Stock Exchange.—This building, of which scarcely anything can be seen on the outside, lies up a paved passage called Capel Court, in Bartholomew Lane, on the east side of the Bank of England. Dealers and brokers in the public funds, and in all kinds of joint-stock shares and debentures, meet and transact business here. They buy and sell, not only for themselves, but for the public generally; and the amount of business transacted every day is enormous. The establishment is maintained by about 900 members, who pay £10 a-year each. They endeavour to enforce strict honesty in each other’s dealings; but they sedulously refuse to allow a stranger even to pass the threshold of their Temple of Wealth.
Various Commercial Buildings.—A stranger has only to look at a detailed map or a directory, to see how numerous are the buildings, especially in the city, applied in various ways to commerce and trading on a large scale. The Trinity House on Tower Hill; the chambers of the building that was once the South Sea House, near Leadenhall Street; those of the large but irregular structure called Gresham House, in Bishopsgate Street—are all worthy of a glance, some for their architectural character, and all for the importance of the work transacted in them. The East India House, in Leadenhall Street, has been pulled down; commercial chambers in great number, and let at enormous rentals, have been built on the site.
City Companies.—In nothing is the past history of the metropolis, the memory of Old London, kept alive in a more remarkable way than by the City Companies, or Trading Guilds, which are still very numerous. All were established with a good purpose, and all rendered service in their day; but at the present time few have any important duties to fulfil. The age for such things is nearly past; but the companies have revenues which none but themselves can touch; and out of these revenues many excellent charities are supported. Several of the companies have halls of great architectural beauty, or curious on account of their antiquity. Twelve, from their wealth and importance, are called the Great Companies; and all of these have halls worthy of note. They are the Mercers’, Drapers’, Fishmongers’, Goldsmiths’, Skinners’, Merchant Taylors’, Haberdashers’, Salters’, Ironmongers’, Vintners’, Grocers’, and Clothworkers’. Every year banquets are given in the halls of these great companies—often under such circumstances as to give political importance to them. Mercers’ Hall, on the north side of Cheapside, has a richly ornamental entrance. Grocers’ Hall, in the Poultry, is remarkable rather for the age of the company (more than 500 years) than for the beauty of the building; it is interesting to note that the Long Parliament was entertained at city-dinners in this hall. Drapers’ Hall, in Throgmorton Street, built in 1667, replaced a structure which had belonged to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in the time of Henry VIII., and which was destroyed by the Great Fire. Fishmongers’ Hall, the most majestic of the whole, stands at the northern end of London Bridge, on the west side; it was built in 1831, as part of the improvements consequent on the opening of New London Bridge, on a site that had been occupied by an older hall since the time of the Great Fire. Goldsmiths’ Hall, just behind the General Post-Office, is too closely hemmed in with other buildings to be seen well; it is one of Mr. Hardwick’s best productions, and was finished by him in 1835, on the site of an older hall. Skinners’ Hall, Dowgate Hill, was built (like so many others of the city halls) just after the Great Fire in 1666; but was newly fronted in 1808. Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Threadneedle Street, is the largest of the city halls. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and has long been celebrated for the political banquets occasionally given there—this being considered the leading Tory Company, and the Fishmongers’ the leading Whig Company. Haberdashers’ Hall, near Goldsmiths’ Hall, is quite modern; the present building having been constructed in 1855. Salters’ Hall, St. Swithen’s Lane, was rebuilt in 1827. Ironmongers’ Hall, Fenchurch Street, was erected in 1748, on the site of an older structure; the banqueting-room was remodelled a few years ago with great richness. In 1861 this company held an Exhibition of Art, notable for the rarity and beauty of the objects collected; it was the first thing of the kind organized among these companies, and was in all respects creditable to those who planned and managed it. Vintners’ Hall, Upper Thames Street, is small and unpretentious. Clothworkers’ Hall, Mincing Lane, is an elegant Italian Renaissance edifice, erected in 1858, from the designs of Mr. Angell.
Among the minor halls are the Apothecaries’, Blackfriars; Stationers’, behind Ludgate Hill; Armourers’, Coleman Street; Barber Surgeons’, Monkwell Street, (which contains some fine paintings;) Weavers’, Basinghall Street; Saddlers’, Cheapside; and Paper Stainers’, Little Trinity Lane. At the last-named hall an interesting exhibition of specimens of decorative painting was held in 1864. The city companies are about eighty altogether. Some, which tell most singularly of past times, and of the difference between the past and the present, are the Cooks’, the Bowyers’, the Fletchers’, the Woolmen’s, the Scriveners’, the Broderers’, the Horners’, the Loriners’, the Spectacle Makers’, the Felt Makers’, the Patten Makers’, the Parish Clerks’, and the Fan Makers’ companies. All these, except the Spectacle Makers’ and the Parish Clerks’, have now no halls. Eight others, formerly existing, have become extinct. The only three which are actually trading companies at the present day are the Goldsmiths’, the Apothecaries’, and the Stationers’. The Goldsmiths’ company assay all the gold and silver plate manufactured in the metropolis, stamp it with the ‘Hall-mark,’ and collect the excise duty upon it for the Government; the Apothecaries’ sell medicines, and have a certain jurisdiction in relation to medical practice; the Stationers’ publish almanacs, and register all copyright books.
