Opposite St. Andrew's Church was formerly Scrope's Inn. According to Stow,
"This house was sometime letten out to sergeants-at-the-law, as appeareth, and was found by inquisition taken in the Guildhall of London, before William Purchase, mayor, and escheator for the king, Henry VII., in the 14th of his reign, after the death of John Lord Scrope, that he died deceased in his demesne of fee, by the feoffment of Guy Fairfax, knight, one of the king's justices, made in the 9th of the same king, unto the said John Scrope, knight, Lord Scrope of Bolton, and Robert Wingfield, esquire, of one house or tenement late called Sergeants' Inn, situate against the Church of St. Andrew in Oldbourne, in the city of London, with two gardens and two messuages to the same tenement belonging to the said city, to hold in burgage, valued by the year in all reprises ten shillings" (Thomas's edit. Stow, p. 144).
This, as may be judged from the above, was not a regular Inn of Chancery, but appertained to Serjeants' Inn.
Crossing Holborn Circus to the north side, we come into the Liberty of Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, and Ely Rents. This Liberty, is coterminous with the parish of St. Peter, Saffron Hill. Hatton Garden derives its name from the family of Hatton, who for many years held possession of house and grounds in the vicinity of Ely Place, having settled upon the Bishops of Ely like parasites, and grown rich by extortion from their unwilling hosts. The district was separated from St. Andrew's in 1832, and became an independent ecclesiastical parish seven years later. As the Liberty of Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, and Ely Rents, it has a very ancient history. It was cut in two by a recent Boundary Commission, and put half in Holborn and half in Finsbury Borough Councils.
Ely Place was built in 1773 on the site of the Palace of the Bishops of Ely. The earliest notice of the See in connection with this spot is in the thirteenth century, when Kirkby, who died in office in 1290, bequeathed to his official successors a messuage and nine cottages in Holborn. A succeeding Bishop, probably William de Luda, built a chapel dedicated to St. Ethelreda, and Hotham, who died in 1336, added a garden, orchard, and vineyard. Thomas Arundel restored the chapel, and built a large gate-house facing Holborn. The episcopal dwelling steadily rose in magnificence and size. It boasted noble residents besides the Bishops, for John of Gaunt died here in 1399, having probably been hospitably taken in after the burning of his own palace at the Savoy. The strawberries of Ely Garden were famous, and Shakespeare makes reference to them, thus following closely Holinshed. But in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a blight fell on the Bishops. It began with the envious desires of Sir Christopher Hatton, who, by reason of his dancing and courtly tricks, had won the susceptible Queen's fancy and been made Lord Chancellor. He settled down on Ely Place, taking the gate-house as his residence, excepting the two rooms reserved as cells and the lodge. He held also part of the garden on a lease of twenty-one years, and the nominal rent he had to pay was a red rose, ten loads of hay, and £10 per annum. The Bishop had the right of passing through the gate-house, of walking in his own garden, and of gathering twenty bushels of roses yearly. Hatton spent much money (borrowed from the Queen) in improving and beautifying the estate, which pleased him so well that he farther petitioned the Queen to grant him the whole property. The poor, ill-used Bishop protested, but was sternly repressed, and the only concession he could obtain was the right to buy back the estate if he could at any time repay Hatton the sums which had been spent on it. But Hatton did not remain unpunished. The Queen, a hard creditor, demanded the immense sums which she had lent to him, and it is said he died of a broken heart, crushed at being unable to repay them. His nephew Newport, who took the name of Hatton, was, however, allowed to succeed him. The widow of this second Hatton married Sir Edward Coke, the ceremony being performed in St. Andrew's Church. The Bishops' and the Hattons' rights of property seem to have been somewhat involved, for after the death of this widow the Bishops returned, and in the beginning of the eighteenth century the Hatton property was saddled with an annual rent-charge of £100 payable to the See; and, in 1772, when, on the death of the last Hatton heir, the property fell to the Crown, the See was paid £200 per annum, and given a house in Dover Street, Piccadilly, in lieu of Ely Place. Malcolm says: "When a more convenient Excise Office was lately wanted, the ground on which Ely House stood was thought of for it, but its situation was objected to. When an intention was formed of removing the Fleet Prison, Ely House was judged proper on account of the quantity of ground about it, but the neighbouring inhabitants in Hatton Garden petitioned against the prison being built there. A scheme is now (1773) said to be in agitation for converting it into a Stamp Office, that business being at present carried on in chambers in Lincoln's Inn." So much for the history and ownership of a place which played a considerable part in London history. The fabric itself must have been very magnificent. There was a venerable hall 74 feet long, with six Gothic windows. At Ely House were held magnificent feasts by the Serjeants-at-Law, one of which continued for five days, and was honoured on the first day by the presence of Henry VIII. and Katherine of Aragon. Stow's account of this festival is perhaps worth quoting:
