
-inspection a specimen of the writer’s Latin verses (the making of Latin
-verse has always been a speciality at Eton). The letter also suggests
-the forwarding of “12 lbs. of figgs and 8 lbs. of raisins,” so, you
-see, boys were boys even in those far-off days.
-
-Many of Eton’s most picturesque customs have either died out or been
-suppressed by the authorities. One of the more famous of these was
-“Montem,” given up in 1847. On a certain day, once every three years,
-the scholars marched in procession to Salt Hill—that is, to “the
-mountain” (_ad montem_ means “to the mountain”); and there certain of
-their number made a collection of money from all and sundry, giving
-little pieces of salt in exchange. Usually royalty from Windsor met
-them there, and contributed generously to the fund. “Montem” was a
-gay festival, for fancy-dress was the order of the day, and there was
-plenty of noise and colour as the merry procession made its way up the
-hill to the music of several bands, followed by a crowd of visitors.
-In 1846 the authorities decided to put an end to the celebration,
-because with the coming of the railway to Windsor an unwelcome crowd
-of excursionists presented itself each year, and the picturesque
-gathering degenerated into a vulgar rabble. One old custom which still
-survives is “Threepenny Day.” On the 27th day of February each year,
-the anniversary of the death of a Provost named Lupton, builder of the
-picturesque gateway, each of the “collegers” receives a bright new
-threepenny-bit, provision for which is made in a sum of money left by
-Lupton and another Provost.
-
-Eton, like that other and older seat of learning to which many Etonians
-make the journey up the valley, gains much from its nearness to the
-River, for swimming and rowing are two favourite pastimes with the boys
-of this school. The latter pastime reaches its zenith on the “fourth
-of June”—the great day which Eton keeps in honour of George III.’s
-birthday. Then the College is besieged by hundreds of relatives and
-friends, and there is a fine water-carnival on the River.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER EIGHT
-
-_Hampton Court_
-
-
-Nearly twenty miles below Windsor we come upon the ancient palace of
-Hampton, better known in these days as Hampton Court, beautifully
-situated among tall trees not far from the river bank. It is a
-wonderful old place—one of the nation’s priceless possessions—and once
-inside we are loth to leave it, for there is something attractive about
-its quaint old courtyards and its restful, bird-haunted gardens.
-
-Certainly it is the largest royal palace in England, and in some
-respects it is the finest. Yet, strangely enough, it was not built for
-a King, nor has any sovereign lived in it since the days of George II.
-Wolsey, the proud Cardinal of Henry VIII.’s days, erected it for his
-own private mansion, and it is still the Cardinal’s fabric which we
-look upon as we pass through the older portions of the great pile of
-buildings.
-
-[Illustration: HAMPTON COURT, GARDEN FRONT.]
-
-Wolsey was, as you probably know, the son of a comparatively poor man,
-yet he was possessed of great gifts, and when he left Oxford he soon
-rose to a position of eminence. The Kings, first of all Henry VII.,
-then “bluff King Hal,” showered honours and gifts on him. The Pope
-created him a Cardinal, and Henry VIII. gave him the powerful position
-of Lord Chancellor of England. Wolsey, as befitted his high station,
-lived a life of great splendour, the pomp and show of his household
-rivalling even that of the King. Naturally such a man would have the
-best, even of palaces.
-
-As we pass through the wonderful old courts of the Cardinal’s dwelling
-we can imagine the vast amount of money which it must have cost to
-build, for it was magnificent in those days quite beyond parallel; and
-we cannot wonder that King Henry thought that such a building ought to
-be nothing less than a royal residence.
-
-Little differences soon arose. Wolsey, indeed, had not lived long at
-Hampton Court when there came an open breach between the King and
-himself. The trouble increased, and he fell from his high place very
-rapidly. When in 1526 he presented Hampton Court Palace to the King
-something other than generosity must have prompted the gift.
-
-Henry VIII. at once proceeded to make the palace more magnificent
-still. He pulled down the Cardinal’s banqueting hall and erected a
-more sumptuous one in its place; and this we can see to-day. Built in
-the style known to architects as Tudor, it is one of the finest halls
-in the whole of our land. Many huge beams of oak, beautifully fitted,
-carved, and ornamented, support a magnificent panelled and decorated
-roof, while glorious stained-glass windows (copies of the original ones
-fitted under Henry VIII.’s directions) fill the place with subdued
-light. The Great Gatehouse also belongs to Henry’s additions, and,
-with its octagonal towers and great pointed arch, has a very royal and
-imposing appearance.
-
-Though no sovereign has dwelt in the palace for a century or more, it
-was for nearly two hundred years a favourite residence of our Kings
-and Queens, and many famous events have taken place within its walls.
-Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were both very partial to the palace
-and its delightful gardens, and they spent much time there. Indeed, it
-is said that the latter was dining at Hampton when the glorious news
-of Drake’s defeat of the Spanish Armada was carried to her. James I.
-resided at the palace after his succession to the throne, and there, in
-addition to selling quite openly any number of knighthoods and peerages
-in order that he might add to his scanty means, he held the famous
-conference which decided that a uniform and authorized translation of
-the Bible should be made. In the great hall countless plays and masques
-were performed, and probably the mighty Shakespeare himself visited the
-place. King Charles I. spent many days at the Court, some of them as a
-prisoner of the Parliamentary soldiers; and here too Cromwell made a
-home until shortly before the time of his death. After the Restoration
-Charles II. and his Court settled at the palace, and in the surrounding
-parks indulged their fondness for the chase.
-
-Immediately Mary and her husband, William of Orange, came to the
-throne they commenced the alterations which have largely given us the
-palace of to-day. The old State apartments were pulled down and, under
-the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, larger and more magnificent
-ones were erected, something on the lines of the famous French royal
-palace at Versailles. At the same time William ordered the grounds to
-be laid out in the style of the famous Dutch gardens. The next three
-sovereigns, Anne, and the first and second Georges, all lived at the
-Court; but from that time onwards it ceased to be a royal residence.
-George III. would not go near the place. The story is told that on
-one occasion at Hampton Court his grandfather boxed his ears soundly,
-and he vowed never again to live on the scene of such an indignity.
-At any rate, he divided up its thousand rooms into private suites of
-apartments, which were given as residences to persons of high social
-position whose incomes were not large enough to keep them. And to this
-day a very considerable portion of the palace is shut off from public
-view for the same purpose.
-
-However, the parts which we can visit are extremely interesting.
-Entering at the main gate by Molesey Bridge, we cross the outer Green
-Court and come to the Moat. In Wolsey’s time this was crossed by a
-drawbridge of the sort in use when palaces were fortresses as well
-as dwelling-places. We now pass into the buildings over a fine old
-battlemented Tudor bridge.
-
-This was built by Henry VIII. in honour of Anne Boleyn; but for
-centuries it lay buried and forgotten. Then one day, just before the
-War, workmen came upon it quite accidentally as they were cleaning out
-the old Moat.
-
-Once through the gateway we come straight into the first of the
-old-world courtyards—the Base Court—and we feel almost as if we had
-stepped back several hundred years into a bygone age. The deep red
-brickwork of the battlements and the walls, the quaint chimneys,
-doorways, windows, and turrets, all belong to the distant past; they
-make on us an impression which not even the splendour of Wren’s
-additions can remove. Passing through another gateway—Anne Boleyn’s—we
-come into the Clock Court, so called because of the curious old
-timepiece above the archway. This clock was specially constructed for
-Henry VIII., and for centuries it has gone on telling the minute of the
-hour, the hour of the day, the day of the month, and the month of the
-year.
-
-The Great Hall, which we may approach by a stairway leading up from
-Anne Boleyn’s Gateway is, as we have already said, a magnificent
-apartment. The glory of its elaborate roof can never be forgotten.
-Hanging on its walls are some very famous tapestries which have been
-at Hampton Court since the days of Henry VIII. Among these are “tenne
-pieces of new arras of the Historie of Abraham,” made in Brussels—some
-of the richest and most beautiful examples of the art of weaving
-ever produced. From the Great Hall we pass into what is known as the
-Watching Chamber or the Great Guard Room—the apartment in which the
-guards assembled when the monarch was at dinner, and through which
-passed all who desired audience of their sovereign. On its walls are
-wonderful old Flemish tapestries which once belonged to Wolsey himself.
-From the Watching Chamber we pass to another chamber through which the
-dishes were taken to the tables which stood on the dais at the end of
-the Hall.
-
-Returning once more to the ground floor we go through a hall and find
-ourselves in Fountain Court. Here we enter another world entirely.
-Behind us are the quaint, old-fashioned courtyards, and the beautiful,
-restful Tudor buildings. The sudden change to Wren’s architecture
-has an effect almost startling. Yet when once we have forgotten the
-older buildings and become used to the very different style we see
-that Wren’s work has a beauty of its own. The newer buildings are
-very extensive, and the State apartments are filled with pictures and
-furniture of great interest. Entrance is obtained by what is called
-the King’s Great Staircase. The first room, entered by a fine doorway,
-is the Guard Room, a fine, lofty chamber with the upper part of its
-wall decorated with thousands of old weapons—guns, bayonets, pistols,
-swords, etc. From thence we pass to the round of the magnificent
-royal apartments—King’s rooms, Queen’s rooms, and so on, some thirty
-or more of them—all filled with priceless treasures—beautiful and
-rare paintings, delightful carvings from the master hand of Grinling
-Gibbons, so delicate and natural that it is difficult to believe they
-are made of wood, furniture of great historical interest and beauty.
-Here are the famous pictures—the “Triumph of Julius Cæsar,” nine
-large canvases showing the Roman emperor returning in triumph from
-one of his many wars. These were painted by Mantegna, the celebrated
-Italian artist, and originally formed part of the great collection
-brought together at Hampton Court by Charles I. They are a priceless
-possession. Here, too, are the famous “Hampton Court Beauties” and
-“Windsor Beauties,” the first painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, the
-second by Sir Peter Lely, each portraying a number of famous beauties
-of the Court. Walking leisurely round these apartments we can obtain
-an excellent idea of the elaborate style of furnishing which was
-fashionable two or three centuries ago.
-
-Yet, despite all these most valuable relics of the past, which many
-people come half across the world to view, for some folk the supreme
-attraction of Hampton Court will always be the gardens. Very beautiful
-they are too—the result of centuries of loving care by those, Kings
-and commoners, who had time and inclination to think of garden making.
-Perhaps to William of Orange must be given greatest credit in the
-matter, for it was he who ordered the setting-out of the long, shady
-avenues and alleys, and the velvety lawns and orderly paths. But we
-must not forget our debt of gratitude to Henry for the wonderful little
-sunken garden on the south side of the palace, perhaps one of the
-finest little old English gardens still in existence; and to Charles I.
-for the Canal, over a mile long, with its shady walk, and its birds and
-fishes, and its air of dreamy contentment.
-
-Tens of thousands visit these grounds in the summer months, and the
-old grape-vine is always one of the chief attractions. Planted as long
-ago as 1768, it still flourishes and bears an abundant crop each year,
-sometimes as many as 2,500 bunches, all of fine quality. Its main stem
-is now over four feet in circumference, and its longest branch about
-one hundred and twenty feet in length. On the east front, stretching
-in one unbroken line across the Home Park for three-quarters of a mile
-towards Kingston, is the Long Water, an ornamental lake made by Charles
-II. North of the buildings is another garden, known as the Wilderness,
-and here we may find the celebrated Maze, constructed in the time of
-William and Mary. This consists of a great number of winding and
-zig-zag paths, hedged on each side with yew and other shrubs; and the
-puzzle is to find the way into the little open space in the centre.
-On almost any day in the summer can be heard the merry laughter of
-visitors who have lost their way in the labyrinth of paths.
-
-Still farther north lies Bushey Park, with its famous Chestnut Avenue,
-stretching over a mile in the direction of Teddington. Here are more
-than a thousand acres of the finest English parkland; and this,
-together with the large riverside stretch known as the Home Park,
-formed the royal demesne in which the monarchs and their followers
-hunted the deer.
-
-As was said at the beginning of the chapter, only with reluctance do we
-leave Hampton Court, partly because of its very great beauty, partly
-because of its enthralling historical associations. As we turn our
-backs on the great Chancellor’s memorial, we think perhaps a trifle
-sadly of all that the place must have meant to Wolsey, and there
-come to mind those resounding words which Shakespeare put into his
-mouth—“Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER NINE
-
-_Kingston_
-
-
-Already we have seen that in many cases, if not in most, the River has
-founded the towns on its banks. These have sprung up originally to
-guard either an important crossing or the junction of a tributary with
-the main stream or a “gate” where the River has found a way through the
-hills; and then, outliving the period of their military usefulness,
-they have developed later into centres of some commercial importance.
-Thus it has been with Kingston-upon-Thames, a place of ancient fame,
-for, according to the geology of the district, there must have been at
-this spot one of the lowest fords of the River.
-
-That there was on Kingston Hill a Roman station guarding that ford
-there can be very little doubt; and there are evidences that a
-considerable Roman town was situated here, for the Roman remains
-brought to light have been fairly abundant.
-
-Workmen digging or ploughing on the hillside up towards Coombe Warren
-have, at various times in the past, discovered the foundations of Roman
-villas, with gold, silver, and bronze coins of the fourth century, and
-numerous household goods, and in one place a cemetery full of funeral
-urns.
-
-But it was not till Saxon times that Kingston came to the heyday of its
-existence. Then it was a place of the greatest possible importance,
-for here England was united into one country under one King. Prior
-to the union England was divided off into a number of states, which
-found amusement in fighting each other when they were not fighting
-the ancient Britons in their western fastnesses. These states were
-Northumbria, in the north; Mercia in the Midlands; Wessex in the
-south-west; and, in addition, the smaller areas of East Anglia, Essex,
-and Kent. When any one chieftain or king was sufficiently strong to
-defeat the others, and make them do his will, he became for the time
-being the “bretwalda,” or overlord; but it was a very precarious
-honour. The kings in turn won the distinction, but the greater ones
-emerged from the struggle, and in the end Egbert, king of Wessex, by
-subduing the Mercians, became so powerful that all the other kings
-submitted to him. Thus Egbert became the first king or overlord of all
-the English (827), and picked on Kingston as the place for his great
-council or witenagemot.
-
-Then followed the terrible years of the Danish invasions, and England
-was once more split up into sections; but the trouble passed, and
-Edward the Elder, elected and crowned king of Wessex at Kingston,
-eventually became the real King of England, the first to be addressed
-in those terms by the Pope of Rome.
-
-Thence onward Kingston was the recognized place of coronation for the
-English Kings, till Edward the Confessor allotted that distinction to
-his new Abbey at Westminster. In addition, it was one of the royal
-residences and the home of the Bishops of Winchester, whose palace was
-situated where now a narrow street, called Bishop’s Hall, runs down
-from Thames Street to the River. So that Kingston’s position as one of
-the chief towns of Wessex was acknowledged.
-
-The stone on which the Saxon Kings were crowned stands now quite close
-to the market-place, jealously guarded by proper railings, as such a
-treasure should be. Originally it was housed in a little chapel, called
-the Chapel of St. Mary, close to the Parish Church, and with it were
-preserved effigies of the sovereigns crowned; but unfortunately in the
-year 1730 the chapel collapsed, killing the foolish sexton who had been
-digging too close to the foundations. Then for years the stone was
-left out in the market-place, unhonoured and almost unrecognized, till
-in the year 1850 it was rescued and mounted in its present position.
-According to the inscription round the base, the English Kings crowned
-at Kingston included Edward the Elder (902), Athelstan (924), Edmund I.
-(940), Edred (946), Edwy the Fair (955), Edward the Martyr (975), and
-Ethelred II. (979).
-
-That most wretched of monarchs, King John, gave the town its first
-charter, and for a time at least resided here. In the High Street
-there is now shown a quaint old building to which the title of “King
-John’s Dairy” has been given, and this possibly marks the situation of
-the King’s dwelling-place.
-
-There was a castle here from quite early days, for we read that in
-1263, when Henry III. was fighting against his barons, Kingston Castle
-fell into the hands of de Montfort’s colleagues, who captured and held
-the young Prince Edward; and that Henry returned in the following year
-and won the castle back again. At the spot where Eden Street joins the
-London Road were found the remains of walls of great thickness, and
-these, which are still to be seen in the cellars of houses there, are
-commonly supposed to be the foundations of a castle held by the Earls
-of Warwick at the time of the Wars of the Roses, and possibly of an
-even earlier structure.
-
-Right down through history Kingston, probably by reason of its
-important river crossing, has had its peaceful life disturbed at
-intervals by the various national struggles. Armies have descended on
-it suddenly, stayed the night, taken their fill, and gone on their
-way; a few have come and stayed. Monarchs have broken their journeys
-at this convenient spot, or have dined here in state to show their
-favour. For Kingston, as the King’s “tun” or town should, has always
-been a distinctly Royalist town, has invariably declared for the
-sovereign—right or wrong.
-
-[Illustration: KINGSTON.]
-
-Thus in 1554, when young Sir Thomas Wyatt raised his army of ten
-thousand to attack London, and found the Bridge too strong to force,
-he made his way westwards to the convenient crossing at Kingston; but
-the inhabitants broke down their bridge to delay his progress, and so
-enabled Mary to get together a force; for which act of devotion the
-citizens were rewarded with a free charter by Queen Mary.
-
-Similarly, in the Civil War the town stood firmly by Charles, despite
-the fact that the town was occupied by cavaliers and roundheads in
-turn. Thus in October, 1642, the Earl of Essex settled down with
-several thousand men; while in November Sir Richard Onslow came to
-defend the crossing. But the inhabitants showed themselves extremely
-“malignant”; though when, just after, the King came to the town with
-his army he was greeted with every sign of joyous welcome.
-
-Also at Kingston occurred one of the numerous risings which happened
-during the year 1648. All over the land the Royalists gathered men
-and raised the King’s standard, hoping that Parliament would not be
-able to cope with so many simultaneous insurrections. In July the
-Earl of Holland, High Steward of Kingston, the Duke of Buckingham,
-and his brother Lord Francis Villiers, got together a force of
-several hundred horsemen, but they were heavily defeated by a force of
-Parliamentarians, and Lord Villiers was killed.
-
-[Illustration: Teddington Weir]
-
-Nowadays, despite the fact that the town has held its own through
-a thousand years, neither losing in fame a great deal nor gaining,
-Kingston does not give one any impression of age. True, it has some
-ancient dwellings here and there, but for the most part they are hidden
-away behind unsightly commercial frontages.
-
-Between Kingston and Richmond the River sweeps round in an inverted
-=S=-bend, passing on the way Teddington and Twickenham, formerly
-two very pretty riverside villages. The former possess the lowest
-pound-lock on the River (with the exception of that of the half-tide
-lock at Richmond), and also a considerable weir. It is the point at
-which the tide reaches its limit, and thereby gets its name Teddington,
-or Tide-ending-town.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER TEN
-
-_Richmond_
-
-
-Richmond is an old place with a new name, for though its history goes
-back to Saxon times, it did not get its present name till the reign of
-Henry VII., when “Harry of Richmond” rechristened it in allusion to the
-title which he received from the Yorkshire town. Prior to that it had
-always been called Sheen, and the name still survives in an outlying
-part of the town.
-
-Sheen Manor House had been right from Saxon days a hunting lodge and
-an occasional dwelling for the Sovereigns, but Edward III. built a
-substantial palace, and, absolutely deserted by all his friends, died
-in it in the year 1377. He was succeeded by his young grandson, the
-Black Prince’s child Richard, who spent most of his childhood with his
-mother Joan at Kingston Castle, just a mile or two higher upstream.
-Richard’s wife, Queen Anne of Bohemia, died in Sheen Palace in the
-year 1394, and Richard was so upset that he had the palace pulled down,
-and never visited Sheen again.
-
-[Illustration: Richmond Hill from Petersham Meadows]
-
-This, however, by no means ended the life of Sheen as a royal
-residence, for Henry V. built a new house, and when, in 1498, this was
-burned down, Henry VII. built a new palace on a much grander scale,
-and at the same time gave it the name which it still bears. With the
-Tudor kings and queens Richmond was a very great favourite. “Bluff King
-Hal” loved to hunt in its woodland, and here, in 1603, “good Queen
-Bess” died, after forty-five years of a troublous but prosperous and
-progressive reign. Charles I. spent much of his time here, and he it
-was who added Richmond Park to the royal domain in the year 1637.
-
-After the Civil War the palace was set aside for the use of the
-widowed Queen Henrietta Maria, but by that time it had got into a very
-dilapidated condition; and little or nothing was done to improve it.
-So that before long this once stately palace fell to pieces and was
-removed piecemeal. Now all that remains of it is a gateway by Richmond
-Green.
-
-Richmond to-day is merely a suburb of London, one of the pleasure
-grounds of the city’s countless workers, who come hither on Saturdays
-and Sundays either to find exercise and enjoyment on the River, or
-to breathe the pure air of the park. This New Park, so called to
-distinguish it from the Old Deer Park, which lies at the other end of
-the town, is a very fine place indeed. Surrounded by a wall about
-eleven miles long, it covers 2,250 acres of splendid park and woodland,
-with glorious views in all directions. In it are to be found numerous
-deer which spend their young days here, and later are transferred to
-Windsor Park. The Old Deer Park, of which about a hundred acres are
-open to the public for football, golf, tennis, and other pastimes, lies
-by the riverside between the town and Kew Gardens.
-
-[Illustration: From the Terrace Richmond]
-
-The view of the River Thames from the Terrace on Richmond Hill is
-world-famous. Countless artists have painted it, and many writers have
-described it; and probably it has deserved all the good things said
-about it, for even now, spoiled as it is by odd factory chimneys and
-unsightly buildings dotted about, it still remains one of the most
-delightful vistas of the silvery, winding River. Those of you who
-have read Scott’s “Heart of Midlothian” will probably remember the
-passage (chapter xxxvi.) which describes it: “The equipage stopped
-on a commanding eminence, where the beauty of English landscape was
-displayed in its utmost luxuriance. Here the Duke alighted and desired
-Jeanie to follow him. They paused for a moment on the brow of a hill,
-to gaze on the unrivalled landscape which it presented. A huge sea
-of verdure, with crossing and intersecting promontories of massive
-and tufted groves, was tenanted by numberless flocks and herds, which
-seemed to wander unrestrained and unbounded through the rich pastures.
-The Thames, here turreted with villas and there garlanded with
-forests, moved on slowly and placidly, like the mighty monarch of the
-scene, to whom all its other beauties were but accessories, and bore
-on its bosom a hundred barks and skiffs, whose white sails and gaily
-fluttering pennons gave life to the whole. The Duke was, of course,
-familiar with this scene; but to a man of taste it must be always new.”
-
-Nor have the poets been behindhand with their appreciation, as the
-following extract from James Thomson’s “Seasons” shows:
-
-“Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around, Of hills, and dales,
-and woods, and lawns, and spires, And glittering towers, and gilded
-streams, till all The stretching landscape into smoke decays.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER ELEVEN
-
-_Richmond to Westminster_
-
-
-Just below Richmond, on the borders of the Middlesex village of
-Isleworth, there is a foot-passenger toll-bridge, with what is known as
-a half-tide lock. The arches of this bridge are open to river traffic
-during the first half of the ebb-tide and the second half of the flow,
-but the River is dammed for the remainder of the day in order that
-sufficient water may be kept in the stretch immediately above. This,
-for the present, is the last obstruction on the journey seawards.
-
-Isleworth, with its riverside church, its ancient inn, “The London
-Apprentice,” and its great flour-mill, is a typical riverside village
-which has lived on out of the past. Between it and Brentford lies the
-magnificent seat of the Dukes of Northumberland—Sion House—a fine
-dwelling situated in a delightful expanse of parkland facing Kew
-Gardens on the Surrey shore.
-
-Of Kew Gardens, which stretch beside the River from the Old Deer Park
-almost to Kew Bridge, it is difficult for one who loves nature to speak
-in moderate terms, for it is one of the most delightful places in the
-whole of our land. At every season of the year, almost every day, there
-is some fresh enchantment, some glory of tree or flower unfolding
-itself, so that one can go there year after year, week in and week out,
-without exhausting its treasure-house of wonders, even though there is
-only a matter of 350 acres to explore.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-KEW PALACE AND KEW GARDENS.]
-
-The Royal Botanical Gardens, as their proper name is, were first
-laid out by George III. in the year 1760, and were presented to the
-nation by Queen Victoria in the year 1840. Since then the authorities
-have planned and worked assiduously and wisely to bring together a
-botanical collection of such scope and admirable arrangement that
-it is practically without rival in the world. Here may be seen,
-flourishing in various huge glasshouses, the most beautiful of tropical
-and semi-tropical plants—palms, ferns, cacti, orchids, giant lilies,
-etc.; while in the magnificently laid out grounds are to be found
-flowers, trees, and shrubs of all kinds growing in a delightful
-profusion. There is not a dull spot anywhere; while the rhododendron
-dell, the azalea garden, the rock garden, and the rose walks are
-indescribably beautiful. Nor is beauty the only consideration, for the
-carefully planned gardens, with their splendid museum, are of untold
-value to the gardener and the botanist.
-
-Nor must we forget that Kew had its palace. Frederick, Prince of Wales,
-father of George III. and great patron of Surrey cricket, resided at
-Kew House, as did his son after him. The son pulled down the mansion in
-1803 and erected another in its place; and, not to be outdone, George
-IV. in turn demolished this. The smaller dwelling-house—dignified now
-by the title of palace—a homely red-brick building, known in Queen
-Anne’s time as the “Dutch House,” was built in the reign of James I. In
-it died Queen Charlotte.
-
-If we speak with unstinting praise of Kew, what shall we say of
-Brentford, opposite it on the Middlesex side of the stream? Surely no
-county in England has a more untidy and squalid little county town. Its
-long main street is narrow to the point of danger, so that it has been
-necessary to construct at great cost a new arterial road which will
-avoid Brentford altogether; while many of its byways can be dignified
-by no better word than slums. Yet Brentford in the past was a place of
-some note in Middlesex, and had its share of history. Indeed, in recent
-times it has laid claim to be the “ford” where Julius Cæsar crossed on
-his way to Verulam, a claim which for years was held undisputedly by
-Cowey Stakes, near Walton.
-
-Now the Great Western Railway Company’s extensive docks, where numerous
-barges discharge and receive their cargoes, and the incidental sidings
-and warehouses, the gas-works, the various factories and commercial
-buildings, make riverside Brentford a thing of positive ugliness.
-
-On the bank above the ferry, close to the spot where the little Brent
-River joins the main stream, the inhabitants, proud of their share
-in the nation’s struggles, have erected a granite pillar with the
-following brief recital of the town’s claims to notoriety:
-
-54 B.C.—At this ancient fortified ford the British tribesmen, under
-Cassivelaunus, bravely opposed Julius Cæsar on his march to Verulamium.
-
-A.D. 780-1.—Near by Offa, King of Mercia, with his Queen, the bishops,
-and principal officers, held a Council of the Church.
-
-A.D. 1016.—Here Edmund Ironside, King of England, drove Cnut and his
-defeated Danes across the Thames.
-
-A.D. 1640.—Close by was fought the Battle of Brentford between the
-forces of King Charles I. and the Parliament.
-
-From Kew Bridge onwards the River loses steadily in charm if it gains
-somewhat in importance. The beauty which has clung to it practically
-all the way from the Cotswolds now almost entirely disappears, giving
-place to a generally depressing aspect, relieved here and there with
-just faint suggestions of the receding charm.
-
-A short distance downstream is Mortlake, once a pretty little riverside
-village, now almost a suburb of London, and quite uninteresting save
-that it marks the finish of the University Boatrace. This, as all folk
-in the Thames Valley (and many out of it) are aware, is rowed each year
-upstream from Putney to Mortlake, usually on the flood-tide.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-PUTNEY to MORTLAKE Championship Course]
-
-Barnes, on the Surrey shore, is a very ancient place. The Manor of
-Barn Elmes was presented by Athelstan (925-940) to the canons of St.
-Paul’s, and by them it has been held ever since. The name possibly came
-from the great barn or spicarium, which the canons had on the spot. The
-place is now the home of the Ranelagh Club—a famous club for outdoor
-pursuits, notably polo, golf, and tennis.
-
-Fulham Palace, on the Middlesex bank, not far from Putney Bridge, is
-the “country residence” of the Bishops of London. For nine centuries
-the Bishops have held the manor of Fulham, and during most of the time
-have had their domicile in the village. In these days, when Fulham is
-one of the utterly dreary districts of London, with acres and acres
-of dull, commonplace streets, it is hard indeed to think of it as a
-fresh riverside village with fine old mansions and a wide expanse of
-market-gardens and a moat-surrounded palace hidden among the tall trees.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-Fulham Palace The Quadrangle Fitz James Gateway.]
-
-The River now begins to run through London proper, and from its banks
-rise wharves, warehouses, factories, and numerous other indications
-of its manifold commercial activities. Thus it continues on past
-Wandsworth, where the tiny river Wandle joins forces and where there
-is talk of erecting another half-tide lock, past Fulham, Chelsea,
-Battersea, Pimlico, Vauxhall, and Lambeth, on to Westminster.
-
-[Illustration: RANELAGH.]
-
-At Chelsea and Vauxhall were situated those famous pleasure-gardens—the
-Ranelagh and Cremorne Gardens at the former, and the Spring Gardens
-at the latter—which during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
-provided London with so much in the way of entertainment. Vauxhall
-Gardens were opened to the public some time after the Restoration, and
-at once became popular, so that folk of all sorts, rich and poor alike,
-came to pass a pleasant evening. An account written in 1751 speaks of
-the gardens as “laid out in so grand a taste that they are frequented
-in the three summer months by most of the nobility and gentry then
-in or near London.” The following passage from Smollett’s “Humphrey
-Clinker” aptly describes the dazzling scene: “A spacious garden, part
-laid out in delightful walks, bounded with high hedges and trees, and
-paved with gravel; part exhibiting a wonderful assemblage of the most
-picturesque and striking objects, pavilions, lodges, graves, grottos,
-lawns, temples, and cascades; porticoes, colonnades, rotundas; adorned
-with pillars, statues, and paintings; the whole illuminated with an
-infinite number of lamps, disposed in different figures of suns, stars,
-and constellations; the place crowded with the gayest company, ranging
-through those blissful shades, and supping in different lodges on
-cold collations, enlivened with mirth, freedom, and good humour, and
-animated by an excellent band of music.”
-
-In the early days most of the folk came by water, and the river was
-gay with boatloads of revellers Barges and boats waited each evening
-at Westminster and Whitehall Stairs in readiness for passengers; and
-similarly at various places along the city front craft plied for hire
-to convey the citizens, their wives and daughters, and even their
-apprentices.
-
-Ranelagh was not quite so ancient, and it encouraged a slightly better
-class of visitor: otherwise it was the counterpart of Vauxhall, as was
-Cremorne. It was famous, among other things, for its regatta. In 1775
-this was a tremendous water-carnival. The River from London Bridge
-westwards was covered with boats of all sorts, and stands were erected
-on the banks for the convenience of spectators.
-
-Ranelagh was demolished in 1805, but Vauxhall persisted right on till
-1859, when it too came under the auctioneer’s hammer. Where Cremorne
-once stood is now the huge power-station so prominent in this stretch
-of the river; and the famous coffee-house kept by “Don Saltero” in the
-early eighteenth century was in Cheyne Walk.
-
-Chelsea in its day has achieved fame in quite a variety of ways.
-Apart from its pleasure gardens it has come to be well-known for its
-beautiful old physic-garden; its hospital for aged soldiers, part
-of the gardens of which were included in Ranelagh; its bun-house;
-its pottery; and last, but by no means least, for its association
-with literary celebrities. Here have lived, and worked, and, in some
-cases, died, writers of such different types as Sir Thomas More,
-whose headless body was buried in the church, John Locke, Addison,
-Swift, Smollett, Carlyle—the “sage of Chelsea”—Leigh Hunt, Rossetti,
-Swinburne, and Kingsley. Artists, too, have congregated in these quiet
-streets, and the names of Turner and Whistler will never be forgotten.
-
-[Illustration: THE POWER-STATION, CHELSEA.]
-
-At Lambeth may still be seen the famous palace of the Archbishops of
-Canterbury, a beautiful building of red-brick and stone, standing in
-an old-world garden. Some parts of it are very old: one, the Lollards’
-Tower, is an exceedingly fine relic of medieval building. Close at
-hand stands the huge pile of buildings which house the pottery works
-of Messrs. Doulton. For some reason or other Lambeth has long been
-associated with this industry.
-
-[Illustration: THE LOLLARDS’ TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE.]
-
-As early as 1670 one Edward Warner sold potters’ clay here, and
-exported it in huge quantities to Holland and other countries, and
-various potters, some Dutch, settled in the district. All this stretch
-of the River seems to have been famous for its china-works in the past,
-for there were celebrated potteries at Fulham, Chelsea, and Battersea
-as well. Of these Battersea has passed away, and its productions are
-eagerly sought after by collectors, but Fulham and Lambeth remain,
-while Chelsea, after a long interval, is reviving this ancient craft.
-
-Thus we have traversed in fancy the whole of this wonderful
-River—so fascinating to both young and old, to both studious and
-pleasure-seeking. The more we learn of it the more we are enthralled by
-its story, by the immense share it has had in the shaping of England’s
-destinies.
-
-We started with a consideration of what those wonderful people the
-geologists could tell us of the River in dim, prehistoric days; and we
-feel inclined to turn once more to them in conclusion. For they tell
-us now that the Thames is growing less; that, just as in times past
-it captured the waters of other streams and reduced them to trickling
-nothings, so in turn it is succumbing day by day to the depredations
-of the River Ouse, which is slowly cutting off its head. Some day,
-perhaps, the Thames will be just a tiny rivulet, and the Port of London
-will be no more; but I think the tides will ebb and flow under London
-Bridge many times before it comes to pass.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX
-
-Abingdon, 263-5
-
-Alfred, King, 141, 249
-
-All Hallows, Barking, 75
-
-Ancient Britons, 120-6
-
-Arnold, Matthew, 261
-
-Arthur, King, 287
-
-
-Barking, 71-6 Abbey, 72-5 Sewage Works, 75-6
-
-Barnes, 338-9
-
-Battersea, 340, 347
-
-Baynards Castle, 160
-
-Becket, Thomas, 145, 151, 274
-
-Benfleet, 39
-
-Besant, Sir Walter, 162-3, 184
-
-Big Ben, 225
-
-Billingsgate, 101-2
-
-Black Death, 161
-
-Blackfriars, 195-7
-
-Blackwall, 112-3 Tunnel, 113
-
-Boatrace, Universities, 259, 338
-
-Boleyn, Anne, 175-7, 310-11
-
-Brentford, 336
-
-Bridges, 205, 230, 232, 242
-
-Buckingham Palace, 208
-
-Bushey Park, 316
-
-
-Canning Town, 114
-
-Canute, 141-2
-
-Canvey Island, 38-9
-
-Cement, 49, 55-6
-
-Chatham, 46-7
-
-Chaucer, Geoffrey, 162, 294
-
-Chelsea, 341, 343-4, 347
-
-Cherwell, 257-8
-
-Chilterns, 10, 268-70
-
-Cholsey, 284
-
-Churn, River, 240
-
-Cleopatra’s Needle, 228
-
-Cliveden Woods, 282-3
-
-Coal, 114-5, 164-5
-
-Coldharbour Palace, 160
-
-Colne, River, 240
-
-Cookham, 279
-
-Cooling Castle, 52-3
-
-County Hall, 232-3
-
-Cremorne Gardens, 343
-
-Cricklade, 240
-
-Crosby Hall, 159
-
-Culham, 284
-
-Cumnor, 243
-
-Customs Officers, 115-6
-
-
-Dagenham Breach, 70
-
-Dagenham Dock, 71 Marshes, 68-71
-
-Danes, 18, 33, 140-1
-
-Defoe, Daniel, 36, 183-4
-
-Dene-holes at Grays, 67-8
-
-De Ruyter, 41
-
-Dickens, Charles, 51, 52
-
-Dockland, 24-6
-
-Docks: Blackwall, 112-3 East India, 104 Execution, 102, 110 London,
-110-1 Millwall, 112 Regent’s Canal, 111 Royal Albert, 113-4 St.
-Katherine’s, 102, 105 St. Saviour’s, 102, 108 Surrey Commercial, 112
-Victoria, 113 West India, 112
-
-“Don Saltero,” 343
-
-Dorchester, 265-6
-
-Duke of Buckingham, 205
-
-Dumouriez, 53
-
-Durham Palace, 207
-
-Dutch in the Medway, 42-5
-
-
-Eastchurch, 35
-
-East Ham, 113-4
-
-East India Docks, 104
-
-Edward the Confessor, 211
-
-Eleanor of Provence, 153, 223
-
-Embankment, The, 227-8
-
-Estuary, The, 16-19, 31-39 defence of, 52
-
-Eton College, 298-304
-
-Evelyn, John, 41, 61-2, 186-90
-
-Evenlode, River, 243
-
-Execution Dock, 110-1
-
-
-Fire of London, the Great, 159
-
-FitzStephen, 145-7
-
-Flamsteed, 99
-
-Fleet River, 193-5 Street, 195
-
-Fobbing, 60
-
-Fort Grain, 35
-
-Franklin, Sir John, 66
-
-Frindsbury, 49
-
-Fulham, 339
-
-
-Godstow, 243
-
-Goring Gap, 267-8
-
-Gravesend, 52-6 proposed dam, 62-3
-
-Grays, 67
-
-Great Marlow, 281-2
-
-Greenhithe, 21, 66
-
-Greenwich, 87-100 Hospital, 92-7 Ministerial dinners at, 91
-Observatory, 98-100 Royal births at, 89
-
-Grey, Lady Jane, 175
-
-
-Hakluyt, 90-1
-
-Halley, 100
-
-Hampton Court, 305-16
-
-Harold, King, 143, 288
-
-Henley, 280-1
-
-Holiday Thames, 279-284
-
-Houses of Parliament, 220-6
-
-Howard, Katherine, 175-7
-
-“Humphrey Clinker,” 342
-
-Humphrey, Duke, 88
-
-Hungerford House, 206
-
-
-Iffley, 262
-
-Isis, 239, 259
-
-Isle of Dogs, 112 Grain, 35
-
-Isleworth, 332
-
-
-Jack Straw, 60
-
-John Ball, 60
-
-Jones, Inigo, 92
-
-
-Kelmscott, 241
-
-Kennet, River, 277
-
-Kew Gardens, 333-5 Palace, 335
-
-Kingston, 317-25
-
-Knights of the Garter, 296-7
-
-Knights Templar, 199-202
-
-
-Lambeth, 344-7
-
-Lechlade, 239
-
-Legal quays, 102
-
-Limehouse, 111-2 Basin, 111 Reach, Medway, 49
-
-Llyndin Hill, 125, 130
-
-London, a city of palaces, 157 and the Danes, 140-2 Fire of, 181-192
-fires in, 25, 151, 181 fogs, 23 foundation of, 123-9 Friars in, 195-8
-Hospitals, 233 in Norman days, 143-6 in Middle Ages, 157-65 in Roman
-days, 130-6 in Saxon days, 137-40 Plague in, 183-4 reasons for position
-of, 126-9 remains of Roman Wall, 133-6 Tower of, 166-80
-
-London Bridge, 147-156 a great procession on, 155 a tournament on, 154
-its dangers, 151 its relation to the City, 128-9
-
-L.C.C. County Hall, 232
-
-London Dock, 110-1
-
-London Stone, Yantlet Creek, 35
-
-Lower Reaches, 19-23
-
-
-Macfarlane, Charles, 42
-
-Maidenhead, 46
-
-Marshes on banks, 16, 64-76
-
-Mandeville, Geoffrey de, 171-2
-
-Matilda, Empress, 170-2
-
-Maud of Boulogne, 105, 171
-
-Medway, River, 40-51
-
-Merton, Walter de, 251
-
-Millwall Dock, 112
-
-Minster-in-Sheppey, 32
-
-Monument, The, 181-2
-
-Morris, William, 241-2
-
-Mortlake, 338
-
-
-New Bridge, 242
-
-Nore Lightship, 15, 118
-
-Northfleet, 65-6
-
-Northumberland House, 207
-
-
-Old Windsor, 287
-
-Oxford, 246-262 Bodleian Library, 255 Castle, 256 Colleges, 251-5
-founding of the University, 249-51 its origin, 247-8 Tom Tower, 254
-
-
-Pangbourne, 279
-
-Peasants’ Revolt, 60
-
-Pepys, Samuel, 34, 77, 186
-
-Peter of Colechurch, 148
-
-Pett, Peter, 47
-
-Pilots, 55
-
-Placentia, Palace of, 89
-
-Plague, the Great, 183-4
-
-Pool, The, 26-8
-
-Port Meadow, 243
-
-Port of London, 23-6, 101-19 Authority, 15, 118-19
-
-Port Victoria, 35
-
-Princes in Tower, 171
-
-Purfleet, 68
-
-Putney, 338-9
-
-
-Queenborough, 35
-
-Queenhithe, 101
-
-
-Radley, 284
-
-Ranelagh Gardens, 343
-
-Reading, 271-8 Abbey, 272-6 and the Civil War, 275 modern, 277-8
-
-Regent’s Canal Dock, 111
-
-Richmond, 326-31
-
-River police, 116-8
-
-Rochester, 49-51
-
-Roding, River, 71-2
-
-Roman remains in London, 132-5
-
-Rosherville Gardens, 65
-
-Rotherhithe, 113
-
-Royal Albert Dock, 113-4 Victoria Dock, 113-4
-
-
-Savoy Palace, 204-5
-
-Saxon Kings crowned at Kingston, 319-20
-
-“Scholar Gypsy,” 261-2
-
-Scotland Yard, 207
-
-Shadwell, 105
-
-Sheen, 327
-
-Sheerness, 34
-
-Sheppey, 31-3
-
-Shoeburyness, 37-8
-
-Shooter’s Hill, 77-9
-
-Silvertown, 114
-
-Sion House, 332
-
-Somerset House, 203
-
-Sonning, 279-80
-
-Southend, 36-7
-
-St. James’s Park, 207
-
-St. Katherine’s Dock, 102, 105
-
-St. Paul’s Cathedral, 124, 188, 191, 211
-
-St. Saviour’s Dock, 102, 108
-
-St. Thomas’s Hospital, 233
-
-Staple Inn, 159
-
-Stephen, King, 170, 256, 267
-
-Stow, 161, 179
-
-Strand, The, 193
-
-Streatley, 268
-
-“Stripling Thames,” 237-45
-
-Stroud, 49
-
-Surrey Commercial Dock, 112
-
-Swale, The, 41
-
-
-Tea, 106
-
-Teddington, 325
-
-Temple Bar, 232 Church, 201 Gardens, 202
-
-Temple, The, 199-203
-
-Thame, River, 265
-
-Thames Haven, 68
-
-Thames Head, 237
-
-Thames River, early tributaries of, 239 geology of, 267-70 locks
-on, 243-5 material brought down by, 64-5 origin of, 2-5 reasons for
-importance, 11-14 terraces of bed, 283-4 the basin of, 7-10 the
-sources, 237-9 tunnels under, 113
-
-Thorney Island, 130, 211-2
-
-Tilbury, 57-63 Docks, 71, 104 Fort, 57 Elizabeth at, 57-8
-
-Tower Bridge, 231
-
-Tower of London, 166-80
-
-Trewsbury Mead, 237-9
-
-Twickenham, 325
-
-
-Upnor Castle, 4
-
-
-Vale of the White Horse, 241
-
-Vauxhall Gardens, 341-3
-
-
-Wallingford, 144, 266-7
-
-Wandle, River, 340
-
-Wandsworth, 339
-
-Wapping, 108-10 Old Stairs, 108-10
-
-Watling Street, 126, 130, 132, 144
-
-Wat Tyler, 60, 156, 204
-
-Waynflete, William, 299
-
-West Ham, 113-4
-
-West India Dock, 104, 112
-
-Westminster, 209-226 the founding of, 210
-
-Westminster Abbey, 212-9 Chapter House, 218 Confessor’s Chapel, 213
-founding of, 212 Henry VII. Chapel, 215 Poets’ Corner, 215 Remains of
-Old Abbey, 213 Tomb of Unknown Warrior, 218
-
-Westminster Hall, 222 Palace, 220
-
-Whitefriars, 197-9
-
-Whitehall Palace, 207-8
-
-Whittington, Dick, 165
-
-Widths of the Thames, 15, 26
-
-William and Mary, 92, 309
-
-William the Conqueror, 73, 143, 256, 266, 285, 288
-
-Windrush, River, 242
-
-Windsor, 285-304 growth of Castle, 288-95 origin of, 287 Round Tower,
-297 St. George’s Chapel, 296
-
-Wolsey, Cardinal, 207, 253, 305
-
-Woolwich, 77-86 Arsenal, 81-6 Dockyard, 80-1
-
-Wren, Sir Christopher, 92, 228, 309, 312
-
-Wykeham, William, 35, 293, 298
-
-
-Yantlet Creek, 35
-
-York House, 205
-
-
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-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Father Thames</p>
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Walter Higgins</p>
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-<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
-  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Fiona Holmes and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p>
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FATHER THAMES ***</div>
-
-<div class="transnote">
-<h2>Transcriber’s Notes.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" width="719" height="1000" />
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_001.jpg" alt="" width="439" height="650" />
-<p class="caption center"> Map of the <span class="smcap">River Thames</span> from its Source to Windsor</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_002.jpg" alt="" width="443" height="650" />
-<p class="caption center"> Map of the <span class="smcap">River Thames</span> to Windsor</p>
-Click<a href="images/i_001-large.jpg"> here</a> for full map of both pages.</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-<div class="chapter">
-<h1 class="nobreak" id="FATHER_THAMES">FATHER THAMES</h1>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_frontis"><img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" alt="" width="407" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Offices of The Port of London Authority</p>
-<p class="caption right p90"><em>Frontispiece</em></p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<div class="title-page">
-<p class="p120"> FATHER THAMES</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_i_005"><img src="images/i_005.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="216" /></a>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p90"> BY</p>
-
-<p class="space-above2"></p>
-
-<p class="p90"> WALTER HIGGINS</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<p class="p80"> WELLS GARDNER, DARTON &amp; CO., LTD.</p>
-
-<p class="p80"> 3 &amp; 4 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, LONDON, E.C.
