No. 28. ENTRANCE TO GREAT ST. HELEN'S.
28. Entrance to Great St. Helen's from Bishopsgate Street, 1891 (Black and white).
When this view was taken, the passage from Bishopsgate Street to Great St. Helen's passed under old buildings which had escaped the Great Fire. The structure on spectator's right was Sir Andrew Judd's almshouse, founded by him in 1551, and rebuilt by the Skinners' Company in 1729. Sir Andrew, who was Lord Mayor and belonged to the Skinners' Company, seems, in this benefaction, to have been merely acting as executor to his cousin Elizabeth, widow of Sir William Hollis. Stow, however, does not mention her name in connection with the charity. Sir Andrew also founded and endowed Tunbridge Grammar School. The almshouse was destroyed about the year 1892, and the old buildings by Bishopsgate Street did not long survive. The building on spectator's left was the modern part of Crosby Hall, swept away in 1907-8.
(1112 × 8316) D. 35-1896.
29. No. 10, Great St. Helen's, 1891 (Black and white).
At the corner of Great St. Helen's, opposite the pretty south porch of the church, by some attributed to Inigo Jones, which has on it the date 1633, stood a quaint old house constructed of wood and plaster, with projecting upper stories and massive timbering, which dated from long before the Great Fire, and at the time of this sketch was, perhaps, the oldest domestic building in the City except Crosby Hall; the inside, however, had been modernised. Tradition boldly asserts that Anne Boleyn's father, Sir Thomas, afterwards Viscount Rochford and Earl of Wiltshire, once lived here. It is an undoubted fact that a kinsman of his name, was intimately connected with St. Helen's, for "on the 24th December, 26th Hen. VIII., 1534, the Prioress and Convent appointed Sir James Bolleyne, Knt., to be steward of their lands and tenements in London and elsewhere, the duties to be performed either by himself or a sufficient deputy during the life of the said James, at a stipend of forty shillings a year, payable at Christmas. If in arrear for six weeks the said James might enter and distrain." This was most likely Sir Thomas Boleyn's elder brother. The house, No. 10, had been much shaken by the removal of Nos. 8 and 9 adjoining. It was propped up for some time, and destroyed in the course of 1894.
(12516 × 5516) D. 33-1896.
30. Old Houses, Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate Street, 1862 (Black and white).
This drawing was made from the passage between Bishopsgate Street and St. Helen's, the view being the reverse of No. 28. The strip of building to the extreme right belonged to the modern part of Crosby Hall, a Gothic mansion unrivalled in its day; but its entrance—No. 1, St. Helen's, is not shown, nor is No. 2—a well-proportioned house with a pretty doorway, dating from the earlier part of the eighteenth century which has also disappeared. The three plastered houses adjoining were pulled down many years ago. The high brick house immediately to their left has so far been spared, and deserves a visit for the sake of its good Georgian staircase. Part of Nos. 8 and 9, already described, is dimly seen through the trees on the left. No. 10 is not visible, being chiefly round the corner, in the lane leading to St. Mary Axe. There was a right of way through here for the public from quite early times; for Dugdale tells us that in the Hundred Roll of 3rd Edward I. several entries occur relating to an attempt which the nuns made to stop up the lane or passage through the court of their priory from Bishopsgate Street to St. Mary Axe. Since 1862 a large piece has been taken from the churchyard, with no apparent advantage to the public.
(8716 × 658) D. 89-1896.