"It were tedious to set down the preparation of fish, flesh, and other victuals spent in this feast, and would seem almost incredible, and, as to me it seemeth, wanted little of a feast at a coronation; nevertheless, a little I will touch, for declaration of the charge of prices. There were brought to the slaughter-house twenty-four great beefs at twenty-six shillings and eightpence the piece from the shambles, one carcass of an ox at twenty-four shillings, one hundred fat muttons two shillings and tenpence the piece, fifty-two great veals at four shillings and eightpence the piece, thirty-four porks three shillings and eightpence the piece, ninety-one pigs sixpence the piece, capons of geese, of one poulterer (for they had three), ten dozens at twenty-pence the piece, capons of Kent nine dozens and six at twelvepence the piece, capons coarse nineteen dozen at sixpence the piece, cocks of grose seven dozen and nine at eightpence the piece, cocks coarse fourteen dozen and eight at threepence the piece, pullets, the best, twopence halfpenny, other pullets twopence, pigeons thirty-seven dozen at tenpence the dozen, swans fourteen dozen, larks three hundred and forty dozen at fivepence the dozen, &c. Edward Nevill was seneschal or steward, Thomas Ratcliffe, comptroller, Thomas Wildon, clerk of the Kitchen" (Thomas's edit. Stow, pp. 144, 145).
During the Civil War the house was used both as a hospital and a prison. Great part of it was demolished during the imprisonment of Bishop Wren by the Commonwealth, and some of the surrounding streets were built on the site of the garden. Vine Street, Hatton Garden, Saffron Hill, of which the lower end was once Field Lane, carry their origin in their names. Evelyn, writing June 7, 1659, says that he came to see the "foundations now laying for a long streete and buildings on Hatton Garden, designed for a little towne, lately an ample garden." The chapel, dedicated to St. Ethelreda, now alone remains. It was for a time held by a Welsh Episcopalian congregation, but in 1874 was obtained by Roman Catholics, the Welsh congregation passing on to St. Benet's, on St. Benet's Hill in Thames Street. The chapel stands back from the street, and is faced by a stone wall and arched porch surmounted by a cross. This stonework is all modern. An entrance immediately facing the porch leads into the crypt, which is picturesque with old stone walls and heavily-timbered roof. This is by far the older part of the building, the chapel above being a rebuilding on the same foundation. The crypt probably dates back from the first foundation of De Luda, and the chapel from the restoration of Arundel. When the Roman Catholics came into possession, the late Sir Gilbert Scott was employed in a thorough restoration, during which a heavy stone bowl, about the size of a small font, was dug up. It is of granite, and is supposed to be of considerably more ancient date than the fabric itself, being pre-Saxon. From the size, it is improbable it was used as a font, being more likely a holy-water stoup, for which purpose it is now employed. Having been placed on a fitting shaft, it stands outside the entrance to the church, on the south side, in the cloister, which is probably on the site of the ancient cloister. There is a simple Early English porch, beautifully proportioned with mouldings of the period. Within the church corresponds in shape with the crypt; two magnificent windows east and west are worthy of a much larger building. Those on each side are of recent date, having been reconstructed from a filled-in window on the south side of the chancel. The reliquary contains a great treasure—a portion of the hand of St. Ethelreda, which member, having been taken from the chapel, after many wanderings, fell into the possession of a convent of nuns, who refused to give it up. Finally judgment was given to the effect that the nuns should retain a portion, while the part of a finger was granted to the church, which was accordingly done. It was this saint who gave rise to our word "tawdry." She was popularly known as St. Awdrey, and strings of beads sold in her name at fairs, etc., came to be made of any worthless glass or rubbish, and were called tawdry. The crypt is used as a regular church, and is filled with seats; service is held here as well as above.
The timber beams in the roof are now (1903) undergoing thorough restoration, and the outer walls of the chapel are being repointed.
From this quaint relic of past times, rich with the indefinable attraction which nothing but a history of centuries can give, we pass out into Ely Place. This is a quiet cul-de-sac composed almost wholly of the offices of business men, solicitors, etc. At the north end, beyond the chapel, the old houses are down, and new ones will be erected in their place. At the end a small watchman's lodge stands on the spot where stood the Bishops' Gateway, in which the parasite, Sir Christopher Hatton, first fastened on his host.