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-<div class="chapter">
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_006"><img src="images/i_006.jpg" alt="" width="56" height="50" /></a>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p80">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN</p>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<p class="center">FATHER THAMES</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-    <span class="smcap">Book I.&mdash;London River.</span><br />
-    <span class="smcap">Book II.&mdash;The Great City which the River made.</span><br />
-    <span class="smcap">Book III.&mdash;The Upper River.</span>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>This book is also issued in separate parts, as above.</em>
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-<p class="center">BOOK <abbr title="1">I</abbr></p>
-<p class="center">LONDON RIVER</p>
-<table class="toc" summary="Contents">
-<tr>
-<td class="chn"><small><small>CHAPTER</small></small></td>
-<th></th>
-<th class="pag"><small><small>PAGE</small></small></th>
-</tr><tr>
-<td class="tdr"> </td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Introduction: The River and its Valley </span></td>
-<td class="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="1">I</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">London River</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="2">II</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Estuary and its Towns</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="3">III</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> The Medway and its Towns</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="4">IV</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Gravesend and Tilbury</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="5">V</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Marshes</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="6">VI</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Woolwich</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="7">VII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Greenwich</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="8">VIII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Port and the Docks</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="ccn" colspan="2">BOOK <abbr title="2">II</abbr><br />
-THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE</td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="1">I</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How the River Founded the City</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="2">II</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How the City Grew (Roman Days)</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="3">III</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> How the City Grew (Saxon Days)</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="4">IV</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How the City Grew (Norman Days)</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="5">V</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The River’s First Bridge</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="6">VI</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How the City Grew (In the Middle Ages)</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="7">VII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Tower of London </span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="8">VIII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How Fire Destroyed What the River Had Made</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-<td><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="9">IX</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Riverside and Its Palaces</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="10">X</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Royal Westminster&mdash;the Abbey</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="11">XI</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Royal Westminster&mdash;the Houses of Parliament </span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="12">XII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Riverside of to-day</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="ccn" colspan="2">BOOK <abbr title="3">III</abbr><br />
-THE UPPER RIVER</td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="1">I</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Stripling Thames</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="2">II</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Oxford</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="3">III</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Abingdon, Wallingford, and the Goring Gap</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="4">IV</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Reading</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="5">V</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Holiday Thames&mdash;henley to Maidenhead</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="6">VI</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Windsor</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="7">VII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Eton College </span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="8">VIII</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Hampton Court</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="9">IX</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Kingston</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="10">X</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Richmond</span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="chn"><abbr title="11">XI</abbr>.</td>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Richmond to Westminster </span></td>
-  <td class="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-<td class="tdr"> </td>
-<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Index </span></td>
-<td class="right"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
-</div>
-<p class="center">BOOK <abbr title="1">I</abbr></p>
-<p class="center">LONDON RIVER</p>
-<table class="toi" summary="Illustrations">
-<tr>
-<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Chart of the Thames from the Source to Windsor</span></td>
-<td class="tdr"> <em>Front end papers</em></td>
-</tr><tr>
-<td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Port of London Offices</span></td>
-<td class="pag"><a href="#image_frontis"><em>Frontispiece</em></a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-<th></th>
-<td class="tdr"><small><small>PAGE</small></small></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">How the Thames Was Made</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Birth of the River</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Mouth of the Thames</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Nore Lightship</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Sheerness</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Training Ships Off Greenhithe</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">London’s Giant Gateway</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Pool</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> A Thames-side Wharf</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Rochester Castle</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Rochester Cathedral</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Gravesend</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">A River-side Cement Works</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Tilbury Fort</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Bugsby’s Reach</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Woolwich</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Greenwich Park</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Greenwich Hospital</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Royal Observatory</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Dockland</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Dockhead, Bermondsey</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Wapping and Limehouse</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">A Giant Liner</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="ccn" colspan="2">BOOK <abbr title="2">II</abbr><br />
-THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE</td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Thames at Lambeth, from the Air</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> The London County Hall </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Roman London (Plan)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Bastion of Roman Wall, Cripplegate Churchyard</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Conqueror’s March on London (Plan)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Old London Bridge</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> An Arch of Old London Bridge </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-<td><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Chapel of St. Thomas Becket on the Bridge</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">London Bridge in Modern Times</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Baynard’s Castle Before the Great Fire</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Ground Plan of the Tower</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Traitor’s Gate</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> The Monument </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Old St. Paul’s (a.d. 1500)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Fleet River at Blackfriars (a.d. 1760)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Old Temple Bar, Fleet Street</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> The Strand from the Thames (Sixteenth Century)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Water-gate of York House</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> The Banqueting Hall, Whitehall </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The River at Thorney Island (Plan)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Henry Vii.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Westminster Abbey </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Houses of Parliament</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> St. Paul’s from the South End of Southwark Bridge</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="ccn" colspan="2">BOOK <abbr title="3">III</abbr><br />
-THE UPPER RIVER</td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Castle Keep, Oxford</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Thames Head</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Lechlade from the First Lock</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Kelmscott Manor</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Magdalen Tower, Oxford</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Abingdon</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Gatehouse, Reading Abbey </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Sonning</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Henley</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Diagram of the Thames Valley Terraces</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Windsor Castle</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Eton College</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Hampton Court, Garden Front</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Kingston</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Teddington Weir</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Richmond Hill from Petersham Meadows</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">From the Terrace, Richmond</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_330">330</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Kew Gardens</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_334">334</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Putney to Mortlake (Championship Course)</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_338">338</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Fulham Palace</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_340">340</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap"> Ranelagh</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Power-Station, Chelsea </span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_345">345</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Lollards’ Tower, Lambeth Palace</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_346">346</a></td>
-</tr><tr>
-  <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Chart of the Thames from Windsor to the Nore</span></td>
-  <td class="pag"><a href="#Back_end_papers"><em>Back end-papers</em></a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap1 x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="p120"> FATHER THAMES</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p class="center">INTRODUCTION</p>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The River and its Valley</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">England</span> is not a country of great rivers. No
-mighty Nile winds lazily across desert and
-fertile plains in its three and a half thousand
-miles course to the sea; no rushing Brahmaputra
-plunges headlong down its slopes, falling two
-or three miles as it crosses half a continent from
-icy mountain-tops to tropical sea-board. In
-comparison with such as these England’s biggest
-rivers are but the tiniest, trickling streams.
-Yet, for all that, our little waterways have
-always meant much to the land. Tyne, Severn,
-Humber, Trent, Thames, Mersey, Ouse&mdash;all
-these, with many smaller but no less well-known
-streams, have played their part in the
-making of England’s history; all these have had
-much to do with the building up of her commercial
-prosperity.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span></p>
-
-<p>One only of these rivers we shall consider in
-this book, and that is old “Father Thames”:
-as it was and as it is, and what it has meant to
-England during two thousand years. In our
-consideration we shall divide the River roughly
-into three quite natural divisions&mdash;first, the
-section up to the lowest bridge; second, the part
-just above, the part which gave the River its
-chief port and city; third, the upper river.</p>
-
-<p>However, before we consider these three parts
-in detail, there is one question which we might
-well ponder for a little while, a question which
-probably has never occurred to more than a
-few of us; and that is this: Why was there
-ever a River Thames at all? To answer it we
-must go back&mdash;far, far back into the dim past.
-As you know, this world of ours is millions of
-years old, and like most ancient things it has
-seen changes&mdash;tremendous changes. Its surface
-has altered from time to time in amazing
-fashion. Whole mountain ranges have disappeared
-from sight, and valleys have been
-raised to make fresh highlands. The bed of
-the ocean has suddenly or slowly been thrust<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span>
-up, yielding entirely new continents, while vast
-areas of land have sunk deep enough to allow
-the water to flow in and create new seas. All
-this we know by the study of the rocks and the
-fossil remains buried in them&mdash;that is, by the
-science of geology.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_014"><img src="images/i_014.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="582" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">How the Thames was made.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Now, among many other strange things,
-geology teaches us that our own islands were at
-one time joined on to the mainland of Europe.
-In those days there was no English Channel, no
-North Sea, and no Irish Sea. Instead, there
-was a great piece of land stretching from Denmark
-and Norway right across to spots miles
-out beyond the western limits of Ireland and
-the northern limits of Scotland. This land,
-which you will best understand by looking carefully
-at the map, p. 4, was crossed by several
-rivers, the largest of them one which flowed
-almost due north right across what is now the
-North Sea. This river, as you will see from
-the map, was chiefly produced by glaciers of
-the Alps, and, in its early stages, took practically
-the same course as the River Rhine of
-these days. As it flowed out across the Dogger<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span>
-district (where now is the famous Dogger Bank
-of our North Sea fishermen) it was joined by a
-number of tributary rivers, which flowed down
-eastwards from what we might call the “back-bone
-of England”&mdash;the range of mountains and
-hills which passes down through the centre of
-our islands. One of these tributaries was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span>
-river which in its early stages flowed along what
-is now our own Thames Valley.</p>
-
-<p>In those days everything was on a much
-grander scale, and this river, though only a
-small tributary of the great main continental
-river, was a far wider and deeper stream than
-the Thames which we know. Here and there
-along the present-day river valley we can
-still see in the contours of the land and in the
-various rocks evidences of the time when this
-bigger stream was flowing. (Of this we shall
-read more in Book <abbr title="3">III</abbr>.) Thus things were
-when there came the great surface change
-which enabled the water to flow across wide
-tracts of land and so form the British Islands,
-standing out separately from the mainland of
-Europe.</p>
-
-<p>All that, of course, happened long, long ago&mdash;many
-thousands of years before the earliest
-days mentioned in our history books&mdash;at a time
-about which we know nothing at all save what
-we can read in that wonderful book of Nature
-whose pages are the rocks and stones of the
-earth’s surface.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></p>
-
-<p>By the study of these rocks and the fossil
-remains in them we can learn just a few things
-about the life of those days&mdash;the strange kinds
-of trees which covered the earth from sea to
-sea, the weird monsters which roamed in the
-forests and over the hills. Of <em>man</em> we can learn
-very little. We can get some rough idea of
-when he first appeared in Britain, and we can
-tell by the remains preserved in caves, etc.,
-in some small degree what sort of life he lived.
-But that is all: the picture of England in those
-days is a very dim one.</p>
-
-<p>How and when the prehistoric man of these
-islands grew to some sort of civilization we
-cannot say. When first he learned to till the
-soil and grow his crops, to weave rough clothes
-for himself, to domesticate certain animals to
-carry his goods, to make roads along which
-these animals might travel, to barter his goods
-with strangers&mdash;all these are mysteries which
-we shall probably never solve.</p>
-
-<p>Just this much we can say: prehistoric man
-probably came to a simple form of civilization
-a good deal earlier than is commonly supposed.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span>
-As a rule our history books start with the year
-of Cæsar’s coming (55 <small>B.C.</small>), and treat everything
-before that date as belonging to absolute
-savagery. But there are many evidences which
-go to show that the Britons of that time were
-to some considerable extent a civilized people,
-who traded pretty extensively with Gaul (France,
-that is), and who knew how to make roads and
-embankments and, perhaps, even bridges.</p>
-
-<p>As early man grew to be civilized, as he
-learned to drain the flooded lands by the side
-of the stream and turn them from desolate fens
-and marshes to smiling productive fields, and
-as he learned slowly how to get from the hillsides
-and the plain the full value of his labour,
-so he realized more and more the possibilities
-of the great river valley.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The Thames flows in what may be regarded
-as an excellent example of a river-basin. A
-large area, no less than six thousand square
-miles, is enclosed on practically all sides by
-ranges of hills, generally chalk hills, which
-slope down gently into its central plain; and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span>
-across this area, from Gloucestershire to the
-North Sea, for more than two hundred miles
-the River winds slowly seawards, joined here
-and there by tributaries, which add their share
-to the stream as they come down from the
-encompassing heights.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_018"><img src="images/i_018.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="308" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Birth of the River.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On the extreme west of the basin lie the Cotswold
-Hills of Gloucestershire. Here the Thames
-is born. The rain which falls on the hill-tops
-makes its way steadily into the soil, and is
-retained there. Down and down it sinks
-through the porous limestone and chalk, till
-eventually it reaches a layer of impenetrable
-material&mdash;clay, slate, or stone&mdash;through which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span>
-it can no longer pursue its downward course.
-Its only way now is along the upper surface of
-the stratum of impermeable material. Thus it
-comes in time to the places on the hillsides
-where the stratum touches the open air (see
-diagram on p. 8), and there it gushes forth in
-the form of springs, which in turn become tiny
-streams, some falling westwards down the steep
-Severn valley, others running eastwards down
-the gentler declivity.</p>
-
-<p>At their northern end the Cotswolds sweep
-round to join Edge Hill; and then the hill-wall
-crosses the uplands of that rolling country which
-we call the Central Tableland, and so comes to
-the long stretch of the East Anglian Heights,
-passing almost continuously eastward through
-Hertfordshire and North Essex to Suffolk. On
-the south side the ring of hills sweeps round by
-way of the Marlborough Downs, and so comes
-to the long scarp of the “North” Downs, which
-make their way eastwards to the Kentish coast.</p>
-
-<p>Within the limits of this ring of hills the
-valley lies, not perfectly flat like an alluvial
-plain, but gently, very gently, undulating,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span>
-seldom rising more than two or three hundred
-feet above sea-level, save where that great
-ridge of chalk&mdash;the Chiltern-Marlborough range&mdash;straddles
-right across the basin at Goring.</p>
-
-<p>Standing on one of the little eminences of the
-valley we can survey the scene before us: we
-can watch the River for many miles winding its
-way seawards, and note in all directions the
-same fertile, flourishing countryside, with its
-meadows where the soft-eyed cattle browse on
-the rich grass; its warm, brown plough-lands; its
-rich, golden fields of wheat, oats, and barley;
-its pretty orchards and farms close at hand; its
-nestling, tidy villages; its little pointed church
-steeples dotted everywhere. We can see in
-the distance, maybe, one or two compact little
-towns, for towns always spring up on wide,
-well-farmed plains, since the farmers must have
-proper markets to which to send their supplies
-of eggs, butter, cheese, and milk, and proper
-mills where their grain may be ground into flour.</p>
-
-<p>It is a pleasant, satisfying prospect&mdash;one
-which suggests industrious, thrifty farmers
-reaping the rich reward of their unsparing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span>
-labours; and it is an interesting prospect, too,
-for this same prosperous countryside, very little
-altered during half-a-dozen centuries, has done
-much to establish and maintain the position of
-the Thames as <em>the</em> great river of England.</p>
-
-<p>The usefulness of a river to its country depends
-on several things. In the first place, it must be
-able to carry goods&mdash;to act as a convenient
-highway along which the traffic can descend
-through the valley towards the busy places near
-the mouth. That is to say, it must be navigable
-to barges and small boats throughout a considerable
-portion of its length. In the second
-place, there must be the goods to carry. That is
-to say, the river must pass through a countryside
-which can produce in great quantity things
-which are needed. In the third place, the chief
-port of the river must lie in such a position that
-it is within comparatively easy distance of good
-foreign markets.</p>
-
-<p>Now let us see how these three conditions
-apply to the River Thames.</p>
-
-<p>Firstly, with regard to the goods themselves.
-If we take our map of England, and lay a pencil<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span>
-across it from Bristol to the Wash, we shall be
-marking off what has been through the greater
-part of English history the boundary of the
-wealthy portion of Britain, for only in modern
-times, since the development of the iron and
-coal fields, and the discovery that the damp
-climate of the north was exactly suited to the
-manufacture of textiles, has the great industrial
-North of England come into being. England
-in the Middle Ages, and on till a century or more
-ago, was an agricultural country; its wealth lay
-very largely in what it grew and what it reared;
-and the south provided the most suitable
-countryside for this sort of production. The
-consequence was that the Thames flowed right
-down through the centre of wealthy England.
-All round it were the chalk-ranges on which
-throve the great herds of long-fleeced sheep
-that provided the wonderful wool for which
-England was famous, and which was in many
-respects the main source of her prosperity.
-In between the hills were the cornfields and the
-orchards. And dotted all down the course at
-convenient points were thriving towns, each of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span>
-which could, as it were, drain off the produce
-of the area behind it, and so act as a collecting
-and forwarding station for the traffic of the
-main stream.</p>
-
-<p>The River, too, was quite capable of dealing
-with the great output, for it was navigable for
-barges and small boats as far as Lechlade, a
-matter of 150 miles from the mouth, and its
-tributaries were in most cases capable of bearing
-traffic for quite a few miles into the right and
-left interior. Moreover, its current at ordinary
-times was neither too swift nor too sluggish.</p>
-
-<p>So that, with the wealth produced by the
-land and the means of transport provided by
-the River, the only things needed to make the
-Thames one of Europe’s foremost rivers were
-the markets.</p>
-
-<p>Here again the Thames was fortunate in its
-situation, for its mouth stood in an advantageous
-position facing the most important
-harbours of Normandy, Flanders, Holland, and
-Germany, all within comparatively easy distance,
-and all of them ready to take our incomparable
-wool and our excellent corn in exchange<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span>
-for the things they could bring us. Moreover,
-the tides served in such a way that the double
-tides of the Channel and the North Sea made
-London the most easily reached port of all for
-ships coming from the south.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, then, favoured as it was by its natural
-situation and by its character, the Thames became
-by far the most important highway in our
-land, and this it remained for several centuries&mdash;until
-the coming of the railways, in fact.</p>
-
-<p>Now the River above London counts for very
-little in our system of communications. Like
-all other English waterways, canals and rivers
-alike, it has given place to the iron road, notwithstanding
-the fact that goods can be carried
-by water at a mere fraction of the cost of rail-transport.
-But our merchants do not seem to
-realize this; and so in this matter we find ourselves
-a long way behind our neighbours on the
-Continent.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="LONDON_RIVER">LONDON RIVER</h2>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_ONE">CHAPTER ONE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>London River</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">From</span> its mouth inwards to London Bridge the
-Thames is not the Thames, for like many
-another important commercial stream it takes
-its name from the Port to which the seamen
-make their way, and it becomes to most of those
-who use it&mdash;London River.</p>
-
-<p>Now where does London River begin at the
-seaward side? At the Nore. The seaward
-limit of the Port of London Authority is somewhat
-to the east of the Nore Light, and consists
-of an imaginary line stretching from a point
-at the mouth of Havingore Creek (nearly four
-miles north-east of Shoeburyness on the Essex
-coast) to Warden Point on the Kent coast, eight
-miles or so from Sheerness; and this we may
-regard quite properly as the beginning of the
-River. The opening here is about ten miles<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span>
-wide, but narrows between Shoeburyness and
-Sheerness, where for more practical purposes
-the River commences, to about six miles.</p>
-
-<p>Right here at the mouth the River receives
-its last and most important tributary&mdash;the
-Medway.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_026"><img src="images/i_026.jpg" alt="Thames River mouth" width="650" height="325" /></a>
-</div>
-
-<p>For some miles up the estuary and the
-lower reaches the character of the River is such
-that it is difficult to imagine anything less
-interesting, less impressive, less suggestive of
-what the river approach to the greatest city in
-the world should be; for there is nothing but
-flat land on all sides, so flat that were not the
-great sea-wall in position the whole countryside<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span>
-would soon revert to its original condition of
-marsh and fenland. Were we unfamiliar with
-the nature of the landscape, a glance at the map
-would convince us at once, for in continuous
-stretch from Sheerness and the Medway we find
-on the Kentish bank&mdash;Grain Marsh (the Isle
-of Grain), St. Mary’s Marshes, Halslow Marshes,
-Cooling Marshes, Cliffe Marshes, and so on.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span>
-Nor is the Essex bank any better once we have
-left behind the slightly higher ground on which
-stand Southend, Westcliff, and Leigh, for the
-low, flat Canvey Island is succeeded by the
-Mucking and East Tilbury Marshes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_027"><img src="images/i_027.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="569" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">The Nore Lightship. <em>Where London River
-joins the Sea.</em></p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>The river-wall, extending right away from
-the mouth to London on the Essex side, is a
-wonderful piece of engineering&mdash;man’s continuously
-successful effort against the persistence
-of Nature&mdash;a feature strongly reminiscent
-of the Lowlands on the other side of the narrow
-seas. Who first made this mighty dyke? No
-one knows. Probably in many places it is not
-younger than Roman times, and there are
-certain things about it which tend to show an
-even earlier origin.</p>
-
-<p>Indeed, so long ago was it made that the
-mouth and lower parts of the River must have
-presented to the various invaders through the
-centuries very much the same appearance as
-they present to anyone entering the Thames
-to-day. The Danes in their long ships, prowling
-round the Essex and Thanet coasts in search
-of a way into the fair land, probably saw just<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span>
-these same dreary flats on each hand, save that
-when they sailed unhindered up the River they
-caught in places the glint of waters beyond
-the less carefully attended embankment. The
-foreign merchants of the Middle Ages&mdash;the men
-of Genoa and Florence, of Flanders and the
-Hanseatic Towns&mdash;making their way upstream
-with an easterly wind and a flowing tide; the
-Elizabethan venturers coming back with their
-precious cargoes from long and perilous voyages;
-the Dutch sweeping defiantly into the estuary
-in the degenerate days of Charles <abbr title="2">II</abbr>.&mdash;all these
-must have beheld a spectacle almost identical
-with that which greets our twentieth-century
-travellers returning from the East.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_030"><img src="images/i_030.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="572" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Sheerness on Sea</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Perhaps, at first sight, one of the most striking
-things in all this stretch of the River is the
-absence of ancient fortifications. True, we have
-those at Sheerness, but they were made for the
-guarding of the dockyard and of the approach to
-the important military centre at Chatham, which
-lies a few miles up the River Medway. Surely
-this great opening into England, the gateway
-to London, this key to the entire situation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span>
-should have had frowning castles on each shore
-to call a halt to any venturesome, invading
-force. Thus we think at once with our twentieth-century
-conception of warfare&mdash;forgetting
-that the cannon of early days could never have
-served to throw a projectile more than a mere
-fraction of the distance across the stream.</p>
-
-<p>Not till we pass up the Lower Hope and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span>
-Gravesend Reaches and come to Tilbury and
-Gravesend, facing each other on the two banks,
-do we reach anything like a gateway. Then
-we find Tilbury Fort on the Essex shore, holding
-the way upstream. Here, at the ferry between
-the two towns, the River narrows to less than
-a mile in width; consequently the artillery of
-ancient days might have been used with something
-like effectiveness.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_032"><img src="images/i_032.jpg" alt="" width="493" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><em>Training Ships off Greenhithe.</em></p>
-<p class="caption center">“Arethusa” for Homeless Boys</p>
-<p class="caption center">“Worcester” Nautical Training College</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>From Gravesend westwards the country still
-lies very low on each bank, but the monotony is
-not quite so continuous, for here and there, first
-at one side and then at the other, there rise from
-the widespread flats little eminences, and on
-these small towns generally flourish. At Northfleet
-and Greenhithe, for instance, where the
-chalk crops out, and the River flows up against
-cliffs from 100 to 150 feet high, there is by
-contrast quite a romantic air about the place,
-and the same may be said of the little town of
-Purfleet, which lies four miles up the straight
-stretch of Long Reach, its wooded chalk bluffs
-with their white quarries very prominent in the
-vast plain. But, for the most part, it is marshes,
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]<br /><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span>marshes all the way, particularly on the Essex
-shore&mdash;marshes where are concocted those
-poisonously unpleasant mixtures known as
-“London specials,” the thick fogs which do so
-much to make the River, and the Port as well,
-a particularly unpleasant place at certain times
-in winter. When a “London special” is about&mdash;that
-variety which East Enders refer to as the
-“pea-soup” variety&mdash;the thick, yellow, smoke-laden
-mist obscures everything, effectively putting
-an end to all business for the time being.</p>
-
-<p>Passing Erith on the Kent coast, and Dagenham
-and Barking on the Essex, we come to the
-point where London really begins on its eastward
-side. From now onwards on each bank
-there is one long, winding line of commercial
-buildings, backed in each case by a vast and
-densely-populated area. On the southern shore
-come Plumstead and Woolwich, to be succeeded
-in continuity by Greenwich, Deptford, Rotherhithe,
-and Bermondsey; while on the northern
-side come in unbroken succession North Woolwich,
-Canning Town, and Silvertown (backed
-by those tremendous new districts&mdash;East and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span>
-West Ham, Blackwall and Poplar, Millwall,
-Limehouse, Shadwell, and Wapping). In all the
-eleven miles or so from Barking Creek to London
-Bridge there is nothing to see but shipping and
-the things appertaining thereto&mdash;great cargo-boats
-moving majestically up or down the
-stream, little tugs fussing and snorting their way
-across the waters, wind-jammers of all sorts
-and sizes dropping down lazily on the tide,
-small coastal steamers, ugly colliers, dredgers,
-businesslike Customs motor-boats and River
-Police launches, vast numbers of barges, some
-moving beautifully under their own canvas,
-some being towed along in bunches, others
-making their way painfully along, propelled
-slowly by their long sweeps; there is nothing to
-hear but the noises of shipping&mdash;the shrill cry
-of the syren, the harsh rattling of the donkey-engines,
-the strident shouts of the seamen and
-the lightermen. Everything is marine, for this
-is the Port of London.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_035"><img src="images/i_035.jpg" alt="" width="469" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">London’s Giant Gateway</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Here where the River winds in and out are
-the Docks, those tremendous basins which have
-done so much to alter the character of London
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]<br /><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span>River during the last hundred years, that have
-shifted the Port of London from the vicinity
-of London Bridge and the Upper Pool, and
-placed it several miles downstream, that have
-rendered the bascules of that magnificent
-structure, the Tower Bridge, comparatively
-useless things, which now require to be raised
-only a very few times in the course of a day.</p>
-
-<p>In its course from the mouth inwards to the
-Port the River is steadily narrowing. At
-Yantlet Creek the stream is about four-and-a-half
-miles across; but in the next ten miles it narrows
-to a width of slightly under 1,300 yards at
-Coalhouse Point at the upper end of the Lower
-Hope Reach. At Gravesend the width is 800
-yards, at Blackwall under 400, while at London
-Bridge the width at high tide is a little less than
-300 yards.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_037"><img src="images/i_037.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="576" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Pool.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Just above and just below the Tower Bridge
-is what is known as the Pool of London. Standing
-on the bridge, taking in the wonderful
-picture up and down stream&mdash;the wide, filthy
-London River, with its craft of all descriptions,
-its banks lined with dirty, dull-looking wharves<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span>
-and warehouses, we find it hard to think of this
-as the River which we shall see later slipping
-past Clevedon Woods and Bablock-hythe or
-under Folly Bridge at Oxford. Up there all
-is bright and clean and sunny: here even on
-the blithest summer day there is usually an
-overhanging pall of smoke which serves to dim<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span>
-the brightest sunshine and add to the dreariness
-of the scene.</p>
-
-<p>Yet, despite its lack of beauty, despite all the
-drawbacks of its ugliness and its squalor, this
-is one of the most romantic places in all England:
-a place to linger in and let the imagination have
-free rein. What visions these ships call up&mdash;visions
-of the wonderful East with its blaze of
-colour and its burning sun, visions of Southern
-seas with palm-clad coral islands, visions of the
-frozen North with its bleak icefields and its
-snowy forest lands, visions of crowded cities and
-visions of the vast, lonely places of the earth.
-For these ordinary-looking ships have come
-from afar, bearing in their cavernous holds the
-wealth of many lands, to be swallowed up by the
-ravenous maw of the greatest port in the world.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_039"><img src="images/i_039.jpg" alt="" width="393" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Work and Wealth on a Thames-side Wharf.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Every minute is precious here. Engines are
-rattling as the cranes lift up boxes and bales
-from the interiors of the ships and deposit them
-in the lighters that cluster round their sides. Inshore
-the cranes are hoisting the goods from
-the vessels to the warehouses as fast as they can.
-Men are shouting and gesticulating; syrens are
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]<br /><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span>wailing out their doleful cry or screaming their
-warning note. Everything is hurry and bustle,
-for there are other cargoes waiting to take the
-place of those now being discharged, and other
-ships ready to take the berths of those unloading;
-and there are tides to be thought of, unless
-precious hours are to be wasted.</p>
-
-<p>It is a fascinating place, is the Pool, and one
-which never loses its interest for either young
-or old.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_TWO">CHAPTER TWO</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Estuary and its Towns</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Sheppey</span>, on the coast of which is the Warden
-Point that forms one end of the Port of London
-boundary line, is an island, separated from the
-mainland of Kent by the Swale. People frequently
-speak of it as the “Isle of Sheppey,”
-but this title is not strictly correct, for the name
-Sheppey really includes the word “island.”
-William Camden, that old writer on geographical
-subjects, informs us that “this Isle of Sheepe,
-whereof it feedeth mightie great flocks, was
-called by our ancestours Shepey&mdash;that is, the
-Isle of Sheepe.”</p>
-
-<p>Though it is only eleven miles long and five
-miles broad, this little island presents within
-its compass quite a variety of scenery, especially
-when the general flatness of the whole
-area round about is borne in mind; for, in addition
-to its riverside marshes, it has a distinctly
-hilly ridge, geologically related to the North<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span>
-Downs, surmounted by a little village rejoicing
-in the high-sounding name of Minster-in-Sheppey,
-wherein at one time was the ancient Saxon
-“minster” or “priory” of St. Saxburga.
-But the oft-repeated words concerning “prophets”
-and “honour” apply to this little out-of-the-way
-corner, for the men of Kent are wont
-to say that when the world was made Sheppey
-was never finished.</p>
-
-<p>Naturally, from its situation, right at the
-entrance to the Thames, Sheppey always played
-some considerable part in the warfare of the
-lower river. What happened in these parts in
-very early days we do not know. We can only
-conjecture that Celts, coming across from the
-mainland of Europe in their frail vessels, found
-this way into Britain, and without hindrance
-sailed up the River to found the tiny settlement
-of Llyndin hill: we can only surmise that later
-some of the Saxons worked their way guardedly
-up the wide opening while the main body of
-their comrades found other ways into this fair
-land. Not till the ninth century do we begin
-to get any definite record of invasion. Then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span>
-in 832 we find the Vikings, with their long-boats,
-hovering about the mouth of the River, landing
-in Sheppey and raiding that little island with its
-monastery on the hill. They returned in 839;
-and in 857 they came with a great fleet of their
-long-boats&mdash;350 of them&mdash;in order that they
-might advance up the River and make an
-attack on the city. In 893 they came yet
-again, landing either at Milton Creek on the
-Swale, or at Milton nearly opposite Tilbury (it
-is uncertain which); but the men of London
-drove them off. So it went on for many years,
-invasion after invasion, till the days of Canute,
-when the River played a very great part in
-the warfare, now favouring, now hampering the
-Danish leaders.</p>
-
-<p>From the time of the Norman Conquest onwards
-there was, of course, nothing in the way
-of foreign invasions; and the Thames, ceasing
-to be a gateway by means of which the stranger
-might enter England, became a barrier impeding
-the progress of the various factions opposing
-each other in the national struggles&mdash;the War
-of the Barons, the Wars of the Roses, and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span>
-great Civil War. In these, however, the Thames
-below London played no very great part. Not
-till the days of Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>., when the Dutch
-helped to write such a sorry chapter in our
-history, did the Thames again loom large in our
-military annals.</p>
-
-<p>Sheerness is, of course, the most famous place
-on the island, for it has long been a considerable
-dockyard and port. The spot on which it was
-built was reclaimed from the marshes in the
-time of the Stuarts, and was chosen in the days
-of Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. as the situation for a new dockyard.
-If we turn up the “Diary” of old
-Samuel Pepys, the Secretary of the Admiralty
-of those days, we shall find under the date of
-August 18, 1665: “Walked up and down, laying
-out the ground to be taken in for a yard to lay
-provisions for cleaning and repairing of ships,
-and a most proper place it is for the purpose;”
-while on February 27, two years later, His
-Majesty was at Sheerness to lay those fortifications
-which were destined within less than six
-months to be destroyed by the Dutch.</p>
-
-<p>The other important town in Sheppey is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span>
-Queenborough, a well-known packet-station.
-Originally this was Kingborough, but it was
-rechristened by Edward <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. in honour of his
-Queen, Philippa, at the time when William
-Wykeham (of whose skill as a builder we shall
-read in the chapter on Windsor in Book <abbr title="3">III</abbr>.)
-erected a castle on the spot where the railway-station
-now stands. Eastchurch, towards the
-other end of the island, developed a splendid
-flying-ground during the War.</p>
-
-<p>On the other side of the Medway, forming a
-peninsula between that river and the Thames,
-lies the Isle of Grain&mdash;a place which is not an
-island and which has nothing whatever to do
-with grain. It consists of a marshy promontory
-with a packet-station, Port Victoria, and a
-seaplane base, Fort Grain, and very little else
-beside. At its western extremity is the dirty
-little Yantlet Creek, close to which stands the
-well-known “London Stone,” an obelisk set up
-to mark the point where, prior to the Port of
-London Act, ended the power of the Lord
-Mayor of London in his capacity as Conservator
-of the Thames.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p>
-
-<p>Westwards from Yantlet Creek are great flats
-out of which rise the batteries of Shornemead
-and Cliffe, considerable forts designed to serve
-with that of Coalhouse Point, opposite on the
-Essex shore, as a defence of the River. They
-were built in no very remote times, but were
-practically never anything else than useless
-against modern artillery, and were destined, so
-later military engineers said, to do more damage
-to each other than to any invading foes.</p>
-
-<p>On the Essex coast, opposite Sheerness, are
-two famous places, Southend and Shoeburyness&mdash;the
-one a famous resort for trippers, the other
-an important school of artillery.</p>
-
-<p>Not so very long ago Southend was unheard
-of. Defoe, who covered the ground hereabouts
-pretty thoroughly, makes no mention of it even
-as a hamlet; yet to-day it is a flourishing and
-constantly growing town&mdash;not so much a watering-place
-nowadays as a rather distant suburb
-of London. For here and in the adjacent
-district of Westcliff, now by the builders and
-the trams joined on, and even in Leigh still
-farther west, live many of London’s more suc<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span>cessful
-workers, making the daily journey to
-and from town. Nor is this surprising, for
-Southend is an enterprising borough&mdash;one that
-makes the most of its natural advantages, and
-endeavours to cater equally well for the residents
-and the casual visitors. Of course, the town
-will always be associated with day-trippers from
-London, folk who come down with their families
-to get a “whiff of the briny,” and a taste of
-the succulent cockles for which Southend is
-noted, and to enjoy a ride in one of the numerous
-boats, or on the tram that runs along the mile
-and a half length of Southend’s vaunted possession,
-the longest pier in England. And while
-we laugh sometimes at these trippers with their
-ribald enjoyment of strange scenes, we must
-admit that they choose a most healthy and
-enjoyable place.</p>
-
-<p>At Shoeburyness, approached by way of the
-tramcars, things are far more serious. Cockney
-joviality seldom gets so far from the pier as this.
-Off the land here is a very extensive bank of
-shallows, and here the artillerymen carry out
-their practice, the advantage being that in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span>
-such a spot the costly projectiles fired can be
-recovered and put in order for future use.</p>
-
-<p>Canvey Island, which lies tucked away in a
-little corner to the west of Leigh, is yet another
-example of man’s triumph over nature, for it
-has veritably been stolen from the waters. It
-was reclaimed as long ago as 1622, by one Joas
-Cropperburgh, who for his labours received
-about two thousand of its six thousand acres.
-And Dutch most assuredly Canvey is&mdash;with
-quaint Dutch cottages, one of them a six-sided
-affair, dated 1621, and set up by the very Dutchmen
-who came over to construct the dams, and
-with Dutch dykes dividing the fields instead of
-hedges. Robert Buchanan, in his novel “Andromeda,”
-wrote of it in these terms: “Flat
-as a map, so intermingled with creeks and runlets
-that it is difficult to say where water ends
-and land begins, Canvey Island lies, a shapeless
-octopus, right under the high ground of Benfleet
-and Hadleigh, and stretches out muddy and
-slimy feelers to touch and dabble in the deep
-water of the flowing Thames. Away across the
-marshes rise the ancient ruins of Hadleigh<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span>
-Castle, further eastwards the high spire and
-square tower of Leigh Church.”</p>
-
-<p>At the village of Benfleet, which he mentions,
-the Danes landed when in 874 they made one
-of their characteristic raids on the Thames
-Estuary; and here they hoarded up the goods
-filched from the Essex villages till such time as
-there should come a wind favourable for the
-journey home.</p>
-
-<p>Like various other places on the Estuary and
-the lower reaches of the River, Canvey Island
-has on occasions been proposed as a place for
-deep-sea wharves, so that unloading might be
-carried out without the journey up river, but
-so far nothing definite has come of these suggestions.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_THREE">CHAPTER THREE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Medway and its Towns</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">From</span> its position right at the entrance to the
-River the Medway tributary has always offered
-a considerable contribution to the defence of
-London. Going off as it does laterally from the
-main stream, the Medway estuary has acted
-the part of a remarkably fine flank retreat.
-Our forces, driven back at any time to the refuge
-of the River, could always split up&mdash;part proceeding
-up the main stream towards London,
-and part taking refuge in the protected network
-of waterways behind Sheppey and the Isle of
-Grain. So that the indiscreet enemy, chasing
-the main portion of the fleet up the estuary of
-the River, would always be in danger of being
-caught between two fires. Which fact probably
-accounts for the tremendous importance with
-which the Medway has always been regarded in
-naval and military circles.</p>
-
-<p>Passing between the Isle of Grain and Shep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span>pey,
-and leaving on our left hand the Swale, in
-which, so tradition says, St. Augustine baptized
-King Ethelbert at Whitsun, 596, and on the
-other bank Port Victoria, the packet-station,
-we find nothing very striking till we catch sight
-of Upnor Castle, on the western bank of the
-river, facing the Chatham Dockyard Extension.
-This queer old, grey-walled fortress with its
-cylindrical towers, built in the reign of Queen
-Elizabeth, is not a very impressive place. It
-does not flaunt its strength from any impregnable
-cliff, or even fling defiance from the top
-of a little hill. Instead, it lies quite low on the
-river bank. Yet it has had one spell of real life
-as a fortress, a few days of activity in that
-inglorious time with which the tributary will
-ever be associated&mdash;the days of “the Dutch in
-the Medway,” when de Ruyter and van Ghent
-came with some sixty vessels to the Nore and
-in about two hours laid level with the ground
-the magnificent and recently-erected fortifications
-of Sheerness. This and the happenings
-of the next few weeks formed, as old John
-Evelyn says in his “Diary,” “a dreadfull spec<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span>tacle
-as ever Englishman saw, and a dishonour
-never to be wiped off!”</p>
-
-<p>In the pages of Charles Macfarlane’s story,
-“The Dutch in the Medway,” is to be found a
-most interesting account of these calamitous
-days, from which we cull the following extracts:
-“On the following morning&mdash;the memorable
-morning of the 12th of June&mdash;a very fresh wind
-from the north-east blew over Sheerness and the
-Dutch fleet, and a strong spring-tide set the
-same way as the wind, raising and pouring the
-waters upward from the broad estuary in a
-mighty current. And now de Ruyter roused
-himself from his inactivity, and gave orders to
-his second in command, Admiral van Ghent, to
-ascend the river towards Chatham with fire-ships,
-and fighting ships of various rates.
