31. Crosby Hall Chambers, Bishopsgate Street, 1891 (Prout's brown).
(7716 × 438) D. 87-1896.
32. Mantelpiece in Crosby Hall Chambers, Bishopsgate Street, 1891 (Pen and ink).
At No. 25, Bishopsgate Street Within, until 1892-93, a house was standing which had been known for years as Crosby Hall Chambers. The front towards the street had no marks of antiquity except two carved festoons of flowers much blocked up by paint, between the first floor windows. The north side, as seen from a passage which is here depicted, appeared to be externally more or less in its original state. Its base was composed of rustic work, the wall being relieved by pilasters. There was a room on the first floor looking out on this passage, which was adorned by a very beautiful carved chimney-piece shown in the second drawing, and now in the Board room of the Bank of Scotland, which stands on the site. It bears the date 1633; the lower part is of stone, the overmantel of oak. Students of work of this period should compare it with a somewhat earlier chimney-piece now in the Guildhall Museum, which was removed from an old mansion in Lime Street now many years ago. There was also at Crosby Hall Chambers a fragment of decorative plaster ceiling. This was acquired by the authorities of the Victoria and Albert Museum. They also have a cast of the chimney-piece.
(11 × 9716) D. 31-1896.
33. Garden of No. 4, Crosby Square, 1891 (Black and white).
Crosby Square, built about the year 1678, is on the site of the offices of Crosby Hall, which had been destroyed by fire. No. 3 was formerly a good specimen of a house of that date. It has been recased with brick, but the handsome doorway is preserved. No. 4 has a fine staircase; its chief distinction, however, was the charming garden at the back, with its fig trees, its thorns, and fountain—a veritable oasis in this wilderness of bricks and mortar. Unfortunately, soon after the removal of Crosby Hall, it was destroyed, and the garden built upon. The south wall of this was mediæval, being composed of good rubble, 3 feet thick, and extending from the present ground level to a depth of 14 feet of made earth. It was part of the original boundary wall of the Crosby precinct. Dr. Nathan Adler, Chief Rabbi, lived here for some years, from 1847 onwards; the garden and basin are marked distinctly in Strype's map of 1720.
(7 × 1034) D. 32-1896.
34. Sir Paul Pindar's House, No. 169, Bishopsgate Street Without, 1890 (Black and white).
In 1890-91 the Great Eastern Railway Company cleared a great space near the Liverpool Street terminus, which involved the removal of the remains of Sir Paul Pindar's house, a beautiful work of art and a unique relic of a great city residence at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The oak front, with its elaborate carved work, is now to be seen in the Museum (West Hall, R. 48). One is thankful that it exists, but of course it was far more interesting while still in its original position. The decorated plaster ceiling from the first floor is also in the Museum. There is a view of the room which contained this ceiling, drawn by J. T. Smith in 1810, which also shows a fine though somewhat grotesque chimney-piece, having on it the date 1600. With other decorative work, it was removed early in the last century, when the room was made what the possessors called "a little comfortable." Doubtless the original mansion included the adjoining house, or its site, and much more besides. This latter house to the left or south, destroyed about the year 1877, contained a good plaster ceiling of more modern style than that already referred to; it is also now in the Museum. There must have been gardens at the back, and a building, with handsome decoration, called "the Lodge," which formerly stood in Half Moon Street, and is figured in Wilkinson's "Londina Illustrata," was said by tradition to have been occupied by the gardener. Sir Paul Pindar was an eminent merchant and diplomatist, who lent great sums of money to Charles I., and gave at least £10,000 for the rebuilding and embellishment of old St. Paul's Cathedral. A tablet to his memory was formerly on the north side of the chancel of St. Botolph's Church, Bishopsgate Street, but of late years it has been banished to an obscure corner in the north vestibule. The inscription runs as follows:—