Hampstead and Marylebone Part 5

Manchester Square was begun in 1776 by the building of Manchester House on the north side, but the house was not finished until 1788. It was built for the Duke of Manchester, but was afterwards the residence of the Spanish Amba.s.sador. The Roman Catholic chapel in Spanish Place was built during the Emba.s.sy from designs by Bonomi. It was restored in 1832, but has been replaced by a large church in the next street, and its site is now covered by high red-brick flats. The French Emba.s.sy succeeded the Spanish, but was withdrawn at the time of the last Revolution. The Marquis of Hertford afterwards occupied the house, and called it after himself. He was succeeded by Sir Richard Wallace, who built immense picture galleries round the garden at the back, enclosing it in a quadrangle. He almost rebuilt the house, and at his death left his famous collection of pictures and curios, which were brought here from the Bethnal Green Museum, to be eventually bequeathed to the nation, which was done on the death of Lady Wallace.

North Street leads us into a network of small slums, and Paradise Street opens into a public recreation ground, laid out with trees and shrubs, where the children play among sombre altar-tombs of a past generation.

This was formerly a cemetery, consecrated in 1733, and the Marylebone historian, Smith, says that more than 80,000 persons have been interred in it. Of the names he gives--country gentlemen, baronets, captains, etc.--none are now remembered. George III.'s master-cook and Princess Amelia's bedchamber woman are of little interest to us of the twentieth century. The only men here buried who can claim a faint degree of posthumous fame are Canning, father of the great statesman, and Bonomi the architect.

The cemetery on the north side of Paddington Street was consecrated much later, in 1772. In this also there is little of present interest.

Stephen Riou, one of Nelson's captains, killed in action at Copenhagen, deserves mention, but the others have no public memory. The Mortuary and Coroner's Court stand near the ground, of which the greater part is attached to the workhouse for the benefit of the inmates.

Paddington Street was built about the time of the consecration of the northern graveyard. It is in the centre of a poor district, and has nothing to commend it. There is a mission-house and an Industrial Home for Dest.i.tute Boys.

In Northumberland Street stands the workhouse, built about 1775, and adjoining is a solid, well-built stone edifice containing the offices of the Guardians of the Poor. At the north-east corner of the street is the Cripples' Home and Industrial School for Girls. The inmates are taught sewing, basket-making, and are educated, clothed, and boarded.

MARYLEBONE CHURCH.--William de Sancta Maria, who was Bishop of London in the reign of King John, appropriated the church at Tybourn to the Priory of St. Lawrence de Blakemore in Ess.e.x, but with the reservation of a maintenance for a vicar. In 1525 the Priory suffered the fate of its fellows, and the King seized the control of Tybourn Church. He pa.s.sed it on to Wolsey, with license to appropriate it to the Dean and Canons of Christ Church. At Wolsey's request they granted it to the master and scholars of his old college at Ipswich. When the Cardinal was disgraced the King resumed the Rectory, and in 1552 granted it to Thomas Reve and George Cotton. Before 1650 it came into the possession of the Forset family, from which time its history has been identified with that of the manor.

The ancient church stood at what is now the Oxford Street end of Marylebone Lane, and on account of "its lonely situation" was repeatedly robbed and despoiled. In 1400 the inhabitants made a pet.i.tion to the then Bishop of London, Robert Braybrooke, to remove it to a more advantageous situation. This was granted, and license given them to erect a new church of "stones or flints" at the place where they had recently built a chapel. The former church had been dedicated to St.

John the Evangelist; the new one was dedicated to St. Mary. The spot on which it was built is the same on which the old parish church now stands, near the top of High Street.

This church is described as having been a "mean edifice." It was the original of the church delineated by Hogarth in the marriage of the rake, in his famous "Rake's Progress." This series was published in 1735, and the church was then in a ruinous condition. It was subsequently pulled down and rebuilt (1741) in the form in which it now stands, with the exception of some slight alterations. In a curious diary in the Harleian MSS. collection it is stated that the Rev.