-Previously to the appearance of de Ruyter on
-our coasts, his Grace of Albemarle had sunk a
-few vessels about Muscle Bank, at the narrowest
-part of the river, had constructed a boom, and
-drawn a big iron chain across the river from
-bank to bank, and within the boom and chain
-he had stationed three king’s ships; and having<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span>
-done these notable things, he had written to
-Court that all was safe on the Medway, and that
-the Dutch would never be able to break through
-his formidable defences. But now van Ghent
-gave his Grace the lie direct; for, favoured by
-the heady current and strong wind, the prows
-of his ships broke through the boom and iron
-chain as though they had been cobwebs, and
-fell with an overwhelming force upon the ill-manned
-and ill-managed ships which had been
-brought down the river to eke out this wretched
-line of defence. The three ships, the <em>Unity</em>,
-the <em>Matthias</em>, and the <em>Charles <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>.</em>, which had
-been taken from the Dutch in the course of the
-preceding year&mdash;the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Annus Mirabilis</i> of Dryden’s
-flattering poem&mdash;were presently recaptured and
-burned under the eyes of the Duke of Albemarle,
-and of many thousands of Englishmen
-who were gathered near the banks of the
-Medway.</p>
-
-<p>“On the following morning (Thursday, the
-13th of June) at about ten o’clock, as the tide
-was rising, and the wind blowing right up the
-river, van Ghent, who had been lying at anchor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span>
-near the scene of his yesterday’s easy triumph,
-unfurled his top-sails, called his men to their
-guns, and began to steer through the shallows
-for Chatham.</p>
-
-<p>“The mid-channel of the Medway is so deep,
-the bed so soft, and the reaches of the river
-are so short, that it is the safest harbour in the
-kingdom. Our great ships were riding as in a
-wet dock, and being moored to chains fixed to
-the bottom of the river, they swung up and
-down with the tide. But all these ships, as well
-as many others of lower rates, were almost
-entirely deserted by their crews, or rather by
-those few men who had been put in them early
-in the spring, rather as watchmen than as
-sailors; some were unrigged, some had never been
-finished, and scarcely one of them had either
-guns or ammunition on board, although hurried
-orders had been sent down to equip some of
-them and to remove others still higher up the
-river out of the reach of danger.</p>
-
-<p>“It was about the hour of noon when van
-Ghent let go his anchor just above Upnor Castle.
-But his fire-ships did not come to anchor. No!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span>
-Still favoured by wind and tide, they proceeded
-onward, and presently fell among our
-great but defenceless ships. The two first of
-these fire-ships burned without any effect, but
-the rest that went upward grappled the <em>Great
-James</em>, the <em>Royal Oak</em>, and the <em>Loyal London</em>,
-and these three proud ships which, under other
-names, and even under the names they now
-bore, had so often been plumed with victory, lay
-a helpless prey to the enemy, and were presently
-in a blaze.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Having burned to the water’s edge the
-<em>London</em>, the <em>James</em>, and the <em>Royal Oak</em>, and some
-few other vessels of less note, van Ghent
-thought it best to take his departure. Yet,
-great as was the mischief he had done, it was
-so easy to have done a vast deal more, that
-the English officers at Chatham could scarcely
-believe their own eyes when they saw him
-prepare to drop down the river with the next
-receding tide, and without making any further
-effort ... the trumpeters on their quarter
-decks playing ‘Loth to depart’ and other tunes
-very insulting and offensive to English pride.”</p>
-
-<p>What shall we say of Chatham, Rochester,
-and the associated districts of Stroud and New
-Brompton? It is difficult, indeed, to find a
-great deal that is praiseworthy. They may
-perhaps still be summed up in Mr. Pickwick’s
-words: “The principal productions of these
-towns appear to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk,
-shrimps, officers, and dockyard men.”</p>
-
-<p>Formerly the view from the heights of
-Chatham Hill must have been a splendid one,
-with the broad Medway and its vast marshlands
-stretching away for miles across to the
-wooded uplands of Hoo. Now it appears almost
-as if a large chunk of the crowded London
-streets had been lifted bodily and dropped
-down to blot out the beauties of the scene,
-for there is little other to be seen than squalid
-buildings huddled together in mean streets,
-with just here and there a great chimney-stack
-to break the monotony of the countless roofs.</p>
-
-<p>The dockyard at Chatham is much the same
-as any other dockyard, and calls for no special
-description. From its slips have been launched
-many brave battleships, right down from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span>
-days of Elizabeth to our own times. Here at
-all seasons may be seen cruisers, battleships,
-destroyers, naval craft of all sorts, dry docked for
-refitting. All day long the air resounds to the
-noise of the automatic riveter, and the various
-sounds peculiar to a shipbuilding area.</p>
-
-<p>For many years the dockyard was associated
-with the name of Pett, a name famous in naval
-matters, and it was on one member of the
-family, Peter Pett, commissioner at Chatham,
-that most of the blame for the unhappy De
-Ruyter catastrophe most unjustly fell. Somebody
-had to be the scapegoat for all the higher
-failures, and poor Pett went to the Tower.
-But not all people agreed with the choice, as we
-may see from these satirical lines which were
-very popular at the time:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse">“All our miscarriages on <em>Pett</em> must fall;</div>
-    <div class="verse">His name alone seems fit to answer all.</div>
-    <div class="verse">Whose Counsel first did this mad War beget?</div>
-    <div class="verse">Who would not follow when the Dutch were bet?</div>
-    <div class="verse">Who to supply with Powder did forget</div>
-    <div class="verse">Languard, Sheerness, Gravesend and Upnor? <em>Pett</em>.</div>
-    <div class="verse"><em>Pett</em>, the Sea Architect, in making Ships</div>
-    <div class="verse">Was the first cause of all these Naval slips;</div>
-    <div class="verse">Had he not built, none of these faults had bin:</div>
-    <div class="verse">If no Creation, there had been no Sin.”</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_058"><img src="images/i_058.jpg" alt="" width="488" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Rochester Castle.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p>
-
-<p>The river here is a very busy place, and is
-under certain circumstances quite picturesque.
-There is a weird blending of ancient and modern,
-of the dimly-comprehended past and the blatant,
-commercial present, along Limehouse Reach,
-with its tremendous coal-hoists, and its smoking
-stacks, and its brown-sailed barges and snorting
-tugs&mdash;with the great masses of Rochester Castle
-and Cathedral looming out behind it all.</p>
-
-<p>Limehouse Reach is, indeed, an appropriate
-name, for all along this part, especially in the
-suburbs of Stroud and Frindsbury, the lime
-and cement-making industries are carried on
-extensively. Throughout a great deal of its
-length the Medway Valley is scarred by great
-quarries cut into the chalk hills; for it is chalk
-and the river mud, mixed roughly in the proportion
-of three to one and then burned in a
-kiln, which give the very valuable Portland
-cement, an invention now about a century old.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_060"><img src="images/i_060.jpg" alt="" width="446" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Rochester Cathedral</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Rochester itself is a quaint old place, standing
-on the ancient Roman road from Dover to
-London, and guarding the important crossing
-of the Medway. It can show numbers of
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]<br /><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span>Roman remains in addition to its fine old
-Norman castle, and its Cathedral with a tale
-of eight centuries. The town stands to-day
-much as it stood when Dickens first described
-it in his volumes. The Corn Exchange is still
-there&mdash;“oddly garnished with a queer old clock
-that projects over the pavement out of a grave,
-red-brick building, as if Time carried on business
-there, and hung out his sign;” and so are Mr.
-Pickwick’s “Bull Hotel,” and the West Gate
-(Jasper’s Gateway), and Eastbury House (Nuns’
-House) of “Edwin Drood”; also the famous
-house of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span>“Seven Poor Travellers.”</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_FOUR">CHAPTER FOUR</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Gravesend and Tilbury</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> dreary fenland district which stretches
-from the Isle of Grain inland to Gravesend is
-that so admirably used by Dickens for local
-colour in his novel, “Great Expectations.”
-Some of his descriptions of the scenery in this
-place of “mudbank, mist, swamps, and work”
-cannot be bettered.</p>
-
-<p>Here is Cooling Marsh with its quaint, fourteenth-century
-relic, Cooling Castle Gatehouse,
-built at the time of the Peasants’ Revolt, when
-the rich folk of the land found it expedient to
-do little or nothing to aggravate the peasantry.
-The builder, Sir John de Cobham, realizing the
-danger, saw fit to attach to one of the towers
-of his stronghold a plate, to declare to all
-and sundry that there was in his mind no
-thought other than that of protection from
-some anticipated foreign incursions. This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span>
-plate is still in position on the ruin, and
-reads:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse">“Knowyth that beth and schul be</div>
-    <div class="verse">That I am mad in help of the cuntre</div>
-    <div class="verse">In knowyng of whyche thyng</div>
-    <div class="verse">Thys is chartre and wytnessynge.”</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>According to Dr. J. Holland Rose, the
-authority on Napoleonic subjects, it was at a
-spot somewhere along this little stretch that
-Napoleon at the beginning of the last century
-proposed to land one of his invading columns.
-Other columns would land at various points
-on the Essex and Kent coasts, and all would then
-converge on London, the main objective. In
-fact, the Thames Estuary was such a vulnerable
-point that it occupied a considerable position
-in the scheme of defence drawn up for Pitt by
-the Frenchman Dumouriez.</p>
-
-<p>Gravesend itself from the River is not by any
-means an ill-favoured place, despite its rather
-commercial aspect. Backed by the sloping
-chalk hills, and with a goodly number of trees
-breaking up the mass of its buildings, it presents
-a tolerably picturesque appearance. Particularly
-is it a welcome sight to those returning to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span>
-England after a long voyage, for it is frequently
-the first English town seen at all closely.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_064"><img src="images/i_064.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Gravesend</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Gravesend the ships, both those going up
-and those going down, take aboard their pilots.
-The Royal Terrace Pier, which is the most
-prominent thing on Gravesend river front, is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span>
-the headquarters of the two or three hundred
-navigators whose business it is to pilot ships to
-and from the Port of London, or out to sea as
-far as Dungeness on the south channel, or
-Orfordness, off Harwich, on the north channel.
-These men work under the direction of a
-“ruler,” who is an official of Trinity House, the
-corporation which was founded at Deptford
-in the reign of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., and which now
-regulates lighthouses, buoys, etc.</p>
-
-<p>Gravesend is famous for two delicacies, its
-shrimps and its whitebait, and the town possesses
-quite a considerable shrimp-fishing fleet.</p>
-
-<p>As in the Medway Valley, the cement works
-form a conspicuous feature in the district round
-about. In fact, all this stretch, where the chalk
-hills crop out towards the River’s edge, has been
-famous through long years for the quarrying of
-chalk and the making of lime, and afterwards
-cement. As long ago as Defoe’s time we have
-that author writing: “Thus the barren soil of
-Kent, for such the chalky grounds are esteemed,
-make the Essex lands rich and fruitful, and the
-mixture of earth forms a composition which out<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span>
-of two barren extremes makes one prolific
-medium; the strong clay of Essex and Suffolk
-is made fruitful by the soft meliorating melting
-chalk of Kent which fattens and enriches it.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_066"><img src="images/i_066.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">A River-side Cement Works</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On the Essex coast opposite Gravesend are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span>
-the Tilbury Docks and the Tilbury Fort&mdash;eloquent
-reminders of the present and the past.
-At the Fort the ancient and the new lie in close
-proximity, the businesslike but obsolete batteries
-of modern times keeping company with
-the quaint old blockhouse, which at one time
-formed such an important point in the scheme
-of Thames defence.</p>
-
-<p>This old Tilbury Fort, with its seventeenth-century
-gateway, has been so frequently painted
-that many folk who have never seen it are quite
-familiar with its outline. At the beginning of
-the fifteenth century the folk of Tilbury,
-realizing how vulnerable their settlement was,
-set to work to fortify it, and later Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.
-built a blockhouse here, probably on the site of
-an ancient Roman encampment. This, when
-the Spanish Armada threatened, was altered
-and strengthened by Gianibelli, the clever
-Italian engineer. Hither Elizabeth came, and,
-so tradition says, made a soul-stirring speech to
-her soldiers:</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_068"><img src="images/i_068.jpg" alt="" width="567" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Gatehouse, Tilbury Fort.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>“My loving people, we have been persuaded
-by some that are careful of our safety, to take<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span>
-heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes
-for fear of treachery. But I assure you,
-I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span>
-loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have
-always so behaved myself that, under God, I
-have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard
-in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects.
-And therefore I am come among you at this
-time, not as for any recreation or sport, but
-being resolved, in the midst of the heat and
-the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to
-lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and
-for my people, my honour and my blood, even
-in the dust. I know I have but the body of a
-weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart
-of a king, and of a king of England, too; and
-think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any
-prince of Europe, should dare to invade the
-borders of my realm. To which, rather than
-any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will
-take up arms; I myself will be your general,
-judge, and rewarder of every one of your
-virtues in the field.”</p>
-
-<p>She had need to feed them on words, for by
-reason of her own meanness and procrastination
-the poor wretches had empty stomachs, or
-would have had if the citizens of London had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span>
-not loyally come to the assistance of their
-soldiers. In any case Elizabeth’s exertion was
-quite unnecessary, for the winds and the waves
-had conspired to do for England what the
-Queen’s niggardliness might easily have prevented
-our brave fellows from doing.</p>
-
-<p>An earlier and no less interesting drama was
-enacted at Tilbury and Gravesend in the reign
-of Richard <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. Close in the train of that
-national calamity, the Black Death, came in
-not unnatural consequence the outbreak known
-as the Peasants’ Revolt. Just a short way east
-of Tilbury, at a little village called Fobbing,
-broke out Jack Straw’s rising; and almost simultaneously
-came the outburst of Wat Tyler, when
-the Kentish insurgents marched on Canterbury,
-plundered the Palace, and dragged John Ball
-from his prison; then moved rapidly across Kent,
-wrecking and burning. At Tilbury and Gravesend
-these two insurgent armies met, and thence
-issued their summons to the King to meet them.
-He, brave lad of fifteen, entered his barge with
-sundry counsellors, and made his way downstream.
-How he met the disreputable rabble,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span>
-and how the peasants were enraged because he
-was not permitted to land and come among
-them, is a well-known story, as is the furious
-onslaught on London which resulted from the
-refusal.</p>
-
-<p>Thus far up the River came the Dutch in those
-terrible days of which we read in our last chapter.
-They sailed upstream on the day of their
-arrival, firing guns so that the sound was heard
-in the streets of London, but they came to a
-halt slightly below the point where the barricade,
-running down into the water from the Essex
-shore, largely closed up the waterway, and
-where the little Fort frowned down on the intruders.
-No attempt was made to stay them;
-indeed, none could have been made, for while
-the little blockhouse was well provided with
-guns, it was practically without powder; and
-the invaders could have proceeded right into the
-Pool of London without hindrance had they but
-known it. However, they were content for the
-time being with merely frightening the countryside
-with their terrible noise. As Evelyn says
-in his “Diary” (June 10): “The alarm was so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span>
-great that it put both country and city into a
-panic, fear and consternation, such as I hope
-I shall never see more; everybody was flying,
-none knew why or whither.” Having done this,
-the Dutch passed downstream to Sheerness,
-where their companions were engaged in destroying
-the fortifications. How long they
-stayed in these parts may be judged by this
-other extract from Evelyn, dated seven weeks
-after (July 29): “I went to Gravesend, the
-Dutch fleet still at anchor before the river,
-where I saw five of His Majesty’s men-of-war
-encounter above twenty of the Dutch, in the
-bottom of the Hope, chasing them with many
-broadsides given and returned towards the
-buoy of the Nore, where the body of their fleet
-lay, which lasted till about midnight....
-Having seen this bold action, and their braving
-us so far up the river, I went home the next day,
-not without indignation at our negligence, and
-the Nation’s reproach.”</p>
-
-<p>In 1904 it was proposed in the House of
-Commons that there should be made at Gravesend
-a great barrage or dam, right across the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span>
-River Thames, with a view to keeping a good
-head of water in the stream above Gravesend,
-much as the half-tide lock (about which we shall
-read in Book <abbr title="3">III</abbr>.) does at Richmond. This, the
-proposers said, would do away with the cost of
-so much dredging, and would make the building
-of riverside quays a much simpler and more
-satisfactory matter, for by it the whole length
-of river between Gravesend and London would
-be to all intents converted into one gigantic
-dock-basin. It was proposed that the barrage
-should have in it four huge locks to cope with
-the large amount of shipping, also a road across
-the top and a railway tunnel underneath. But
-many weighty objections were urged, and
-numerous difficulties were pointed out, so that
-the scheme fell through; and so far the only
-semblance of a barrage known to Gravesend has
-been that which was thrown right across the
-lower River for defensive purposes during the
-Great War.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_FIVE">CHAPTER FIVE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Marshes</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> stretch between Gravesend and the beginnings
-of the Metropolis can scarcely be regarded
-as an interesting portion of the River. True,
-there are one or two places which stand out
-from the commonplace level, but for the most
-part there is nothing much to attract; and
-certainly from the point of view of the navigator
-of big ships there is much in this stretch to
-repel, for here are to be found the numerous
-shoals which tend to make the passage of the
-River so difficult.</p>
-
-<p>Indeed, the problem of the constant filling of
-the bed of the River has always been a difficult
-one with the authorities. The River brings
-down a tremendous quantity of material (it is
-estimated that 1,000 tons of carbonate of lime
-pass beneath Kingston Bridge each day), and
-the tides bring in immense amounts of sand and
-gravel. Now, what becomes of all this insoluble<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span>
-material? It passes on, carried by the stream
-or the tidal waters, till it reaches the parts of the
-River where the downflowing stream and the
-incoming sea-water are in conflict, and so
-neutralize each other that there is no great
-flow of water. Then, no longer impelled, the
-material sinks to the bottom and forms great
-banks of sand, etc., which would in time grow
-to such an extent that navigation would be
-impeded, were not dredgers constantly engaged
-in the work of clearing the passage. It was
-largely this obstacle to efficient navigation that
-led to the creation of the great deep-sea docks at
-Tilbury.</p>
-
-<p>Northfleet, formerly a small village straggling
-up the side of a chalk hill, is now to all intents
-a suburb of Gravesend, so largely has each
-grown in recent years. Here, officially at any
-rate, are situated (about a mile to the west of
-Gravesend proper) those notorious Rosherville
-Gardens which in the middle of last century
-made Gravesend famous, and provided Londoners
-with a plausible reason for a trip down
-the River. The gardens were laid out in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span>
-1830 to 1835 by one Jeremiah Rosher, several
-disused chalk-pits being used for the purpose;
-and here the jovial Cockney visitors regaled
-themselves within quaint little arbours with
-tea and the famous Gravesend shrimps, and
-later danced to the light of Chinese lanterns till
-it was time to return citywards from the day’s
-high jinks.</p>
-
-<p>The Dockyard at Northfleet, constructed towards
-the end of the eighteenth century, was at
-one time a place of considerable importance, for
-here were built and launched numbers of fine
-vessels, both on behalf of the Royal Navy and
-of the East India Company. Now it has
-dwindled to comparative insignificance. Indeed,
-from a shipping point of view, the only interest
-lies in the numerous and familiar tan-sailed
-barges of the Associated Portland Cement
-Manufacturers; for Northfleet is one of the main
-centres of the cement industry so far as the
-Thames-side is concerned&mdash;an industry which is
-in evidence right along this stretch till the
-chalk hills end at Greenhithe, the town from
-which Sir John Franklin set out in 1845 on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span>
-his illfated expedition to the North-West
-Passage.</p>
-
-<p>At Grays (or Grays Thurrock, as it is more
-properly called), on the Essex bank, are numbers
-of those curious subterranean chalk caves
-which are a feature of most of the chalk uplands
-on both sides of the River, and which have
-caused so much discussion among the archæologists.
-These consist of vertical shafts, 3 or
-4 feet in diameter, dug down through anything
-from 50 to 100 feet of sand into the chalk below,
-where they widen out into caves 20 or more feet
-long. As many as seventy-two of them have
-been counted within a space of 4 acres in the
-Hangman’s Wood at Grays. What they were
-for no one can tell. All sorts of things have
-been conjectured, from the fabulous gold-mines
-of Cunobeline to the smugglers’ refuges of comparatively
-modern times. One thing is certain:
-they are of tremendous age. Probably they
-were used by their makers mainly as secret storehouses
-for grain. They are commonly called
-Dene-holes or Dane-holes, and are said to have
-served as hiding-places in that hazardous period<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span>
-when the Danes made life in the valley anything
-but pleasant. But this, while it may have been
-true, in no way solves the mystery of their
-origin.</p>
-
-<p>Purfleet, especially from a distance, is by no
-means unattractive, for quite close to the
-station a wooded knoll, quaintly named Botany,
-rises from the general flatness, and its greenery,
-contrasting strongly with the white of the chalk-pits,
-lifts the town out of that dreariness, merging into
-the positively ugly, which is the keynote of this
-part of the River beside the Long and Fiddler’s
-Reaches. The Government powder-magazine sets the
-fashion in beauty along a stretch which includes
-lime-kilns, rubbish heaps of all sorts, and various
-small and dingy works. Here at Purfleet (and also at
-Thames Haven, lower down the River) have in recent
-years been set down great installations for the
-storage of petrol and other liquid fuels&mdash;a
-riverside innovation of great and increasing
-importance.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_079"><img src="images/i_079.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="507" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Bugsby’s Reach</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>To the west of Purfleet lies a vast stretch of
-flats, known as Dagenham Marshes, in many
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span>
-places considerably lower than the level of
-the River at high tide, but protected from its
-advances by the great river-wall. Apparently
-the wall at this spot must have been particularly
-weak, for right through the Middle Ages
-and onwards we find it recorded that great
-stretches of the meadows were laid under water
-owing to the irruption of the tidal waters into
-the wall. There were serious inundations in
-1376, 1380, and 1381, when the landowners<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span>
-combined to effect repairs. Again in 1594 and
-1595 there was a serious failure of the dyke,
-with the result that the whole adjacent flats were
-covered twice a day. Now, this in itself would
-not have been so extremely serious; but the
-constant passing in and out of the water caused
-a deep hole to be washed out just inside the
-wall, and made the material bank up and form
-a bar on the opposite side of the stream. For
-a quarter of a century nothing was done,
-but eventually the Dutchman Vermuyden was
-called in, and he repaired the wall successfully.
-But in the days of Anne came an even more
-serious irruption, when the famous Dagenham
-breach was formed. One night in the year
-1707, owing to the carelessness of the official in
-charge, the waters broke the dyke once more,
-and swamped an area of a thousand acres or
-more, doing a vast deal of mischief. Once
-again the danger to navigation occurred, as the
-gravel, etc., swept out at each tide, formed a
-shoal half-way across the River, and fully a
-mile in length. So dangerous, indeed, was it
-that Parliament stepped in to find the £40,000<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span>
-needed for the repairs&mdash;a sum which the owners
-of the land could not have found. The waters
-were partially drained off, and the bank repaired;
-but a very big lake remained behind the
-wall, and remains to this day, as most anglers
-are aware.</p>
-
-<p>Towards the end of last century a scheme was
-set on foot for the construction of an immense
-dock here, because, it was urged, the excavations
-already done by the water would render the
-cost of construction smaller. Parliament agreed
-to the proposal, and it appeared as if this lonely
-part of Essex might become a great commercial
-centre; but the construction of the Tilbury Docks
-effectively put an end to the scheme. Now there
-is a Dagenham Dock, but it is merely a fair-sized
-wharf, engaged for the most part in the
-coal trade.</p>
-
-<p>Barking stands on the River Roding, a tributary
-which comes down by way of Ongar from
-the Hatfield Forest district near Epping, and
-which, before it joins the main River, widens out
-to form Barking Creek, which was, before the
-rise of Grimsby, the great fishing harbour.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span></p>
-
-<p>Barking is a place of great antiquity, and of
-great historic interest, though one would scarcely
-gather as much from a casual glance at its very
-ordinary streets with their commonplace shops
-and rows of drab houses&mdash;just as one would
-scarcely gather any idea of the charm of the
-Roding at Ongar and above from a glimpse of the
-slimy Creek. The town, in fact, goes even so far
-as to challenge the rival claims of Westminster
-and the City to contain the site of the earliest
-settlements of prehistoric man along the River
-valley. And certainly the earthworks discovered
-on the north side of the town&mdash;fortifications
-more than forty acres in extent and quite
-probably of Ancient British origin&mdash;even if they
-do not justify the actual claim, at least support
-the town in its contention that it is a place of
-great age.</p>
-
-<p>Little or nothing is known, however, till we
-come to the time of the foundation of its Abbey
-in the year 670. In that year, perhaps by
-reason of its solitude out there in the marshes,
-the place appealed to St. Erkenwald, the
-Bishop of London, as a good place for a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span>
-monastic institution, and the great Benedictine
-Abbey of the Blessed Virgin, the first
-English convent for women, arose from the
-low-lying fenlands, and started its life under
-the direction of the founder’s sister, St. Ethelburgha.</p>
-
-<p>It was destroyed by the Danes when they
-ventured up river in the year 870, but was
-rebuilt by King Edgar, after lying practically
-desolate for a century. By the time of the
-Conquest it had become a place of very great
-importance in the land, and to it came William
-after the treaty with the citizens of London, and
-to it he returned when his coronation was over,
-and there established his Court till such time as
-the White Tower should be finished by the monk
-Gundulf and his builders.</p>
-
-<p>Certainly it is a strange commentary on the
-irony of Time that this present-day desolation
-of drab streets should once have been the centre
-of fashion, to which came all the nobles in the
-south of England, bringing their ladies fair,
-decked out in gay apparel to appear before the
-King.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span></p>
-
-<p>In 1376 the Abbey met with its first great
-misfortune. In that year Nature conspired to
-the undoing of man’s great handiwork on the
-River, and the tide made a great breach at
-Dagenham, thereby causing the flooding of
-many acres of the Abbey lands, and driving the
-nuns from their home to higher ground at Billericay.
-So much was the prosperity of the
-Abbey affected by this disaster that the
-Convent of the Holy Trinity, in London,
-granted the Abbess the sum of twenty
-pounds annually (a large sum in those
-days) to help with the reclaiming of the
-land.</p>
-
-<p>Now of all the fine buildings of the Abbey
-practically nothing is left. At the time of the
-Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed into
-the King’s hands, and was afterwards sold to
-Lord Clinton. It has since gone through many
-ownerships, but no one has seen fit to preserve
-it. So that now practically all we can find
-is a sadly disfigured gateway at the entrance to
-the churchyard. This was at one time referred
-to as the “Chapel of the Holy Rood Loft atte<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span>
-Gate,” but the name was afterwards changed
-to the more conveniently spoken “Fire-bell
-Gate.” Of the actual Abbey buildings nothing
-remains.</p>
-
-<p>The London church of All Hallows, Barking,
-standing at the eastern end of Tower Street,
-quite close to Mark Lane Station, bears witness
-to the privileges and great power of the nunnery
-in ancient days, for the church was probably
-founded by the Abbey, and certainly the
-patronage of the living was in the hands of
-the Abbess from the end of the fourteenth
-century to the time of the suppression of the
-monasteries.</p>
-
-<p>Just to the west of the Creek mouth is the
-outfall of the northern drainage system of
-London. Vast quantities of sewage are brought
-daily, by means of a gigantic concrete outfall
-sewer, which passes across the flats from Old
-Ford and West Ham to Barking; and there they
-are deposited in huge reservoirs covering ten
-acres of ground. The sewage passes through
-four great compartments which together hold
-thirty-nine million gallons; and, having been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span>
-rendered more or less innocuous, is discharged
-into the Thames at high tide. This
-arrangement was one of the chief objections
-urged against the great barrage at
-Gravesend.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_SIX">CHAPTER SIX</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Woolwich</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">For</span> many years there was a local saying to
-the effect that “more wealth passes through
-Woolwich than through any other town in the
-world,” and, though at first sight this may seem
-a gross exaggeration, yet when we remember
-that Woolwich is in two parts, one on each side
-of the River, we can see at once the justice of
-that claim, for it simply meant that all the vast
-traffic to and from the Pool of London went
-along the Thames as it flowed between the two
-divisions of the town.</p>
-
-<p>To-day as we look at the drab, uninteresting
-place which occupies the sloping ground extending
-up Shooter’s Hill and the riverside
-extent from Charlton to Plumstead, we find it
-difficult to believe that this was ever a place of
-such great charm that London folk found in it
-a favourite summer-time resort. Yet we have
-only to turn up the “Diary” of good old Pepys<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span>
-to read (May 28, 1667): “My wife away down
-with Jane and Mr. Hewer to Woolwich, in order
-to a little ayre, and to lie there to-night, and so
-to gather may-dew to-morrow morning, which
-Mrs. Yarner hath taught her is the only thing
-in the world to wash her face with; and I am
-contented with it.”</p>
-
-<p>Of course, in those days Woolwich was in the
-country, surrounded by fields and woods, in the
-latter of which lurked footpads ever ready to
-relieve the unwary traveller of his purse. Thus
-we have Pepys writing in 1662: “To Deptford
-and Woolwich Yard. At night, I walked by
-brave moonlight with three or four armed men
-to guard me, to Rotherhithe, it being a joy to
-my heart to think of the condition that I was
-now in, that people should of themselves provide
-this for me, unspoke to. I hear this walk is
-dangerous to walk by night, and much robbery
-committed there”; and again in 1664: “By
-water to Woolwich, and walked back from Woolwich
-to Greenwich all alone; saw a man that had
-a cudgel, and though he told me he laboured in
-the King’s yard, yet, God forgive me! I did<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span>
-doubt he might knock me on the head behind
-with his club.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_089"><img src="images/i_089.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="624" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Woolwich</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Even a hundred years ago Woolwich was a
-comparatively small place, consisting largely of
-the one main street, the High Street, with
-smaller ways running down to the riverside.
-Shooter’s Hill was then merely wild<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span>
-heathland, ill-reputed as the haunt of highwaymen.</p>
-
-<p>Yet, for all that, Woolwich has been an important
-place through long years, for here have
-existed for centuries various Government factories
-and storehouses&mdash;at first the dockyards,
-and afterwards the Arsenal.</p>
-
-<p>Just when the dockyards were founded it is
-difficult to say, but it is generally agreed that it
-was either at the end of the reign of Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>.
-or at the beginning of that of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.
-Certain it is that from the latter’s reign down
-to the early days of Victoria the dockyard
-flourished. From its slips were launched many
-of the most famous of the early old “wooden
-walls of England”&mdash;the <em>Great Harry</em> (afterwards
-called the <em>Henry Grace de Dieu</em>), the
-<em>Prince Royal</em>, the <em>Sovereign Royal</em>, and also
-many of those made famous by the glorious
-victories of Drake and Cavendish, and in the
-wonderful voyages of Hawkins and Frobisher.
-The <em>Sovereign Royal</em>, which was launched in the
-time of Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., was a fine ship of over 1,600
-tons burden, and carried no less than a hundred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span>
-guns. “This royal ship,” says old Stow, “was
-curiously carved, and gilt with gold, so that when
-she was in the engagement against the Dutch
-they gave her the name of the ‘Golden
-Devil,’ her guns, being whole cannon,
-making such havoc and slaughter among
-them.”</p>
-
-<p>With the passing away of the “wooden walls”
-and the advent of those huge masses of steel
-and iron which have in modern times taken the
-place of the picturesque old “three-deckers,”
-Woolwich began to decay as a Royal dockyard;
-for it soon became an unprofitable thing to build
-at Thames-side, and the shipbuilding industry
-migrated to towns nearer to the coalfields and
-the iron-smelting districts.</p>
-
-<p>Yet Woolwich continued, and has continued
-right down to this very day, its activities as a
-gun-foundry and explosives factory. Just when
-this part of the Royal works was founded we do
-not know. There is a story extant (and for
-years the story was accepted as gospel) to the
-effect that the making of the Arsenal was due
-entirely to a disastrous explosion at Moorfields<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span>
-in the year 1716. Apparently much of the
-Government work in those days was put out to
-contract, and a certain factory in the Moorfields
-area took a considerable share in the work. On
-one occasion a very large crowd had assembled
-to witness the casting of some new and more up-to-date
-guns from the metal of those captured by
-the Duke of Marlborough. Just as everything
-was ready, a clever young Swiss engineer,
-named Schalch, noticed that the material in the
-moulds was wet, and he warned the authorities
-of the danger. No notice was taken, the
-molten metal was poured into the castings, and
-there was a tremendous explosion. According
-to the story, the authorities were so impressed
-by the part which Schalch had played in the
-matter that they appointed him to take charge
-of a new Government foundry, and gave him the
-choice of a site on which to build his new place,
-and he chose the Woolwich Warren, slightly to
-the east of the Royal Dockyards. This is a
-most interesting story, and one with an excellent
-moral, no doubt&mdash;such a story, in
-fact, as would have delighted the heart of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span>
-old Samuel Smiles; but, unfortunately for
-its veracity, there have been discovered at
-Woolwich various records which prove the
-existence of the Arsenal before Schalch was
-born.</p>
-
-<p>In normal times the Arsenal provides employment
-for more than eight thousand hands,
-but, of course, in war-time this number is
-increased tremendously. During the South
-African War, for instance, more than twenty
-thousand were kept on at full time, and the
-numbers during the Great War, when women
-were called in to assist and relieve the boys and
-men, were even greater.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, we cannot see everything at Woolwich
-Arsenal. There are certain buildings in
-the immense area where strangers are never
-permitted to go. In these various experiments
-are being carried out, various new inventions
-tested, and for this work secrecy is essential.
-It would never do for a rival foreign Power
-to get even small details of a new gun, or explosive,
-or other warlike device. But still there
-is much that can be seen (after permission to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span>
-visit has been obtained from the War Office)&mdash;remarkable
-machines which turn out with
-amazing rapidity the various parts of cartridges
-and shells; giant rolling machines and steam-hammers
-that fashion the huge blocks of steel,
-and tremendous machines that convert them
-into huge guns; machines by which gun-carriages
-and ammunition-waggons are turned out by
-the dozen.</p>
-
-<p>Half a century ago there was a great stir at
-Woolwich when the Arsenal turned out for the
-arming of the good ship <em>Hercules</em> a new gun
-known as the “Woolwich Infant.” This
-weapon, which required a fifty-pound charge of
-powder, could throw a projectile weighing over
-two hundredweights just about six miles, and
-could cause a shell to pierce armour more than
-a foot thick at a distance of a mile. Naturally,
-folk in those days thought them terrible weapons.
-But the “infants” were soon superseded, for
-a few years later Woolwich turned out what
-were known as “eighty-one-ton guns”&mdash;deadly
-weapons which could fire a shell weighing twelve
-hundred pounds. Folk lifted their hands in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span>
-surprise at the attainments of those days; but
-it is difficult to imagine their amazement if
-they could have seen our present-day guns
-firing shells thirty miles, or the great “Big
-Bertha,” by means of which the Germans fired
-shots from a distance of seventy miles into
-Paris.</p>
-
-<p>The tremendous guns of to-day are built up,
-not cast in moulds all in one piece, as were those
-in the early years of the Woolwich foundry.
-There is an inner tube and an outer, the latter
-of which is shrunk on to the former. The
-larger tube is heated, and of course the metal
-expands. While it is in that condition the
-other is placed inside, and the whole thing is
-lowered by tremendous cranes into a big bath
-of oil. The metal contracts again as it cools,
-and in that way the outer tube is fixed so tightly
-against the inner that they become practically
-one single tube, but with greatly added
-strength. The tube is then carried to a giant
-lathe, where it receives the rifling on its inner
-surface.</p>
-
-<p>When we turn away from Woolwich it is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span>
-perhaps with something like a sigh to think
-that men will spend all this money, and devote
-all this time and labour and material, merely
-in order that they may be able to blow each
-other to pieces.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_SEVEN">CHAPTER SEVEN</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Greenwich</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> history of towns no less than the history of
-men can tell strange tales of failure and success.
-Some have had their era of intoxicating splendour,
-have been beloved of kings and commoners
-alike, have counted for much in the
-great struggles with which our tale is punctuated,
-and then, their little day over, have
-shrunk to the merest vestige of their former
-glory. Others, unknown and insignificant
-villages throughout most of the story, have
-sprung up, mushroom-like, almost in a night,
-and entered suddenly and confidently into the
-affairs of the nation.</p>
-
-<p>In the former class must, perhaps, be counted
-Greenwich. True, it has not had the disastrous
-fall, the unspeakable humiliation, of some English
-towns&mdash;Rye and Winchelsea on the south
-coast, for instance&mdash;yet over Greenwich now<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span>
-might well be written that word “Ichabod”&mdash;“The
-glory is departed.” For Greenwich to-day,
-apart from its two places of outstanding
-interest, the Hospital and the Park with its
-Observatory, is largely an affair of mean streets,
-a collection of tiny, uninteresting shops and drab
-houses. Yet Greenwich was for long a place of
-great fame, to which came kings and courtiers,
-for here was that ancient and glorious Palace of
-Placentia, a strong favourite with numbers of
-our monarchs.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_098"><img src="images/i_098.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="327" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Greenwich Park.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Really it began its life as a Royal demesne in
-the year 1443, when the manor was granted to
-Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and permission<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span>
-given for the fortification of the building and
-enclosing of a park of two hundred acres. The
-Duke interpreted his permission liberally, and
-erected a new palace, to which he gave the
-name of Placentia, the House of Pleasance. He
-formed the park, and at the summit of the little
-hill, one hundred and fifty feet or more above the
-River, constructed a tower on the identical spot
-where the Observatory now stands. On Humphrey’s
-death the Crown once more took charge
-of the property. Edward <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. spent great sums
-in beautifying it, so that it was held in the
-highest esteem by the monarchs that followed.
-Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. provided it with a splendid brickwork
-river front to increase its comeliness.</p>
-
-<p>Here, in 1491, was born Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., and
-here he married Katherine of Aragon. Here,
-too, his daughters, Mary (1515) and Elizabeth
-(1533), first saw the light. Edward <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>., his
-pious young son, breathed his last within the
-walls.</p>
-
-<p>In those days the River banks did not present
-quite the same commercial aspect as in our own
-times; the atmosphere was not quite so befouled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span>
-by the smoke of innumerable chimneys, the
-water was not quite so muddy; and in consequence
-the journey by water from the City to
-that country place, Greenwich, was a little more
-pleasant. Indeed, it is said that the view up river
-from Greenwich Park rivalled that from
-Richmond Hill in beauty. In those days all
-who could went by water, for the River was the
-great highway. Then was its surface gay with
-brightly painted and decorated barges, threading
-their way downstream among the picturesque
-vessels of that time.</p>
-
-<p>From Placentia the sovereign could watch
-the ever-changing but never-ending pageant of
-the River, see the many great ships bringing
-in the wealth from all known lands, and watch
-the few journeying forth in search of lands as
-yet unknown. Thus on one occasion the occupants
-viewed the departure of three shiploads
-of brave mariners setting forth to search for a
-new passage to India by way of the Arctic
-regions&mdash;a scene which old Hakluyt describes
-for us: “The greater shippes are towed downe
-with boates and oares, and the mariners being<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span>
-all apparelled in watchet or skie-coloured cloth
-rowed amaine and made with diligence. And
-being come neare to Greenwiche (where the
-Court then lay) presently upon the newes
-thereof the courtiers came running out and the
-common people flockt together, standing very
-thicke upon the shoare; the privie counsel they
-lookt out at the windowes of the court and the
-rest ran up to the toppes of the towers; and
-shoot off their pieces after the manner of warre
-and of the sea, insomuch that the toppes of
-the hilles sounded therewith, the valleys and
-the waters gave an echo and the mariners
-they shouted in such sort that the skie
-rang againe with the noyse thereof. Then it
-is up with their sails, and good-bye to the
-Thames.”</p>
-
-<p>Nor in talking of Greenwich must we forget
-the famous Ministerial fish dinners which were
-for so many years a great event in the life of the
-town. This custom arose, it is said, from the
-coming of the Government Commissioners to
-examine Dagenham Breach, when they so
-enjoyed the succulent fare set before them that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span>
-they insisted on an annual repetition, which
-function was afterwards transferred to the
-“Ship” at Greenwich.</p>
-
-<p>At the toe of the great horseshoe bend which
-gives us Millwall and the Isle of Dogs stands
-that famous group of buildings known as
-Greenwich Hospital, but more correctly styled
-the Greenwich Naval College.</p>
-
-<p>This is built on the site of the old Palace.
-When, following the Revolution, Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.
-came to the throne, he found the old place
-almost past repair, so he decided to pull it
-down and erect a more sumptuous one in its
-place. Plans were accordingly drawn up by
-the architect, Inigo Jones, and the building
-commenced; but only a very small portion&mdash;the
-eastern half of the north-western quarter&mdash;was
-completed during his reign.</p>
-
-<p>It was left to William and Mary, those eager
-builders, to carry on the work, which they did
-with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren, to
-whose powers of architectural design London
-owes so much. Very little was done during the
-life of Queen Mary, but as the idea was hers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span>
-William went on with the work quite gladly, as
-a sort of memorial to his wife.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, a very large sum of money was
-needed for the erection of such a place. The
-King himself provided very liberally&mdash;a good
-deed in which he was followed by courtiers and
-private citizens. But quite a large amount was
-found in several very interesting ways. Since
-the buildings were designed to provide a kind of
-hospital or asylum for aged and disabled seamen
-who were no longer able to provide for themselves,
-it was decided to utilize naval funds to
-some extent. So money was obtained from
-unclaimed shares in naval prize-money, from
-the fines which captured smugglers had to pay,
-and from a levy of sixpence a month which
-was deducted from the wages of all seamen.
-Building went on apace, and (to quote Lord
-Macaulay) “soon an edifice, surpassing that
-asylum which the magnificent Lewis had provided
-for his soldiers, rose on the margin of the
-Thames. Whoever reads the inscription which
-runs round the frieze of the hall will observe that
-William claims no part in the merit of the design,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span>
-and that the praise is ascribed to Mary alone.
