Attached to the ancient Palace of Westminster was the beautiful Chapel of St. Stephen, built by the Norman monarch of that name, and rebuilt by Edward I. It was destroyed by fire in 1298, and was again rebuilt during the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III., and completed in 1363 in the glorious beauty of the architecture of that period. All that now remains is the crypt or lower chapel, but the building in its original state consisted of the chapel, with vestibule, crypt, cloister, and a small oratory with chantry above. The walls were adorned with sculptures and highly artistic paintings, illustrating scenes from Scripture narratives. The endowments of the collegiate establishment, as settled by Edward III., were of a like sumptuous character. The yearly revenues amounted at the Dissolution to nearly £1100, which provided for the maintenance of a dean, twelve secular canons, twelve vicars, four clerks, and six choristers, besides minor officials.
Between the years 1389 and 1391 the office of Clerk of the Works at the Palace of Westminster was held by Geoffrey Chaucer, who also had charge of the works at the Tower and at the mews near Charing Cross. Rather more than eighty years later Westminster received the new distinction of being the home of William Caxton, the father of English printing.
Yet another building of great historic interest, happily still preserved, is the stately and venerable Westminster Hall. Built originally by William Rufus as a royal banqueting-hall, it has served this purpose at the coronations of our English sovereigns down to the reign of George IV. Here occurred one of the strangest and most picturesque events in our national history. Henry II., with the assent of a general assembly of his subjects, caused his son Henry to be crowned in his own lifetime. The feast in the great hall presented a striking scene. The old king himself waited on his son at the table as server, bringing up the boar’s head with trumpets before it in the accustomed manner. His son, however, predeceased him.
Henry III. was specially distinguished for his royal hospitality. On St. Edward’s Day (January 5th), 1241-2, he feasted, we are told, an innumerable multitude, among whom were the citizens of London. The latter would seem to have been somewhat unwilling guests, as they were subjected by royal edict to a penalty of one hundred shillings if they stayed away. On another occasion, the marriage of his brother, Richard, earl of Cornwall, Henry ordered thirty thousand dishes to be prepared for the banquet. A more pleasing feature of this monarch’s hospitality was his generous entertainment of the poor, who crowded the Hall and its apartments year after year on the day of St. Edward, his patron saint. The great size and imposing appearance of Westminster Hall naturally led to its use for public assemblies of an extraordinary character. Here the Parliament frequently met before the division into two houses, and the Lords continued to assemble in it for some time after. Here Edward III. received his august prisoner, John, King of France, whom the Black Prince had escorted in a triumphal procession through London.
Edward’s grandson and successor, Richard II., rebuilt the Hall, and covered it with its wonderful roof. The Hall, as we have said, was the scene of the unfortunate Richard’s deposition, and the successful claim of his rival, Henry of Lancaster, to succeed him on the throne. In later years Westminster Hall has been the scene of a memorable series of state trials, which occupy so large a part of its traditions.
Besides the Palace of Westminster and the fortress abode of the Tower of London, there were within the City of London other places which were frequently used as royal residences. One of the most celebrated of these was Castle Baynard, which was built by Baynard, a follower of the Conqueror. Reverting to the Crown in 1111 by forfeiture, it was granted to Robert Fitz-Richard, son of Gilbert, Earl of Clare. In 1198 the castle came by hereditary succession into the hands of Robert Fitz-Walter, who took a conspicuous part in the Barons’ Wars in the time of King John. At a later time Castle Baynard was held by its lords, the Fitz-Walters, subject to a military service due to the City of London.
The Lord of Baynard’s Castle was the Chatelain and Banner-bearer of the City, and as such a later Robert Fitz-Walter on 12th March, 1303, acknowledged his service for his Castle Baynard before Sir Robert Blunt, Lord Mayor of London. The City, in return, granted important rights and privileges to their great vassal, Fitz-Walter. These comprised, as we learn from Stow, a limited jurisdiction within his hereditary soke of Castle Baynard, and a high military command in time of war. The old chronicler gives a picturesque description of the formal greeting offered to their leader by the assembled citizens. The scene forms the subject of one of the modern tapestries decorating the saloon of the Mansion House.
“The said Robert ought to come, he being the twentieth man of arms on horseback, unto the great west door of St. Paul, with his banner displayed before him of his arms. And when he is come to the said door, mounted and apparelled as before is said, the Mayor with his Aldermen and Sheriffs, armed in their arms, shall come out of the said Church of St. Paul unto the said door, with a banner in his hand, all on foot; which banner shall be gules, the image of St. Paul, gold; the face, hands, feet, and sword of silver. And as soon as the said Robert shall see the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs come on foot out of the church, armed with such a banner, he shall alight from his horse and salute the Mayor, and say to him, ‘Sir Mayor, I am come to do my service, which I owe the City.’ And the Mayor and Aldermen shall answer, ‘We give to you, as to our Banneret of Fee in this city, the banner of this city to bear and govern to the honour and profit of this city, to your power.’ And the said Robert, and his heirs, shall receive the banner in his hands, and go on foot out of the gate, with the banner in his hands; and the Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs shall follow to the door, and shall bring an horse to the said Robert, worth twenty pounds, which horse shall be saddled with a saddle of the arms of the said Robert, and shall be covered with sindals of the said arms. Also they shall present to him twenty pounds sterling, and deliver it to the chamberlain of the said Robert, for his expenses that day.” The Banneret then sets forth and desires the Mayor to cause a marshal, “one of the city,” to be chosen for the host, and the citizens to assemble and all go under the banner of St. Paul. If they should go out of the city, then Fitz-Walter was to choose two out of every ward, the most sage persons, to look to the keeping of the city. Lastly, for every siege which the host of London should lay against town or castle, the said Robert shall have one hundred shillings and no more. Baynard’s Castle passed from the hands of the Fitz-Walters and came into the possession of the celebrated “Duke Humphrey,” on whose attainder it was seized by the Crown, and, as we have already said, became one of the royal places of abode within the city.
Close by Baynard’s Castle to the west, and at the mouth of the river Fleet, stood the palace of Bridewell, still more famous as a royal residence, of which we have already written.
Old Whitehall, with its Tennis Yard and Cock Pit, belongs, in its royal splendour, to later times, although it existed, under another name, from an early period. It was originally built by Hubert de Burgh, the great justiciary of the reign of Henry III. From him it passed, through an intermediate grant, into the possession of Walter de Grey, archbishop of York, who purchased it in 1248. It then became, and long continued, the London house of the See of York, and was known as York House. Wolsey was its last archiepiscopal owner, and had to surrender it to his imperious master, Henry VIII., by whom, and his royal successors, it was occupied as a palace until its destruction by fire in 1698.