Randolph Ford, curate of Marylebone between 1711 and 1724, on one Sunday "married six couples, then read the whole of the prayers and preached; after that churched six women; in the afternoon read prayers and preached; christened thirty-two children, six at home, the rest at the font; buried thirteen corpses, read the distinct service over each of them separately--and all this done by nine o'clock at night."

The only ancient charity connected with the church is a bread bequest left by Thomas Verley in 1692. He left 50, the interest to be spent in bread, twelve penny loaves to be given to the poor every Sunday. This ceremony is still observed, but the value of the money has increased, so that 5s. worth of bread is distributed every Sunday after service. The mural tablets and monuments on the walls of the church are of some interest and of great variety. The earliest dates back to 1644. The Viscountess Ossington about ten or twelve years ago had them all restored at her own expense.

Among the entries in the register are: J. Michael Rysbach, buried January 11, 1770; Allan Ramsay, buried August 18, 1784; Rev. Charles Wesley, buried April 5, 1788. Horatia, daughter of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, was baptized here, and also Lord Byron.

About 1770 the necessity for providing increased church accommodation became apparent, and it was first proposed to erect the new building on the north side of Paddington Street, where Mr. Portman offered a site.

This land was afterwards used for a burial-ground. The next suggestion was for a site to the north of Portland Place, but this was also abandoned. Finally, the present site to the north of the old church was secured after many delays. Mr. Thomas Hardwicke (a pupil of Sir W.

Chambers) was the architect of the new church, which was designed at first to be merely a chapel of ease. The first stone was laid July 5, 1813; when the building was finished it was resolved to make it the parish church, and the old church the chapel of ease. Accordingly, this was done by Act of Parliament, and the new church consecrated on February 4, 1817. In this church Robert Browning was married in 1846.

The building is of great size, seating over 1,400 people. The front is ornamented by an immense portico with six Corinthian columns, and the building is surmounted by a high belfry tower. In 1883-84 a thorough investigation of the church took place. The interior was restored in the Italian Renaissance style, the architect employed being T. Harris. An apse was added and other alterations made. The necessary funds were raised by a bazaar held in the Portman Rooms, Baker Street, in which all the features of the old Marylebone Gardens were reproduced. Close beside the church are the Central National Schools of St. Marylebone, with a higher grade Technical School for boys and girls opening on to the High Street. The latter building overlooks the graveyard filled with h.o.a.ry tombstones.

At the top of High Street, in the Marylebone Road, formerly stood a turnpike, otherwise there is little to remark on in High Street. It has fallen from its former importance, and is a dingy, uninteresting thoroughfare with poor shops. This, being one of the older streets, follows a tortuous course, in contrast with more modern streets westward. We are now at the nucleus of the old village of Marylebone.

Nearly opposite to the old church was the manor-house, and its site can be fixed accurately; it was at the end of the present Devonshire Place mews, and is incorrectly described in one or two books as having been on the site of Devonshire mews, which would take it out of the High Street altogether.

This manor-house was originally a royal palace, built by Henry VIII., doubtless as a kind of hunting-lodge for the adjacent Marylebone Park, as Regent's Park was then called.

It is said to have been visited by Mary and Elizabeth, and as there are authentic records of the latter Queen's entertainment of the Russian Amba.s.sador here, the statement is probably true. The house was rebuilt and considerably altered when it became the manor-house at a later date, but after having borne this t.i.tle for many years it was let as a school in 1703, and was pulled down in 1791.

Another house about 100 yards south of this in the High Street has often been confounded with it (the manor-house), but this was built by Edward Harley, second Earl of Oxford, for the reception of the famous Harleian collection of MSS., begun by his father and continued by himself. When this collection was purchased by the British Museum the house, known as Oxford House, became a boarding-school for girls. The grounds stretched out at the back, covering the s.p.a.ce now occupied by Beaumont Street, Devonshire Place, and part of Devonshire Street. Some time before the house became a school these grounds were detached, and a noted bowling-green was established here. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's sharp remark in reference to this, "Some Dukes at Marylebone bowl time away,"

has often been quoted. There was close to the green a noted tavern called the Rose of Normandy. This is supposed to have been built in the early half of the seventeenth century, and was a well-known resort of gamesters and idlers. Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, against whom Lady Mary's sally was princ.i.p.ally directed, is said to have spent much of his time there. He used to give a dinner to his a.s.sociates at the end of the season, and his parting toast was, "May as many of us as remain unhanged meet here again next spring." In a plan of the Duke of Portland's estate in 1708 two bowling-greens are shown, one in the gardens at the back of the manor-house, and one behind the tavern. Both of these bowling-greens were afterwards incorporated into the famous Marylebone Gardens.