-Had the King’s life been prolonged till the work
-was completed, a statue of her who was the real
-founder of the institution would have had a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span>
-conspicuous place in that court which presents
-two lofty domes and two graceful colonnades
-to the multitudes who are perpetually passing
-up and down the imperial River. But that part
-of the plan was never carried into effect; and
-few of those who now gaze on the noblest of
-European hospitals are aware that it is a
-memorial of the virtues of the good Queen
-Mary, and the great victory of La Hogue.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_104"><img src="images/i_104.jpg" alt="" width="605" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Greenwich Hospital.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In 1705 the preparations were complete, and
-the first pensioners were installed in their new
-home. The place was very successful at the
-start, and it grew till at the beginning of the
-nineteenth century there were nearly three
-thousand men residing within the Hospital
-walls, and many more boarded out in the town.</p>
-
-<p>Then through half a century the prosperity
-of the place began to decline. The old pensioners
-died off, and the new ones, as they came
-along, for the most part preferred to accept out-pensions
-and live where they liked. So that
-in 1869 it was decided to abandon the place as
-an asylum for seamen and convert it into a
-Royal Naval College, in which to give training<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span>
-to the officers of the various branches of the
-naval services, and also a Naval Museum and a
-Sailors’ Hospital.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps one of the most interesting places in
-the College is the Painted Hall, a part of Wren’s
-edifice, known as King William’s Quarter. The
-ceilings of this double-decked dining-hall&mdash;the
-upper part for officers and the lower for seamen&mdash;and
-the walls of the upper part are decorated
-most beautifully with paintings which it took
-Sir James Thornhill nineteen years to complete.
-Around the walls hang pictures which tell of
-England’s naval glory&mdash;pictures of all sizes
-depicting our most famous sea-fights and portraying
-the gallant sailors who won them.
-Naturally Lord Nelson is much in evidence here,
-and we can see in cases in the upper hall the very
-clothes he wore when he received that fatal
-wound in the cockpit of the <em>Victory</em>&mdash;the scene
-of which is depicted on a large canvas on the
-walls; also in cases his pigtail, his sword, medals,
-and various other relics.</p>
-
-<p>The Museum is a fascinating place, for it contains
-what is practically a history of our Navy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span>
-set out, not in words in a dry book, but in models
-of ships; and we can study the progress right
-from the Vikings’ long-boats, with their rows
-of oars and their shields hanging all round the
-sides, down to the massive super-dreadnoughts
-of to-day. Most interesting of all, perhaps, are
-the great sailing ships&mdash;the old “wooden walls
-of England”&mdash;which did so much to establish
-and maintain our position as a maritime nation&mdash;the
-great three-deckers which stood so high
-out of the water, and which with their tall masts
-and gigantic sails looked so formidable and yet
-so graceful. There in a case is the <em>Great Harry</em>&mdash;named
-after Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.&mdash;a double-decker of
-fifteen hundred tons burden, with three masts,
-and carrying seventy-two guns. She was a
-fine vessel, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in
-1515, and was the first vessel to fire her guns
-from portholes instead of from the deck. In
-another case is the first steam vessel ever used
-in the Navy (1830), and a quaint little craft it is.</p>
-
-<p>This is indeed a splendid collection, and we
-feel as if we could spend hours studying these
-fascinating little models.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_108"><img src="images/i_108.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Royal Observatory.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On the site of Duke Humphrey’s tower in
-Greenwich Park is the world-famous Observatory.
-If you take up your atlas, and look at
-the map of the British Isles or the map of
-Europe, you will see that the meridian of longi<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span>tude
-(or the line running north and south)
-marked 0° passes through the spot where
-Greenwich is shown. This means that all places
-in Europe to the right or the left&mdash;east or west,
-that is&mdash;are located and marked by their distance
-from Greenwich; and, if for no other
-reason, this town is because of this fact a very
-important place in the world.</p>
-
-<p>The Observatory was founded in the reign
-of Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. This monarch had occasion
-to consult Flamsteed, the astronomer, concerning
-the simplifying of navigation, and Flamsteed
-pointed out to him the need for a correct
-mapping-out of the heavens. As a result the
-Observatory was built in 1695 in order that
-Flamsteed might proceed with the work he had
-suggested.</p>
-
-<p>The Duke’s tower was pulled down, and the
-new place erected; but it was left to Flamsteed
-to find his own instruments and pay his own
-assistants, all out of a salary of one hundred
-pounds per annum. Consequently, he became
-so poor that when he died in 1719 his instruments
-were seized to pay his debts. His<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span>
-successor, Dr. Halley, another famous astronomer,
-refitted the Observatory, and some of his
-instruments can be seen there now, though no
-longer in use, of course.</p>
-
-<p>Few people are allowed inside the Observatory
-to see all the wonderful telescopes and other
-instruments there; but there are several things
-to be seen from the outside, notably the time-ball
-which is placed on the north-east turret,
-and which descends every day exactly at one
-o’clock; also the electric clock with its twenty-four-hours
-dial.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_EIGHT">CHAPTER EIGHT</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Port and the Docks</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Any</span> person standing on London Bridge a couple
-of centuries ago would have observed a scene
-vastly different from that of to-day. Now we
-see the blackened line of wharves and warehouses
-on the two banks, and up against them
-steamers discharging or receiving their cargoes,
-while out in the stream a few vessels of medium
-size and one or two clusters of barges lie off,
-awaiting their turn inshore; otherwise the wide
-expanse of the stream is bare, save for the
-occasional craft passing up and down in the
-centre of the stream. But in days gone by, as
-we can tell by glancing at the pictures of the
-period, the River was simply crowded with
-ships of all kinds, anchored closely together
-in the Pool, while barges innumerable plied
-between them and the shore.</p>
-
-<p>In very early days only Billingsgate and
-Queenhithe possessed accommodation for ships<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span>
-to discharge and receive their cargoes actually
-alongside the quay; for the most part ships
-berthed out in the stream, and effected the
-exchange of goods by means of barges.</p>
-
-<p>Then, as trade increased by leaps and bounds,
-a number of “legal quays” were instituted
-between London Bridge and the Tower, and
-thither came the major part of the merchandise.
-Gradually little docks or open harbours were
-cut into the land in order to relieve the congestion
-of the quays. Billingsgate was the first
-of these, and for many years the most important.
-Now the dock has for the most part been filled
-in, and over it has been erected the famous fish-market,
-which still carries on one of the main
-trades of the little ancient dock. Others were
-St. Katherine’s Dock, a tiny basin formed for
-the landing of the goods of the monastery which
-stood hard by the Tower; St. Saviour’s Dock in
-Bermondsey on the Surrey side; and Execution
-Dock close to Wapping Old Stairs.</p>
-
-<p>However, with the tremendous growth of trade
-following the Great Fire of London, concerning
-which we shall read in Book <abbr title="2">II</abbr>., and with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span>
-growth in the size of vessels and the consequent
-increase in the difficulties of navigation, the
-facilities for loading and unloading proved
-totally inadequate, and the merchants were led
-to protest, on the grounds that the overcrowding
-led to great confusion and many abuses, and for
-a great number of years they entreated Parliament
-to take some action.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_113"><img src="images/i_113.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="403" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Dockland.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The coming of the great docks ended the
-trouble, and also tremendously changed the
-Port of London. When the West India Docks
-were opened in 1802, ships concerned with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span>
-transport of certain articles of commerce were
-no longer allowed to lie in the Pool for the purpose
-of discharge: they were compelled to go
-to the particular dock-quays set aside for their
-use, and to land there the merchandise they
-carried. Thus practically at a stroke of the pen
-the riverside wharves lost their entire traffic in
-such things as sugar, rum, brandy, spices, and
-other goods from the West Indies. Similarly,
-when the East India Docks were opened all
-the commerce of the East India Company was
-landed there. Thus, gradually, as the various
-larger docks were made from time to time, the
-main business of the Port shifted eastwards to
-Millwall, Blackwall, etc. Nor did it stop there.
-With the coming of ships larger even than those
-already catered for, it became necessary to do
-something to avoid the passage of the shallow,
-winding reaches above Gravesend, and, in consequence,
-tremendous docks were opened at
-Tilbury. So that now vessels of the very
-deepest draught enter and leave the docks independent
-of the tidal conditions, and do not
-come within many miles of London Bridge.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span></p>
-
-<p>This does not mean that the riverside wharves
-and warehouses were rendered useless by the
-shifting of the Port. So great had been the
-congestion that even with the relief of the new
-docks there was still&mdash;and there always has
-been&mdash;plenty for them to do. To-day there are
-miles of private wharves in use: from Blackfriars
-down to Shadwell the River is lined with
-them on both sides all the way; and they share
-with the great docks and dock warehouses the
-vast trade of the Port of London.</p>
-
-<p>Let us take a short trip down through dockland,
-and see what this romantic place has to
-show us. We must go by water. That is
-essential if we are to see anything at all, for
-so shut in is the River by tall warehouses, etc.,
-that we might wander for hours and hours in
-the streets quite close to the shore, and yet never
-catch a glimpse of the water.</p>
-
-<p>Leaving Tower Bridge, we find immediately
-on our left the St. Katherine’s Docks. These
-get their name from the venerable foundation
-which formerly stood on the spot. This religious
-house was created and endowed by Maud<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span>
-of Boulogne, Queen of Stephen, and lasted
-through seven centuries down to about a
-hundred years ago. It survived even the Dissolution
-of the Monasteries, which swept away
-all other London foundations, being regarded as
-more or less under the protection of the Queen.
-Yet this wonderful old foundation, with its
-ancient church, its picturesque cloisters and
-schools, its quaint churchyard and gardens&mdash;one
-of the finest mediæval relics which London possessed&mdash;was
-completely destroyed to make way
-for a dock which could have been constructed
-just as well at another spot. London knows no
-worse example of needless, stupid, brutal vandalism!
-St. Katherine’s Dock is concerned
-largely with the import of valuable articles:
-to it come such things as China tea, bark, india-rubber,
-gutta-percha, marble, feathers, etc.</p>
-
-<p>London generally is the English port for <em>tea</em>:
-hither is brought practically the whole of the
-country’s consumption. During the War efforts
-were made to spread the trade more evenly over
-the different large ports; but the experiment was
-far from a success. All the vast and intricate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span>
-organization for blending, marketing, distributing,
-etc., is concentrated quite close to St.
-Katherine’s Dock, and in consequence the
-trade cannot be managed so effectively elsewhere.
-The value of the tea entering the Port
-of London during 1913, the year before the War,
-and therefore the last reliable year for statistics,
-was nearly £13,500,000.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_117"><img src="images/i_117.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="605" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Low water, Dockhead Bermondsey</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p>
-
-<p>A little below St. Katherine’s, on the Surrey
-shore, is one of the curiosities of dockland&mdash;a
-dock which nobody wants. This is St. Saviour’s
-Dock, Bermondsey&mdash;a little basin for the reception
-of smaller vessels. It is disowned by all&mdash;by
-the Port of London Authority, by the
-Borough Council, and by the individual firms
-who have wharves and warehouses in the
-vicinity. You see, there is at one part of the
-dock a <em>free</em> landing-place, to which goods may
-be brought without payment of any landing-dues;
-and no one wants to own a dock without
-full rights. Shackleton’s <em>Quest</em> berthed here
-while fitting out for its long voyage south.</p>
-
-<p>From St. Katherine’s onward for several miles
-the district on the north bank is known as
-Wapping. This was for many years the most
-marine of all London’s riverside districts. Adjoining
-the Pool, it became, and remained
-through several centuries, the sojourning-place
-of “those who go down to the sea in ships.”
-Here, at famous Wapping Old Stairs or one of
-the other landing-steps which ran down to
-the water’s edge at the various quay-ends, Jack
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]<br /><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span>said good-bye to his sweetheart as he jumped
-into one of the numerous watermen’s boats, and
-was rowed to his ship lying out in the stream;
-here, too, there waited for Jack, as he came home
-with plenty of money, all those crimps and
-vampires whose purpose it was to make him
-drunk and rob him of all his worldly goods.
-Harbouring, as it did, numbers of criminals of
-the worst type, Wapping for many years had
-a very bad name. Now all that has changed.
-The shifting of the Port deprived the sharks of
-their victims, for the seamen no longer congregated
-in this one area: they came ashore at
-various points down the River. Moreover, the
-making of the St. Katherine and later the
-London Docks cut out two big slices from the
-territory, with a consequent destruction of mean
-streets.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_119"><img src="images/i_119.jpg" alt="" width="422" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Limehouse Hole.</span></p>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Entrance to Wapping Old Stairs.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Close to Wapping Old Stairs was the famous
-Execution Dock. This was the spot where
-pirates, smugglers, and sailors convicted of
-capital crimes at sea, were hanged, and left on
-the foreshore for three tides as a warning to all
-other watermen. Now, with the improvements<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span>
-at Old Gravel Lane, all traces have vanished,
-and the wrong-doers no longer make that last
-wretched journey from Newgate to Wapping,
-no longer stop half-way to consume that bowl
-of pottage for which provision was made in
-the will of one of London’s aldermen.</p>
-
-<p>The goods which enter London Dock are of
-great variety&mdash;articles of food forming a considerable
-proportion.</p>
-
-<p>Limehouse follows on the northern shore, and
-is perhaps, even more than Wapping, the
-marine district of these days. Here, in a place
-known as the Causeway, is the celebrated
-Chinese quarter. Regent’s Canal Dock, which
-includes the well-known Limehouse Basin, a
-considerable expanse of water, is the place where
-the Regent’s Canal begins its course away to
-the midlands. The chief goods handled at
-Limehouse Basin were formerly timber and coal,
-but since the War this has become the centre
-for the German trade. Here are frequently to
-be seen most interesting specimens of the
-northern “wind-jammers.”</p>
-
-<p>Leaving Limehouse, the River sweeps away<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span>
-southwards towards Greenwich, and then turns
-sharply north again to Blackwall. By so doing
-it forms a large loop in which lies the peninsula
-known as the Isle of Dogs&mdash;a place which has
-been reclaimed from its original marshy condition,
-and covered from end to end with docks,
-factories, and warehouses, save at the southernmost
-extremity, where the London County
-Council have made a fine riverside garden. In
-the Isle are to be found the great West India
-Docks and the Millwall Docks. The former
-receive most of the furniture woods&mdash;mahogany,
-walnut, teak, satin-wood, etc.&mdash;and also rum,
-sugar, grain, and frozen meat; while the latter
-receive largely timber and grain.</p>
-
-<p>On the Surrey side of the River, practically
-opposite the West India and Millwall Docks,
-are the Surrey Commercial Docks, occupying the
-greater portion of a large tongue of land in
-Rotherhithe. To these docks come immense
-quantities of timber, grain, cattle, and hides&mdash;the
-latter to be utilized in the great tanning
-factories for which Bermondsey is famous.</p>
-
-<p>Blackwall, the last riverside district within<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span>
-the London boundary, is famous for its tunnel,
-which passes beneath the bed of the River to
-Greenwich. This is but one of a number of
-tunnels which have been made beneath the
-stream in recent years. There is another for
-vehicles and passengers passing across from
-Rotherhithe to Limehouse, while further upstream
-are those utilized by the various tube-railways
-in their passage from north to south.</p>
-
-<p>Blackwall has a number of docks, large and
-small. Among the latter are several little dry-docks
-which exist for the overhauling and repairing
-of vessels. There was a time when shipbuilding
-and ship-repairing were considerable
-industries on the Thames-side, when even
-battleships were built there, and thousands of
-hands employed at the work; but the trade has
-migrated to other dockyard towns, and all that
-survive now are the one or two repairing docks
-at Blackwall and Millwall.</p>
-
-<p>The Royal Albert and the Victoria Docks
-come within the confines of those great new
-districts, West Ham and East Ham, which
-have during the last thirty or forty years<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span>
-sprung up, mushroom-like, from the dreary flats
-of East London. Here are such well-known
-commercial districts as Silvertown and Canning
-Town. The former will doubtless be remembered
-through many years for the tremendous
-explosion which occurred there during the War&mdash;an
-explosion which resulted in serious loss of
-life and very great damage to property. It is
-also famous for several great factories, notably
-Messrs. Knight’s soap-works, Messrs. Henley’s
-cable and general electrical works, and Messrs.
-Lyle’s (and Tate’s) sugar refineries. These
-places, which employ thousands of hands, are
-of national importance.</p>
-
-<p>Canning Town has to some extent lost its
-prestige, for it was in time past the shipbuilding
-area. Here were situated the great Thames
-Ironworks, carrying on a more or less futile
-endeavour to compete with the Clyde and other
-shipbuilding districts.</p>
-
-<p>This district is, to a large extent, the coal-importing
-area. Coal is the largest individual
-import of the Port of London, as much as eight
-million tons entering in the course of a year.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span>
-The chief articles of commerce with which the
-Royal Albert and Victoria Docks are concerned
-are: Tobacco, frozen meat, and Japanese productions.</p>
-
-<p>Vast, indeed, have been the revenues drawn
-from the various docks. You see, goods are not
-entered or dispatched except on payment of
-various dues and tolls, and these amount up
-tremendously. So that the Dock Companies
-get so much money from the thirty miles of
-dockside quays and riverside wharves that they
-scarcely know what to do with it, for the amount
-they can pay away in dividends to their shareholders
-is strictly limited by Act of Parliament.
-In one year, for instance, so large a profit was
-made by the owners of the East and West India
-Docks that they used up an enormous sum of
-money in roofing their warehouses with sheet
-copper.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In concluding our rapid tour through dockland,
-it is impossible to omit a reference to the
-Customs Officers&mdash;those cheery young men who
-work in such an atmosphere of unsuspected<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span>
-romance. To spend a morning on the River with
-one of them, as he goes his round of inspection
-of the various vessels berthed out in the stream,
-is a revelation. To visit first this ship and then
-the other; to see the amazing variety of the
-cargoes, the number of different nationalities
-represented, both in ships and men; to come into
-close touch with that strange and little-understood
-section of the community, the lightermen,
-whose work is the loading of the barges that
-cluster so thickly round the great hulls&mdash;is to
-move in a world of dreams. But to go back to
-the Customs Offices and see the huge piles of
-documents relating to each single ship that
-enters the port, and to be informed that on an
-average two hundred ocean-going ships enter
-each week, is to experience a rude awakening
-from dreams, and a sharp return to the very
-real matters of commercial life.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_127"><img src="images/i_127.jpg" alt="" width="402" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Home From the Indies. A Giant Liner warping into the George <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr><sup>th<sub>.</sub></sup> Dock.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nor must we forget the River Police, who
-patrol the River from Dartford Creek up as far
-as Teddington. As we see them in their
-launches, passing up and down the stream, we
-may regard their work as easy; but it is anything
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]<br /><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span>but that&mdash;especially at night-time. Then
-it is that the river-thieves get to work at their
-nefarious task of plundering the valuable cargoes
-of improperly attended lighters. The River
-Police must be ever on the alert, moving about
-constantly and silently, lurking in the shadows
-ready to dash out on the unscrupulous and dangerous
-marauders. The headquarters of the
-River Police are at Wapping, but there are
-other stations at Erith, Blackwall, Waterloo,
-and Barnes.</p>
-
-<p>In 1903 the question of establishing one
-supreme authority to deal with all the difficulties
-of dockland and take control of practically
-the whole of the Port of London was discussed
-in Parliament, and a Bill was introduced,
-but owing to great opposition was not proceeded
-with. However, the question recurred
-from time to time, and in 1908 the Port of
-London Act was at length passed.</p>
-
-<p>This established the Port of London Authority,
-for the purpose of administering, preserving,
-and improving the Port of London. The
-limits of the Authority’s power extend from</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p>
-
-<p>Teddington down both sides of the River to a
-line just east of the Nore lightship. At its inception
-the Authority took over all the duties,
-rights, and privileges of the Thames Conservancy
-in the whole of this area.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_II">BOOK <abbr title="2">II</abbr></h2>
-</div>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_130"><img src="images/i_130.jpg" alt="Lambeth Palace and Westminster Bridge" width="637" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><em>Reproduced from photographs by permission of Airco Aerials, Ltd.</em></p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_131"><img src="images/i_131.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="600" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">THE GREAT CITY WHICH THE RIVER MADE</p>
-<p class="caption center"><em>Reproduced from photographs by permission of Airco Aerials, Ltd.</em></p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="space-above4"></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_132"><img src="images/i_132.jpg" alt="" width="401" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The London County Hall.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_GREAT_CITY">THE GREAT CITY
-WHICH THE RIVER MADE</h2>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER ONE</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How the River founded the City</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">England</span> at the time when London first came
-into being was a very different place from the
-well-cultivated country which we know so well.
-Where now stretch hundreds of square miles of
-orderly green meadows and ploughed fields,
-divided from each other by trim hedges, or
-pretty little copses, or well-kept roads, there was
-then a vast dense forest, wherein roamed wolves
-and other wild animals, and into which man
-scarcely dared to penetrate. This stretched
-from sea to sea, covering hill and valley alike.
-Just here and there could be found the tiny
-settlements of the native Britons, and in some
-few cases these settlements were joined by rough
-woodland tracks.</p>
-
-<p>The only real breaks in this widespread<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span>
-covering of green occurred where the rivers
-flowed seawards along the valleys. These
-rivers for the most part ran their courses in
-practically the same directions as at present,
-but in appearance they were very different
-from the rivers we know to-day. No man-made
-embankments kept them in place in those
-days; instead they wandered through great
-stretches of marsh and fenland, and spread out
-into wide, shallow pools here and there in their
-courses, so that to cross them was a matter of
-the greatest difficulty.</p>
-
-<p>Such was the Thames when the first “Londoners”
-formed their tiny settlement. From
-the mouth of the River inland for many miles
-stretched widespread, impassable marshes; but
-at one spot&mdash;where now stands St. Paul’s
-Cathedral&mdash;there was a firm gravel bank and a
-little hill (or rather two little hills with a stream
-between), which stood out from the encompassing
-wastes. In front of this small eminence
-stretched a great lagoon formed by the over-flowing
-of the River at high tide. This covered
-the ground on which have since been built</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span></p>
-
-<p>Southwark and Lambeth, and stretched southwards
-as far as the heights of Sydenham. West
-of the little hill, running down a deep ravine,
-where now is the street called Farringdon Street,
-was a tributary river, afterwards known as the
-Fleet; and beyond that yet another great
-marshland stretched away over Westminster,
-Belgravia, Chelsea, and Fulham. To the north
-was the pathless forest.</p>
-
-<p>This then appealed to the intelligence of a
-few Ancient Britons as an ideal spot for a settlement,
-and so sprang into existence <em>Llyndin</em>, the
-lake-fortress.</p>
-
-<p>But that, of course, did not make <span class="smcap">London</span>,
-did not raise London to the position of pre-eminence
-which it gradually attained, and which
-it has held almost without contest through so
-many centuries.</p>
-
-<p>Between the time of the formation of this
-little collection of huts with its slight protecting
-stockade and the coming of the Romans much
-happened. The Ancient Britons learned to
-make roads&mdash;primitive ones, of course&mdash;and in
-all probability they learned to make embank<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span>ments
-to the River. Their greatest trade
-naturally was with Gaul&mdash;France, that is&mdash;and
-also, equally naturally, practically all such
-trade had to come through the one most suitable
-way, the spot which has always, through all the
-ages, been the gateway into England&mdash;Dover.
-In the days when sea-going craft had not
-reached a high stage of perfection it was necessary
-to choose the shortest passage across the
-channel, and, though no doubt other ports were
-used, undoubtedly the bulk of the merchandise
-came across the narrow Straits. This meant,
-without a doubt, an important road going north-westwards
-towards the centre of England.</p>
-
-<p>Now right across the country, from west to
-east, stretched the great natural barrier, the
-River, effectively cutting off all intercourse
-between the south of England and the Midlands
-and north; and at some place or other this road
-(afterwards known as Watling Street) had to
-cross the barrier. It was inevitable that the spot
-where this crossing was effected should be, both
-from a military and a commercial point of
-view, a place of the very greatest importance.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span>
-In the earliest days the road skirted the south
-side of the marshes facing Llyndin, and passed on
-to the ford (or ferry) at Westminster, and thence
-on to Tyburn. But Llyndin was growing in
-strength, and the need of a lower crossing was
-probably soon felt by the inhabitants of the
-little hill. Now lower crossings of the River
-were by no means simple. As we said just now,
-right from the mouth westwards till we reach
-the spot where London now stands there was
-simply a great collection of marshes and fens.
-Here and there, on both banks, tiny patches of
-firmer soil jutted out from the impassable
-wastes&mdash;the spots where Purfleet and Grays
-now stand on the north side, the sites of Gravesend,
-Greenhithe, Erith, Woolwich, and Greenwich,
-on the south side; but in each of these
-cases the little gravel bed or chalky bank was
-faced on the opposite shore by the dreary flats
-(an ordinary natural happening caused by the
-washing away of the banks, to be seen in any
-little stream that winds in and out), so that
-never was there any possibility of linking up
-north and south.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span></p>
-
-<p>Only when the little hill at the junction of the
-River Thames with the River Lea, somewhere
-about sixty miles from the open sea, was
-reached could any such crossing be made. We
-said that in the earliest days of London there
-was, facing the hill, a great flat which at high
-tide became a wide lagoon, stretching southwards
-to Sydenham. Now this was quite
-shallow; moreover, a long tongue of fairly firm
-gravel ran right out northwards from the firmer
-ground till it came to a point nearly opposite the
-Llyndin Hill. This firm bed enabled the Britons
-to lay down, across the marsh, some sort of a
-road or causeway joining up with the main Kent
-road, and so gave them another lower and
-practicable crossing of the River, which, of
-course, meant a shorter road to the Midlands
-and the north.</p>
-
-<p>This crossing&mdash;in all probability a ferry&mdash;laid
-the foundation-stone of the prosperity of London
-town, and the building of the first bridge
-cemented that foundation.</p>
-
-<p>Why? Simply because such a bridge, in
-addition to being a passage <em>across</em> the River,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span>
-became a barrier to any passage up and down
-the stream. Bridge-building was not at a very
-advanced stage, and, of necessity, the arches
-were small and narrow. This effectively
-stopped traffic passing up from the seaward side.
-On the other hand, the small arches meant a
-very great current, and this, with any considerable
-tide, rendered the “shooting” of the
-bridge by smaller boats an extremely dangerous
-affair: thus traffic from the landward side came
-to a standstill at the bridge.</p>
-
-<p>This meant that ships, bringing goods up the
-River from the sea, must stop at the bridge and
-discharge their cargoes: also that goods, coming
-from inland to go to foreign parts, must of
-necessity be transhipped at London. It was
-inevitable, therefore, that once the bridge was
-in position a commercial centre must arise on
-the spot, and almost certain that in time a great
-port would grow into being. So that we may
-say quite truly that <em>the Thames founded London</em>.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER TWO</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How the City grew</em> (<em>Roman Days</em>)</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Who</span> built the first bridge? We cannot say for
-certain; but it is fairly safe for us to assume that
-the Romans shortly after their arrival in Llyndin
-set to work to make a strong wooden military
-bridge to link up the town with the important
-road from Dover. Thousands of Roman coins
-have been recovered from the bed of the Thames
-at this spot, and we may quite well suppose that
-the Roman people dropped these through the
-cracks as they crossed the roughly constructed
-bridge.</p>
-
-<p>This bridge established London once and for
-all. Previously there had been the two ferries&mdash;that
-of Thorney (Westminster) and that of
-Llyndin Hill, each with its own growing settlement.
-Either of these rivals might have
-developed into the foremost city of the valley.
-But the building of the bridge definitely settled
-the question and caused the diversion of Wat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span>ling
-Street to a course across the bridge, through
-the settlement, out by way of what was afterwards
-Newgate, and on to Tyburn, where the
-old way was rejoined.</p>
-
-<p>Having built the bridge, they set to work to
-make of London a city, as they understood it.
-In all probability it was quite a flourishing place
-when they found it. But the Romans had their
-own thoughts about building, their own ideas of
-what a city should be. First, they built a
-citadel. The original British stockade stood on
-the western hummock of the twin hill, so the
-Romans chose the eastern height for their
-defences. This citadel, or fortress, was a large
-and powerful one, with massive walls which
-extended from where Cannon Street Station
-now is to where Mincing Lane runs. Inside it
-the Roman soldiers lived in safety.</p>
-
-<p>Gradually, however, the fortress ceased to be
-necessary, and a fine town spread out beyond
-its walls, stretching as far eastwards and westwards
-as Nature permitted; that is, to the
-marshes on the east and to the Fleet ravine on
-the west. In this space were laid out fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span>
-streets and splendid villas and public buildings.
-Along the banks of the River were built quays
-and river walls; and trade increased by leaps and
-bounds.</p>
-
-<p>Nor was this all. The Romans, as you have
-probably read, made magnificent roads across
-England, and London was practically the hub
-of the series, which radiated in all directions.
-The old British road through Kent became the
-Prætorian Way (afterwards the diverted Watling
-Street), and passed through the city to the
-north and west. Another, afterwards called
-Ermyn Street, led off to Norfolk and Suffolk.
-Yet another important road passed out into
-Essex, the garden of England in those days.</p>
-
-<p>“How do we know all these things?” you
-ask. Partly by what Roman writers tell us, and
-partly by all the different things which have been
-brought to light during recent excavations.
-When men have been digging the foundations
-of various modern buildings in different quarters
-of London, they have discovered the remains of
-some of these splendid buildings&mdash;all of them
-more or less ruined (for a reason which we shall<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span>
-see later), but a few in good condition. Fine
-mosaic pavements have been laid bare in one or
-two places&mdash;Leadenhall Street for one; and all
-sorts of articles&mdash;funeral urns, keys, statues,
-ornaments, domestic utensils, lamps, etc.&mdash;have
-been brought to light, many of which you can
-still see if you take the trouble to visit the
-Guildhall Museum and the London Museum.
-In a court off the Strand may still be seen an
-excellent specimen of a Roman bath.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_143"><img src="images/i_143.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="397" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">ROMAN LONDON</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>But perhaps the most interesting of all the
-Roman remains are the two or three fragments
-of the great wall, which was not built till somewhere
-between the years 350 and 365 <small>A.D.</small> At<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span>
-this time the Romans had been in occupation
-for several hundred years, and the city had
-spread quite a distance beyond the old citadel
-walls. The new wall was a splendid one,
-twenty feet high and about twelve feet thick,
-stretching for just about three miles. It ran
-along the river front from the Fleet River to the
-corner where the Tower stands, inland to
-Bishopsgate and Aldersgate, then across to
-Newgate, where it turned south again, and came
-to the River not far from Blackfriars.</p>
-
-<p>Several fine sections of the ancient structure
-can still be seen in position. There is a large
-piece under the General Post Office yard, another
-fine piece in some wine cellars close to
-Fenchurch Street Station, a fair piece on Tower
-Hill, and smaller remnants in Old Bailey and
-St. Giles’ Churchyard, Cripplegate.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_145"><img src="images/i_145.jpg" alt="" width="558" height="600" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Bastion of Roman Wall, Cripplegate Churchyard.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>What do these fragments teach us? That
-things were not all they should be in London.
-Instead of being built with the usual care of
-Roman masonry, with properly quarried and
-squared stones, this wall was made up of a
-medley of materials. Mixed in with the proper<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span>
-blocks were odd pieces of buildings, statues,
-columns from the temples, and memorials from
-the burying grounds. Probably the folk of
-London, feeling that the power of Rome was
-waning, were stricken with panic, and so set
-to work hurriedly and with such materials<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span>
-as were to hand to put together this great
-defence.</p>
-
-<p>Nor were they unwise in their preparations,
-for danger soon began to threaten. From time
-to time there swooped down on the eastern
-coasts strange ships filled with fierce warriors&mdash;tall,
-fair-haired men, who took what they could
-lay their hands on, and killed and burned unsparingly.
-So long as the Roman soldiers were
-there to protect the land and its people, nothing
-more happened than these small raids. The
-strangers kept to the coasts and seldom attempted
-to penetrate up the river which led to
-London.</p>
-
-<p>But these coast raids only heralded the great
-storm which was approaching, for the daring
-sea-robbers had set covetous eyes on the fair
-fields of Britain.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER THREE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How the City grew</em> (<em>Saxon Days</em>)</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year 410 the Romans were compelled to
-leave Britain. Troubles had become so great in
-Rome itself that it was necessary to abandon all
-the outlying colonies to their fate. From that
-moment began a century and a half of pitiful
-history for our country. There was now no
-properly drilled army to ward off attacks; and
-the raids of the “sea-robbers” increased in
-number and intensity. Saxons, Angles, and
-Jutes, they came in vast numbers, gradually
-working their way inland from the coast.</p>
-
-<p>And what happened to Londinium, as the
-Romans called our city? We do not know, for
-there is a great gap in our history; probably it
-perished of starvation. We know that little by
-little the strangers increased their grip&mdash;the
-Jutes in Kent and Hampshire (and later in
-Surrey), the Saxons in Kent, Essex, and Sussex;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span>
-and that as they did so London was gradually
-surrounded.</p>
-
-<p>Now London was a comparatively large place,
-with a considerable population, even after the
-Romans had gone; and the slow tightening of
-the Saxon grip must have meant starvation, for
-everything London wanted for its use came from
-a distance, owing to the impossibility of growing
-anything in the surrounding marshy districts.
-And in the absence of any reliable account we
-can only assume that in consequence the inhabitants
-little by little deserted the city, and made
-their way westwards; that the quays were
-deserted, the ships rotted at their moorings, the
-finely constructed streets were befouled with
-grass and briars, the splendid villas fell to pieces,
-the great wall in places crumbled to ruins. So
-that when eventually the Saxons did reach
-London, after years of struggle and fierce engagements,
-their victory was a hollow one.
-And there is much to support this assumption,
-for we find that in their chronicles the Saxons
-make practically no mention of the first city of
-the land, which they most assuredly would have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span>
-done had it been anything other than derelict.
-Nor did they stay at London when they arrived.
-Probably such a place of desolation was of no
-use to them; they were not interested in ruined
-cities; they wanted open ground with growing
-crops. So they passed on, and London probably
-stood silent and dead for years, the empty
-skeleton of a city, while Time and Nature completed
-the ruin which savage assaulters might
-otherwise have carried out. Thus we may conjecture
-ended the first of London’s three lives.</p>
-
-<p>When, after a time, things settled down in
-Britain, a new London began to rise on the site
-of the old city. Gradually the folk, mainly the
-East Saxons, settled on the outskirts of the
-deserted city, and, little by little, they made
-their way within the old walls; numbers of the
-old fugitives crept back to join them; merchants
-came and patched up the broken, grass-grown
-quays; houses were built; and life began anew.
-Steadily the progress continued. At first the
-houses were rough wattle-and-mud affairs, set
-down in any fashion on the old sites, but gradually
-proper rows of small, timbered houses rose<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span>
-on all sides, with numbers of little churches
-dotted here and there.</p>
-
-<p>Then at the end of the eighth century the old
-trouble, invasion, began again. This time it
-was the Vikings (or Danes), the adventurous
-spirits of the fiords of Norway and the coasts of
-Denmark, men who risked the terrors of the
-hungry North Sea that they might plunder the
-monasteries and farms of the north and east of
-England. They, too, found our country a fair
-place, after their own cold, forbidding coasts;
-and the raids increased in frequency.</p>
-
-<p>In the year 832 they were at the mouth of the
-Thames, landing in Sheppey; and in 839 came
-their first attempt to sail up the Thames. They
-were beaten off this time, but they had learned
-of a proper entry to which they might return
-later. In 851 came their great attempt. With
-three hundred and fifty of their long ships they
-came, sailed right up the River to London Bridge,
-stormed and plundered the city. But their
-triumph was short-lived, for their army was well
-beaten at Ockley in Surrey, as it made its way
-southward down the Stane Street.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span></p>
-
-<p>It seemed as if England and London might be
-tranquil once more; but the Vikings came in
-still greater numbers, and began to winter in
-our land instead of returning as had been their
-custom. The record of the next twenty years
-is one of constant harrying, with great armies
-marching throughout the countryside&mdash;plundering,
-killing, burning, with apparently no object.</p>
-
-<p>When Alfred came to the throne, London was
-practically a Danish city; but he soon set to
-work and drove them out. And, though England
-suffered long and often from these foes,
-from that time onwards, the fortress being
-rebuilt, London never again fell to the invaders.
-When, eventually, Canute did enter London in
-1017, after a considerable but entirely unsuccessful
-siege, it was at the invitation of the citizens,
-who accepted him as their King.</p>
-
-<p>Under this wise King followed an era of prosperity
-for the growing city. Danish merchants
-settled within its walls; the wharves were busy
-once again; foreign traders sailed up the River
-to Billingsgate, their boats laden with wine,
-cloth, and spices from the East; and so rapidly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span>
-London became once more a great commercial
-centre. Indeed, such was its size and importance
-that it paid one-fifth of the whole tax
-which Canute levied on the kingdom.</p>
-
-<p>From this time onward London progressed
-steadily; and so, too, did that other city, Westminster,
-which had sprung into being at
-another crossing, a few miles higher up the
-Thames&mdash;one more city made by the River, as
-we shall see later on.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER FOUR</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How the City grew</em> (<em>Norman Days</em>)</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> year 1066 was yet another fateful year for
-the people of England and the citizens of London.
-When William of Normandy defeated Harold
-at Senlac, near Hastings, many of the English
-fled to London, prepared to join the citizens in a
-stout defence of their great city; but no such
-defence was necessary.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_153"><img src="images/i_153.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="395" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">THE CONQUEROR’S MARCH ON LONDON</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>William skirted the dense forest of Andredeswealde,
-and, striking the main road at Canter<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span>bury,
-progressed to Southwark, which he
-destroyed. Now, good soldier and wise man
-that he was, William saw that a definite attack
-on London would be a difficult matter, and
-would profit him nothing. So he set to work
-to do what others had done before him&mdash;to cut
-off the city from its supplies. Marching westwards,
-he made his way to the crossing at
-Wallingford, and there reached the north bank
-of the River. Striking north-east again, he came
-soon to Watling Street once more, and thus cut
-off all the northern trade. London was in this
-way cut off from practically the bulk of its
-supplies; and the citizens were glad to make
-terms before worse things happened.</p>
-
-<p>Probably the surrender occurred sooner than
-it might otherwise have done, by reason of the
-exceedingly mixed nature of the population.
-London counted among its citizens, as we can
-tell by reference to the documents of the time,
-merchants from many different parts of France&mdash;Caen
-and Rouen in particular&mdash;and from
-Flanders and Germany.</p>
-
-<p>William kept loyally to the promises which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span>
-he had made in the treaty, maintaining the
-rights of the city, and seeing that the thirty or
-forty thousand citizens had the proper protection
-he guaranteed. True, he built the great
-threatening Tower of London, about which we
-shall read in another chapter, but it is very
-probable that even in that the citizens saw only
-a strengthening of the old bastions built in
-former days for the guarding of the city.</p>
-
-<p>Practically all our knowledge of London life
-in Norman days comes to us from the writings
-of one FitzStephen, a faithful clerk in the
-service of Thomas Becket. FitzStephen, who
-was present at the Archbishop’s murder, wrote
-a life of his master, and prefaced it with a short
-account of the city. From his description we
-learn much of interest. We gather that,
-besides the great Cathedral, there were thirteen
-large churches and one hundred and twenty-six
-smaller parish churches; that the walls protected
-the city on all sides save the river front,
-where they had been pulled down to make room
-for wharves and stores. Says FitzStephen:
-“Those engaged in the several kinds of business,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span>
-sellers of various things, contractors for various
-works, are to be found every morning in their
-different districts and shops. Besides there
-is in London, on the river bank, among the
-wines in ships, and in cellars sold by the vintners,
-a public food shop; there meats may be
-found every day, according to the season, fried
-and boiled, great and small fish, coarsest meats
-for the poor, more dainty for the rich.” He
-also has much to tell us about the sports, which
-included archery, leaping, wrestling, and football.
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span>“In Easter holidays they fight battles
-on the water. A shield is hung upon a pole in
-mid-stream, a boat is made ready, and in the
-forepart thereof standeth a youth, who chargeth
-the shield with a lance. If so be that he
-breaketh the lance against the shield, he hath
-performed a worthy deed; but if he doth not
-break his lance, down he falleth into the water....
-To this city, from every nation under
-heaven, do merchants delight to bring their
-goods by sea.... The only pests of London
-are the immoderate quaffing of fools and the
-frequency of fires.”</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER FIVE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The River’s First Bridge</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">From</span> our point of view, engaged as we are in
-the study of London’s River and its influence
-on the city, perhaps the most interesting thing
-that happened in Norman days was the building
-of the first stone London Bridge.</p>
-
-<p>Other bridges there had been from remote
-times, and these had taken their part in the
-moulding of the history of London, but they
-had suffered seriously from flood, fire, and
-warfare. In the year 1090, for instance, a
-tremendous storm had burst on the city, and
-while the wind blew down six hundred houses
-and several churches, the flood had entirely
-demolished the bridge. The citizens had built
-another in its place; but that, too, had narrowly
-escaped destruction when there occurred one of
-those dreadful fires which FitzStephen laments.
-The years 1135-6 again had brought calamity,
-for yet another fire had practically consumed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span>
-the entire structure. It had been remade,
-however, and had lasted till 1163, when it had
-been found to be in such a very bad condition
-that an entirely new bridge was a necessity.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_158"><img src="images/i_158.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="384" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Old London Bridge.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The new bridge was the conception of one
-Peter, the priest of a small church, St. Mary
-Colechurch, in the Poultry. This clergyman
-was a member of a religious body whose special
-interest was the building of bridges, in those
-times regarded as an act of piety. Skilled in
-this particular craft, he dreamed of a bridge for
-London such as his brother craftsmen were
-building in the great cities of France; and he set<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span>
-to work to amass the necessary funds. King,
-courtiers, common folk, all responded to his
-call, and at last, in 1176, he was able to commence.
-Unfortunately, he died before the
-completion of his project, for it took thirty-three
-years to build; and another brother,
-Isenbert, carried on after him.</p>
-
-<p>A strange bridge it was, too, when finished;
-but good enough to last six and a half centuries.
-It was in reality a street built across the River,
-926 feet in length, 40 feet wide, and some 60 feet
-above the level of high water. Nineteen pointed
-arches, varying in width from 10 to 32 feet,
-upheld its weight over massive piers which
-measured from 23 to 36 feet in thickness. So
-massive were these piers that probably only
-about a third of the whole length of the Bridge
-was waterway. This, of course, meant that the
-practice of “shooting” the arches in a boat
-was a perilous adventure, for with such narrow
-openings the current was tremendous. So
-dangerous was it that it was usual for timid folk
-to disembark just above the Bridge, walk round
-the end, and re-embark below, rather than
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]<br /><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span>take the risk of being dashed against the stone-work.