THE RIVER; DOCKS; THAMES TUNNEL; BRIDGES; PIERS.
We shall next describe certain features connected with traffic on, under, and over the Thames.
The River and its Shipping.—The Thames stream rises in the interior of the country, at the distance of 138 miles above London, and enters the sea on the east coast about sixty miles below it. It comes flowing between low, fertile, and village-clad banks, out of a richly ornamented country on the west; and, arriving at the outmost suburbs of the metropolis, it pursues a winding course, between banks thickly lined with dwelling-houses, warehouses, manufactories, and wharfs, for a space of several miles, its breadth being here from an eighth to a-third of a mile. The tides affect it for fifteen or sixteen miles above the city; but the salt water comes no farther than Gravesend, or perhaps Greenhithe. However, such is the volume and depth of water, that vessels of great magnitude can sail or steam up to London. Most unfortunately, the beauty of this noble stream is much hidden from the spectator, there being very few quays or promenades along its banks. With the exception of the summit of St. Paul’s or the Monument, and the Custom House quay, the only good points for viewing the river are the bridges, which cross it at convenient distances, and by their length convey an accurate idea of the breadth of the channel. Formerly there were many light and fanciful boats for hire on the Thames; but these are now greatly superseded by small steamers, which convey crowds of passengers up and down the river.
The part of the river between London Bridge and Blackwall, an interval of several miles, constitutes the Port; and here are constantly seen lying at anchor great numbers of vessels. The portion immediately below the bridge is called the Pool, where coal-ships are usually ranged in great number. It is curious to watch, while passing up and down the river, the way in which coals are transferred, by labourers called coal-whippers, from the ships into barges, in which they are conveyed to the wharfs of the several coal-merchants. At wharfs between the Custom House and the bridge lie numerous steam-vessels which ply to Greenwich, Woolwich, Gravesend, Margate, and other places of resort down the Thames; also steamers for continental ports. London, as has already been observed, possesses no line of quays on the river. The trade with the ships is carried on at wharfs jutting upon the water. The Thames is placed under strict police regulations with respect to trade; certain places being assigned to different classes of vessels, including those which arrive from the Tyne, Wear, and Tees with coal, and all coasters. The trade connected with the Port is mostly carried on in the closely built part of the metropolis adjacent to the Thames. Almost the whole of this district consists of narrow streets, environed by warehouses and offices, making no external show, but in which an incalculable amount of trade is transacted.
The Docks.—As a relief to the river, and for other reasons, there are several very large Docks. The lowest or most eastern are the Victoria Docks, in Essex, just beyond the river Lea. They cover an area of 200 acres, and have been the means of introducing many improvements in the accommodation of shipping. The hydraulic lift at these docks, for raising and supporting ships during repair, is well worth looking at. Next are the East India Docks, constructed in 1806; they consist of two docks and a basin, covering 32 acres. Near these are the West India Docks, the entrances to which are at Blackwall and Limehouse; in these large depôts of shipping connected with the West India and other trade may at all times be seen some hundreds of vessels, loading or unloading in connection with the warehouses around. The largest of these docks is 24 feet deep, 510 feet long, and 498 wide; and, with a basin, they cover nearly 300 acres. Farther up the river, and near the Tower, in the district called Wapping, are the London Docks and St. Katharine’s Docks. The London Docks consist of one enclosure to the extent of 20 acres, another of smaller dimensions, a basin, and three entrances from the river. These are surrounded by warehouses for the reception of bonded goods, and beneath the warehouses are vaults for bonded liquors. The principal warehouse for the storing of tobacco in bond till it is purchased and the duties paid, is situated close beside a special dock called the Tobacco Dock. The Tobacco Warehouse occupies no less than five acres of ground, and has accommodation for 24,000 hogsheads of tobacco. The sight of this extraordinary warehouse, and of the Wine-Vaults, is not soon to be forgotten. The vaults are arched with brick, and extend east and west to a great distance, with diverging lines also of great length, the whole being like the streets of an underground town. Along the sides are ranged casks of wine to an amount apparently without limit. There is accommodation for 65,000 pipes. These cellars being dark, all who enter and go through them carry lights. Admission may be had by procuring an order from a wine-merchant to taste and examine any pipes he may have in bond: a cooper accompanies the visitor to pierce the casks. Besides this large vault, which principally contains port and sherry, there are other vaults for French wines, &c. St. Katharine’s Docks, between the Tower and the London Docks, were formed in 1828, on a site which required the removal of more than 1,200 houses and 13,000 inhabitants; the earth obtained by the excavation was employed in raising the site for some of the new streets and squares of Pimlico. There are twelve acres of water area, and about as much of quays and warehouses. On the south of the Thames are the Commercial and the Grand Surrey Docks, the great centre of the timber trade. The various docks are the property of joint-stock companies, who receive rents and dues of various kinds for their use.