These Gardens were entered through the tavern above mentioned, and were opened before 1737; up to that date the public had free access, but afterwards were admitted only on payment of one shilling, for which, however, they received an equivalent of "tea before eight o'clock," or "half a pint of wine during the concert." There was a theatre in the Gardens, in which b.a.l.l.s, concerts, and scenic displays took place. The musical department was for some time under the direction of Dr. Arne, and the fireworks under Signor Torre. An allegorical play was performed on June 4, 1772, in honour of the King's birthday.

In 1778 the Gardens were closed, complaints having been made by the inhabitants as to the danger of fire from the fireworks. Pepys mentions the Gardens as "a pretty place," and John Locke records "bowling at Marebone and Putney by persons of quality." These Gardens formed the scene of McHeath's debauchery in the "Beggars' Opera." Devonshire Place, built on the site, is a fine wide street.

Almost opposite to the church, on the north side of the Marylebone Road, is the Charity School for Girls, a large, well-built edifice, which stands back behind a high brick wall. An inscription on this wall proclaims "St. Marylebone Charity School for the maintenance and education of the daughters of poor inhabitants. Supported solely by voluntary contributions. Founded 1750. Moved to this date 1838."

In 1750 a few benevolent gentlemen inaugurated the scheme, and at first its benefits were open to boys and girls alike. In 1754 the Dowager Countess of Oxford, having granted a piece of land in High Street for the term of 999 years at peppercorn rent, the school house was erected.

The numbers of the children varied according to the income. In 1829 it was considered advisable to devote the charity exclusively to girls, and the boys were dispersed. In 1838 the present schoolhouse was built on ground leased from the Duke of Portland. P. Hardwicke was the architect, and the result is entirely satisfactory.

The girls enter at ten, or two years earlier if they are paying pupils, and remain till sixteen. They make everything for themselves at the school excepting hats and boots, and do all their own domestic work, the kitchen and laundry being under the superintendence of a cook and laundress. Large orders of needlework are executed, but the mornings are devoted to bookwork.

They still wear the picturesque dress of the time of the establishment of the foundation. On Sundays they are dressed in brown frocks with elbow sleeves and mittens, and wear white fichus and ap.r.o.ns and snowy Dutch caps, like the children of the Foundling Hospital. The building is on the site of Marylebone Park House, an old house, parts of which the architect has incorporated into its successor; a handsome oak floor and marble mantelpiece of the Queen Anne period are to be seen in the board-room. At its southern end High Street bifurcates, becoming Thayer Street and Marylebone Lane.

In 1839 Charles d.i.c.kens came to a large house in Devonshire Terrace, facing York Gate. This was his home for eleven years, during which appeared "Martin Chuzzlewit," "Dombey and Son," "David Copperfield," and many minor works.

Marylebone Lane is a narrow, crooked street on the site of a real lane, which followed the windings of the Tyburn and overhung its left bank. At the south end stood the ancient parish church already referred to. The fact of the churchyard having surrounded the church was proved by the number of bones and human remains dug up at the foundation of the Court House. This Court House stands in a wedge-shaped block. It is now superseded by the larger Court House in Marylebone Road. The Vestry offices were in this block which was originally built in 1729, and rebuilt in 1804. It is a plain brick building, with a clock dial set in a triangular pediment. It adjoins the site of the old Watch House on ground where the parish pound stood formerly. A stone let into the adjacent building records "A.D. MDCCXXIX St. Marylebone Watch House,"

and is surmounted by a coat of arms. It is curious to reflect that not so very long ago, as men count time in history, the little lonely church stood here on the brink of a stream and surrounded by fields.

Marylebone Lane is now a very poor and squalid district.