-Which wisdom was embodied in a
-proverb of the time&mdash;“London Bridge was made
-for wise men to go over and fools to go under.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_160"><img src="images/i_160.jpg" alt="" width="465" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">An Arch of Old London Bridge: Queen Eleanor being Stoned in 1263.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Strangely enough, old London Bridge forestalled
-the Tower Bridge by having in its centre
-a drawbridge, which could be raised to allow
-vessels to sail through, much as the bascules of
-the modern bridge can be lifted to allow the
-passage of the great ships of to-day. There
-were on each side of the roadway ordinary
-houses, the upper stories of which were used
-for dwellings, while the ground floors acted as
-shops. In the middle of the Bridge, over the
-tenth and largest pier, stood a small chapel
-dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury, the
-youngest of England’s saints.</p>
-
-<p>But, even when a stone bridge was erected,
-troubles were by no means over. Four years
-after the completion, in July, 1212, came another
-disastrous fire, and practically all the
-houses, which, unlike the Bridge itself, were
-built of timber, were destroyed. In the year
-1282 it was the turn of the River to play havoc.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span>
-As we said just now, only about a third of the
-length was waterway. This condition of things
-(avoided in all modern bridges) meant a tremendous
-pressure of the current, both at ebb<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span>
-and flow, and an enormous pressure at flood
-time. When, in the year mentioned, there came
-great ice-floods, five arches were carried away,
-and “London Bridge was broken down, my
-fair lady.” From that time onwards there was
-a considerable series of accidents right down
-to the time of the Great Fire of London, concerning
-which we shall read in a later chapter.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_162"><img src="images/i_162.jpg" alt="" width="567" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Chapel of St. Thomas Becket.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Old London Bridge, during its life, saw many
-strange happenings. In 1263, for instance, a
-great crowd gathered, wherever the citizens
-could find a coign of vantage, for the Queen,
-Eleanor of Provence and wife of Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.,
-was passing that way on her journey from the
-Tower to Windsor. But this was no triumphal
-passage, for the Queen was strongly opposed to
-the Barons, who were still working for a final
-settlement of Magna Charta. Enraged at her
-action, the people of London waited till her
-barge approached the Bridge, and then they
-hurled heavy stones down upon it and assailed
-the Queen with rough words; so that she was
-compelled with her attendants to return to the
-Tower, rather than face the enraged mob.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p>
-
-<p>The year 1390 saw yet another queer event.
-Probably most of you understand what is
-meant by a tournament. Well, at this time,
-there was much rivalry between the English
-and Scottish knights, and a tilt was proposed
-between two champions, Lord Wells of England
-and Earl Lindsay of Scotland. The Englishman,
-granted choice of ground, chose by some
-strange whim London Bridge for the scene of
-action rather than some well-known tournament
-ground. On the appointed day the
-Bridge was thronged with folk who had come
-to witness this unusual contest in the narrow
-street. Great was the excitement as the knights
-charged towards each other. Three times did
-they meet in the shock of battle, and at the
-third the Englishman fell vanquished from his
-charger, to be attended immediately by the
-gallant Scottish knight.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_165"><img src="images/i_165.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="617" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">London Bridge in Modern Times.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Bridge, as the only approach to the city
-from the south, was the scene of many wonderful
-pageants and processions, as our victorious
-Kings came back from their wars with
-France, or returned to England with their brides<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span>
-from overseas. Such a magnificent spectacle
-was the crossing in state of Henry <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>. after the
-great victory of Agincourt in the year 1415.
-The battle, as most of you know, took place
-in October of that year, and at the end of
-November the King passed over the Bridge at
-the head of his most distinguished prisoners<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span>
-and his victorious soldiers, amid the tumultuous
-rejoicing of London’s jubilant citizens.</p>
-
-<p>Yet another strange scene was enacted when
-Wat Tyler, at the head of his tens of thousands,
-passed over howling and threatening,
-after being temporarily held back by the gates
-which stood at the south end of the Bridge.</p>
-
-<p>So the old Bridge lasted on, living through
-momentous days, till, in the year 1832, it was
-removed to give place to the new London Bridge
-which had been erected sixty yards to the westwards.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER SIX</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How the City grew</em> (<em>in the Middle Ages</em>)</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">London</span> in that period which we speak of as
-the Middle Ages was indeed a remarkable city.
-Dotted about all over it, north and south, west
-and east, were great monasteries and nunneries
-and churches, for in those days the Church was
-a tremendous power in the land; while huddled
-together within its confines were shops, houses,
-stores, palaces, all set down in a bewildering
-confusion. Of palaces there was indeed a profusion;
-in fact, London might well have been
-called a City of Palaces. But they were not
-arranged in long lines along the banks of canals,
-as were those of Venice, nor round fine stately
-squares, as in Florence, Genoa, and other
-famous cities of the Continent. London’s
-palaces nestled in the city’s narrow, muddy
-lanes, between the warehouses of the merchants
-and the hovels of the poor. They paid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span>
-little or no attention to external beauty, but
-within they were splendid structures.</p>
-
-<p>Now, what did this mean? That the
-common people of London constantly came
-into contact with the great ones of the land.
-The apprentice, sent on an errand by his master,
-might at any moment be held up as Warwick
-the King-maker, let us say, emerged from his
-gateway, followed by a train of several hundred
-retainers all decked out in his livery; or the
-Queen and her ladies might pass in gay procession
-to view a tournament in the fields just
-north of the Chepe. In that way the citizens
-learned right from their earliest day that
-London was not the only place in England,
-that there were other folk in the land, and great
-ones too, who were not London merchants and
-craftsmen.</p>
-
-<p>This constant reminder that they were
-simply part and parcel of the great realm of
-England did this for the people of London: it
-made them keen on politics, always ready to
-take sides in any national strife. On the other
-hand, it gave them great pride. The citizens<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span>
-soon discovered that, though they were not the
-only folk in the land, they counted for much, for
-whatever side or cause they supported always
-won in the end. This, of course, more firmly
-cemented the position of London as the foremost
-spot in the kingdom.</p>
-
-<p>Very beautiful indeed were some of the
-palaces, or inns, as they were quite commonly
-called. They were in no sense of the word
-fortresses; their gates opened straight on to the
-narrow, muddy lanes without either ditch or
-portcullis. Inside there was usually a wide
-courtyard, surrounded by the various buildings.
-Unfortunately the Great Fire and other calamities
-have not spared us much whereby we can
-recall such palaces to mind. Staple Inn, whose
-magnificent timbered front is still one of
-London’s most precious relics, is of a later date,
-but possesses many of the medieval characters.
-Crosby Hall, in Bishopsgate Street, was a fine
-specimen. This was erected in the fifteenth
-century by a grocer and Lord Mayor, Sir John
-Crosby, a man of great wealth; and for some
-time it was the residence of Richard <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. For<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span>
-many years it remained to show us the exceeding
-beauty of a medieval dwelling; but, alas,
-that too has gone the way of all the others!
-A portion of it, the great Hall, has been re-erected
-in Chelsea.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_170"><img src="images/i_170.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="316" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Baynard’s Castle before the Great Fire.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Otherwise most of these palaces remain only
-as a name. Baynard’s Castle, one of the most
-famous of all, which stood close to the western
-end of the river-wall, lasted for 600 years from
-the Norman Conquest to the time of the Great
-Fire, but it is only remembered in the name of
-a wharf and a ward of the city. Coldharbour
-Palace, which stood in Thames Street with
-picturesque gables overhanging the River,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span>
-passed from a great place in history down to
-oblivion.</p>
-
-<p>So with all the rest of these elaborate, historic
-palaces, about which we can read in the pages
-of Stow, that delightful chronicler of London
-and her ways; they either perished in the
-flames or were pulled down to make way for
-hideous commercial buildings.</p>
-
-<p>London in the Middle Ages passed through
-a period of great prosperity; but, at the same
-time, it suffered terribly through pestilence,
-famine, rebellions, and so on. The year 1349
-saw a dreadful calamity in the shape of the
-“Black Death”&mdash;a kind of plague which came
-over from Asia. The narrow, dirty lanes, with
-their stinking, open ditches, the unsatisfactory
-water-supply, all caused the dread disease to
-spread rapidly; and a very large part of London’s
-citizens perished.</p>
-
-<p>Moreover, famine followed in the path of the
-pestilence which stalked through the land. So
-great was the toll of human life throughout
-England that there were but few left to work
-on the land; and London, which depended for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span>
-practically all its supplies on what was sent
-from afar, suffered severely. Still, despite all
-these troubles, the Middle Ages must be
-regarded as part of the “good old times,” when
-England was “merry England” indeed. True,
-the citizens had to work hard, and during long
-hours, but they found plenty of time for
-pleasure. Those of you who have read anything
-of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” will
-know something of the brightness of life in those
-times, of the holidays, the pageants and processions,
-the tournaments, the fairs, the general
-merrymaking.</p>
-
-<p>All of which, of course, was due to good trade.
-The city which the River had made was growing
-in strength. London now made practically
-everything it needed, and within its walls were
-representatives of practically every calling. As
-Sir Walter Besant says in his fine book,
-“London”: “There were mills to grind the
-corn, breweries for making the beer; the linen
-was spun within the walls, and the cloth made
-and dressed; the brass pots, tin pots, iron
-utensils, and wooden platters and basins, were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span>
-all made in the city; the armour, with its
-various pieces, was hammered out and fashioned
-in the streets; all kinds of clothes, from the
-leathern jerkin of the poorest to the embroidered
-robes of a princess, were made here....</p>
-
-<p>“There was no noisier city in the whole
-world; the roar and the racket of it could be
-heard afar off, even at the risings of the Surrey
-hills or the slope of Highgate. From every
-lane rang out, without ceasing, the tuneful note
-of the hammer and the anvil; the carpenters,
-not without noise, drove in their nails, and the
-coopers hooped their casks; the blacksmith’s
-fire roared; the harsh grating of the founders
-set the teeth on edge of those who passed that
-way; along the river bank, from the Tower to
-Paul’s Stairs, those who loaded and those who
-unloaded, those who carried the bales to the
-warehouses, those who hoisted them up; the
-ships which came to port and the ships which
-sailed away, did all with fierce talking, shouting,
-quarrelling, and racket.”</p>
-
-<p>As we picture the prosperity of those medieval
-days there comes into our minds that winding<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span>
-silver stream which made such prosperity
-possible, and we seem to see the River Thames
-crowded with ships from foreign parts, many
-of them bringing wine from France, Spain, and
-other lands, for wine was one of the principal
-imports of the Middle Ages, and filling up the
-great holds of their empty vessels with England’s
-superior wool; others from Italy, laden with fine
-weapons and jewels, with spices, drugs, and
-silks, and all wanting our wool. A few of those
-ships in the Pool were laden with <em>coal</em>, for in the
-Middle Ages this new fuel&mdash;sea-coal, as it was
-called to distinguish it from the ordinary wood
-charcoal&mdash;made its appearance in London.
-Nor did London take to it at first. In the reign
-of Edward <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. the citizens sent a petition, praying
-the King to forbid the use of this “nuisance
-which corrupteth the air with its stink and
-smoke, to the great detriment of the health of
-the people.”</p>
-
-<p>But the advantages of the sea-coal rapidly
-outweighed the disadvantages with the citizens,
-and the various proclamations issued by sovereigns
-came to nought. Before long several<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span>
-officials were appointed to act as inspectors of
-the new article of commerce as it came into the
-wharves. The famous Dick Whittington and
-various other prominent citizens of London
-made large fortunes from their coal-boats.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER SEVEN</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Tower of London</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">London</span> has many treasures to show us, if we
-take the trouble to look for them, but it has no
-relic of the past so perfect as its Tower&mdash;a place
-which every Briton, especially every Londoner,
-ought to see and try to understand.</p>
-
-<p>If only the Tower’s silent old stones could
-suddenly gain the power of speech, what strange
-tales they would have to tell of the things which
-have occurred during their centuries of history&mdash;tales
-of things glorious and tales of things
-unspeakably tragic. Though the latter would
-easily outweigh the former in number, I am
-afraid; for this grim stronghold is a monument
-to evil rather than to good.</p>
-
-<p>The Tower has often been spoken of as the
-<em>key</em> to London, and there is truth in the saying,
-for its position is certainly an excellent one.
-When William of Normandy descended on
-England with his great company of knights<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span>
-and their retainers, he professed to have every
-consideration for the people of London, and
-certainly he treated the citizens quite fairly
-according to the terms of the treaty. But, at
-the same time, he apparently did not feel
-any too sure of them, and so he called in the
-monk, Gundulf, to erect a fortress, which to
-all appearances was merely a strengthening of
-the fortifications already there, but which in
-reality was intended to serve as a constant
-reminder of the power and authority of the
-conquering king.</p>
-
-<p>The spot chosen was the angle at the eastern
-corner, just where the wall turns sharply inland
-from the River, and no position round London
-could have been better chosen. In the first place
-it guarded London from the river approach,
-ready to hold off any enemy venturesome
-enough to sail up the Thames to attack the city.
-But also, and this undoubtedly was what was
-in the mind of the Conqueror, it frowned down
-on the city.</p>
-
-<p>A formidable Norman Keep was erected,
-with walls 15 feet thick, so strongly built that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span>
-they stand to-day practically as they stood
-900 years ago, save that stone-faced windows
-were put in a couple of centuries ago to take
-the place of the narrow slits or loopholes which
-served for light and ventilation in a fortress of
-this sort.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_178"><img src="images/i_178.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="443" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Ground Plan of the Tower.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>To understand the Tower of London properly
-(and we really want some idea of it before any
-visit, otherwise it is merely a confusion of
-towers and open spaces without any meaning)
-we must realize that it consists of three separate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span>
-lines of defences, all erected at different times.
-The innermost, the Keep or White Tower, we
-have touched upon. Beyond that, and separated
-from it by an open space known as the
-Inner Ward, is the first wall, with its twelve
-towers, among them the Beauchamp Tower,
-the Bell Tower, the Bloody Tower, and the
-Wakefield Tower. Then, beyond that again,
-and separated by another open space known as
-the Outer Ward, is yet another wall; and still
-beyond is the Moat, outside everything. So
-that any attacking army, having successfully
-negotiated the Moat, would find itself with the
-outer wall to scale and break, and within that
-another inner wall, 46 feet high. The garrison,
-driven back from these two, could even then
-retire to the innermost keep, with its walls
-15 feet thick, and there hold out for a great
-length of time against the fiercest attacks. So
-that, you will readily see, the Tower was a
-fortress of tremendous strength in days before
-the use of heavy artillery.</p>
-
-<p>The outer defences were added to William’s
-White Tower from time to time by various<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span>
-monarchs. The first or inner wall, 8 feet thick,
-begun in the Conqueror’s days, was added to
-and strengthened by Stephen, Henry <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>., and
-John. The outer wall and the Moat were
-completed by Henry <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.; and the Tower thus
-took its present shape.</p>
-
-<p>Most of our Sovereigns, from the Conqueror’s
-time right down to the Restoration, used the
-Tower of London. Kings and Queens who
-were powerful used it as a prison for their
-enemies; those who were weak and feared the
-people used it as a fortress for themselves.
-This latter use of the Tower was particularly
-instanced in the reign of Stephen&mdash;an illuminating
-chapter in the story of London.</p>
-
-<p>Stephen, following the death of Henry <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.,
-was elected King by the Great Council, and duly
-crowned in London; but the barons soon saw
-that he was unfitted for the task of ruling, and
-they took sides with the Empress Matilda,
-hoping thereby to get nearer the independence
-they desired. Stephen for a time held his own
-with the aid of a number of trusty barons, but
-in 1139 he offended the Church by his rough<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span>
-treatment of the Bishops of Lincoln and Salisbury,
-and his supporters fell away. Consequently
-he was compelled in the following year
-to seek safety in the Tower, close to his loyal
-followers, the citizens of London.</p>
-
-<p>Now the constable of the Tower in those days
-was one Geoffrey de Mandeville, about as
-unscrupulous and cruel a rascal as could be
-imagined. Stephen, to ensure his support,
-made him Earl of Essex, and for a time all went
-well. But when, following Stephen’s defeat
-and capture in 1141, the Empress Matilda
-moved to London to be crowned, Geoffrey de
-Mandeville had not the slightest compunction
-in taking sides with her, for which he was
-rewarded by the gift of castles, revenues, and
-the office of Sheriff of Essex. But Matilda
-offended the citizens of London to such an
-extent that they drove her from the city and
-attacked Mandeville in the Tower. Whereupon
-Mandeville, without any hesitation, transferred
-his allegiance to Maud of Boulogne,
-Stephen’s wife, who was rallying his scattered
-forces&mdash;which allegiance was purchased by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span>
-making Mandeville the Sheriff of Hertfordshire,
-Middlesex, and London, as well. Nothing,
-however, could serve to make this treacherous
-man act straightly, and when later Stephen
-found him planning yet another revolt in favour
-of Matilda, he attacked him suddenly, took
-him prisoner, and removed him from all public
-affairs.</p>
-
-<p>This chapter in English history is far from
-showing the English nobles in a good light, but
-it is exceedingly interesting as revealing the
-extent to which London was beginning to
-count in the kingdom.</p>
-
-<p>To-day we enter from the city side by what
-is known as the Middle Tower&mdash;a renovated
-and modernized gateway, with a big, stone-carved
-Royal Arms above its arch. The name
-“Middle” strikes us as curious, seeing that it is
-the first protection on the landward side, until
-we remember or learn that originally there was
-another Tower, the Lion Tower, nearer the city
-(approximately where the refreshment room
-now stands) and separated from the Middle
-Tower by a drawbridge. But the Lion Tower<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span>
-disappeared many many years ago, and only
-two of the three outer defences remain, the
-Middle Tower and the Byward Tower, the
-latter reached by a permanent bridge over the
-Moat.</p>
-
-<p>Once through the Byward Gateway and we
-are between the inner and outer defences.
-Leaving on our left the Bell Tower, a strong,
-irregular, octagonal tower, which gets its name
-from the turret whence curfew bell rings each
-night, we walk along parallel to the River,
-past the frowning gateway of the Bloody
-Tower on our left, with its low arch which
-originally gave the only entrance to the Inner
-Ward, and on our right, and exactly opposite,
-the Traitor’s Gate, the riverside passage through
-the outer walls. Skirting the Wakefield Tower,
-we pass through a comparatively modern
-opening, and so come upon the amazing Norman
-Keep of William the Conqueror.</p>
-
-<p>This Keep is not quite square, though it
-appears to be, and no one of its four sides
-corresponds to any other. Its greatest measurements
-are from north to south 116 feet, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span>
-from east to west 96 feet. Inside, three cross
-walls, from 6 to 8 feet thick, divide each floor
-into three separate apartments of unequal
-sizes. It is a building complete in itself, with
-everything required for a fortress, a Royal
-dwelling, and a prison. Probably, as you walk
-about the cold, gloomy chambers, you will say
-to yourselves that you can understand the
-fortress and the prison parts, but that you
-could never imagine it as a dwelling. But you
-must remember that with coverings on the
-floor and with the bare walls hung with beautiful
-tapestries, as was the custom in early days,
-and with furniture in position, the apartments
-must have presented a much more comfortable
-appearance.</p>
-
-<p>The first story, or main floor, was the place
-where abode the garrison&mdash;the men-at-arms and
-their officers; and above on the other two floors
-were the State apartments&mdash;St. John’s Chapel
-and the Banqueting Hall on the second story,
-and the great Council Chamber of the Sovereign
-on the third floor. Beneath were great dungeons,
-terrible places without light or ventila<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span>tion,
-having in those days no entrance from the
-level ground, but reached only by that central
-staircase which rose from them to the roof.</p>
-
-<p>In these days the Keep is largely used as an
-armoury; and we can gain a fine idea of the
-different kinds of armour worn in different
-periods, and of the weapons used and of the
-cruel implements of torture. It also contains
-several good models of the Tower at different
-times, and a short study of these will do much
-to get rid of the confusion which most folk
-feel as they hurry from tower to tower without
-any general idea of the place.</p>
-
-<p>Leaving the ancient Keep, we cross the only
-wide open space of the fortress, a paved quadrangle
-which keeps its antique and now inappropriate
-name of Tower Green, where in
-bygone days some of the Tower’s most famous
-prisoners have paraded in solitude on the grass.
-Here, marked by a tablet, is the site of the
-scaffold where died Lady Jane Grey, Anne
-Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and other famous
-prisoners of State. It is a quiet, moody spot,
-where the black ravens of the Tower, as they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span>
-stand sentinel beneath the sycamore trees,
-at times seem the only things in keeping with
-the sadness of the place.</p>
-
-<p>To our right is the little Church of St. Peter
-ad Vinculam, which will be shown to us by
-one of the quaintly garbed “Beef-eaters” (if
-one can be spared from other duties), the
-famous Yeomen of the Guard who still wear
-the uniform designed in Henry the Eighth’s
-days. Concerning this little sanctuary Lord
-Macaulay wrote: “There is no sadder spot on
-earth.... Death is there associated with
-whatever is darkest in human nature and in
-human destiny, with the savage triumph of
-implacable enemies, with the inconstancy, 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.”</p>
-
-<p>Close together in a small space before the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span>
-Altar, raised slightly above the level of the
-floor, lie the mortal remains of two Queens,
-Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, Margaret
-of Salisbury, last of the proud Plantagenets,
-Lord and Lady Rochford, the Dukes of Somerset,
-Northumberland, Monmouth, Suffolk, and
-Norfolk, the Earl of Essex, Lady Jane Grey,
-Lord Guilford Dudley, and Sir Thomas Overbury.</p>
-
-<p>As we pass on and come to the Beauchamp
-Tower, and later to the Bloody Tower, we see
-the tiny prisons where these unfortunates, and
-many others, languished in confinement, waiting
-their tragic end, whiling away the weary hours
-by carving quaint inscriptions on the stone
-walls; and, in the latter, we are shown the
-tiny apartment where perished the little Princes
-at the instigation of their uncle, Richard <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.</p>
-
-<p>From our point of view there remains just
-one more thing to consider, and that is the
-Tower’s connection with the River. Probably
-few of us, as we try to think back through the
-centuries, realize how important the Thames
-was even as a highway. We know from our<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span>
-reading that London’s streets were narrow,
-crooked, and of very little use for a big amount
-of traffic; yet we do not see in our mind’s eye
-the great waterway which everybody, rich and
-poor, used in those days, alike for business and
-pleasure. And, of course, the Tower contributed
-very largely to this water traffic, for the
-King, his nobles, and all who had business at
-Westminster, travelled constantly to and fro<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span>
-in the great painted barges which made the
-River a gayer and brighter place than it is in
-our days. For the purpose of such travellers
-there was provided the Queen’s Steps at the
-Tower Wharf, in order to avoid the use of the
-sinister Traitor’s Gate&mdash;that low, frowning
-archway, which gave entrance from the River,
-and through which very many famous persons,
-innocent and guilty alike, passed to their doom,
-brought thither by water at the behest of the
-Sovereign.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_188"><img src="images/i_188.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="539" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Traitor’s Gate.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>According to John Stow, who wrote in
-Elizabeth’s reign, the Tower was then “a
-citadel to defend or command the city; a royal
-palace for assemblies or treaties; a prison of
-state for the most dangerous offenders; the
-only place of coinage for all England at this
-time; the armoury for warlike provision; the
-treasury of the ornaments and jewels of the
-Crown; and general conserver of most records
-of the King’s courts of justice at Westminster.”
-All that is changed now. The Tower has long
-since ceased to be a Royal residence. As a
-defence of the city it would not last more than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span>
-a few minutes against modern artillery. Save
-for the period of the great war, when it held
-the bodies of numerous spies and traitors and
-saw the execution of several, it has for many
-years given up its claim to be a prison. The
-records which filled the little Chapel of St.
-John have now been moved to the Record
-Office, and the making of money goes on at the
-Mint just across the road. The Crown Jewels
-still find a home here, in the Wakefield Tower,
-the prison where Henry <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. came to his violent
-end. Yet, despite all these changes, the fortress
-is still the Tower of London&mdash;perhaps the city’s
-most fascinating relic.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER EIGHT</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>How Fire destroyed what the River had made</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Leaving</span> the Tower by the Byward Gate, and
-passing along Great Tower Street and Eastcheap,
-we come to the spot</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse">“Where London’s column pointing to the skies,</div>
-    <div class="verse">Like a tall bully, lifts its head and lies.”</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This is, of course, the Monument, which for
-many years indicated to all and sundry that
-the Great Fire of 1666 was the work of the
-Roman Catholics. Till the year 1831 the
-inscription, added in 1681 at the time of the
-Titus Oates affair, perpetuated the lie in stone,
-but in that year it was removed by the City
-Council. Now the gilt urn with its flames,
-which we can see well if we ascend the 345
-steps to the iron cage at the top, merely commemorates
-the Fire itself, without any reference
-to its cause, as in the original structure. From
-the top of the Monument we can get perhaps
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]<br /><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span>the very finest of all views of London and its
-River.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_192"><img src="images/i_192.jpg" alt="" width="465" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Monument.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>But there is one thing which should preface
-our account of the Great Fire, and that is an
-account of the Great Plague which visited and
-afflicted London in the previous year. Of
-course, the Fire was in one sense a terrible
-disaster for London, yet the destruction which
-it wrought was in reality a great blessing to the
-plague-ridden city.</p>
-
-<p>The Plague, by no means the first to visit
-London, came over from the Continent, where
-for years it had been decimating the large cities.
-It broke out with terrible power in the summer
-of the year 1665&mdash;a dry, scorching summer which
-made the flushing of the open street drains an
-impossible thing, and gave every help to the
-dread pestilence. If we want to read a thrilling
-description of London at this time we have
-only to turn to the “Journal of the Plague
-Year,” by Defoe, the author of “Robinson
-Crusoe.” This was not actually a journal, for
-Defoe was only four years old in 1665, but it
-was a faithful account based on first-hand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span>
-information. In its simply written pages (to
-quote from Sir Walter Besant) “we see the
-horror of the empty streets; we hear the cries
-and lamentations of those who are seized and
-those who are bereaved. The cart comes slowly
-along the streets with the man ringing a bell
-and crying, ‘Bring out your dead! Bring out
-your dead!’ We think of the great holes into
-which the dead were thrown in heaps and
-covered with a little earth; we think of the
-grass growing in the streets; the churches
-deserted; the roads black with fugitives hurrying
-from the abode of Death; we hear the
-frantic mirth of revellers snatching to-night a
-doubtful rapture, for to-morrow they die. The
-City is filled with despair.” As we can well
-imagine, the King and his courtiers fled from
-Whitehall and the Tower away into the country;
-the Law Courts were shifted up river to Oxford.
-Naturally all business stopped, and trade was
-at a standstill. Ships in hundreds lay idle in
-the Pool, waiting for the cargoes which came
-not, because the wharves and warehouses were
-deserted; laden ships that sailed up the Thames<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span>
-speedily turned about and made for the Continental
-ports. So it went on, the visitation
-increasing in fury, till in September there were
-nearly 900 fell each day. Then it abated
-slightly, but continued through the winter, on
-into the following summer, and in the end
-more than 97,000 people perished out of a
-population of 460,000.</p>
-
-<p>Then, on September 2, came that other
-catastrophe, the Great Fire. Starting in a
-baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, near the Monument,
-it was driven westwards by a strong east
-wind.</p>
-
-<p>The London of Stuart days gave the Fire
-every possible help. Not much survives to-day
-to show us what things were like, but the quaint,
-timber-fronted houses of Staple Inn (Holborn)
-and No. 17, Fleet Street, and the pictures
-painted at the time, give us a fair idea of the
-inflammable nature of the buildings; and when
-we remember that these wooden houses, old,
-dry, and coated with pitch, were in some streets
-so close to those opposite that it was possible
-to shake hands from the overhanging upper<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span>
-stories, we are not surprised at the rapidity with
-which the Fire spread.</p>
-
-<p>The diaries of two gentlemen&mdash;Samuel
-Pepys and John Evelyn, the former one of the
-King’s Ministers, the latter a wealthy and
-learned gentleman of the Court&mdash;bring home to
-us plainly the terror of the seven days’ visitation.
-To begin with, very few took any special
-notice of the outbreak: fires were too common
-to cause great consternation. Even Pepys
-himself tells us that he returned to bed; but
-when the morning came and it was still burning,
-he was disturbed. Says he: “By and by
-Jane tells me that she hears that above 800
-houses have been burned down to-night by the
-fire we saw, and that it is now burning down
-all Fish Street, by London Bridge. So I made
-myself ready presently, and walked to the
-Tower; and there got up upon one of the high
-places; and there I did see the houses at that
-end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great
-fire on this and the other side of the end of the
-bridge.”</p>
-
-<p>London Bridge, as you will remember from a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span>
-former chapter, was very narrow, and the houses
-projected out over the River, held in place by
-enormous timber struts; and these, with the
-wooden frames of the three-storied houses, gave
-the fire a good hold. Moreover the burning
-buildings, falling on the Bridge, blocked the
-way to any who would have fought the flames.
-After about a third of the buildings had been
-destroyed the fire was stopped by the pulling
-down of houses and the open space; but not
-before it had done great damage to the stone
-structure itself. The heat was so intense that
-arches and piers which had remained firm for
-centuries now began to show signs of falling to
-pieces, and it was found necessary to spend
-£1,500, an enormous sum in those days, on
-repairs before any rebuilding could be attempted.</p>
-
-<p>Day after day the Fire continued. Says
-Evelyn: “It burned both in breadth and length,
-the churches, public halls, Exchange, hospitals,
-monuments, and ornaments, leaping after a
-prodigious manner from house to house and
-street to street, at great distances one from the
-other....</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span></p>
-
-<p>“Here we saw the Thames covered with
-goods floating, all the barges and boats laden
-with what some had time and courage to save,
-as, on the other, the carts, etc., carrying out to
-the fields, which for many miles were strewed
-with movables of all sorts, and tents erected to
-shelter both people and what goods they could
-get away....</p>
-
-<p>“(Sept. 7) At my return I was infinitely
-concerned to find that goodly Church (cathedral),
-St. Paul’s, now a sad ruin. It was astonishing
-to see what immense stones the heat had in a
-manner calcined, so that all the ornaments,
-columns, friezes, capitals, and projectures of
-massie Portland stone flew off, even to the very
-roof, where a sheet of lead covering a great
-space (no less than six acres by measure) was
-totally melted; the ruins of the vaulted roof
-falling broke into St. Faith’s, which being filled
-with the magazines of books belonging to the
-Stationers, and carried thither for safety, they
-were all consumed, burning for a week following.... Thus
-lay in ashes that most venerable
-Church, one of the most ancient pieces of
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]<br /><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span>early piety in the Christian world, besides near
-100 more. The exquisitely wrought Mercers’
-Chapel, the sumptuous Exchange, the august
-fabric of Christchurch, all the rest of the Companies’
-Halls, splendid buildings, arches, entries,
-all in dust....</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_199"><img src="images/i_199.jpg" alt="" width="475" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Old St. Paul’s</span> (<small>A.D.</small> 1500).</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>“The people who now walked about the
-ruins appeared like men in some dismal desert
-or rather in some great city laid waste by a cruel
-enemy....The by-lanes and narrower streets
-were quite filled up with rubbish, nor could one
-have possibly known where he was, but by the
-ruins of some Church or Hall, that had some
-remarkable tower or pinnacle remaining....”</p>
-
-<p>Just as the Plague was by no means the first
-plague which had visited the city, so there had
-been other serious outbreaks of fire, but those
-two visitations were by far the worst in the
-history of London. We can gather some idea
-of the scene of desolation which resulted when
-we read that the ruins covered an area of 436
-acres&mdash;387 acres, or five-sixths of the entire city
-within the walls and 73 acres without; that the
-Fire wiped out four city gates, one cathedral,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span>
-eighty-nine parish churches, the Royal Exchange,
-Sion College, and all sorts of hospitals,
-schools, etc.</p>
-
-<p>Yet gradually, not within three or four years,
-as is commonly stated in history books, but
-slowly, as the ruined citizens found money for
-the purpose, there rose from the débris another
-London&mdash;a London with broader, cleaner
-streets, with larger and better-built houses of
-stone and brick; with fine public buildings and
-a new Cathedral&mdash;a London more like the city
-which we know. So <em>modern</em> London began its
-life.</p>
-
-<p>The River did not make a new London as it
-had made the old city. Shops, markets, quays,
-public buildings, did not spring up naturally in
-places where the trade of the time demanded
-them, as they had done in the old days, otherwise
-much would have changed. Instead, the
-new city very largely rebuilt itself on the
-foundations of the old, quite regardless of
-comfort or utility.</p>
-
-<p>Its supremacy as a Port was never in doubt.
-With the tremendous break in London’s com<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span>merce,
-caused first by the Plague and then by
-the devastation of the Fire, it would have
-seemed possible for the shipping to decrease
-permanently; but it never did. So firmly was
-London Port established in the past that it lived
-on strongly into modern times, despite many
-excellent reasons why it should lose its great
-place.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_NINE">CHAPTER NINE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Riverside and its Palaces</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">To-day</span>, when we stand upon Waterloo Bridge
-and let our gaze rest upon the Embankment, as
-it sweeps round in the large arc of a circle from
-Blackfriars past Charing Cross to Westminster,
-it is hard indeed to picture the time when these
-massive buildings&mdash;hotels, public buildings,
-suites of offices, etc.&mdash;were not there, when the
-green grass grew right down to the water’s edge
-on the left <em>strand</em> or bank of the River, when a
-walk from the one city to the other was a walk
-through country lanes and fields. It is hard
-indeed to brush away all the ugly, grey reminders
-of the present, and see a little of the
-past in its beauty&mdash;for beautiful the River undoubtedly
-was in Plantagenet, Tudor, and
-Stuart times.</p>
-
-<p>We have spoken of the growth of the city, and
-what the River meant to it; of the wharves and
-warehouses which extended from the Tower to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span>
-the Fleet River. That was the commercial
-London of those days. Westwards from the
-Fleet, along the side of the Thames, spread the
-more picturesque signs of London’s prosperity&mdash;the
-dwellings of some of the wealthy and
-influential.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_204"><img src="images/i_204.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="582" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Fleet River at Blackfriars (<span class="allsmcap">a.d.</span> 1760).</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>From the western end of the city&mdash;Ludgate
-and Newgate&mdash;spread out westwards the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span>
-suburbs, part of the city, though not actually
-within its walls, until an outer limit was reached
-at Temple Bar, situated at the western extremity
-of one of London’s most famous
-thoroughfares, Fleet Street, named after the
-little river which flowed down where Farringdon
-and New Bridge Streets are, and which
-emptied itself, and still empties itself, in the
-shape of a main drain, into the Thames beneath
-Blackfriars Bridge.</p>
-
-<p>Between Fleet Street and the River stood the
-Convent of the White Friars, and that most
-famous of places the Temple.</p>
-
-<p>In the Middle Ages the Church was far more
-intimately concerned with the everyday life of
-the people than it is to-day, for the simple
-reason that the clergy attended to the care of
-the sick and aged, to the teaching of the young,
-and other charitable works. Now it must be
-understood that there were in this country two
-classes of clergy&mdash;the monks, who were known
-as “regular clergy” (who lived by a regulus or
-rule), and the ordinary clergy, much as we have
-them to-day, in charge of our cathedrals, parish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span>
-churches, etc., these last being known as
-“secular clergy.” For the upkeep of the
-Church folk paid what were known as “tithes.”
-To begin with, this “tithe,” or tax, was handed
-over to the bishop, who divided it out into four
-parts&mdash;one for the building itself, one for the
-poor, one for the priest, and one for himself.
-Gradually, however, the “regulars” obtained
-control of affairs, receiving the tithes, and,
-instead of giving the full quarters to the “seculars,”
-they simply paid them what they thought
-fit, and appropriated the remainder for themselves.
-This led to two things: the monasteries
-became enormously wealthy, and the seculars
-became exceedingly poor and dissatisfied; so
-that there was constant strife between the two
-branches. Many nobles, ignorant of the true
-condition of affairs, and wishing the excellent
-charitable work of the Church to be continued,
-made great gifts to the Church. Unfortunately
-these very great gifts were sometimes apt to do
-the very opposite to what their donors intended.
-Instead of the monks devoting themselves more
-and more earnestly to the care of the needy,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span>
-they began to think more of their own comfort
-and position. They erected for themselves
-extensive and comfortable dwellings, with their
-own breweries, mills, and farms, and they lived
-on the fat of the land. They indulged themselves
-until their luxury became a byword with
-the common people. Then arose two great
-teachers, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic,
-who were led to protest against the abuses.
-They founded new Orders of religious men&mdash;called
-the Friars&mdash;who went from place to place
-with no money and only such clothes as covered
-them. These men believed in and taught the
-blessedness of poverty.</p>
-
-<p>Many of them came over from the Continent
-and settled in various parts of the city. If you
-pick up a map of London, even one of to-day,
-you will see such names as Blackfriars, Whitefriars,
-Crutched Friars, Austin Friars&mdash;showing
-where they made their homes. Some, the
-Black Friars, took up a position and eventually
-built for themselves a fine monastery and church
-just outside the city walls at the mouth of the
-Fleet River. Others, the White Friars or Car<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span>melite
-Monks, made themselves secure just to
-the west of the Fleet.</p>
-
-<p>Whitefriars was one of London’s sanctuaries;
-within its precincts wrong-doers were safe from
-the arm of the Law. Now, in certain periods of
-our history, such things as sanctuaries were
-good; they frequently prevented innocent
-men and women suffering at the hands of
-tyrants and unscrupulous enemies. So that
-the right of sanctuary was always most jealously
-guarded. But, as time went on, this led to
-abuses, and when the monasteries were closed
-by Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., the Lord Mayor of London
-asked the King to abolish the sanctuary rights
-of Blackfriars; but he would not do so. The
-consequence was that Blackfriars and Whitefriars,
-particularly the latter, became sinks of
-iniquity. In the latter, which was nicknamed
-Alsatia, congregated criminals of all sorts&mdash;thieves,
-coiners, forgers, debtors, cut-throats,
-burglars&mdash;as we can read in Scott’s novel,
-“The Fortunes of Nigel.” For years it
-held its evil associations, but it became so
-bad that in 1697 there was passed a Bill<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span>
-abolishing for ever the sanctuary rights of
-Whitefriars.</p>
-
-<p>West of Whitefriars is the Temple, which,
-with its quiet old courtyards, its beautiful
-church, and its restful gardens stretching down
-to the Embankment, is one of London’s most
-fascinating places.</p>
-
-<p>It gets its name from its founders, the Knights
-Templars&mdash;a great Order of men who lived in the
-time of the Crusades, and whose white mantles
-with a red cross have been famous ever since.
-These knights, who took vows to remain unmarried
-and poor, set themselves the great task
-of guarding the pilgrims’ roads to the Holy
-Land.</p>
-
-<p>In 1184 the Red Cross Knights settled on the
-banks of the River Thames, and made their
-home there in what was called the New Temple.
-For 130 years they abode there, gradually increasing
-in wealth and power, till in the end
-their very strength defeated them. Princes
-and nobles who had given them great gifts of
-money for their worthy work saw that money
-used, not for charitable purposes, but to keep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span>
-up the pomp and luxury of the place, and soon
-various folk in high places coveted the Templars’
-wealth and power, and determined to
-defeat them.</p>
-
-<p>So well did these folk work that in 1313 the
-Order was broken up, and the property came
-into the King’s hands. A few years later the
-Temple was leased by the Crown to those men
-who were studying the Law in London, and in
-their hands it has been ever since, becoming
-their own property in the reign of King James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.</p>
-
-<p>Originally the Temple was divided into three
-parts&mdash;the Inner Temple, the Outer Temple,
-and the Middle Temple. The Outer Temple,
-which stood west of Temple Bar, and therefore
-outside the city, was pulled down years ago,
-and now only the two remain.</p>
-
-<p>Here in their chambers congregate the
-barristers who conduct the cases in the Law
-Courts just across the road; and here are still to
-be found the students, all of whom must spend
-a certain time in the Temple (or in one of the
-other Inns of Court&mdash;Gray’s Inn or Lincoln’s Inn)
-before being allowed to practise as a barrister.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_211"><img src="images/i_211.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Old Temple Bar, Fleet Street (now at Theobald’s Park).</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Temple Church, which belongs to both
-Inns of Court, is one of the few pieces of Norman
-architecture which survive to us in London.
-It is round in shape, now a rare thing. On the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span>
-floor, and in many other places, may be seen
-the Templars’ emblem&mdash;the red cross on a white
-ground with the Paschal Lamb in the centre.
-Figures of departed knights keep watch over
-this strange church, their legs crossed to signify
-(so it is said) that they had fought in one or
-other of the Crusades.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_212"><img src="images/i_212.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="408" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">The Strand from the ...</p>
-<p class="caption center">Castle Hill. Ealing. York House. Durham House. Bedford House.</p>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_213"><img src="images/i_213.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="418" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"> ... Thames in the <abbr title="16th">XVI</abbr><sup>cent</sup></p>
-<p class="caption center">Temple Church. Somerset House. Arundel House. Essex House.<br />
-  Whitefriars Stairs.</p>
-Click <a href="images/i_213-large.jpg"> here</a> for picture of both pages
-</div>
-
-<p>The Temple Gardens, which still run down to
-the Embankment, were one time famous for
-their roses, and, according to Shakespeare, were
-the scene of that famous argument which led to
-the bitter struggle known as the War of the
-Roses. You probably remember the famous
-passage, ending with the lines&mdash;</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse">“And here I prophesy&mdash;this brawl to-day,</div>
-    <div class="verse">Grown to this faction in the Temple Garden,</div>
-    <div class="verse">Shall send between the red rose and the white</div>
-    <div class="verse">A thousand souls to death and deadly night.”</div>
-    <div class="verse indent2"><em>First Part of King Henry <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>.</em>, Act <abbr title="2">II</abbr>. Sc. 4.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Westwards from the Temple as far as Westminster
-stretched a practically unbroken line
-of palaces, each standing in beautiful grounds
-which sloped down in terraces to the water’s
-edge. There was Somerset House, which for
-long was a Royal residence. Lord Protector
-Somerset began the building of it in 1549,
-pulling down a large part of St. Paul’s cloisters
-and also the churches of St. John’s, Clerkenwell,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span>
-and St. Mary’s le Strand to provide the materials
-for his builders; but long before its completion
-Somerset was executed for treason, and the
-property went to the Crown.</p>
-
-<p>Here Elizabeth lived occasionally while her
-sister Mary was reigning. The old palace was
-pulled down in 1756, and the present fine
-building erected on the site. This modern
-structure, with its fine river front, so well
-combines strength and elegance that it seems
-a pity it does not stand clear of other buildings.</p>
-
-<p>The rest of the palaces, westwards, survive
-for the most part only as names. Where now
-rises the great mass of the Savoy Hotel once
-stood the ancient Palace of the Savoy, rising,
-like some of the city houses, straight out of
-the River, with a splendid water-gate in the
-centre. It was the oldest of the Strand
-palaces, being built by Peter of Savoy as early
-as 1245. After various ownerships, it passed
-into the hands of John of Gaunt, and was his
-when it was plundered and almost entirely
-burnt down by the followers of Wat Tyler in
-1381. From that time onwards it had a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span>
-chequered existence, being in turn prison and
-hospital, till at last in 1805 it was swept away
-when the approach to Waterloo Bridge was
-made. There is still in the street leading down
-to the Embankment the tiny Chapel Royal of
-the Savoy, but it has been too often restored
-to have much more interest than a name.</p>
-
-<p>Where now comes the Cecil Hotel stood
-originally the famous palace or inn of the Cecils,
-the Earls of Salisbury. York House, the town
-palace of the Archbishops of York, stood where
-now is Charing Cross Station. This at one
-time belonged to the famous Steenie, Duke of
-Buckingham and favourite of James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.
