Oil picture. 47½ by 29½ in.
Portion of view shown in [No. 87], but dating from near the end of Charles II’s reign. It will presently be pointed out that [No. 96] is a still earlier picture of almost the same subject, so to avoid repetition this has not been reproduced. Here the Banqueting Hall is prominent; other important buildings are as follows: To extreme left in background a louvred structure is the Great Hall, Whitehall, more clearly visible in Wijck’s view from the river, [No. 91]. Facing park we see the old Guard House as in No. 87. The upper portions of Holbein Gate-house and of a battlemented structure are also visible; for description of the latter and of the great staircase see [note on No. 96]. A large brick building some distance to right preceded Kent’s Treasury, both occupying the site of Henry VIII’s Cockpit, which still remained when No. 96 was painted. Little is known about the brick building; it appears in views by Kip, 1710 and 1720, and in an illustration for J. T. Smith’s “Antiquities of Westminster,” from a picture resembling this. There are also slight sketches of it in vol. ii of Lond. Top. Society’s Records, illustrating a paper by the late Mr. Walter B. Spiers, Soane Curator, who made a special study of Whitehall. In foreground of our view, among bewigged and gaily-apparelled figures, a black woman and a black page are prominent. Lent by Mary, Countess of Ilchester.
90 OLD LONDON BRIDGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FROM SOUTHWARK.
Oil picture. 41 by 27½ in.
View of old London Bridge, of City of London, and part of Southwark, before the Great Fire. In foreground, beginning on west or left side, the following playhouses are shown in their order: the Swan, destroyed about 1633, the Hope or Bear Garden, and the second Globe. The turreted building below the Swan was the old Manor House of Paris Garden. In the reign of Charles I it got a bad reputation, and was called Holland’s Leaguer from a woman who occupied it. The next important building is the hall of the Bishop of Winchester’s house. Then St. Saviour’s, originally church of Priory of St. Mary Overy, and now Southwark Cathedral. Passing bridge, on right, is the church of St. Olave, Tooley Street, replaced by present structure (lately closed) in 1737-39. On Middlesex side, old St. Paul’s has lost its spire, fatally injured by lightning in 1561.
There is no space to describe bridge in detail. Before removal of houses under Act of Parliament 1756, it was most picturesque, but with its many arches, several blocked by mills and waterworks, it checked flow of water, hence freezing of Thames above bridge, frost fairs, and danger of passing through in boat, or “shooting the bridge.” On central pier, projecting to east, was chapel of St. Thomas-à-Becket, with crypt beneath. In foreground is Southwark gatehouse (afterwards rebuilt), with heads of traitors above parapet, a display originally over building farther north, destroyed in 1577.
This picture is clearly not contemporary. It looks like eighteenth century work, founded on an earlier painting, or on such engraved views as Visscher’s (1616) and the small one in Howell’s “Londinopolis” (1657). Lent by the Bank of England.
91 [WESTMINSTER FROM BELOW YORK WATER-GATE.] Plate XXXVIII.
Oil picture. 60 by 31½ in.
Dates from soon after the Restoration. In the foreground to right is York Water-gate, in mid-distance is the Banqueting Hall. Next to that the louvred stone building is undoubtedly the great Hall, Whitehall, also visible in [No. 89]. It was about 100 feet long by 45 feet. Here several of Shakespeare’s plays were acted before Queen Elizabeth; destroyed in fire of 1697, Horse Guards Avenue covers most of the site. Below Westminster Abbey, and projecting into river, is the public landing stage called Whitehall Stairs, with boats attached to it. The site of this is immediately east of the present Horse Guards Avenue. Beyond, but at first glance appearing to be part of same structure, are Privy Stairs, with covered passage. St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Hall, and St. Stephen’s Chapel are grouped together. To extreme left is Lambeth Palace.