Near the Adam and Eve was the Cold Bath in the New Road. It was in existence in 1785, when it was advertised[78] as in fine order for the reception of ladies and gentlemen. The bath was situated in the midst of a pleasant garden, and was constantly supplied by a spring running through it. The water was described as serviceable to persons suffering from nervous disorders and dejected spirits.
[Wilkinson’s Londina illust., i. “Tottenhall,” Nos. 92, 93; Hone’s Year Book, p. 47, cp. p. 317; Walford, iv. 477; v. 303 ff.; Palmer’s St. Pancras, p. 204, ff.; Larwood and Hotten, Signboards, 257, 258; Brayley’s Londiniana, ii. p. 165; Cunningham’s London (1850), “Tottenham Court Road”; F. Miller’s St. Pancras, p. 161; Wheatley’s London, “Tottenham Court Road” and “Adam and Eve.”]
VIEWS.
1. The scene of Hogarth’s March to Finchley (see Nichols’s Hogarth, i. 155, ff.) is laid at the Tottenham Court Turnpike, at the south end of the Hampstead Road. On the right is the King’s Head tavern, and on the left the Adam and Eve. The sign of Adam and Eve appears on a post in the road, and Hogarth has inscribed it “Tottenham Court Nursery,” in allusion to Broughton’s amphitheatre for boxing that existed here (see Walford, v. 304).
2. Two views in Wilkinson’s Londina, i. “Remains of the Manor House denominated the lordship of Toten-hall, now vulgarly called Tottenham Court, and occupied by the Adam and Eve Tea House and Gardens.” Shepherd del., Wise sculp. (published 1813). Beneath this is a plan of the vicinity marking Eden Street, ii. Part of the Adam and Eve coffee rooms, Hampstead Road, J. Carter del., Wise sculp. (published 1811).
3. A woodcut in Hone’s Year Book, p. 47, of the Adam and Eve (before 1825), substantially the same as Wilkinson’s second view. The views in Wilkinson and Hone show the Adam and Eve in its altered condition after the proprietor Greatorex (end of eighteenth century?) had made an addition to the tavern, fronting the New Road.
THE PEERLESS POOL
The Peerless Pool should, in strictness, be described in a history of sports and pastimes, but as a pleasant summer resort, an oasis in the regions of Old Street and the City Road, it must be allowed a place in the present volume.
In ground immediately behind St. Luke’s Hospital (built 1782–84), Old Street, was one of the ancient London springs which had formed, by its overflowings, a dangerous pond, referred to,[79] as early as 1598, as the “clear water called Perillous Pond, because divers youths by swimming therein have been drowned.”
In the seventeenth century it was apparently resorted to for the favourite amusement of duck-hunting: “Push, let your boy lead his water spaniel along, and we’ll show you the bravest sport at Parlous Pond” (Middleton’s Roaring Girl, 1611).