-Buckingham pulled down the old house in order
-that another and more glorious might rise in
-its place; but this was never done. Only the
-water-gate was built, and this lovely relic still
-stands in the Embankment Gardens, and from
-its position, some distance behind the river-wall,
-shows us how skilful engineers have saved quite
-a wide strip of the foreshore.</p>
-
-<p>In all probability each of these Strand palaces
-had its water-gate, from which the nobles and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span>
-their ladies set out in their gay barges when
-about to attend the Court at Westminster or
-go shopping in London.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_216"><img src="images/i_216.jpg" alt="" width="632" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Water-Gate of York House.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Just beyond York House came Hungerford
-House, which has given its name to the railway
-bridge crossing from the station; and then came<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span>
-Northumberland House, which was the last of the
-great historic riverside palaces to be demolished,
-being pulled down in comparatively modern
-times to make way for Northumberland Avenue.
-Other famous palaces are remembered in the
-names of Durham Street and Scotland Yard.</p>
-
-<p>When in 1529 Wolsey fell from his high
-estate, Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., his unscrupulous master,
-at once took possession of his palace at Whitehall,
-and made it the principal Royal residence.
-To give it suitable surroundings he formed
-(for his own sport and pleasure) the park which
-we now call St. James’s Park. When later he
-dissolved the monasteries he seized a small
-hospital, known as St. James-in-the-Fields,
-standing on the far side of the estate, and
-converted it into a hunting lodge. This afterwards
-became the famous Palace of St. James’s.</p>
-
-<p>Of Whitehall Palace all that now remains is
-the Banqueting Hall (now used to house the
-exhibits of the United Service Institution),
-built in the reign of James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. by the famous
-architect Inigo Jones; the rest perished by fire
-soon after the revolution of 1688. For some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span>
-time afterwards St. James’s Palace was the
-only Royal residence in London, but the
-Sovereigns soon provided themselves with the
-famous Kensington and Buckingham Palaces.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_218"><img src="images/i_218.jpg" alt="" width="548" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Banqueting Hall, Whitehall Palace.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_TEN">CHAPTER TEN</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Royal Westminster&mdash;The Abbey</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> story of Westminster is nearly as old as
-that of London itself.</p>
-
-<p>In our first chapter we spoke of the position
-of London being fixed to a large extent by the
-Kent road passing from Dover to the Midlands.
-That road, heading from Rochester, originally
-passed over&mdash;and still passes over&mdash;the Darent
-at Dartford, the Cray at Crayford, the Ravensbourne
-at Deptford; and then made its way,
-not to the crossing at Billingsgate, but to a
-still older ford or ferry which existed in very
-early days at the spot where Westminster now
-stands. If you look at the map of London,
-you will see that the Edgware Road, passing
-in a south-easterly direction from St. Albans,
-comes down, with but a slight curve, as if to
-meet this north-westerly Kent road. That
-they did so meet there is but little doubt, and
-this meeting gave us the Royal City of Westminster.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_220"><img src="images/i_220.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="425" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The River at Thorney Island.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In pre-Roman days Lambeth and Westminster,
-Belgravia and Chelsea, were simply
-reedy marshes. Out of them rose a number of
-gravelly islands of various sizes, and one of
-these, larger and more solid than the rest&mdash;Thorney
-or Bramble Island&mdash;became in due
-course the site of the city which for centuries
-was second only to London itself; for though
-the building of the Bridge and the rapid growth
-of the Port meant the diversion of the Kentish
-Watling Street to a new route through London,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span>
-the Thorney Island settlement grew just as
-steadily as that of the bluff lower down the
-stream, till eventually it held England’s most
-celebrated Abbey and Royal Palace, and its
-Houses of Parliament.</p>
-
-<p>As so often happened in early days, the
-settlement developed round a religious house.
-Probably it originated in a British fortress.
-Certainly it comprised a considerable Roman
-station and market. But all that lies in the
-misty past. The legend remains that in the
-year 604 Sebert, King of the East Saxons,
-there founded a minster of the west (St. Peter’s)
-to rival the minster of the east (St. Paul’s)
-which was being erected within the City of
-London; and indeed we are still shown in the
-Abbey the tomb of this traditional founder.</p>
-
-<p>When we come to the reign of Edward the
-Confessor we begin to get to actual definite
-things. Edward, as we know from our history
-books, was a very religious man, almost as
-much a monk as a King; and he took special
-delight in rebuilding ruined churches. While
-he was in exile in Normandy he made a vow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span>
-to St. Peter that he would go on pilgrimage to
-Rome if ever he came into his kingdom. When,
-in the passage of time, he became King, and
-proposed to carry out his vows, his counsellors
-would not hear of such a journey; and, in the
-end, the Pope of Rome released him from his
-vow on condition that he agreed to build an
-Abbey to the glory of St. Peter.</p>
-
-<p>This Edward did. His own particular friend,
-Edwin, presided over the small monastery of
-Thorney, so Edward determined to make this
-the site of his new Abbey. Pulling down the
-old place, he devoted a tenth part of his income
-to the raising of the new “Collegiate Church
-of St. Peter of Westminster.” Commenced in
-the year 1049, it became the King’s life-work,
-and was consecrated only eight days before his
-death.</p>
-
-<p>In order that he might see the builders at
-work on his favourite project, he built himself
-a palace between the Abbey and the River,
-and for fifteen years he watched the rising into
-being of such an Abbey as England had never
-known. He endowed it lavishly with estates,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span>
-and gave it the right of sanctuary, whereby all
-men should be safe within its walls.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, the fine structure we see as we
-stand in the open space known as Broad
-Sanctuary is not the Confessor’s building. Of
-that, all that now remains is the Chapel of the
-Pyx, the great schoolroom of Westminster
-School, which was the old monks’ dormitory,
-and portions of the walls of the south cloister.
-The rest has been added from time to time by
-the various Sovereigns. Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>., in 1245,
-pulled down large portions of the old structure,
-and erected a beautiful chapel to contain the
-remains of the Abbey’s founder, and this chapel
-we can visit to-day. In it lies the sainted
-Confessor, borne thither on the shoulders of the
-Plantagenet nobles whose humbler tombs surround
-the shrine; also his Queen, Eleanor;
-Edward <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>., and that Queen who saved the
-lives of the burghers of Calais; also the luckless
-Richard <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_224"><img src="images/i_224.jpg" alt="" width="439" height="600" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Other Sovereigns also took a share; but it
-was left to Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. to give us the body of
-the Abbey mainly in the shape we know. At<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span>
-enormous expense he erected the famous Perpendicular
-chapel, called by his name&mdash;one of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span>
-the most beautiful and magnificent chapels in
-the whole world.</p>
-
-<p>When we stand in the subdued light in this
-exquisite building, and examine the beautifully
-fretted stone-work of its amazing roof&mdash;a “dream
-in stone,” its “walls wrought into universal
-ornament,” the richly carved, dark-oak stalls
-of the Knights of the Bath with the banners
-of their Order drooping overhead&mdash;we find it
-hard to recall that this miserly man was one
-of the least popular of England’s Kings.</p>
-
-<p>In this spot lie, in addition to the remains
-of Henry himself, those of most of our later
-Kings and Queens. Here side by side the
-sisters Mary and Elizabeth “are at one; the
-daughter of Catherine of Aragon and the
-daughter of Anne Boleyn repose in peace at
-last.” Here, too, rests that tragic figure of
-history, Mary Queen of Scots; and James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.,
-Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., William <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>., Queen Anne, and
-George <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.</p>
-
-<p>For numbers of us one of the most interesting
-parts of the Abbey will always be “Poets’
-Corner,” in the south transept. Here rest all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span>
-that remains of many of our mightiest wielders
-of the pen, from Chaucer, the father of English
-poetry, down to Tennyson and Browning.
-Many of the names on the monuments which
-cluster so closely together are forgotten now,
-just as their works are never read; but the
-tablets to the memory of Shakespeare, Ben
-Jonson, Dryden, Dickens, Tennyson, and
-Browning, will always serve to remind us of
-the mighty dead. The north transept is devoted
-largely to the monuments to our great statesmen
-and our great warriors.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_226"><img src="images/i_226.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="425" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Westminster Abbey.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span></p>
-
-<p>In the Choir we come upon the Coronation
-Chairs. The Confessor in building his church
-had in mind that the Abbey should be the place
-of coronation of England’s Sovereigns; and
-down through the centuries this custom has
-been observed. Indeed, certain parts of the
-regalia worn by the King or Queen on Coronation
-Day are actually the identical articles
-presented to the Abbey by Edward himself.
-The old and battered chair is that of Edward <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.,
-the “hammer of the Scots,” who lies buried
-with his fellow Plantagenets in the Confessor’s
-Chapel. Just under the seat of the chair is
-the famous “stone of destiny,” brought from
-Scone by Edward, to mark the completeness of
-the defeat. Its removal to Westminster sorely
-troubled our northern neighbours, for they
-believed that the Supreme Power travelled
-with that stone. Since those days every
-English Sovereign has been crowned in this
-chair. Its companion was made for Mary, wife
-of William <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.</p>
-
-<p>In the Nave lies one of the most frequently
-visited of all the tombs&mdash;the last resting-place<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span>
-of the Unknown Warrior, who, brought over
-from France and buried with all the grandeur
-and solemnity of a Royal funeral, typifies for
-us the thousands of brave lads who made the
-great sacrifice&mdash;who died that we might live.</p>
-
-<p>What most of us forget is that the place
-which we call Westminster Abbey was only the
-Chapel belonging to the Abbey, the place where
-the monks worshipped. In addition there was
-a whole collection of buildings where the monks
-ate, slept, studied, worked, etc. Of these most
-have been swept away. If we pass out through
-the door of the South Aisle we can see the
-ancient cloisters where the monks washed
-themselves, took their exercise and such little
-recreation as they were allowed, and where
-they buried their brothers. There was also the
-Abbot’s House, which afterwards became the
-Deanery, and there was the Chapter House,
-a building which fortunately has been preserved
-to us almost in its original condition. This
-was the place where the business of the Abbey
-was conducted, where the monks came together
-each day after Matins in order that the tasks<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span>
-of the day might be allotted and God’s blessing
-asked, where afterwards offenders were tried
-and penances imposed. Till the end of the
-reign of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>. the House of Commons
-met in this chamber when the monks were not
-using it; and afterwards it was set aside as an
-office for the keeping of records. When in 1540
-came the dissolution of the Abbey, the Chapter
-House became Royal property, and that is why
-we now see a policeman in charge of it instead
-of one of the Abbey vergers.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_ELEVEN">CHAPTER ELEVEN</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Royal Westminster&mdash;The Houses of Parliament</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">When</span> in the eleventh century Edward the
-Confessor built the palace from which to survey
-the erection of his beloved Abbey, he little
-dreamed that upon the very spot would meet
-the Parliament of an Empire greater even than
-Rome; nor did he realize that through several
-centuries Westminster Palace would be the
-favourite home of the Kings and Queens of
-England.</p>
-
-<p>William Rufus added to the Confessor’s
-edifice, and also partially built the walls of the
-Great Hall, which is the sole thing that remains
-of the ancient fabric. Other Kings enlarged
-the palace from time to time. Stephen erected
-the Chapel of St. Stephen, in which met the
-Commons from the time of Edward <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. till
-the year 1834, when a terrible fire wiped out
-practically the whole of the ancient Palace of
-Westminster.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_231"><img src="images/i_231.jpg" alt="" width="406" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Houses of Parliament.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span></p>
-
-<p>To-day, when we stand on Westminster
-Bridge or Lambeth Bridge, and survey the huge
-building which provides London with one of
-its greatest landmarks, we are looking at a new
-Palace: from the River not a stone of the old
-structure is visible. A magnificent Palace it is
-too! Its towers, one at each end, rise high
-into the air, one of them 320 feet high, the
-other 20 feet more; and its buildings cover a
-matter of 8 acres. From Westminster Bridge
-we see the whole of the river front, 900 feet
-long, with the famous “terrace” in front,
-where in summer the Members of Parliament
-stroll and take tea with their friends.</p>
-
-<p>Westminster Hall, which fortunately survived
-the disastrous fire of 1834, is on the side farthest
-from the River: it runs parallel with the House
-of Commons, and projects from the main
-building just opposite the end of the Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>.
-Chapel in the Abbey.</p>
-
-<p>If we enter the Parliament buildings we shall
-very possibly do so by the famous hall known
-as St. Stephen’s Hall&mdash;built on the site of the
-ancient House of Commons. Westminster Hall<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span>
-then lies to our left, as we enter, down a flight
-of steps.</p>
-
-<p>Let us descend for a few moments, for the
-Hall is perhaps the finest of its kind in all our
-land. Its vast emptiness silences the words
-which rise to our lips: we feel instinctively
-that this is a place of wonderful memories.
-Our eyes travel along the mighty, carved-oak
-roof which spans the great width of the building,
-and we can scarcely believe that this roof was
-built so long ago as the time of Richard <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>., or
-even earlier, and that it is still the actual
-timbers we see in places.</p>
-
-<p>What stories could these ancient stones
-beneath our feet tell us, had they but the
-power! What tales of joy and what tales of
-terrible tragedy! Here were held many of the
-festivities which followed the coronation ceremonies
-in the Abbey. Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. here showed
-to the citizens his bride, Eleanor of Provence,
-when “there were assembled such a multitude
-of the nobility of both sexes, such numbers of
-the religious, and such a variety of stage-players,
-that the City of London could scarcely<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span>
-contain them.... Whatever the world pours
-forth of pleasure and glory was there specially
-displayed.” And yet a few years later saw
-that same Henry taking part in a vastly
-different spectacle&mdash;when, in the presence of a
-gathering equally distinguished, he was compelled
-to watch the Archbishop of Canterbury
-as he threw to the stone floor of the Hall a
-lighted torch, with these words: “Thus be
-extinguished and stink and smoke in hell all
-those who dare to violate the charters of the
-Kingdom.”</p>
-
-<p>A plate let into the floor tells us that on that
-spot stood Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, strong
-Minister of a weak King, when he was tried for
-his life; while upon the stairs which we have
-descended is another tablet to mark the spot
-whence that weak King himself, Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.,
-heard his death sentence. Here, too, were tried
-William Wallace, Thomas More, and Warren
-Hastings, while just outside in Old Palace
-Yard the half-demented Guido Fawkes and the
-proud, scholarly Sir Walter Raleigh met their
-deaths.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span></p>
-
-<p>Returning to St. Stephen’s Hall, which is
-lined with the statues of the great statesmen
-who were famous in the older chamber, and
-passing up another flight of steps, we find ourselves
-in the octagonal Central Hall, or, as it
-is more usually called, the Lobby. Here we
-are practically in the middle of the great pile
-of buildings. To our right, as we enter, stretches
-the House of Lords and all the apartments
-that pertain to it&mdash;the Audience Chamber,
-the Royal Robing Room, the Peers’ Robing
-Room, the House of Lords Library&mdash;ending
-in the stately square tower, known as the
-Victoria Tower. To our left lies the House
-of Commons and all its committee, dining,
-smoking, reading-rooms, etc., ending in the
-famous “Big Ben” tower. “Big Ben” is,
-of course, known to everybody. Countless
-thousands have heard his 13½ tons of metal
-boom out the hour of the day, and have set
-their watches right by the 14-foot minute-hands
-of the four clock-faces, which each measure
-23 feet across.</p>
-
-<p>The House of Lords itself is a fine building,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span>
-90 feet long and 45 feet wide, its walls and
-ceiling beautifully decorated with paintings
-representing famous scenes from our history.
-At one end is the King’s gorgeous throne, and
-beside it, slightly lower, those of the Queen and
-the Prince of Wales. Just in front is the
-famous “Woolsack,” an ugly red seat, stuffed
-with wool, as a reminder of the days when
-wool was the chief source of the nation’s wealth.
-On this, when the House is in session, sits the
-Lord Chancellor of England, who presides over
-the assembly.</p>
-
-<p>The House of Commons is not quite so
-ornate: here the benches are upholstered in a
-quiet green. At the far end is the Speaker’s
-Chair. The Speaker, as you probably know,
-is the chairman of the House of Commons, the
-member who has been chosen by his fellows to
-control the debates and keep order in the
-House. In front of the Speaker’s Chair is a
-table, at which sit three men in wigs and gowns,
-the Clerks of the House. On the table lies the
-Mace&mdash;the heavy staff which is the emblem of
-authority.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_TWELVE">CHAPTER TWELVE</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>The Riverside of To-day</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Riverside of to-day is noticeable for many
-things, but for nothing more so than the very
-great difference between the two banks. On
-the one hand we have a magnificent Embankment
-sweeping round through almost the entire
-length of the River’s passage through London,
-with large and important buildings surmounting
-the thoroughfare; while on the other hand we
-have nothing but a huddled collection of commercial
-buildings, right on the water’s edge&mdash;unimposing,
-dingy, and dismal, save in the one
-spot where the new County Hall breaks the
-ugly monotony and gives promise of better
-things in future for the Surrey shore.</p>
-
-<p>The Embankment on the Middlesex side may
-perhaps be said to be one of the outcomes of the
-Great Fire, for, though its construction was
-not undertaken till 1870, it was one of the main
-improvements suggested by Sir Christopher<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span>
-Wren in his scheme for the rebuilding of
-London. The Victoria Embankment, which
-sweeps round from Blackfriars to Westminster,
-is a mile and a quarter long. Its river face
-consists of a great granite wall, 8 feet in thickness,
-with tunnels inside it for the carrying of
-sewers, water-mains, gas-pipes, etc., all of which
-can be reached without interfering with that
-splendid wide road beneath which the Underground
-Railway runs. There is a continuation
-of the Embankment on the south side from
-Westminster to Vauxhall, known as the Albert
-Embankment, while on the north it runs, with
-some interruptions, as far as Chelsea.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most interesting sights of the
-Embankment is Cleopatra’s Needle&mdash;a tall stone
-obelisk, which stands by the water’s edge.
-This stone, one of the oldest monuments in the
-world, stood originally in the ancient city of
-On, in Egypt, and formed part of an enormous
-temple to the sun-god. Later it was shifted
-with a similar stone to Alexandria, there to
-take a place in the Cæsarium&mdash;the temple
-erected in honour of the Roman Emperors.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span>
-Centuries passed: the Cæsarium fell into ruins,
-and Cleopatra’s obelisk lay forgotten in the
-sand. Eventually it was offered to this country
-by the Khedive of Egypt, but the task of
-transporting it was so difficult that nothing
-was done till 1877-8, when Sir Erasmus Wilson
-undertook the enormous cost of the removal.
-It has nothing to do with Cleopatra.</p>
-
-<p>Of the bridges over the River we have already
-dealt with the most famous&mdash;the remarkable
-old London Bridge which stood for so many
-centuries and only came to an end in 1832.
-Westminster Bridge, built in 1750, was the first
-rival to the ancient structure, and though it
-was but a poor affair it made the City Council
-very dissatisfied with their possession. Nor
-was this surprising, for the old bridge had got
-into a very bad state, so that in 1756 the City
-Fathers decided to demolish all the buildings
-on the bridge, and to make a parapet and
-proper footwalks.</p>
-
-<p>Up to the time of King George <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. there was
-at Westminster merely a jetty or landing-stage
-used in connection with the ferry that was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span>
-used in place of the ancient ford; but during
-this King’s reign Westminster, and, shortly
-afterwards, Blackfriars Bridge, came into being.
-Battersea and Vauxhall, Waterloo (built two
-years after the battle), Southwark, Chelsea, and
-Lambeth followed in fairly rapid succession.
-Of these, Westminster, Blackfriars, Battersea,
-Vauxhall, and Southwark have already been
-rebuilt.</p>
-
-<p>Old Vauxhall Bridge was the first cast-iron
-bridge ever built; Wandsworth was the first
-lattice bridge; Waterloo Bridge the first ever
-made with a perfectly level roadway. Hungerford
-Bridge, which stretched where now that
-atrociously ugly iron structure, the Charing
-Cross Railway bridge, defiles the River, was
-originally designed by Brunel, the eminent
-engineer, to span the gorge over the Avon at
-Clifton, but it was eventually placed in position
-across the Thames. When the atrocity was
-built the suspension bridge was taken back to
-Clifton, where it now hangs like a spider’s web
-over the mighty gap in the hills.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_241"><img src="images/i_241.jpg" alt="" width="399" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">St. Paul’s from the South End of Southwark Bridge.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Until the close of the nineteenth century
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]<br /><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span>London Bridge enjoyed the distinction of being
-the lowest bridge on the River’s course; but in
-1894 the wonderful Tower Bridge was opened.
-This mighty structure, which was commenced
-in 1886, cost no less than £830,000. In its
-construction 235,000 cubic feet of granite and
-other stone, 20,000 tons of cement, 10,000 yards
-of concrete, 31,000,000 bricks, and 14,000 tons
-of steel were used. In its centre are two
-bascules, each weighing 1,200 tons, which swing
-upwards to allow big ships to pass into the
-Pool. Although these enormous bascules, the
-largest in the world, weigh so much, they work
-by hydraulic force as smoothly and easily as
-a door opens and shuts.</p>
-
-<p>Of the buildings on the south side of the
-River practically none are worthy of notice
-save the Shot Tower&mdash;where lead-shot is made
-by dropping the molten metal from the top of
-the shaft&mdash;the new County Hall, and St. Thomas’s
-Hospital at Westminster. The County Hall
-is a splendid structure, one of the finest of its
-kind in the whole world. It possesses miles of
-corridors, hundreds of rooms, and what is more,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span>
-a magnificent water frontage. The architect is
-Mr. Ralph Knott. St. Thomas’s Hospital, which
-stands close to it, is one of a number of
-excellent hospitals in various parts of London.
-When in 1539 the monasteries were closed,
-London was left without anything in the way
-of hospitals, or alms-houses, or schools; for the
-care of the sick, the infirm, and the young had
-always been the work of the monks and the
-nuns. In consequence, London suffered terribly.
-Matters became so extremely serious that the
-City Fathers approached the King with a view
-to the return of some of these institutions.
-Their petition was granted, and King Henry
-gave back St. Bartholomew’s, Christ’s Hospital,
-and the Bethlehem Hospital. Later King
-Edward <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. allowed the people to purchase
-St. Thomas’s Hospital&mdash;the hospital of the old
-Abbey of Bermondsey. When in 1871 the
-South-Eastern Railway Company purchased
-the ground on which the old structure stood,
-a new and more convenient building was erected
-on the Albert Embankment opposite the Houses
-of Parliament.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span></p>
-
-<p>As we stand once more on Westminster
-Bridge and see the two great places, one on each
-side, where our lawmakers sit&mdash;those of the
-Nation and those of the great City&mdash;our glance
-falls on the dirty water of old Father Thames
-slipping by; and we think to ourselves that
-great statesmen may spring to fame and then
-die and leave England the poorer, governments
-good and bad may rise and fall, changes of all
-sorts may happen within these two stately
-buildings, the very stones may crumble to dust,
-but still the River flows on&mdash;silent, irresistible.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="BOOK_III">BOOK <abbr title="3">III</abbr></h2>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center">THE UPPER RIVER</p>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_246"><img src="images/i_246.jpg" alt="" width="423" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Castle Keep, Oxford.</span></p>
-</div>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_UPPER_RIVER">THE UPPER RIVER</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER ONE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Stripling Thames</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Just</span> where the Thames starts has always been
-a matter of argument, for several places have
-laid claim to the honour of holding the source
-of this great national possession.</p>
-
-<p>About three miles south-west of Cirencester,
-and quite close to that ancient and famous
-highway the Ackman Street (or Bath fosseway),
-there is a meadow known as Trewsbury Mead,
-lying in a low part of the western Cotswolds,
-just where Wiltshire and Gloucestershire meet;
-and in this is situated what is commonly known
-as “Thames Head”&mdash;a spring which in winter
-bubbles forth from a hollow, but which in
-summer is so completely dried by the action
-of the Thames Head Pump, which drains the
-water from this and all other springs in the
-neighbourhood, that the cradle of the infant<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span>
-Thames is usually bone-dry for a couple of
-miles or more of its course. This spot is usually
-recognized as the beginning of the River.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_248"><img src="images/i_248.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="455" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Thames Head.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>If, however, we consider that the source of a
-river is the point at greatest distance from the
-mouth we shall have to look elsewhere; for the
-famous “Seven Streams” at the foot of Leckhampton
-Hill, from which comes the brook
-later known as the River Churn, can claim the
-distinction of being a few more miles from the
-North Sea; and this distinction has frequently<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span>
-been recognized as sufficient to grant the claim
-to be the true commencement.</p>
-
-<p>But the Churn has always been the Churn
-(indeed, the Romans named the neighbouring
-settlement from the stream&mdash;Churn-chester or
-Cirencester); and no one has ever thought of
-calling it the Thames. Whereas the stream
-beginning in Trewsbury Mead has from time
-immemorial been known as the Thames (Isis
-is only an alternative name, not greatly used in
-early days); and so the verdict of history seems
-to be on its side, whatever geography may have
-to say.</p>
-
-<p>Nevertheless it matters little which can
-most successfully support its claim. What
-does matter is that Churn, and Isis, and Leach,
-and Ray, and Windrush, and the various other
-feeders, give of their waters in sufficient quantity
-to ensure a considerable river later on. From
-the point of view of their usefulness both the
-main stream and the tributaries are negligible
-till we come to Lechlade, for only there does
-navigation and consequently trade begin. But
-if the stream is not very useful, it is exceedingly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span>
-pretty, with quaint rustic bridges spanning
-its narrow channel, and fine old-world mills and
-mansions and cottages and numbers of ancient
-churches on its banks.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_250"><img src="images/i_250.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="458" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Lechlade from the First Lock.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The first place of any size is the little town of
-Cricklade, which can even boast of two churches.
-Here the little brooks of infant Thames (or Isis)
-and Churn join forces, and yield quite a flowing
-stream. At Lechlade the rivulet is joined by
-the Colne, and its real life as a river commences.
-From now on to London there is a towing-path<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span>
-beside the river practically the whole of the way,
-for navigation by barges thus early becomes
-possible.</p>
-
-<p>From Lechlade onwards to Old Windsor, a
-matter of about a hundred miles, the upper
-Thames has on its right bank the county of
-Berkshire, with its beautiful Vale of the White
-Horse, remembered, of course, by all readers
-of “Tom Brown’s Schooldays.” On the left
-bank is Oxfordshire as far as Henley, and
-Buckinghamshire afterwards.</p>
-
-<p>In and out the “stripling Thames” winds
-its way, clear as crystal as it slips past green
-meadows and little copses. There is very
-little to note as we pass between Lechlade and
-Oxford, a matter of forty miles or so. Owing
-to the clay bed, not a town of any sort finds a
-place on or near the banks. Such villages as
-there are stand few and far between.</p>
-
-<p>Just past Lechlade there is Kelmscott, where
-William Morris dwelt for some time in the
-Manor House; and the village will always be
-famous for that. There in the old-world place
-he wrote the fine poems and tales which later<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span>
-he printed in some of the most beautiful books
-ever made, and there he thought out his
-beautiful designs for wall-papers, carpets,
-curtains, etc. He was a wonderful man, was
-William Morris, a day-dreamer who was not
-content with his dreams until they had taken
-actual shape.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_252"><img src="images/i_252.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="480" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Kelmscott Manor.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On we go past New Bridge, which is one of
-the oldest, if not the very oldest, of the many
-bridges which cross the River. Close at hand
-the Windrush joins forces, and the River swells<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span>
-and grows wider as it sweeps off to the north.
-Away on the hill on the Berkshire side is a little
-village known as Cumnor, which is not of any
-importance in itself, but which is interesting
-because there once stood the famous Cumnor
-Hall, where the beautiful Amy Robsart met
-with her untimely death, as possibly some of
-you have read in Sir Walter Scott’s novel
-“Kenilworth.” Receiving the Evenlode, the
-River bends south again, and a little later we
-pass Godstow Lock, not far from which are the
-ruins of Godstow Nunnery, where Fair Rosamund
-lived and was afterwards buried. Between
-Godstow and Oxford is a huge, flat piece
-of meadowland, known as Port Meadow: this
-during the War formed one of our most important
-flying-grounds.</p>
-
-<p>Henceforward the upper Thames is interrupted
-at fairly frequent intervals by those
-man-made contrivances known as <em>locks</em>&mdash;ingenious
-affairs which in recent years have
-taken the place of or rather supplemented the
-old-fashioned weirs. For any river which
-boasts of serious water traffic the chief difficulty,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span>
-especially in summer-time, has always been
-that of holding back sufficient water to enable
-the boats to keep afloat. Naturally with a
-sloping bed the water runs rapidly seawards,
-and if the supply is not plentiful the river soon
-tends to become shallow or even dry. In very
-early days man noticed this, and, copying the
-beaver, he erected dams or weirs to hold back
-the water, and keep it at a reasonable depth.
-And down through the centuries until comparatively
-recent years these dams or weirs
-sufficed. As man progressed he fashioned his
-weirs with a number of “paddles” which
-lifted up and down to allow a boat to pass
-through. When the craft was moving downstream
-just one or two paddles were raised, and
-the boat shot through the narrow opening on
-the crest of the rapids thus formed; but when
-the boat was making its way upstream more
-paddles were raised so that the rush of water
-was not so great, and the boat was with difficulty
-hauled through the opening in face of the
-strong current. This very picturesque but
-primitive method lasted until comparatively<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span>
-recent years. Now the old paddle-locks have
-gone the way of all ancient and delightful
-things, and in their places we have the
-thoroughly effective “pound-locks”&mdash;affairs
-with double gates and a pool or dock in between&mdash;which
-in reality convert the river into a long
-series of water-terraces or steps, dropping lower
-and lower the nearer we approach the mouth.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER TWO</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Oxford</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">One</span> hundred and twelve miles above London
-Bridge there is the second most celebrated city
-on the banks of the Thames&mdash;Oxford, the
-“city of spires,” as it has been called. By no
-means a big place, it is famous as the home of
-our oldest University.</p>
-
-<p>Seen from a distance, Oxford is a place of
-great beauty, especially when the meadows
-round about are flooded. Then it seems to
-rise from the water like some English Venice.
-Nor does the beauty grow less as we approach
-closer, or when we view the city from some other
-point. Always we see the delicate spires of
-the Cathedral and the churches, the beautiful
-towers of the various colleges, the great dome
-of the Radcliffe Camera, all of them nestling
-among glorious gardens and fine old trees.</p>
-
-<p>The question at once comes into our minds,
-Why is it that there is a famous city here?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span>
-Why should such a place as this, right out in
-the country, away from what might be called
-the main arteries of the life of England, be one
-of the most important seats of learning?</p>
-
-<p>To understand this we must go back a long
-way, and we must ask ourselves the question,
-Why was there ever anything&mdash;even a village&mdash;here
-at all? If we think a little we shall see
-that in the early days, when there were not very
-many good roads, and when there were still
-fewer bridges, the most important spots along a
-river were the places where people could cross:
-that is to say, the fords. To these spots came
-the merchants with their waggons and their
-trains of pack-horses, the generals with their
-armies, the drovers with their cattle, the pilgrims
-with their staves. All and sundry, journeying
-from place to place, made for the fords, while
-the long stretches of river bank between these
-places were never visited and seldom heard of.</p>
-
-<p>Now, what made a ford? Shallow water,
-you say. Yes, that is true. But shallow water
-was not enough. It was necessary besides that
-the bed of the stream should be firm and hard,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span>
-so that those who wished might find a safe
-crossing. And places where such a bottom could
-be found were few and far between along the
-course of the Thames. Practically everywhere
-it was soft clay in which the feet of the men
-and the animals and the wheels of the waggons
-sank deep if they tried to get from bank to
-bank.</p>
-
-<p>But, just at the point where the Thames
-bends southwards, just before the Cherwell
-flows into it, there is a stretch of gravel which
-in years gone by made an excellent ford and
-provided a suitable spot on which some sort of
-a settlement might grow.</p>
-
-<p>How old that settlement is no one knows. Legend
-tells us that a Mercian saint by the name of Frideswide,
-together with a dozen companions, founded a nunnery
-here somewhere about the year 700. Certainly the village
-is mentioned under the name of Oxenford (that is, the
-ford of the oxen) in the Saxon Chronicle, a book of ancient
-history written about a thousand years ago; and we know
-that Edward the Elder took possession of it, and,
-building<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> a castle
-and walls, made a royal residence. So that it is a place
-of great antiquity.</p>
-
-<p>Another question that comes into our minds is
-this, When did Oxford become the great home
-of learning which it has so long been? Here
-again the truth is difficult to ascertain. Legend
-tells us that King Alfred founded the schools,
-but that is rather more than doubtful. We do
-know that during the twelfth century there was
-a great growth in learning. Right throughout
-Europe great schools sprang into existence, one
-of the most important being that in Paris.
-Thither went numbers of Englishmen to learn,
-and they, returning to their own land, founded
-schools in different parts, usually in connection
-with the monasteries and the cathedrals. Such
-a school was one which grew into being at
-St. Frideswide’s monastery at Oxford. Also
-King Henry <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. (Beauclerc&mdash;the fine scholar&mdash;as
-he was called) built a palace at Oxford, and
-there he gathered together many learned men,
-and from that time people gradually began to
-flock to Oxford for education. They tramped
-weary miles through the forest, across the hills<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span>
-and dales, and so came to the little town, only
-to find it crowded out with countless others as
-poor as themselves; but they were not disheartened.
-There being no proper places for
-teaching, they gathered with their masters,
-also equally poor, wherever they could find a
-quiet spot, in a porch, or a loft, or a stable; and
-so the torch was handed on. Gradually lecture-rooms,
-or schools as they were called, and
-lodging-houses or halls, were built, and life
-became more bearable. Then in 1229 came an
-accident which yet further established Oxford
-in its position. This accident took the form of
-a riot in the streets of Paris, during the course
-of which several scholars of Paris University
-were killed by the city archers. Serious trouble
-between the University folk and the Provost
-of Paris came of this; and, in the end, there was
-a very great migration of students from Paris
-to Oxford; and, a few years after, England
-could boast of Oxford as a famous centre of
-learning.</p>
-
-<p>But it was not till the reign of Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. that
-a real college, as we understand it, came into<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span>
-being. Then, in the year 1264, one Walter
-de Merton gathered together in one house a
-number of students, and there they lived and
-were taught; and thus Merton, the oldest of the
-colleges, began. Others soon followed&mdash;Balliol,
-watched over by the royal Dervorguilla; University
-College, founded by William of Durham,
-who was one to come over after the Paris town
-and gown quarrel; New College; and so on,
-college after college, until now, as we wander
-about the streets of this charming old city, it
-seems almost as if every other building is a
-college. And magnificent buildings they are
-too, with their glorious towers and gateways,
-their beautiful stained-glass windows, their
-panelled walls. To wander round the city of
-Oxford is to step back seemingly into a forgotten
-age, so worn and ancient-looking are
-these piles of masonry. Modern clothes seem
-utterly out of place in such an antique spot.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_262"><img src="images/i_262.jpg" alt="" width="412" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Magdalen Tower</span> <em>from the</em> <span class="smcap">Bridge</span>.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Different folk, of course, will regard different
-colleges as holding pride of place; but, I am sure,
-all will agree that one of the finest is Magdalen
-College, a beautiful building standing amid
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]<br /><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span>cool, green meadows. Very fine indeed is the
-great tower, built in 1492, from the top of which
-every May morning the College choir sings a
-glad hymn of praise; and very fine too are the
-cloisters below, and the lovely leafy walks in
-whose shade many famous men have walked
-in their youthful days.</p>
-
-<p>If we grant to Magdalen its claim to be the
-most beautiful of the colleges, we must undoubtedly
-recognize Christ Church as the most
-magnificent. We shall see something of the
-splendour of Cardinal Wolsey’s ideas with
-regard to building when we talk about his
-palace at Hampton Court, and we need feel no
-surprise at the grandeur of Christ Church.
-Unfortunately, Wolsey’s ideas were never
-carried out: his fall from favour put an end
-to the work when but three sides of the Great
-Quadrangle had been completed; and then for
-just on a century the fabric stood in its unfinished
-state&mdash;a monument to o’erleaping
-ambition. Nevertheless it was completed, and
-though it is not all that Wolsey intended it
-to be, it is still one of the glories of the city.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span>
-Built round about the old Cathedral, it stands
-upon the site of the ancient St. Frideswide’s
-priory.</p>
-
-<p>The famous “Tom Tower” which stands in
-the centre of the front of the building was not a
-part of the original idea: it was added in 1682
-by Dr. Fell, according to the design of Sir
-Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s
-Cathedral. “Tom Tower” is so called because
-of its great bell, brought from Osney Abbey.
-“Great Tom,” which weighs no less than
-six tons, peals forth each night at nine o’clock
-a hundred and one strokes, and by the time of
-the last stroke all the College gates are supposed
-to be shut and all the undergraduates safely
-within the College buildings.</p>
-
-<p>The most wonderful possession of Christ
-Church is its glorious “Early English” hall,
-in which the members of the College dine daily:
-115 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 50 feet high,
-it is unrivalled in all England, with perhaps the
-exception of Westminster Hall. Here at the
-tables have sat many of England’s most famous
-men&mdash;courtiers, writers, politicians, soldiers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span>
-artists&mdash;and the portraits of a number of them,
-painted by famous painters, look down from the
-ancient walls.</p>
-
-<p>But these are only two of the colleges. At
-every turn some other architectural beauty,
-some dream in stone, discloses itself, for the
-colleges are dotted about all over the centre
-of the town, and at every other corner there is
-some spot of great interest. To describe them
-all briefly would more than fill the pages of this
-book.</p>
-
-<p>Nor are colleges the only delightful buildings
-in this city of beautiful places. There is the
-famous Sheldonian Theatre, built from Wren’s
-plans: this follows the model of an ancient
-Roman theatre, and will seat four thousand
-people. There is the celebrated Bodleian
-Library, founded as early as 1602, and containing
-a rich collection of rare Eastern and
-Greek and Latin books and manuscripts. The
-Bodleian, like the British Museum, has the
-right to call for a copy of every book published
-in the United Kingdom.</p>
-
-<p>But Oxford has known a life other than that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span>
-of a university town: it has been in its time a
-military centre of some importance. As we
-sweep round northwards in the train from
-London, just before we enter the city, the great
-square tower of the Castle stands out, one of
-the most prominent objects in the town. And
-it is really one of the most interesting too,
-though few find time to visit it. So absorbed
-are most folk in the churches and chapels, the
-libraries and college halls, with their exquisite
-carvings and ornamentations and their lovely
-gardens, that they forget this frowning relic
-of the Conqueror’s day&mdash;the most lasting
-monument of the city. Built in 1071 by
-Robert d’Oilly, boon companion of the Conqueror,
-it has stood the test of time through
-all these centuries. Like Windsor, that other
-Norman stronghold, it has seen little enough
-of actual fighting: in Oxford the pen has nearly
-always been mightier than the sword.</p>
-
-<p>One brief episode of war it had when Stephen
-shut up his cousin, the Empress Maud, within
-its walls in the autumn of 1142. Then Oxford
-tasted siege if not assault, and the castle was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span>
-locked up for three months. However, the
-River and the weather contrived to save Maud,
-for, just as provisions were giving out and
-surrender was only a matter of days, there came
-a severe frost and the waters were thickly
-covered. Then it was that the Empress with
-but two or three white-clad attendants escaped
-across the ice and made her way to Wallingford,
-while her opponents closely guarded the roads
-and bridges.</p>
-
-<p>Nor in our consideration of the glories of this
-beloved old city must we forget the River&mdash;for
-no one in the place forgets it. Perhaps
-we should not speak of <em>the</em> River, for Oxford
-is the fortunate possessor of two, standing as
-it does in the fork created by the flowing
-together of the Thames and the Cherwell.
-The Thames, as we have already seen, flows
-thither from the west, while the Cherwell makes
-its way southwards from Edgehill; and, though
-we are accustomed to think of the Thames as
-the main stream, the geologists, whose business
-it is to make a close study of the earth’s surface,
-tell us that the Cherwell is in reality the more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span>
-important of the two; that down its valley in
-the far-away past flowed a great river which
-with the Kennet was the ancestor of the present-day
-River; that the tributary Thames has grown
-so much that it has been able to capture and
-take over as its own the valley of the Cherwell
-from Oxford onwards to Reading. But that,
-of course, is a story of the very dim past, long
-before the days of history.</p>
-
-<p>The Cherwell is a very pretty little stream,
-shaded by overhanging willows and other trees,
-so that it is usually the haunt of pleasure, the
-place where the undergraduate takes his own
-or somebody else’s sister for an afternoon’s
-excursion, or where he makes his craft fast in
-the shade in order that he may enjoy an afternoon’s
-quiet reading. A walk through the
-meadows on its banks is, indeed, something
-very pleasant, with the stream on one side of
-us and that most beautiful of colleges, Magdalen,
-on the other. Here as we proceed down the
-famous avenue of pollard willows, winding
-between two branches of the stream, we can
-hear almost continuously the singing of in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span>numerable
-birds, for the Oxford gardens and
-meadows form a veritable sanctuary in which
-live feathered friends of every sort.</p>
-
-<p>But the Thames (or Isis as it is invariably
-called in Oxford) is the place of more serious
-matters. To the rowing man “the River”
-means only one thing, and really only a very
-short space of that: he is accustomed to speak
-of “the River” and “the Cher,” and with him
-the latter does not count at all. Everybody in
-the valley, certainly every boy and girl, knows
-about the Oxford and Cambridge Boatrace,
-which is held annually on the Thames at Putney,
-when two selected crews from the rival universities
-race each other over a distance.
