By T. Gainsborough, R.A., 1746 (1727-1788). Lent by the Foundling Hospital.
73 [ALDGATE SCHOOL AND WATCH-HOUSE AND TOWER OF CHURCH.] Plate XXXI.
Pen and wash drawing. 10 by 9½ in.
The church of St. Botolph, Aldgate, was rebuilt in 1744, from the designs of George Dance the elder. In 1710 Sir John Cass, alderman, had presented this school near the church with shops and a vault beneath, for the benefit of the ward, and he afterwards left property for educational purposes, which has become of great value. About 1750 a lead statue of him, modelled by Roubiliac, was placed in front of the building. In 1762 the school was moved into a house in Church Row, the original building being used for other purposes, but this statue and statuettes of a schoolboy and a schoolgirl remained in their niches as here shown. The building was not destroyed until many years afterwards. Here one sees that in 1815 part of it was a watch-house. Most of the site has been absorbed by a widening of Houndsditch. The statue of Sir John is now in the modern building known as the Cass Foundation, Jewry Street. The drawing was done for Wilkinson’s “Londina Illustrata,” but does not appear in that publication.
By R. B. Schnebbelie (died about 1849). Lent by Sir E. Coates.
74 INTERIOR OF REGENCY THEATRE.
Watercolour. 8¾ by 6¾ in.
The Regency Theatre, Tottenham Street, Tottenham Court Road, was built on the site of a concert room. After being renamed several times and passing through various hands, it was remodelled and became the Prince of Wales’s theatre under the Bancrofts. They moved to the Haymarket in 1880. The Prince of Wales’s theatre, after remaining vacant for years, was occupied by the Salvation Army, and on the site is now the Scala theatre.
By R. B. Schnebbelie, 1816 (died about 1849). Lent by H.M. the King.