Nooks and Corners of Old London

by Charles Hemstreet; Marie Mumford Meinell Hemstreet

The great inner square of the present Somerset House covers vaults built into the cellars forming tombs in which lie many a favourite of King James I. and King Charles I. But though the building has the same name all else is changed and it is not the same Somerset House which represented the height of political and kingly grandeur. At the time of the Reformation on the Strand by the river were palaces of the Bishops of Landaff, Chester and Worcester, and these palaces were torn down by "The Protector" the Earl of Somerset uncle of Edward VI. On their site in 1549 he had Somerset House built. But the lives of nobles were brief in those days and Somerset was beheaded in 1552 before the completion of his palace which became Crown property. James I. gave the mansion to his queen Anne of Denmark and she called it Denmark House. When Charles I. came to the throne Queen Henrietta Maria lived in Somerset's palace and liked it so well it was her home for many years. In the reign of Charles II., Somerset House passed to Queen Catherine of Braganza. It was here that Inigo Jones died, and here that at different times lay in state the bodies of Anne of Denmark, James I. and Oliver Cromwell. In 1775 when Buckingham House in St. James' Park was purchased for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III., to replace Somerset, the home of many famous folk was destroyed. Then the present structure was erected and since that time has been used for various offices of State, requiring an army of Government clerks and officials.

Midway between the Strand and the river, closed in by buildings and reached by winding ways of which Savoy Street is one, is the Savoy Church, the only reminder of the great palace which stood in this domain of the House of Savoy. In 1246 Henry III. granted to his wife's uncle Peter of Savoy certain land along the Thames. On this land Peter of Savoy built a palace outside the City walls between the road called the Strand and the River Thames. When he died in 1268, bequeathing his Palace of Savoy in London to the reverent friars of Montjoy, they in turn sold the palace to Queen Eleanor. She left it to her son Edmund of Lancaster. After that it became the headquarters of the Duchy of Lancaster and is much to be read of until 1381 when it was destroyed by the followers of Wat Tyler. Henry IV. came into possession of the Duchy of Lancaster on the death of John of Gaunt and in this roundabout way the present Savoy Church became a "Chapel Royal." From 1381 the year of its demolishment until 1509 it was little more than a ruin. In 1509 Henry VII. founded a hospital for the poor on the site—a group of buildings directly on the river. This was finally dissolved in 1702, and the buildings, used for various purposes, gradually vanished until now only the chapel remains. This has been restored many times but much of it is the same—part of the Lancastrian palace of Savoy.

A great modern hostelry, the Savoy Hotel, stands on part of the site of the old Palace of Savoy and the statue over the entrance is that of Count Peter of Savoy former owner of the palace.

On the north side of the Strand between Burleigh and Exeter streets and on ground now occupied by a popular restaurant was Exeter House, the home of the great statesman William Cecil, Lord Burleigh. Queen Elizabeth visited here and on his explaining that he was unable to stand in her presence, "because of the badness of my legs," the queen graciously replied: "We do not make use of you, My Lord, for the badness of your legs, but for the goodness of your head." The famous Exeter Hall occupied this site later, but was demolished in 1908.

In York Street, laid out in the 17th century, on the south side at No. 4 Thomas De Quincey lived and wrote "The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater;" a gruesome chronicle much read and said to be partly autobiographical. A sadness seems to hang about the place, especially when it is "To be Let," with gaping windows and desolate brick front.

For a century Bow Street has been closely associated with the chief police court of London where many famous criminals have ended their days of liberty. Wycherley the dramatist lived here, when he lay ill, and Charles II. came to him and gave him the five hundred pounds that took him to the south of France in search of health.

Grinling Gibbons, also had his home in Bow Street. A remarkable carver in wood, whose work adorns many of the London church interiors, he was an unknown worker in a small English town when John Evelyn the 17th century writer and diarist discovered him and placed his work before King Charles II. But in London Gibbons' art was not at first recognized and he had a struggle for existence. In time however he became master carver to the Court, an appointment which lasted until the reign of George I. The subjects of his carvings were usually flowers, foliage, birds and lace and they are remarkable for their delicacy of finish and naturalness. He also finished many works in bronze and marble.

In a house standing where the Bow Street police station is now Henry Fielding wrote "Tom Jones" in 1749,—a story famous as a picture of the times and undoubtedly containing much autobiography.

At the northwest corner of Russell Street where it touches Bow, stood Will's Coffee House, where from 1660 on for fifty years the literary life of London centred. The coffee house was named for William Urwin, the original owner. Dryden spent his dinner hours here for 35 years and was the acknowledged leader of literary fashion until his death in 1700. This, too, was the favourite house of Wycherley and Congreve the dramatists.