-Probably quite a few of us have witnessed the
-exciting event. Well, “Boatrace Day” is
-merely the final act of a long drama, nearly all
-the scenes of which take place, not at Putney,
-but on the river at the University town. For
-the Varsity “eight” are only chosen from the
-various college crews after long months of
-arduous preparation. Each of the colleges has
-its own rowing club, and the college crews race<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span>
-against each other in the summer term. A fine
-sight it is, too, to see the long thin “eights”
-passing at a great pace in front of the beautifully
-decorated “Barges,” which are to the college
-rowing clubs what pavilions are to the cricket
-clubs.</p>
-
-<p>These “barges,” which stretch along the
-river front for some considerable distance, resemble
-nothing so much as the magnificent
-houseboats which we see lower down the river
-at Henley, Maidenhead, Molesey, etc. They
-are fitted up inside with bathrooms and dressing-rooms,
-and comfortable lounges and reading-rooms,
-while their flat tops are utilised by the
-rowing men for sitting at ease and chatting
-to their friends. Each college has its own
-“barge,” and it is a point of honour to make it
-and keep it a credit to the college. The long
-string of “barges” form a very beautiful
-picture, particularly when the river is quiet,
-and the finely decorated vessels with their
-background of green trees are reflected in the
-smooth waters.</p>
-
-<p>May is the great time for the River at Oxford,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span>
-for then are held the races of the senior “crews”
-or “eights.” Then for a week the place, both
-shore and stream, is gay with pretty dresses
-and merry laughter, for mothers and sisters,
-cousins and friends, flock to Oxford in their
-hundreds to see the fun. But to the rowing
-man it is a time of hard work&mdash;with more in
-prospect if he is lucky; for, just as the “eights”
-of this week have been selected from the crews
-of the February “torpids” or junior races, so
-from those doing well during “eights week”
-may be chosen the University crew&mdash;the “blues.”</p>
-
-<p>Many have been the voices which have sung
-the praises of the “city of spires,” for many
-have loved her. None more so perhaps than
-Matthew Arnold, whose poem “The Scholar
-Gypsy”&mdash;the tale of a University lad who was
-by poverty forced to leave his studies and join
-himself to a company of vagabond gipsies,
-from whom he gained a knowledge beyond that
-of the scholars&mdash;is so well known. Says Arnold
-of the city: “And yet as she lies, spreading her
-gardens to the moonlight, and whispering from
-her towers the last enchantments of the Middle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span>
-Ages, who will deny that Oxford, by her ineffable
-charm, keeps ever calling us nearer to
-the true goal of all of us, to the ideal, to perfection&mdash;to
-beauty, in a word?”</p>
-
-<p>There are many interesting places within
-walking distance of Oxford, but perhaps few
-more delightful to the eye than old Iffley Church.
-This ancient building with its fine old Norman
-tower is a landmark of the countryside and well
-deserves the attention given to it.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER THREE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Abingdon, Wallingford, and the Goring Gap</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Between</span> Oxford and Reading lies a land of
-shadows&mdash;a district dotted with towns which
-have shrunk to a mere vestige of their former
-greatness. To mention three names only&mdash;Abingdon,
-Dorchester, and Wallingford&mdash;is to
-conjure up a picture of departed glory.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_274"><img src="images/i_274.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="422" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Abingdon.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Abingdon, centuries ago, was one of those
-great abbeys which stretched in a chain eastwards,
-and helped to ensure the prosperity
-of the valley; and the town sprang up and
-prospered, as was so often the case, under the
-shadow of the great ecclesiastical foundation.
-Unfortunately the monks and the citizens
-were constantly at loggerheads. The wealthy
-dwellers in the abbey, where the Conqueror’s
-own son, Henry Beauclerc, had been educated,
-and where the greatest in the land were wont to
-come, did not approve of tradesmen and other<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span>
-common folk congregating so near the sacred
-edifice. Thus in 1327 the proud mitred Abbot
-refused to allow the citizens to hold a market
-in the town, and a riot ensued, in which the folk
-of Abingdon were backed up by the Mayor of
-Oxford and a considerable crowd of the University
-students. A great part of the Abbey
-was burned down, many of its records were
-destroyed, and the monks were driven out.
-But the tradesmen’s triumph was short-lived,
-for the Abbot returned with powerful support,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span>
-and certain of the ringleaders were hanged for
-their share in the disturbance.</p>
-
-<p>However, the town grew despite the frowns
-of the Church, and it soon became a considerable
-centre for the cloth trade. Not only did it
-make cloth itself, but much of the traffic which
-there was between London and the western
-cloth-towns&mdash;Gloucester, Stroud, Cirencester,
-etc.&mdash;passed through Abingdon, particularly
-when its bridge had been built by John Huchyns
-and Geoffrey Barbur in 1416.</p>
-
-<p>When, in 1538, the abbey was suppressed,
-the townsfolk rejoiced at the downfall of the
-rich and arrogant monks, and sought pleasure
-and revenge in the destruction of the former
-home of their enemies. So that in these days
-there is not a great deal remaining of the ancient
-fabric.</p>
-
-<p>A few miles below Abingdon is Dorchester
-(not to be confused with the Dorset town of
-the same name), not exactly on the River,
-but about a mile up the tributary river, the
-Thame, which here comes wandering through
-the meadows to join the main stream. Like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span>
-Abingdon, Dorchester has had its day, but its
-abbey church remains, built on the site of
-the ancient and extremely important Saxon
-cathedral; and, one must confess, it seems
-strangely out of place in such a sleepy little
-village.</p>
-
-<p>Wallingford, even more than these, has lost
-its ancient prestige, for it was through several
-centuries a great stronghold and a royal residence.
-We have only to look at the map of the Thames
-Valley, and note how the various roads converge
-on this particularly useful ford, to see immediately
-Wallingford’s importance from a military
-and a commercial point of view. A powerful
-castle to guard such a valuable key to the
-midlands, or the south-west, was inevitable.</p>
-
-<p>William the Conqueror, passing that way
-in order that he might discover a suitable
-crossing, and so get round to the north of
-London (p. 143), was shown the ford by one
-Wygod, the ruling thane of the district; and
-naturally William realized at once the possibilities
-of the place. A powerful castle soon
-arose in place of the old earthworks, and this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span>
-castle lasted on till the Civil War, figuring
-frequently in the many struggles that occurred
-during the next three or four hundred years.</p>
-
-<p>It played an important part in that prolonged
-and bitter struggle between Stephen and the
-Empress Maud, and suffered a very long siege.
-Again, in 1646, at the time of the Civil War, it
-was beset for sixty-five days by the Parliamentary
-armies; and, after a gallant stand by
-the Royalist garrison, was practically destroyed
-by Fairfax, who saw fit to blow it up. So that
-now very little stands: just a few crumbling
-walls and one window incorporated in the
-fabric of a private residence.</p>
-
-<p>Between Wallingford and Reading lies what
-is, from the geographical point of view, one of
-the most interesting places in the whole length
-of the Thames Valley&mdash;Goring Gap.</p>
-
-<p>You will see from a contour map that the
-Thames Basin, generally speaking, is a hill-encircled
-valley with gently undulating ground,
-except in the one place where the Marlborough-Chiltern
-range of chalk hills sweep right across
-the valley.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span></p>
-
-<p>By the time the River reaches Goring Gap it
-has fallen from a height of about six hundred
-feet above sea-level to a height of about one
-hundred feet above sea-level; and there rises
-from the river on each side a steep slope four
-or five hundred feet high&mdash;Streatley Hill on
-the Berkshire side and Goring Heath on the
-Oxfordshire side.</p>
-
-<p>The question arises, Why should these two
-ranges of hills, the Marlborough Downs and the
-Chiltern Hills, meet just at this point? Is it
-simply an accident of geography that their
-two ends stand exactly face to face on opposite
-sides of the Thames?</p>
-
-<p>Now the geologists tell us that it is no
-coincidence. They have studied the strata&mdash;that
-is, the different layers of the materials
-forming the hills&mdash;and they find that the strata
-of the range on the Berkshire side compare
-exactly with the strata of the other; so that at
-some remote period the two must have been
-joined to form one unbroken range. How
-then did the gap come? Was it due to a
-cracking of the hill&mdash;a double crack with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span>
-earth slipping down in between, as has sometimes
-happened in the past? Here again the
-geologists tells us, No. Moreover they tell us
-that undoubtedly the River has <em>cut its way</em>
-right through the chalk hills.</p>
-
-<p>“But how can that be possible?” someone
-says. “Here we have the Thames down in a
-low-lying plain on the north-west side of the
-hills, and down in the valley on the south-east
-side. How could a river flowing across a plain
-get up to the heights to commence the wearing
-away at the tops?” Here again the geologists
-must come to our aid. They tell us that back
-in that dim past, so interesting to picture yet
-so difficult to grasp, when the ancient, mighty
-River flowed (see Book <abbr title="1">I</abbr>., Intro.), the chalk-lands
-extended from the Chilterns westwards,
-that there was no valley where now Oxford,
-Abingdon, and Lechlade lie, but that the River
-flowed across the top of a tableland of chalk
-from its sources in the higher grounds of the
-west to the brink at or near the eastern slope
-of the Chilterns; and that from this lofty position
-the River was able to wear its way down, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span>
-so make a <b>V</b>-shaped cutting in the end of the
-tableland. Afterwards there came an alteration
-in the surface. Some tremendous internal
-movement caused the land gradually to fold up,
-as it were; so that the tableland sagged down in
-the middle, leaving the Marlborough-Chiltern
-hills on the one side and the Cotswold-Edgehill
-range on the other, with the Oxford valley in
-between. But by this time the <b>V</b>-shaped gap
-had been cut sufficiently low to allow the River
-to flow through the hills, and to go on cutting
-its way still lower and lower.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER FOUR</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Reading</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Reading</span> is without doubt the most disappointing
-town in the whole of the Thames Valley.
-It has had such a full share of history, far more
-than other equally famous towns; has been
-favoured by the reigning monarch of the land
-through many centuries; has taken sides in
-internal strife and felt the tide of war surging
-round its gates; it has counted for so much in
-the life of England that one feels almost a sense
-of loss in finding it just a commonplace manufacturing
-town, with not a semblance of any
-of its former glory.</p>
-
-<p>Like many other towns in England, it sprang
-up round a religious house&mdash;one of the string
-of important abbeys which stretched from
-Abingdon to Westminster. But before that it
-had been recognized as an important position.</p>
-
-<p>We have seen that Oxford, Wallingford, and
-other places came into existence by reason of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span>
-their important fords across the River. Reading
-arose into being because the long and narrow
-peninsula formed by the junction of the Kennet
-with the Thames was such a splendid spot for
-defensive purposes that right from early days
-there had been some sort of a stronghold there.</p>
-
-<p>Here in this very safe place, then, the Conqueror’s
-son established his great foundation,
-the Cluniac Abbey of Reading, for the support
-of two hundred monks and for the refreshment
-of travellers. It was granted ample revenues,
-and given many valuable privileges, among
-them that of coining money. Its Abbot was a
-mitred Abbot, and had the right to sit with the
-lords spiritual in Parliament. From its very
-foundation it prospered, rising rapidly into a
-position of eminence; and, like the other abbeys,
-it did much towards the growth of the agricultural
-prosperity of the valley, encouraging
-the countryfolk to drain and cultivate their
-lands properly.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_283"><img src="images/i_283.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="531" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Gatehouse Reading Abbey</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Though we first hear of it as a fortified place,
-and though at different times in history it felt
-the shock of war, Reading was never an important<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span>
-military centre, for the simple reason
-that it did not guard a main road across or
-beside the River. Consequently the interruptions
-in its steady progress were few and far
-between, and the place was left to develop its
-civilian and religious strength. This it did so
-well that during the four hundred years of the
-life of the Abbey it always counted for much
-with the Sovereigns, who went there to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span>
-entertained, and even in time of pestilence
-brought thither their parliaments, whose bodies
-were in the end buried there. By the thirteenth
-century the Abbey had risen to such a position
-that only Westminster could vie with it in
-wealth and magnificence.</p>
-
-<p>And now what remains of it all? Almost
-nothing. There is what is called the old Abbey
-gateway, but it is merely a reconstruction with
-some of the ancient materials. In the Forbury
-Gardens lie all that is left, just one or two ivy-grown
-fragments of massive masonry, outlining
-perhaps the Chapter House, in which the
-parliaments were held, and the great Abbey
-Church, dedicated to St. Thomas Becket,
-where were the royal tombs and where in 1339
-John of Gaunt was married. For the rest, the
-ruins have served all and sundry as a quarry
-for ready-prepared building stone during several
-centuries. Much of it was used to make St. Mary’s
-Church and the Hospital of the Poor Knights
-of Windsor; while still more was commandeered
-by General Conway for the construction of the
-bridge between Henley and Wargrave.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span></p>
-
-<p>How did the Abbey come to such a state of
-dilapidation? Largely as a result of the Civil
-War. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539, and
-the Abbot actually hung, drawn, and quartered,
-because of his defiance. The royal tombs,
-where were buried Henry <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., the Empress Maud,
-and others, were destroyed and the bones
-scattered; and from that time onwards things
-went from bad to worse. Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. converted
-parts of it into a palace for himself and used it
-for a time, but in Elizabethan days it had got
-into such a very bad state that the Queen, who
-stayed there half-a-dozen times, gave permission
-for the rotting timbers and many cartloads
-of stone to be removed. But it remained
-a dwelling till the eventual destruction during the
-Rebellion.</p>
-
-<p>During the war which proved so disastrous
-for the great Abbey, Reading was decidedly
-Royalist, but the fortunes of war brought
-several changes for it. It withstood for some
-time during 1643 a severe siege by the Earl of
-Essex, and, just as relief was at hand, it surrendered.
-Then Royalists and Parliamentarians<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span>
-in turn held the town; and naturally with these
-changes and the fighting involved the place
-suffered greatly, especially the outstanding
-building, the Abbey. St. Giles’ Church, which
-escaped destruction, still bears the marks of the
-bombardment.</p>
-
-<p>But the town refused to die with the Abbey.
-The Abbey had done much to establish and
-vitalize the town. In its encouragement of the
-agriculture of the districts it had created the
-necessity for a central market-town, and Reading
-had grown and flourished accordingly. Thus,
-when the Abbey came to an end, the town was
-so firmly established that it was enabled to live
-on and prosper exceedingly.</p>
-
-<p>Now Reading passes its days independent,
-almost unconscious, of the past, with its glory
-and its tragedy. Nor does the River any more
-enter into its calculations. To Reading has
-come the railway; and the railway has made
-the modern town what it is&mdash;an increasingly
-important manufacturing town and railway
-junction, and a ready centre for the rich agricultural
-land round about it; a hive of industry,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span>
-with foundries, workshops, big commercial
-buildings, and a University College; with
-churches, chapels, picture-palaces, and fast-moving
-electric-tramcars, clanging their way
-along streets thronged with busy, hurrying
-people&mdash;in short, a typical, clean, modern
-industrial town, with nothing very attractive
-about it, but on the other hand nothing to repel
-or disgust.</p>
-
-<p>Reading’s most famous industries are biscuit-making
-and seed-growing. Messrs. Huntley and
-Palmer’s biscuits, in the making of which four
-or five thousand people are employed, are known
-the world over; and so are Messrs. Sutton’s
-seeds, grown in, and advertised by, many acres
-of beautiful gardens.</p>
-
-<p>The Kennet, on which the town really stands,
-is a river which has lost its ancient power,
-for the geologists tell us that along its valley the
-real mighty river once ran, receiving the considerable
-Cherwell-Thames tributary at this
-point. Now, whereas the tributary has grown
-in importance if not in size, the main stream has
-shrunk to such an enormous extent that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span>
-tributary has become the river, and the river
-the tributary. Of course, passing through
-Reading the little river loses its beauty, but the
-Kennet which comes down from the western
-end of the Marlborough Downs and flows
-through the Berkshire meadows is a delightful
-little stream.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER FIVE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Holiday Thames&mdash;Henley to Maidenhead</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> western half of that portion of the River
-which has for its bank the county of Buckinghamshire
-might well be spoken of as “holiday
-Thames,” for it is on this lovely stretch that a
-great part of the more important river pleasure-making
-is done. Certainly we get boating at
-Richmond, Kingston, Molesey, etc., nearer the
-metropolis, but it is of the Saturday or Sunday
-afternoon sort, where Londoners, weary from
-the week’s labours, find rest and solace in a
-few brief hours of leisurely punting or rowing.
-But, between Maidenhead and Henley, at places
-like Sonning, Pangbourne, and Cookham, folk
-live on or by the River, either in houseboats
-or waterside cottages, and the River is not just
-a diversion, but is for the time being the all-important
-thing.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_290"><img src="images/i_290.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="520" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Sonning.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nor is this difficult to understand, for the River
-here is extraordinarily beautiful&mdash;a place to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span>
-linger in and dream away the hours. Henley,
-which commences the stretch, lies just within
-the borders of Oxfordshire, and here is celebrated
-what is, next to the Boatrace at Putney,
-the most famous of all Thames festivals&mdash;for
-Henley Regatta draws rowing men (and women)
-from all parts, and crews come from both the
-Old World and the New to compete in the open
-races. The River then is almost covered with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span>
-craft of all sorts moored closely together, with
-just a narrow water-lane down the centre for
-the passage of the competing boats; and the
-bright dresses and gay parasols of the ladies,
-with the background of green trees, all reflected
-in the water, make a brilliant and pleasing
-spectacle.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_291"><img src="images/i_291.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="476" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Henley.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>A few miles below Henley is Great Marlow,
-a clean and compact little riverside town,
-whose chief interest lies, perhaps, in the fact<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span>
-that here the poet Shelley lived for a time,
-writing some of his wonderful poems. Shelley
-spent much of his time on the River, and
-learned to love it very much, so that in after
-years we find him writing from Italy: “My
-thoughts for ever cling to Windsor Forest and
-the copses of Marlow.”</p>
-
-<p>The seven miles between Marlow and Maidenhead
-contain the most glorious scenery in the
-whole valley, for the River here for a considerable
-distance flows between gently rising hills whose
-slopes are richly wooded, the trees in many
-places coming right down to the water’s edge.
-Alike in spring, when the fresh young green is
-spreading over the hillsides, and in autumn,
-when the woods are afire with every tint of
-gold and brown, the Cliveden Woods and the
-Quarry Woods of Marlow, with their mirrored
-reflections in the placid waters below, are
-indescribably beautiful. Above the woods, high
-on the Buckingham bank, stands Cliveden
-House, magnificently situated. In the old
-mansion which formerly stood on the spot
-was first performed Thomson’s masque <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span>“Alfred.”
-This is very interesting, for the masque contained
-“Rule, Britannia,” composed by Dr.
-Arne; so here the tune was sung in public for
-the first time.</p>
-
-<p>At various spots along the stretch we can see
-quite clearly the terraces which indicate the
-alteration in the position of the river-bed.
-High up towards the tops, sometimes actually
-at the tops of the hillsides, are the shallow,
-widespread gravel beds which show where in
-the dim past the original great Thames flowed
-(see Book <abbr title="1">I</abbr>., Intro.). Then lower down come
-other terraces, with more gravel beds, to show
-a second position of the River, when, after
-centuries, it had cut its way lower and diminished
-in volume. Thus:</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_293"><img src="images/i_293.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="174" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Diagram of the Thames Valley Terraces.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Well-marked terraces can be found on the
-Berkshire side of the River between Maidenhead
-and Cookham, also at Remenham not far<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span>
-from Henley. They are visible on both sides
-of the River at Reading. Above Reading
-similar terraces, with their beds of river
-gravel, may be seen at Culham and Cholsey,
-between Radley and Abingdon, and also at
-Oxford.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER SIX</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Windsor</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Windsor Castle</span>, seen from the River at Clewer
-as we make our way downstream, provides us
-with one of the most magnificent views in the
-whole valley. Standing there, high on its
-solitary chalk hill, with the glowing red roofs
-of the town beneath and the rich green of the
-numerous trees clustering all round its base,
-the whole bathed in summer sunshine, it is a
-superb illustration of what a castle should be&mdash;ever-present,
-magnificent, defiant.</p>
-
-<p>Yet, despite its wonderful situation, the finest
-without doubt in all the south of England,
-Windsor has had little or no history, has rarely
-beaten off marauding foes, and seldom taken
-any part in great national struggles. Built for a
-fortress, it has been through the centuries nothing
-more than a palace.</p>
-
-<p>Erected by the builder of the Tower, William
-of Normandy, and probably for the same<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span>
-purpose, it has passed in many ways through a
-parallel existence, has been just what the Tower
-has been&mdash;an intended stronghold, a prison,
-and a royal residence. Yet, whereas the Tower<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span>
-has been intimately bound up with the life of
-England through many centuries, Windsor has,
-with just one or two brief exceptions, been a
-thing apart, something living its life in the quiet
-backwaters of history.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_296"><img src="images/i_296.jpg" alt="" width="565" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Windsor Castle.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Windsor district was always a favourite
-one with the rulers of the land even before the
-existence of the Castle. Tradition speaks of a
-hunting lodge, deep in the glades of the Old
-Windsor Forest, close by the river, as belonging
-to the redoubtable King Arthur, and declares
-that here he and his Knights of the Round Table
-stayed when they hunted in the greenwood or
-sallied forth on those quests of adventure with
-which we are all familiar. What is more certain,
-owing to the bringing to light of actual remains,
-is that Old Windsor was a Roman station.
-Certainly it was a favourite haunt of the Saxon
-kings, who in all probability had a palace of
-some sort there, close to the Roman road which
-passed by way of Staines to the camp at Silchester;
-and its value must have been thoroughly
-recognized. Edward the Confessor in particular
-was especially fond of the place, and when he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span>
-founded and suitably endowed his wonderful
-Abbey at Westminster he included “Windsor
-and Staines and all that thereto belongs”
-among his valuable grants to the foundation
-over which his friend Edwin presided.</p>
-
-<p>In those days the Castle Hill was not even
-named. True, its possibilities as a strategic
-point were recognized, by Harold if by no other,
-for we read in the ancient records that Harold
-held on that spot four-and-a-half hides of land
-for defensive purposes.</p>
-
-<p>But it remained for William the Conqueror,
-that splendid soldier and mighty hunter, to
-recognize the double possibilities of Windsor.
-Naturally, following his victory, he made himself
-familiar with Harold’s possessions, and,
-coming shortly to Windsor, saw therein the
-means of gratifying two of his main interests.
-He inspected the ancient Saxon royal dwelling
-and saw at once its suitability as a retiring
-place for the King, surrounded by the great
-forest and quite close to that most convenient
-of highways, the River. And at the same time,
-warrior as he was, he understood the value of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span>
-the little chalk hill which stood out from the
-encompassing clay.</p>
-
-<p>Certainly it belonged to the Abbey as a
-“perpetual inheritance,” but to such as William
-that was not likely to matter much. All
-England was his: he could offer what he liked.
-So he chose for exchange two fat manors in
-Essex&mdash;Wokendune and Feringes&mdash;fine, prosperous
-agricultural places, totally different
-from the unproductive wastelands of Windsor
-Hill; and the Abbot, wise man that he was,
-jumped at the exchange. Thus the Church
-was satisfied, no violence was done, and William
-secured both the Forest and the magnificent
-little hill commanding then, as it does now,
-many miles of the Thames Valley.</p>
-
-<p>Why did he want it? For two reasons.
-In the first place, he wanted an impregnable
-fortress within striking distance of London.
-True, under his orders Gundulf had built the
-Tower, frowning down on the city of London;
-but a fortress which is almost a part of the
-city, even though it be built with the one idea
-of striking awe into the citizens, is really too<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span>
-close at hand to be secure. A fortress slightly
-aloof, and therefore not quite so liable to
-sudden surprise, yet within a threatening
-distance, had vastly greater possibilities.</p>
-
-<p>William’s other great passion was “the
-chase.” Listen to what the ancient chronicler
-said about him: “He made many deer-parks;
-and he established laws therewith; so that whosoever
-slew a hart or a hind should be deprived
-of his eyesight. He loved the tall deer as if he
-were their father. Hares he decreed should
-go free. His rich men bemoaned it; and the
-poor men shuddered at it. But he was so
-stern, that he recked not the hatred of them all;
-for they must follow withal the King’s will if they
-would live, or have land, or possessions, or even
-his peace.” For this the surrounding forests
-rendered the position of Windsor a delightful one.</p>
-
-<p>Thus came into existence the Norman Keep
-of Windsor Hill, and beneath it shortly after
-the little settlement of New Windsor. When
-Domesday Book was prepared the little place
-had reached the number of one hundred houses,
-and thenceforward its progress was steady.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>[291]</span>
-By the time of Edward <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. it had developed to
-such an extent that it was granted a charter&mdash;which
-document may still be seen in the Bodleian
-Library at Oxford.</p>
-
-<p>With the Kings that came after the Conqueror
-Windsor soon became a favourite
-residence. Henry <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., marrying a Saxon Princess,
-Edith, niece of the Confessor, lived there and built
-a fine dwelling-place with a Chapel dedicated to
-the Confessor and a wall surrounding everything.</p>
-
-<p>During the reign of John, Windsor was
-besieged on more than one occasion, and it was
-from its fastness that the most wretched King
-who ever ruled&mdash;or misruled&mdash;England crept
-out to meet the Barons near Runnymede, just
-over the Surrey border.</p>
-
-<p>Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>., finding the old fabric seriously
-damaged by the sieges, determined to rebuild
-on a grander scale, and he restored the walls,
-raised the first Round Tower, the Lower and
-Middle Wards, and a Chapel; but, save one or
-two fragments, all these have perished.</p>
-
-<p>However, it is to Edward of Windsor&mdash;the
-third King of that name&mdash;that we must look as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span>
-the real founder of the Windsor of to-day. He
-rebuilt the Chapel and practically all the structures
-of Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>., and added the Upper Ward.</p>
-
-<p>In connection with this last a very interesting
-story is told. Edward had on the spot two very
-distinguished prisoners&mdash;King David of Scotland
-and King John of France&mdash;rather more like
-unwilling guests than prisoners, since they had
-plenty of liberty and shared in the amusements
-of the Court. One day the two were strolling
-with Edward in the Lower Ward, taking stock
-of the new erections, when King John made
-some such remark as this: “Your Grace’s
-castle would be better on the higher ground
-up yonder. You yourself would be able to see
-more, and the castle would be visible a greater
-way off.” In which opinion he was backed by
-the King of Scotland. Edward’s reply must
-have surprised the pair of them, for he said:
-“It shall be as you say. I will enlarge the
-Castle by adding another ward, and your
-ransoms shall pay the bill.” But Edward’s
-threat was never carried out. King David’s
-ransom was paid in 1337, but it only amounted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>[293]</span>
-to 100,000 marks; while that of King John,
-a matter of a million and a half of our money,
-was never paid, and John returned to England
-to die in the year 1363 in the Palace of the
-Savoy.</p>
-
-<p>In the building of Windsor, Edward had for
-his architect, or superintendent, a very famous
-man, William Wykeham, the founder and builder
-of Winchester School and New College, Oxford.
-Wykeham’s salary was fixed at one shilling a
-day while at Windsor, and two shillings while
-travelling on business connected with the
-Castle. Wykeham’s chief work was the erection
-of the Great Quadrangle, a task which took him
-ten years to complete. While there at work,
-he had a stone engraved with the Latin words,
-<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hoc fecit Wykeham</i>, which translated means
-“Wykeham made this.” Edward was enraged
-when he saw this inscription, for he wanted no
-man to share with him the glory of rebuilding
-Windsor; and he called his servant to account
-for his unwise action. Wykeham’s reply was
-very ingenious, for he declared that he had
-meant the motto to read: “This made Wyke<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>[294]</span>ham”
-(for the words can be translated thus).
-The ready answer appeased the King’s wrath.</p>
-
-<p>The method by which the building was done
-was that of forced labour&mdash;a mild form of
-slavery. Edward, instead of engaging workmen
-in the ordinary way, demanded from each
-county in England so many masons, so many
-carpenters, so many tilers, after the fashion of
-the feudal method of obtaining an army. There
-were 360 of them, and they did not all come
-willingly, for certain of them were thrown into
-prison in London for running away. Slowly
-the work proceeded, but in 1361 the plague
-carried off many of the craftsmen, and new
-demands were made on Yorkshire, Shropshire,
-and Devon, to provide sixty more stone-workers
-each. When at length the structure was completed
-in 1369, it included most of the best parts
-of Windsor Castle&mdash;the Great Quadrangle, the
-Round Tower, St. George’s Hall and Chapel,
-and the outer walls with their gates and turrets.</p>
-
-<p>The Chapel was repaired later on, under the
-direction of another distinguished Englishman,
-Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>[295]</span>
-who for over a year was “master of the King’s
-works” at Windsor. In 1473 the Chapel had
-become so dilapidated that it was necessary to
-pull it down, and Edward <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. erected in its place
-an exceedingly beautiful St. George’s Chapel, as
-an act of atonement for all the shed blood through
-which he had wallowed his way to the throne.</p>
-
-<p>Queen Elizabeth was very fond indeed of
-Windsor, and frequently came thither in her
-great barge. She built a banqueting hall and a
-gallery, and formed the fine terrace which bears
-her name. This terrace, on the north side, above
-the steep, tree-planted scarp which falls away
-to the river valley, is an ideal place. Behind
-rise the State Apartments: in front stretches a
-magnificent panorama across Eton and the plain.
-On this terrace the two Charleses loved to stroll;
-and George <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. was accustomed to walk every
-day with his family, just an ordinary country
-gentleman rubbing shoulders with his neighbours.</p>
-
-<p>It is a wonderful place, is Windsor Castle&mdash;very
-impressive and in places very beautiful;
-but there is so much to write about that one
-scarcely knows where to begin. Going up<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>[296]</span>
-Castle Hill, we turn sharp to the left, and, passing
-through the Gateway of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., we are
-in the Lower Ward, with St. George’s Chapel
-facing us in all its beauty.</p>
-
-<p>This fine perpendicular Chapel is, indeed,
-worthy of the illustrious order, the Knights
-of the Garter, for whom it is a place both
-of worship and of ceremonial.</p>
-
-<p>The Order of the Knights of the Garter was
-founded by Edward <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. in the year 1349, and
-there were great doings at Windsor on the
-appointed day&mdash;St. George’s Day. Splendid
-pageants, grand tournaments, and magnificent
-feasts, with knights in bright armour and their
-ladies in the gayest of colours, were by no means
-uncommon in those days; but on this occasion
-the spectacle was without parallel for brilliance,
-for Edward had summoned to the great tournament
-all the bravest and most famous knights
-in Christendom, and all had come save those
-of Spain, forbidden by their suspicious King.
-From their number twenty-six were chosen to
-found the Order, with the King at their head.</p>
-
-<p>St. George’s Chapel has some very beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>[297]</span>
-stained-glass windows, some fine tracery in its
-roof, and a number of very interesting monuments.
-The carved stalls in the choir, with the
-banners of the knights drooping overhead,
-remind us certainly of the Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. Chapel
-at Westminster. Within the Chapel walls have
-been enacted some wonderful scenes&mdash;scenes
-pleasing, and scenes memorable for their sorrow.
-Here have been brought, at the close of their busy
-lives, many of England’s sovereigns, and here
-some of them&mdash;Henry <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. and Edward <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. among
-them&mdash;rest from their labours. Queen Victoria,
-who loved Windsor, lies with her husband in the
-Royal Tomb at Frogmore, not far away.</p>
-
-<p>The Round Tower, which stands practically
-in the centre of the clustered buildings and
-surmounts everything, is always one of the most
-interesting places. From its battlements may
-be seen on a clear day no less than twelve
-counties. We can trace the River for miles
-and miles as it comes winding down the valley
-from Clewer and Boveney, to pass away into the
-distance where we can just faintly discern the
-dome of St. Paul’s.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>[298]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER SEVEN</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Eton College</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Standing</span> on the north terrace, or on the
-hundred steps which ascend from Thames
-Street, with behind us the fabric which William
-Wykeham did so much to fashion, we gaze out
-to yet another place which Wykeham made
-possible&mdash;the famous College of Eton.</p>
-
-<p>True, he had nothing whatever to do with
-the building of Eton itself, but he founded Winchester
-School, which is commonly spoken of as
-England’s oldest public school; and this served
-the boy-king, Henry <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>., as a model for his new
-foundation, so that Eton is in many respects,
-both as regards buildings and management, a
-copy of the older place.</p>
-
-<p>The first charter is dated 1441. Henry
-was then only nineteen years old, yet he says
-that “from the very foundation of his riper
-age” he dreamed of “a solemn school at Eton<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>[299]</span>
-where a great number of children should be
-freely taught the rules of grammar.” The
-school was to be called “The Kynges College
-of oure Ladye of Eton, beside Wyndesore.”</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_309"><img src="images/i_309.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="459" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap"> Eton College</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Henry, in order that he might be certain he
-and his assistants were following the excellent
-Winchester model, paid a number of visits to
-that school, and made a close study of its ways.
-There he was brought much into contact with
-William Waynflete, who had become master of
-Winchester in 1429 and done much to keep the
-school at its high level; and the result was that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span>
-in 1442 Henry persuaded him to become the
-first master of Eton, whither he came, bringing
-with him from the older foundation half-a-dozen
-favourite scholars to be a model for all newcomers.
-Eton began with “twenty-five poor
-scholars” to be educated at the King’s cost,
-but this number was soon increased to seventy.</p>
-
-<p>Henry did not live to see his splendid scheme
-in being. In fact, the beautiful chapel which he
-had designed was never completed at all; moreover,
-the fabric itself, which he had desired to
-be made of “the hard stone of Kent,” was very
-largely built of brick. Nor did the College as a
-whole rise into being in one great effort. Like
-most historic buildings, it grew little by little
-into its present self, with just a bit added here
-and a bit renovated there, so that the whole
-thing is a medley of styles.</p>
-
-<p>In these days Eton, like most of the big
-public schools, is far from being what its founder
-intended it to be&mdash;a school for the instruction
-of deserving poor boys. Instead it has become
-a very exclusive college for the education of
-the sons of the rich.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span></p>
-
-<p>There are usually just over eleven hundred
-boys in residence, seventy of whom are known
-as “collegers,” while the other thousand odd are
-called “oppidans.” For the old statute which
-decided on the number of “collegers” as seventy
-is still obeyed, and Henry’s wish is kept in the
-letter, if not in the spirit. The “collegers” live
-in the actual College buildings, have their meals
-in the College Hall; and they wear cloth gowns
-to distinguish them from the rest of the scholars.
-These other thousand odd boys, the sons of
-gentlemen and other folk who can afford to pay
-the great sum of money necessary, live in the
-various masters’ houses, which are built close
-at hand.</p>
-
-<p>The “collegers,” who win their positions as
-the result of a stiff examination, are practically
-the holders of very valuable scholarships, for
-they pay only small sums towards their expenses.
-And, generally speaking, they have a better
-time of it, even though they may be looked
-down on and called “tugs” by some of the more
-snobbish “oppidans”; for the College buildings
-are better than most of the houses. Moreover,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span>
-the “collegers” have two large playing fields
-of their own, so that they can avoid the crush
-in the school fields.</p>
-
-<p>Just when the “oppidans” began to take
-their place is by no means certain; but it could
-not have been very long after the foundation,
-for there is actually in existence the letter of an
-“oppidan” written in the year 1467, forty years
-after the opening. It is a very interesting letter,
-written to the boy’s elder brother, and enclosing
-for his inspection a specimen of the writer’s
-Latin verses (the making of Latin verse has
-always been a speciality at Eton). The letter
-also suggests the forwarding of “12 lbs. of figgs
-and 8 lbs. of raisins,” so, you see, boys were
-boys even in those far-off days.</p>
-
-<p>Many of Eton’s most picturesque customs
-have either died out or been suppressed by the
-authorities. One of the more famous of these
-was “Montem,” given up in 1847. On a certain
-day, once every three years, the scholars marched
-in procession to Salt Hill&mdash;that is, to “the
-mountain” (<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ad montem</i> means “to the mountain”);
-and there certain of their number<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>[303]</span>
-made a collection of money from all and sundry,
-giving little pieces of salt in exchange. Usually
-royalty from Windsor met them there, and
-contributed generously to the fund. “Montem”
-was a gay festival, for fancy-dress was the
-order of the day, and there was plenty of noise
-and colour as the merry procession made its
-way up the hill to the music of several bands,
-followed by a crowd of visitors. In 1846 the
-authorities decided to put an end to the celebration,
-because with the coming of the railway
-to Windsor an unwelcome crowd of excursionists
-presented itself each year, and the picturesque
-gathering degenerated into a vulgar rabble.
-One old custom which still survives is “Threepenny
-Day.” On the 27th day of February
-each year, the anniversary of the death of a
-Provost named Lupton, builder of the picturesque
-gateway, each of the “collegers” receives
-a bright new threepenny-bit, provision
-for which is made in a sum of money left by
-Lupton and another Provost.</p>
-
-<p>Eton, like that other and older seat of learning
-to which many Etonians make the journey<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>[304]</span>
-up the valley, gains much from its nearness to
-the River, for swimming and rowing are two
-favourite pastimes with the boys of this school.
-The latter pastime reaches its zenith on the
-“fourth of June”&mdash;the great day which Eton
-keeps in honour of George <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.’s birthday.
-Then the College is besieged by hundreds of
-relatives and friends, and there is a fine water-carnival
-on the River.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>[305]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER EIGHT</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Hampton Court</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Nearly</span> twenty miles below Windsor we come
-upon the ancient palace of Hampton, better
-known in these days as Hampton Court, beautifully
-situated among tall trees not far from the
-river bank. It is a wonderful old place&mdash;one
-of the nation’s priceless possessions&mdash;and once
-inside we are loth to leave it, for there is something
-attractive about its quaint old courtyards
-and its restful, bird-haunted gardens.</p>
-
-<p>Certainly it is the largest royal palace in
-England, and in some respects it is the finest.
-Yet, strangely enough, it was not built for a
-King, nor has any sovereign lived in it since the
-days of George <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. Wolsey, the proud Cardinal
-of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.’s days, erected it for his own
-private mansion, and it is still the Cardinal’s
-fabric which we look upon as we pass through the
-older portions of the great pile of buildings.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_316"><img src="images/i_316.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="559" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Hampton Court, Garden Front.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Wolsey was, as you probably know, the son<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>[306]</span>
-of a comparatively poor man, yet he was
-possessed of great gifts, and when he left
-Oxford he soon rose to a position of eminence.
-The Kings, first of all Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>., then “bluff
-King Hal,” showered honours and gifts on
-him. The Pope created him a Cardinal, and
-Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>. gave him the powerful position
-of Lord Chancellor of England. Wolsey, as
-befitted his high station, lived a life of great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>[307]</span>
-splendour, the pomp and show of his household
-rivalling even that of the King. Naturally such
-a man would have the best, even of palaces.</p>
-
-<p>As we pass through the wonderful old courts
-of the Cardinal’s dwelling we can imagine the
-vast amount of money which it must have cost
-to build, for it was magnificent in those days
-quite beyond parallel; and we cannot wonder
-that King Henry thought that such a building
-ought to be nothing less than a royal residence.</p>
-
-<p>Little differences soon arose. Wolsey, indeed,
-had not lived long at Hampton Court when
-there came an open breach between the King
-and himself. The trouble increased, and he
-fell from his high place very rapidly. When
-in 1526 he presented Hampton Court Palace
-to the King something other than generosity
-must have prompted the gift.</p>
-
-<p>Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>. at once proceeded to make the
-palace more magnificent still. He pulled down
-the Cardinal’s banqueting hall and erected a
-more sumptuous one in its place; and this we
-can see to-day. Built in the style known to
-architects as Tudor, it is one of the finest halls<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>[308]</span>
-in the whole of our land. Many huge beams of
-oak, beautifully fitted, carved, and ornamented,
-support a magnificent panelled and decorated
-roof, while glorious stained-glass windows
-(copies of the original ones fitted under
-Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.’s directions) fill the place with
-subdued light. The Great Gatehouse also belongs
-to Henry’s additions, and, with its octagonal
-towers and great pointed arch, has a
-very royal and imposing appearance.</p>
-
-<p>Though no sovereign has dwelt in the palace
-for a century or more, it was for nearly two
-hundred years a favourite residence of our
-Kings and Queens, and many famous events have
-taken place within its walls. Queen Mary and
-Queen Elizabeth were both very partial to the
-palace and its delightful gardens, and they
-spent much time there. Indeed, it is said that
-the latter was dining at Hampton when the
-glorious news of Drake’s defeat of the Spanish
-Armada was carried to her. James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. resided
-at the palace after his succession to the throne,
-and there, in addition to selling quite openly
-any number of knighthoods and peerages in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>[309]</span>
-order that he might add to his scanty means,
-he held the famous conference which decided
-that a uniform and authorized translation of
-the Bible should be made. In the great hall
-countless plays and masques were performed,
-and probably the mighty Shakespeare himself
-visited the place. King Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. spent many
-days at the Court, some of them as a prisoner of
-the Parliamentary soldiers; and here too Cromwell
-made a home until shortly before the time of his
-death. After the Restoration Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. and his
-Court settled at the palace, and in the surrounding
-parks indulged their fondness for the chase.</p>
-
-<p>Immediately Mary and her husband, William
-of Orange, came to the throne they commenced
-the alterations which have largely given us the
-palace of to-day. The old State apartments
-were pulled down and, under the direction of
-Sir Christopher Wren, larger and more magnificent
-ones were erected, something on the lines
-of the famous French royal palace at Versailles.
-At the same time William ordered the grounds
-to be laid out in the style of the famous Dutch
-gardens. The next three sovereigns, Anne, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>[310]</span>
-the first and second Georges, all lived at the
-Court; but from that time onwards it ceased to
-be a royal residence. George <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. would not go
-near the place. The story is told that on one
-occasion at Hampton Court his grandfather
-boxed his ears soundly, and he vowed never
-again to live on the scene of such an indignity.
-At any rate, he divided up its thousand rooms
-into private suites of apartments, which were
-given as residences to persons of high social
-position whose incomes were not large enough
-to keep them. And to this day a very considerable
-portion of the palace is shut off from
-public view for the same purpose.</p>
-
-<p>However, the parts which we can visit are
-extremely interesting. Entering at the main
-gate by Molesey Bridge, we cross the outer
-Green Court and come to the Moat. In Wolsey’s
-time this was crossed by a drawbridge of the
-sort in use when palaces were fortresses as well
-as dwelling-places. We now pass into the buildings
-over a fine old battlemented Tudor bridge.</p>
-
-<p>This was built by Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>. in honour of
-Anne Boleyn; but for centuries it lay buried and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>[311]</span>
-forgotten. Then one day, just before the War,
-workmen came upon it quite accidentally as they
-were cleaning out the old Moat.</p>
-
-<p>Once through the gateway we come straight
-into the first of the old-world courtyards&mdash;the
-Base Court&mdash;and we feel almost as if we had
-stepped back several hundred years into a bygone
-age. The deep red brickwork of the
-battlements and the walls, the quaint chimneys,
-doorways, windows, and turrets, all belong to
-the distant past; they make on us an impression
-which not even the splendour of Wren’s additions
-can remove. Passing through another
-gateway&mdash;Anne Boleyn’s&mdash;we come into the
-Clock Court, so called because of the curious old
-timepiece above the archway. This clock was
-specially constructed for Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., and for
-centuries it has gone on telling the minute of the
-hour, the hour of the day, the day of the month,
-and the month of the year.</p>
-
-<p>The Great Hall, which we may approach by a
-stairway leading up from Anne Boleyn’s Gateway
-is, as we have already said, a magnificent
-apartment. The glory of its elaborate roof can<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>[312]</span>
-never be forgotten. Hanging on its walls are
-some very famous tapestries which have been at
-Hampton Court since the days of Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>.
-Among these are “tenne pieces of new arras of
-the Historie of Abraham,” made in Brussels&mdash;some
-of the richest and most beautiful examples
-of the art of weaving ever produced. From the
-Great Hall we pass into what is known as the
-Watching Chamber or the Great Guard Room&mdash;the
-apartment in which the guards assembled
-when the monarch was at dinner, and through
-which passed all who desired audience of their
-sovereign. On its walls are wonderful old
-Flemish tapestries which once belonged to
-Wolsey himself. From the Watching Chamber
-we pass to another chamber through which the
-dishes were taken to the tables which stood on
-the dais at the end of the Hall.</p>
-
-<p>Returning once more to the ground floor we
-go through a hall and find ourselves in Fountain
-Court. Here we enter another world entirely.
-Behind us are the quaint, old-fashioned courtyards,
-and the beautiful, restful Tudor buildings.
-The sudden change to Wren’s architecture has<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>[313]</span>
-an effect almost startling. Yet when once we
-have forgotten the older buildings and become
-used to the very different style we see that
-Wren’s work has a beauty of its own. The
-newer buildings are very extensive, and the
-State apartments are filled with pictures and
-furniture of great interest. Entrance is obtained
-by what is called the King’s Great Staircase.
-The first room, entered by a fine doorway, is the
-Guard Room, a fine, lofty chamber with the
-upper part of its wall decorated with thousands
-of old weapons&mdash;guns, bayonets, pistols, swords,
-etc. From thence we pass to the round of the
-magnificent royal apartments&mdash;King’s rooms,
-Queen’s rooms, and so on, some thirty or more
-of them&mdash;all filled with priceless treasures&mdash;beautiful
-and rare paintings, delightful carvings
-from the master hand of Grinling Gibbons, so
-delicate and natural that it is difficult to believe
-they are made of wood, furniture of great
-historical interest and beauty. Here are the
-famous pictures&mdash;the “Triumph of Julius
-Cæsar,” nine large canvases showing the Roman
-emperor returning in triumph from one of his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>[314]</span>
-many wars. These were painted by Mantegna,
-the celebrated Italian artist, and originally
-formed part of the great collection brought
-together at Hampton Court by Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. They
-are a priceless possession. Here, too, are the
-famous “Hampton Court Beauties” and
-“Windsor Beauties,” the first painted by Sir
-Godfrey Kneller, the second by Sir Peter Lely,
-each portraying a number of famous beauties
-of the Court. Walking leisurely round these
-apartments we can obtain an excellent idea of the
-elaborate style of furnishing which was fashionable
-two or three centuries ago.</p>
-
-<p>Yet, despite all these most valuable relics of
-the past, which many people come half across
-the world to view, for some folk the supreme
-attraction of Hampton Court will always be the
-gardens. Very beautiful they are too&mdash;the
-result of centuries of loving care by those, Kings
-and commoners, who had time and inclination
-to think of garden making. Perhaps to William
-of Orange must be given greatest credit in the
-matter, for it was he who ordered the setting-out
-of the long, shady avenues and alleys, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>[315]</span>
-the velvety lawns and orderly paths. But we
-must not forget our debt of gratitude to Henry
-for the wonderful little sunken garden on the
-south side of the palace, perhaps one of the
-finest little old English gardens still in existence;
-and to Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. for the Canal, over a
-mile long, with its shady walk, and its birds and
-fishes, and its air of dreamy contentment.</p>
-
-<p>Tens of thousands visit these grounds in the
-summer months, and the old grape-vine is
-always one of the chief attractions. Planted as
-long ago as 1768, it still flourishes and bears an
-abundant crop each year, sometimes as many as
-2,500 bunches, all of fine quality. Its main
-stem is now over four feet in circumference, and
-its longest branch about one hundred and twenty
-feet in length. On the east front, stretching in one
-unbroken line across the Home Park for three-quarters
-of a mile towards Kingston, is the Long
-Water, an ornamental lake made by Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.
-North of the buildings is another garden, known
-as the Wilderness, and here we may find the celebrated
-Maze, constructed in the time of William
-and Mary. This consists of a great number of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>[316]</span>
-winding and zig-zag paths, hedged on each side
-with yew and other shrubs; and the puzzle is to
-find the way into the little open space in the
-centre. On almost any day in the summer can
-be heard the merry laughter of visitors who have
-lost their way in the labyrinth of paths.</p>
-
-<p>Still farther north lies Bushey Park, with its
-famous Chestnut Avenue, stretching over a mile
-in the direction of Teddington. Here are more
-than a thousand acres of the finest English
-parkland; and this, together with the large
-riverside stretch known as the Home Park,
-formed the royal demesne in which the monarchs
-and their followers hunted the deer.</p>
-
-<p>As was said at the beginning of the chapter,
-only with reluctance do we leave Hampton
-Court, partly because of its very great beauty,
-partly because of its enthralling historical associations.
-As we turn our backs on the great
-Chancellor’s memorial, we think perhaps a trifle
-sadly of all that the place must have meant to
-Wolsey, and there come to mind those resounding
-words which Shakespeare put into his mouth&mdash;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>[317]</span>“Farewell,
-a long farewell, to all my greatness.”</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER NINE</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Kingston</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Already</span> we have seen that in many cases, if
-not in most, the River has founded the towns
-on its banks. These have sprung up originally
-to guard either an important crossing or the
-junction of a tributary with the main stream
-or a “gate” where the River has found a way
-through the hills; and then, outliving the period
-of their military usefulness, they have developed
-later into centres of some commercial importance.
-Thus it has been with Kingston-upon-Thames,
-a place of ancient fame, for, according to
-the geology of the district, there must have been
-at this spot one of the lowest fords of the River.</p>
-
-<p>That there was on Kingston Hill a Roman
-station guarding that ford there can be very
-little doubt; and there are evidences that a
-considerable Roman town was situated here,
-for the Roman remains brought to light have
-been fairly abundant.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>[318]</span></p>
-
-<p>Workmen digging or ploughing on the hillside
-up towards Coombe Warren have, at
-various times in the past, discovered the foundations
-of Roman villas, with gold, silver, and
-bronze coins of the fourth century, and numerous
-household goods, and in one place a cemetery
-full of funeral urns.</p>
-
-<p>But it was not till Saxon times that Kingston
-came to the heyday of its existence. Then it
-was a place of the greatest possible importance,
-for here England was united into one country
-under one King. Prior to the union England
-was divided off into a number of states, which
-found amusement in fighting each other when
-they were not fighting the ancient Britons in
-their western fastnesses. These states were
-Northumbria, in the north; Mercia in the Midlands;
-Wessex in the south-west; and, in addition,
-the smaller areas of East Anglia, Essex, and
-Kent. When any one chieftain or king was
-sufficiently strong to defeat the others, and
-make them do his will, he became for the time
-being the “bretwalda,” or overlord; but it was
-a very precarious honour. The kings in turn<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319"></a>[319]</span>
-won the distinction, but the greater ones
-emerged from the struggle, and in the end
-Egbert, king of Wessex, by subduing the
-Mercians, became so powerful that all the other
-kings submitted to him. Thus Egbert became
-the first king or overlord of all the English
-(827), and picked on Kingston as the place for
-his great council or witenagemot.</p>
-
-<p>Then followed the terrible years of the Danish
-invasions, and England was once more split up
-into sections; but the trouble passed, and
-Edward the Elder, elected and crowned king
-of Wessex at Kingston, eventually became the
-real King of England, the first to be addressed
-in those terms by the Pope of Rome.</p>
-
-<p>Thence onward Kingston was the recognized
-place of coronation for the English Kings, till
-Edward the Confessor allotted that distinction
-to his new Abbey at Westminster. In addition,
-it was one of the royal residences and the home
-of the Bishops of Winchester, whose palace was
-situated where now a narrow street, called
-Bishop’s Hall, runs down from Thames Street
-to the River. So that Kingston’s position as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>[320]</span>
-one of the chief towns of Wessex was acknowledged.</p>
-
-<p>The stone on which the Saxon Kings were
-crowned stands now quite close to the market-place,
-jealously guarded by proper railings, as
-such a treasure should be. Originally it was
-housed in a little chapel, called the Chapel of
-St. Mary, close to the Parish Church, and with
-it were preserved effigies of the sovereigns
-crowned; but unfortunately in the year 1730
-the chapel collapsed, killing the foolish sexton
-who had been digging too close to the foundations.
-Then for years the stone was left out
-in the market-place, unhonoured and almost
-unrecognized, till in the year 1850 it was
-rescued and mounted in its present position.
-According to the inscription round the base, the
-English Kings crowned at Kingston included
-Edward the Elder (902), Athelstan (924),
-Edmund <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. (940), Edred (946), Edwy the Fair
-(955), Edward the Martyr (975), and Ethelred <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.
-(979).</p>
-
-<p>That most wretched of monarchs, King John,
-gave the town its first charter, and for a time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321"></a>[321]</span>
-at least resided here. In the High Street there
-is now shown a quaint old building to which the
-title of “King John’s Dairy” has been given,
-and this possibly marks the situation of the
-King’s dwelling-place.</p>
-
-<p>There was a castle here from quite early days,
-for we read that in 1263, when Henry <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. was
-fighting against his barons, Kingston Castle
-fell into the hands of de Montfort’s colleagues,
-who captured and held the young Prince
-Edward; and that Henry returned in the following
-year and won the castle back again. At the
-spot where Eden Street joins the London Road
-were found the remains of walls of great thickness,
-and these, which are still to be seen in the
-cellars of houses there, are commonly supposed
-to be the foundations of a castle held by the
-Earls of Warwick at the time of the Wars of the
-Roses, and possibly of an even earlier structure.</p>
-
-<p>Right down through history Kingston, probably
-by reason of its important river crossing,
-has had its peaceful life disturbed at intervals
-by the various national struggles. Armies have
-descended on it suddenly, stayed the night,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322"></a>[322]</span>
-taken their fill, and gone on their way; a few
-have come and stayed. Monarchs have broken
-their journeys at this convenient spot, or have
-dined here in state to show their favour. For
-Kingston, as the King’s “tun” or town should,
-has always been a distinctly Royalist town,
-has invariably declared for the sovereign&mdash;right
-or wrong.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_332"><img src="images/i_332.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="382" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Kingston.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Thus in 1554, when young Sir Thomas Wyatt
-raised his army of ten thousand to attack
-London, and found the Bridge too strong to
-force, he made his way westwards to the
-convenient crossing at Kingston; but the in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323"></a>[323]</span>habitants
-broke down their bridge to delay
-his progress, and so enabled Mary to get together
-a force; for which act of devotion the citizens
-were rewarded with a free charter by Queen
-Mary.</p>
-
-<p>Similarly, in the Civil War the town stood
-firmly by Charles, despite the fact that the town
-was occupied by cavaliers and roundheads in
-turn. Thus in October, 1642, the Earl of
-Essex settled down with several thousand men;
-while in November Sir Richard Onslow came
-to defend the crossing. But the inhabitants
-showed themselves extremely “malignant”;
-though when, just after, the King came to the
-town with his army he was greeted with every
-sign of joyous welcome.</p>
-
-<p>Also at Kingston occurred one of the numerous
-risings which happened during the year 1648.
-All over the land the Royalists gathered men
-and raised the King’s standard, hoping that
-Parliament would not be able to cope with so
-many simultaneous insurrections. In July the
-Earl of Holland, High Steward of Kingston,
-the Duke of Buckingham, and his brother<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324"></a>[324]</span>
-Lord Francis Villiers, got together a force of
-several hundred horsemen, but they were heavily
-defeated by a force of Parliamentarians, and
-Lord Villiers was killed.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_334"><img src="images/i_334.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="621" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Teddington Weir</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Nowadays, despite the fact that the town has
-held its own through a thousand years, neither
-losing in fame a great deal nor gaining, Kingston<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325"></a>[325]</span>
-does not give one any impression of age. True,
-it has some ancient dwellings here and there,
-but for the most part they are hidden away
-behind unsightly commercial frontages.</p>
-
-<p>Between Kingston and Richmond the River
-sweeps round in an inverted <b>S</b>-bend, passing
-on the way Teddington and Twickenham,
-formerly two very pretty riverside villages.
-The former possess the lowest pound-lock on the
-River (with the exception of that of the half-tide
-lock at Richmond), and also a considerable weir.
-It is the point at which the tide reaches its limit,
-and thereby gets its name Teddington, or Tide-ending-town.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326"></a>[326]</span></p>
-
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER TEN</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Richmond</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Richmond</span> is an old place with a new name, for
-though its history goes back to Saxon times, it
-did not get its present name till the reign of
-Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>., when “Harry of Richmond” rechristened
-it in allusion to the title which he
-received from the Yorkshire town. Prior to
-that it had always been called Sheen, and the
-name still survives in an outlying part of the
-town.</p>
-
-<p>Sheen Manor House had been right from
-Saxon days a hunting lodge and an occasional
-dwelling for the Sovereigns, but Edward <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.
-built a substantial palace, and, absolutely
-deserted by all his friends, died in it in the year
-1377. He was succeeded by his young grandson,
-the Black Prince’s child Richard, who spent
-most of his childhood with his mother Joan
-at Kingston Castle, just a mile or two higher
-upstream. Richard’s wife, Queen Anne of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327"></a>[327]</span>
-Bohemia, died in Sheen Palace in the year
-1394, and Richard was so upset that he had the
-palace pulled down, and never visited Sheen
-again.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_337"><img src="images/i_337.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="534" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Richmond Hill from Petersham Meadows</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>This, however, by no means ended the life
-of Sheen as a royal residence, for Henry <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>.
-built a new house, and when, in 1498, this was
-burned down, Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. built a new palace
-on a much grander scale, and at the same time
-gave it the name which it still bears. With the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328"></a>[328]</span>
-Tudor kings and queens Richmond was a very
-great favourite. “Bluff King Hal” loved to
-hunt in its woodland, and here, in 1603, “good
-Queen Bess” died, after forty-five years of a
-troublous but prosperous and progressive reign.
-Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. spent much of his time here, and he it
-was who added Richmond Park to the royal
-domain in the year 1637.</p>
-
-<p>After the Civil War the palace was set aside
-for the use of the widowed Queen Henrietta
-Maria, but by that time it had got into a very
-dilapidated condition; and little or nothing was
-done to improve it. So that before long this
-once stately palace fell to pieces and was
-removed piecemeal. Now all that remains of
-it is a gateway by Richmond Green.</p>
-
-<p>Richmond to-day is merely a suburb of
-London, one of the pleasure grounds of the
-city’s countless workers, who come hither on
-Saturdays and Sundays either to find exercise
-and enjoyment on the River, or to breathe the
-pure air of the park. This New Park, so called
-to distinguish it from the Old Deer Park, which
-lies at the other end of the town, is a very fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329"></a>[329]</span>
-place indeed. Surrounded by a wall about
-eleven miles long, it covers 2,250 acres of splendid
-park and woodland, with glorious views in all
-directions. In it are to be found numerous deer
-which spend their young days here, and later
-are transferred to Windsor Park. The Old
-Deer Park, of which about a hundred acres are
-open to the public for football, golf, tennis, and
-other pastimes, lies by the riverside between
-the town and Kew Gardens.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_340"><img src="images/i_340.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="543" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">From the Terrace Richmond</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The view of the River Thames from the
-Terrace on Richmond Hill is world-famous.
-Countless artists have painted it, and many
-writers have described it; and probably it has
-deserved all the good things said about it, for
-even now, spoiled as it is by odd factory chimneys
-and unsightly buildings dotted about, it still
-remains one of the most delightful vistas of the
-silvery, winding River. Those of you who have
-read Scott’s “Heart of Midlothian” will probably
-remember the passage (chapter xxxvi.)
-which describes it: “The equipage stopped on
-a commanding eminence, where the beauty of
-English landscape was displayed in its utmost<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330"></a>[330]</span>
-luxuriance. Here the Duke alighted and
-desired Jeanie to follow him. They paused for
-a moment on the brow of a hill, to gaze on the
-unrivalled landscape which it presented. A
-huge sea of verdure, with crossing and intersecting
-promontories of massive and tufted
-groves, was tenanted by numberless flocks and
-herds, which seemed to wander unrestrained
-and unbounded through the rich pastures.
-The Thames, here turreted with villas and there<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331"></a>[331]</span>
-garlanded with forests, moved on slowly and
-placidly, like the mighty monarch of the scene,
-to whom all its other beauties were but accessories,
-and bore on its bosom a hundred barks
-and skiffs, whose white sails and gaily fluttering
-pennons gave life to the whole. The Duke was,
-of course, familiar with this scene; but to a
-man of taste it must be always new.”</p>
-
-<p>Nor have the poets been behindhand with
-their appreciation, as the following extract
-from James Thomson’s “Seasons” shows:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="indent2">“Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around,</div>
-    <div class="verse">Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires,</div>
-    <div class="verse">And glittering towers, and gilded streams, till all</div>
-    <div class="verse">The stretching landscape into smoke decays.”</div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332"></a>[332]</span></p>
-<p class="center p120">CHAPTER ELEVEN</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="center"><em>Richmond to Westminster</em></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Just</span> below Richmond, on the borders of the
-Middlesex village of Isleworth, there is a foot-passenger
-toll-bridge, with what is known as a
-half-tide lock. The arches of this bridge are
-open to river traffic during the first half of the
-ebb-tide and the second half of the flow, but the
-River is dammed for the remainder of the day
-in order that sufficient water may be kept in
-the stretch immediately above. This, for the
-present, is the last obstruction on the journey
-seawards.</p>
-
-<p>Isleworth, with its riverside church, its ancient
-inn, “The London Apprentice,” and its great
-flour-mill, is a typical riverside village which
-has lived on out of the past. Between it and
-Brentford lies the magnificent seat of the Dukes
-of Northumberland&mdash;Sion House&mdash;a fine dwelling
-situated in a delightful expanse of parkland
-facing Kew Gardens on the Surrey shore.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333"></a>[333]</span></p>
-
-<p>Of Kew Gardens, which stretch beside the
-River from the Old Deer Park almost to Kew
-Bridge, it is difficult for one who loves nature to
-speak in moderate terms, for it is one of the
-most delightful places in the whole of our land.
-At every season of the year, almost every day,
-there is some fresh enchantment, some glory of
-tree or flower unfolding itself, so that one can
-go there year after year, week in and week
-out, without exhausting its treasure-house of
-wonders, even though there is only a matter
-of 350 acres to explore.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_344"><img src="images/i_344.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Kew Palace and Kew Gardens.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Royal Botanical Gardens, as their proper
-name is, were first laid out by George <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. in
-the year 1760, and were presented to the nation
-by Queen Victoria in the year 1840. Since
-then the authorities have planned and worked
-assiduously and wisely to bring together a
-botanical collection of such scope and admirable
-arrangement that it is practically without
-rival in the world. Here may be seen, flourishing
-in various huge glasshouses, the most
-beautiful of tropical and semi-tropical plants&mdash;palms,
-ferns, cacti, orchids, giant lilies, etc.;
-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334"></a>[334]<br /><a id="Page_335"></a>[335]</span>while in the magnificently laid out grounds are
-to be found flowers, trees, and shrubs of all kinds
-growing in a delightful profusion. There is not
-a dull spot anywhere; while the rhododendron
-dell, the azalea garden, the rock garden, and
-the rose walks are indescribably beautiful. Nor
-is beauty the only consideration, for the carefully
-planned gardens, with their splendid
-museum, are of untold value to the gardener
-and the botanist.</p>
-
-<p>Nor must we forget that Kew had its palace.
-Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of George <abbr title="the third">III</abbr>.
-and great patron of Surrey cricket, resided at
-Kew House, as did his son after him. The son
-pulled down the mansion in 1803 and erected
-another in its place; and, not to be outdone,
-George <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. in turn demolished this. The
-smaller dwelling-house&mdash;dignified now by the
-title of palace&mdash;a homely red-brick building,
-known in Queen Anne’s time as the “Dutch
-House,” was built in the reign of James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. In it
-died Queen Charlotte.</p>
-
-<p>If we speak with unstinting praise of Kew,
-what shall we say of Brentford, opposite it on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336"></a>[336]</span>
-the Middlesex side of the stream? Surely no
-county in England has a more untidy and
-squalid little county town. Its long main street
-is narrow to the point of danger, so that it has
-been necessary to construct at great cost a new
-arterial road which will avoid Brentford altogether;
-while many of its byways can be
-dignified by no better word than slums. Yet
-Brentford in the past was a place of some note
-in Middlesex, and had its share of history.
-Indeed, in recent times it has laid claim to
-be the “ford” where Julius Cæsar crossed on
-his way to Verulam, a claim which for years
-was held undisputedly by Cowey Stakes, near
-Walton.</p>
-
-<p>Now the Great Western Railway Company’s
-extensive docks, where numerous barges discharge
-and receive their cargoes, and the
-incidental sidings and warehouses, the gas-works,
-the various factories and commercial buildings,
-make riverside Brentford a thing of positive
-ugliness.</p>
-
-<p>On the bank above the ferry, close to the spot
-where the little Brent River joins the main<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337"></a>[337]</span>
-stream, the inhabitants, proud of their share in
-the nation’s struggles, have erected a granite
-pillar with the following brief recital of the
-town’s claims to notoriety:</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>54 <span class="allsmcap">b.c.</span>&mdash;At this ancient fortified ford the
-British tribesmen, under Cassivelaunus, bravely
-opposed Julius Cæsar on his march to Verulamium.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">a.d.</span> 780-1.&mdash;Near by Offa, King of Mercia,
-with his Queen, the bishops, and principal
-officers, held a Council of the Church.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">a.d.</span> 1016.&mdash;Here Edmund Ironside, King of
-England, drove Cnut and his defeated Danes
-across the Thames.</p>
-
-<p><span class="allsmcap">a.d.</span> 1640.&mdash;Close by was fought the Battle of
-Brentford between the forces of King Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.
-and the Parliament.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>From Kew Bridge onwards the River loses
-steadily in charm if it gains somewhat in importance.
-The beauty which has clung to it practically
-all the way from the Cotswolds now
-almost entirely disappears, giving place to a
-generally depressing aspect, relieved here and
-there with just faint suggestions of the receding
-charm.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338"></a>[338]</span></p>
-
-<p>A short distance downstream is Mortlake,
-once a pretty little riverside village, now almost
-a suburb of London, and quite uninteresting
-save that it marks the finish of the University
-Boatrace. This, as all folk in the Thames
-Valley (and many out of it) are aware, is rowed
-each year upstream from Putney to Mortlake,
-usually on the flood-tide.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_348"><img src="images/i_348.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="464" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Putney</span> to <span class="smcap">Mortlake</span> Championship Course</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Barnes, on the Surrey shore, is a very ancient
-place. The Manor of Barn Elmes was presented
-by Athelstan (925-940) to the canons of St.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339"></a>[339]</span>
-Paul’s, and by them it has been held ever since.
-The name possibly came from the great barn
-or spicarium, which the canons had on the spot.
-The place is now the home of the Ranelagh Club&mdash;a
-famous club for outdoor pursuits, notably
-polo, golf, and tennis.</p>
-
-<p>Fulham Palace, on the Middlesex bank, not
-far from Putney Bridge, is the “country residence”
-of the Bishops of London. For nine
-centuries the Bishops have held the manor of
-Fulham, and during most of the time have had
-their domicile in the village. In these days,
-when Fulham is one of the utterly dreary
-districts of London, with acres and acres of
-dull, commonplace streets, it is hard indeed to
-think of it as a fresh riverside village with fine
-old mansions and a wide expanse of market-gardens
-and a moat-surrounded palace hidden
-among the tall trees.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_350"><img src="images/i_350.jpg" alt="" width="538" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center">Fulham Palace The Quadrangle</p>
-<p class="caption center">Fitz James Gateway.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The River now begins to run through London
-proper, and from its banks rise wharves, warehouses,
-factories, and numerous other indications
-of its manifold commercial activities. Thus it
-continues on past Wandsworth, where the tiny<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340"></a>[340]</span>
-river Wandle joins forces and where there is
-talk of erecting another half-tide lock, past
-Fulham, Chelsea, Battersea, Pimlico, Vauxhall,
-and Lambeth, on to Westminster.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341"></a>[341]</span></p>
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_351"><img src="images/i_351.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="496" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">Ranelagh.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Chelsea and Vauxhall were situated those
-famous pleasure-gardens&mdash;the Ranelagh and
-Cremorne Gardens at the former, and the Spring
-Gardens at the latter&mdash;which during the seventeenth
-and eighteenth centuries provided London
-with so much in the way of entertainment.
-Vauxhall Gardens were opened to the public
-some time after the Restoration, and at once
-became popular, so that folk of all sorts, rich
-and poor alike, came to pass a pleasant evening.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342"></a>[342]</span>
-An account written in 1751 speaks of the
-gardens as “laid out in so grand a taste that
-they are frequented in the three summer months
-by most of the nobility and gentry then in or
-near London.” The following passage from
-Smollett’s “Humphrey Clinker” aptly describes
-the dazzling scene: “A spacious garden, part
-laid out in delightful walks, bounded with high
-hedges and trees, and paved with gravel; part
-exhibiting a wonderful assemblage of the most
-picturesque and striking objects, pavilions,
-lodges, graves, grottos, lawns, temples, and cascades;
-porticoes, colonnades, rotundas; adorned
-with pillars, statues, and paintings; the whole
-illuminated with an infinite number of lamps,
-disposed in different figures of suns, stars, and
-constellations; the place crowded with the gayest
-company, ranging through those blissful shades,
-and supping in different lodges on cold collations,
-enlivened with mirth, freedom, and good humour,
-and animated by an excellent band of music.”</p>
-
-<p>In the early days most of the folk came by
-water, and the river was gay with boatloads
-of revellers Barges and boats waited each<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343"></a>[343]</span>
-evening at Westminster and Whitehall Stairs
-in readiness for passengers; and similarly at
-various places along the city front craft plied
-for hire to convey the citizens, their wives and
-daughters, and even their apprentices.</p>
-
-<p>Ranelagh was not quite so ancient, and it
-encouraged a slightly better class of visitor:
-otherwise it was the counterpart of Vauxhall,
-as was Cremorne. It was famous, among other
-things, for its regatta. In 1775 this was a
-tremendous water-carnival. The River from
-London Bridge westwards was covered with
-boats of all sorts, and stands were erected on the
-banks for the convenience of spectators.</p>
-
-<p>Ranelagh was demolished in 1805, but Vauxhall
-persisted right on till 1859, when it too came
-under the auctioneer’s hammer. Where Cremorne
-once stood is now the huge power-station
-so prominent in this stretch of the river; and the
-famous coffee-house kept by “Don Saltero” in
-the early eighteenth century was in Cheyne Walk.</p>
-
-<p>Chelsea in its day has achieved fame in quite
-a variety of ways. Apart from its pleasure
-gardens it has come to be well-known for its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344"></a>[344]</span>
-beautiful old physic-garden; its hospital for
-aged soldiers, part of the gardens of which were
-included in Ranelagh; its bun-house; its pottery;
-and last, but by no means least, for its association
-with literary celebrities. Here have lived,
-and worked, and, in some cases, died, writers
-of such different types as Sir Thomas More,
-whose headless body was buried in the church,
-John Locke, Addison, Swift, Smollett, Carlyle&mdash;the
-“sage of Chelsea”&mdash;Leigh Hunt, Rossetti,
-Swinburne, and Kingsley. Artists, too, have
-congregated in these quiet streets, and the
-names of Turner and Whistler will never be
-forgotten.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_355"><img src="images/i_355.jpg" alt="" width="478" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Power-Station, Chelsea.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Lambeth may still be seen the famous
-palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury,
-a beautiful building of red-brick and stone,
-standing in an old-world garden. Some parts
-of it are very old: one, the Lollards’ Tower, is
-an exceedingly fine relic of medieval building.
-Close at hand stands the huge pile of buildings
-which house the pottery works of Messrs.
-Doulton. For some reason or other Lambeth
-has long been associated with this industry.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345"></a>[345]</span></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346"></a>[346]</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_356"><img src="images/i_356.jpg" alt="" width="538" height="650" /></a>
-<p class="caption center"><span class="smcap">The Lollards’ Tower, Lambeth Palace.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p>As early as 1670 one Edward Warner sold
-potters’ clay here, and exported it in huge
-quantities to Holland and other countries, and
-various potters, some Dutch, settled in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347"></a>[347]</span>
-district. All this stretch of the River seems to
-have been famous for its china-works in the past,
-for there were celebrated potteries at Fulham,
-Chelsea, and Battersea as well. Of these
-Battersea has passed away, and its productions
-are eagerly sought after by collectors, but
-Fulham and Lambeth remain, while Chelsea,
-after a long interval, is reviving this ancient
-craft.</p>
-
-<p>Thus we have traversed in fancy the whole
-of this wonderful River&mdash;so fascinating to both
-young and old, to both studious and pleasure-seeking.
-The more we learn of it the more we
-are enthralled by its story, by the immense
-share it has had in the shaping of England’s
-destinies.</p>
-
-<p>We started with a consideration of what those
-wonderful people the geologists could tell us of
-the River in dim, prehistoric days; and we feel
-inclined to turn once more to them in conclusion.
-For they tell us now that the Thames is growing
-less; that, just as in times past it captured the
-waters of other streams and reduced them to
-trickling nothings, so in turn it is succumbing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348"></a>[348]</span>
-day by day to the depredations of the River
-Ouse, which is slowly cutting off its head.
-Some day, perhaps, the Thames will be just a
-tiny rivulet, and the Port of London will be no
-more; but I think the tides will ebb and flow
-under London Bridge many times before it
-comes to pass.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349"></a>[349]</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2>
-</div>
-
-<ul class="index">
-<li class="indx"> Abingdon, <a href="#Page_263">263-5</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Alfred, King, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> All Hallows, Barking, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Ancient Britons, <a href="#Page_120">120-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Arnold, Matthew, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Arthur, King, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Barking, <a href="#Page_71">71-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Abbey, <a href="#Page_72">72-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Sewage Works, <a href="#Page_75">75-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Barnes, <a href="#Page_338">338-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Battersea, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Baynards Castle, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Becket, Thomas, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Benfleet, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Besant, Sir Walter, <a href="#Page_162">162-3</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Big Ben, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Billingsgate, <a href="#Page_101">101-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Black Death, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Blackfriars, <a href="#Page_195">195-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Blackwall, <a href="#Page_112">112-3</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Tunnel, <a href="#Page_113">113</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Boatrace, Universities, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Boleyn, Anne, <a href="#Page_175">175-7</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310-11</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Brentford, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Bridges, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Buckingham Palace, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Bushey Park, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Canning Town, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Canute, <a href="#Page_141">141-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Canvey Island, <a href="#Page_38">38-9</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cement, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Chatham, <a href="#Page_46">46-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Chaucer, Geoffrey, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Chelsea, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343-4</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cherwell, <a href="#Page_257">257-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Chilterns, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268-70</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cholsey, <a href="#Page_284">284</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Churn, River, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cleopatra’s Needle, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cliveden Woods, <a href="#Page_282">282-3</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Coal, <a href="#Page_114">114-5</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164-5</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Coldharbour Palace, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Colne, River, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cookham, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cooling Castle, <a href="#Page_52">52-3</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> County Hall, <a href="#Page_232">232-3</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cremorne Gardens, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cricklade, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Crosby Hall, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Culham, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Cumnor, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Customs Officers, <a href="#Page_115">115-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Dagenham Breach, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dagenham Dock, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Marshes, <a href="#Page_68">68-71</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Danes, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140-1</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Defoe, Daniel, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183-4</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dene-holes at Grays, <a href="#Page_67">67-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> De Ruyter, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dickens, Charles, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dockland, <a href="#Page_24">24-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Docks: Blackwall, <a href="#Page_112">112-3</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> East India, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Execution, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> London, <a href="#Page_110">110-1</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Millwall, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Regent’s Canal, <a href="#Page_111">111</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Royal Albert, <a href="#Page_113">113-4</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> St. Katherine’s, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> St. Saviour’s, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Surrey Commercial, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> Victoria, <a href="#Page_113">113</a> </li>
-<li class="isub1"> West India, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> “Don Saltero,” <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dorchester, <a href="#Page_265">265-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Duke of Buckingham, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dumouriez, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> </li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Durham Palace, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Dutch in the Medway, <a href="#Page_42">42-5</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Eastchurch, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> East Ham, <a href="#Page_113">113-4</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> East India Docks, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Edward the Confessor, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Eleanor of Provence, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Embankment, The, <a href="#Page_227">227-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Estuary, The, <a href="#Page_16">16-19</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31-39</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> defence of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Eton College, <a href="#Page_298">298-304</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Evelyn, John, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61-2</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186-90</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Evenlode, River, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Execution Dock, <a href="#Page_110">110-1</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Fire of London, the Great, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx">FitzStephen, <a href="#Page_145">145-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Flamsteed, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Fleet River, <a href="#Page_193">193-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Street, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Fobbing, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Fort Grain, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Franklin, Sir John, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Frindsbury, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Fulham, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Godstow, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Goring Gap, <a href="#Page_267">267-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Gravesend, <a href="#Page_52">52-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> proposed dam, <a href="#Page_62">62-3</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Grays, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Great Marlow, <a href="#Page_281">281-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Greenhithe, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Greenwich, <a href="#Page_87">87-100</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Hospital, <a href="#Page_92">92-7</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Ministerial dinners at, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Observatory, <a href="#Page_98">98-100</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Royal births at, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Grey, Lady Jane, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Hakluyt, <a href="#Page_90">90-1</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Halley, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Hampton Court, <a href="#Page_305">305-16</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Harold, King, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Henley, <a href="#Page_280">280-1</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Holiday Thames, <a href="#Page_279">279-284</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Houses of Parliament, <a href="#Page_220">220-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Howard, Katherine, <a href="#Page_175">175-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> “Humphrey Clinker,” <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Humphrey, Duke, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Hungerford House, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Iffley, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Isis, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Isle of Dogs, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Grain, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Isleworth, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Jack Straw, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> John Ball, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Jones, Inigo, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Kelmscott, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Kennet, River, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Kew Gardens, <a href="#Page_333">333-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Palace, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Kingston, <a href="#Page_317">317-25</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Knights of the Garter, <a href="#Page_296">296-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Knights Templar, <a href="#Page_199">199-202</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Lambeth, <a href="#Page_344">344-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Lechlade, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Legal quays, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Limehouse, <a href="#Page_111">111-2</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Basin, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Reach, Medway, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Llyndin Hill, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> London, a city of palaces, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> and the Danes, <a href="#Page_140">140-2</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Fire of, <a href="#Page_181">181-192</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> fires in, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> fogs, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> foundation of, <a href="#Page_123">123-9</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Friars in, <a href="#Page_195">195-8</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Hospitals, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> in Norman days, <a href="#Page_143">143-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> in Middle Ages, <a href="#Page_157">157-65</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> in Roman days, <a href="#Page_130">130-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> in Saxon days, <a href="#Page_137">137-40</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Plague in, <a href="#Page_183">183-4</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> reasons for position of, <a href="#Page_126">126-9</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> remains of Roman Wall, <a href="#Page_133">133-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Tower of, <a href="#Page_166">166-80</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> London Bridge, <a href="#Page_147">147-156</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> a great procession on, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> a tournament on, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> its dangers, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> its relation to the City, <a href="#Page_128">128-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> L.C.C. County Hall, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> London Dock, <a href="#Page_110">110-1</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> London Stone, Yantlet Creek, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Lower Reaches, <a href="#Page_19">19-23</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Macfarlane, Charles, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Maidenhead, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Marshes on banks, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64-76</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Mandeville, Geoffrey de, <a href="#Page_171">171-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Matilda, Empress, <a href="#Page_170">170-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Maud of Boulogne, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Medway, River, <a href="#Page_40">40-51</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Merton, Walter de, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Millwall Dock, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Minster-in-Sheppey, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Monument, The, <a href="#Page_181">181-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Morris, William, <a href="#Page_241">241-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Mortlake, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> New Bridge, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Nore Lightship, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Northfleet, <a href="#Page_65">65-6</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Northumberland House, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst">Old Windsor, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Oxford, <a href="#Page_246">246-262</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Bodleian Library, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Castle, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Colleges, <a href="#Page_251">251-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> founding of the University, <a href="#Page_249">249-51</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> its origin, <a href="#Page_247">247-8</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Tom Tower, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Pangbourne, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Peasants’ Revolt, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Pepys, Samuel, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Peter of Colechurch, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Pett, Peter, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Pilots, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Placentia, Palace of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Plague, the Great, <a href="#Page_183">183-4</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Pool, The, <a href="#Page_26">26-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Port Meadow, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Port of London, <a href="#Page_23">23-6</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-19</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Authority, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118-19</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Port Victoria, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Princes in Tower, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Purfleet, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Putney, <a href="#Page_338">338-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Queenborough, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Queenhithe, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Radley, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Ranelagh Gardens, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Reading, <a href="#Page_271">271-8</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Abbey, <a href="#Page_272">272-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> and the Civil War, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> modern, <a href="#Page_277">277-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Regent’s Canal Dock, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Richmond, <a href="#Page_326">326-31</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> River police, <a href="#Page_116">116-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Rochester, <a href="#Page_49">49-51</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Roding, River, <a href="#Page_71">71-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Roman remains in London, <a href="#Page_132">132-5</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Rosherville Gardens, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Rotherhithe, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Royal Albert Dock, <a href="#Page_113">113-4</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Victoria Dock, <a href="#Page_113">113-4</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Savoy Palace, <a href="#Page_204">204-5</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Saxon Kings crowned at Kingston, <a href="#Page_319">319-20</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> “Scholar Gypsy,” <a href="#Page_261">261-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Scotland Yard, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Shadwell, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Sheen, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Sheerness, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Sheppey, <a href="#Page_31">31-3</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Shoeburyness, <a href="#Page_37">37-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Shooter’s Hill, <a href="#Page_77">77-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Silvertown, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Sion House, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Somerset House, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Sonning, <a href="#Page_279">279-80</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Southend, <a href="#Page_36">36-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> St. James’s Park, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> St. Katherine’s Dock, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> St. Paul’s Cathedral, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> St. Saviour’s Dock, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> St. Thomas’s Hospital, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Staple Inn, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Stephen, King, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Stow, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Strand, The, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Streatley, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> “Stripling Thames,” <a href="#Page_237">237-45</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Stroud, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Surrey Commercial Dock, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Swale, The, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Tea, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Teddington, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Temple Bar, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Church, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Gardens, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Temple, The, <a href="#Page_199">199-203</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Thame, River, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Thames Haven, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Thames Head, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Thames River, early tributaries of, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> geology of, <a href="#Page_267">267-70</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> locks on, <a href="#Page_243">243-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> material brought down by, <a href="#Page_64">64-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> origin of, <a href="#Page_2">2-5</a></li>
-<li class="isub1">reasons for importance, <a href="#Page_11">11-14</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> terraces of bed, <a href="#Page_283">283-4</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> the basin of, <a href="#Page_7">7-10</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> the sources, <a href="#Page_237">237-9</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> tunnels under, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Thorney Island, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211-2</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Tilbury, <a href="#Page_57">57-63</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Docks, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Fort, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Elizabeth at, <a href="#Page_57">57-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Tower Bridge, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Tower of London, <a href="#Page_166">166-80</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Trewsbury Mead, <a href="#Page_237">237-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Twickenham, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Upnor Castle, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Vale of the White Horse, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Vauxhall Gardens, <a href="#Page_341">341-3</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Wallingford, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266-7</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wandle, River, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wandsworth, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wapping, <a href="#Page_108">108-10</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Old Stairs, <a href="#Page_108">108-10</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Watling Street, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wat Tyler, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Waynflete, William, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> West Ham, <a href="#Page_113">113-4</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> West India Dock, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Westminster, <a href="#Page_209">209-226</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> the founding of, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Westminster Abbey, <a href="#Page_212">212-9</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Chapter House, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Confessor’s Chapel, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> founding of, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Henry <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. Chapel, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Poets’ Corner, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Remains of Old Abbey, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Tomb of Unknown Warrior, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Westminster Hall, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li>
-<li class="isub1">Palace, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Whitefriars, <a href="#Page_197">197-9</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Whitehall Palace, <a href="#Page_207">207-8</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Whittington, Dick, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Widths of the Thames, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> William and Mary, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> William the Conqueror, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Windrush, River, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Windsor, <a href="#Page_285">285-304</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> growth of Castle, <a href="#Page_288">288-95</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> origin of, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Round Tower, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> St. George’s Chapel, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wolsey, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Woolwich, <a href="#Page_77">77-86</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Arsenal, <a href="#Page_81">81-6</a></li>
-<li class="isub1"> Dockyard, <a href="#Page_80">80-1</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wren, Sir Christopher, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> Wykeham, William, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
-
-<li class="ifrst"> Yantlet Creek, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx"> York House, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li>
-</ul>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<p class="center">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN FOR
-WELLS GARDNER, DARTON AND CO., LTD., LONDON, E.C.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap1 x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HISTORIC_THAMES">THE HISTORIC THAMES</h3>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<a id="image_363"><img src="images/i_363.jpg" alt="" width="254" height="85" /></a>
-</div>
-
-<p>OXFORD</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>By Mrs. HAMILTON FYFE. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">L. Russell Conway</span>.
-3s. 6d. net.</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>OXFORD</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>A Portfolio of Twelve Pictures of Oxford from Drawings by
-L. RUSSELL CONWAY. 21s. net.</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>HAMPTON COURT</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>By Mrs. ADY (Julia Cartwright). 3s. 6d. net.</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>GREENWICH ROYAL HOSPITAL <span class="allsmcap">and the</span>
-ROYAL UNITED SERVICE MUSEUM</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>By EDWARD FRASER, Author of “Bellerophon.” 3s. 6d. net.</p>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>WESTMINSTER ABBEY AND ST. PAUL’S
-CATHEDRAL</p>
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