In 1237 one, Gilbert Sandeford, obtained leave to convey water to the City from the Tyburn, and laid down leaden pipes, the first recorded instance of their use for this purpose in England. Once a year the Mayor and Corporation visited the head of their conduits, and afterwards held a banquet in the Banqueting House in Stratford Place. "The Lord Mayor and Aldermen and many worshipful persons rode to the conduit heads to see them, according to the old custom; and then they went and hunted a hare before dinner and killed her, and thence went to dinner at the Banqueting House at the head of the conduit, where a great number were handsomely entertained by their Chamberlain. After dinner they went to hunt the fox. There was a great cry for a mile, and at length the hounds killed him at the end of St. Giles with a great holloaing and blowing of horns at his death, and thence the Lord Mayor with all his company rode through London to his place in Lombard Street" (Strype). The Banqueting House was demolished in 1737, long after Sir Hugh Myddelton's scheme (1618) for supplying London with water from the New River had rendered the Marylebone conduits unnecessary.

Stratford Place is a cul-de-sac opening out of Oxford Street. It was built about 1774 by Lord Stratford, the Earl of Aldborough, and others.

It was Lord Stratford who built Aldborough House in this place, before which General Strode erected a column to commemorate the naval victories of England. The column, which was a Corinthian one surmounted by a statue of George III., fell in 1805, eight years after its erection. The house in Stratford Place was subsequently occupied by the Duke of St.

Alban's, Prince Esterhazy, and others.

Vere Street was called after the Veres, Earls of Oxford. The western district post-office is situated here, and at the north end is the little Church of St. Peter's, formerly called Oxford Chapel. T. Smith says this was considered one of the most beautiful structures in the Metropolis; taste has altered considerably since those days. It is a small squat building erected in 1724 by Gibbs. In 1832 it was altered, redecorated internally, and named St. Peter's.

The marriage of the Duke of Portland with the heiress of the Newcastle and Oxford families took place here in 1734. The Rev. F. D. Maurice was a former inc.u.mbent.

Henrietta Street was named after Henrietta, heiress of the Duke of Newcastle; and Welbeck Street, after Welbeck, the Duke of Portland's seat in Nottinghamshire. It was one of the earliest built after Cavendish Square, and shares in the prevailing medical element of the district. The West End Hospital is on the west side, next door to Welbeck Hall, used by the Plymouth Brethren. At the upper end of the street is the Russian Emba.s.sy and chapel.

Wigmore Street is wide and lined by good shops. It was called after Wigmore Castle, the ancient seat of the Harleys, Earls of Oxford. This was one of the first streets to be built after Cavendish Square; it was burned in 1729, but rebuilt.

Wimpole and Harley Streets are long, dreary arteries which give the impression of having been cut out of cardboard. At Nos. 43 to 45 is now Queen's College, and next door is the Governesses' Home and Registration Office. The College was first established in 1848. It owed its origin partly to the Governesses' Benevolent Inst.i.tution, and partly to the exertions of the Rev. F. D. Maurice and the Rev. C. G. Nicolay. The first object was to a.s.sist governesses to obtain certificates of efficiency, but this is no longer the primary object. The College occupies two fine old houses thrown into one; but though the picturesque ceilings and staircases add to its interest, the narrow pa.s.sages and turnings are inconvenient. The names of Kingsley, Maurice, Trench, of Sterndale Bennett and of Hullah, a.s.sociated with its early development, are sufficient to give the foundation exceptional interest.

South of Weymouth Street is a poor, squalid district. In this is Westmorland Street, where stands St. James's Chapel. This was built in 1774, and was first called t.i.tchfield Chapel, and subsequently Welbeck Chapel, before it gained its present name. It was thoroughly restored in 1869-77. Externally, the chapel has no architectural beauty, but inside a richly-coloured Burne-Jones window, placed so low as to give the impression of an altar-piece, lights up the building.

Cavendish Square is the nucleus from which all the surrounding streets have radiated. The ground was laid out in 1717, when the circular garden in the centre was designed. For a time the name of the Square wavered between Oxford and Cavendish, and it was referred to indiscriminately as one or the other; but at length the present name gained favour. An equestrian statue of the Duke of c.u.mberland, presented by General Strode, formerly stood in the garden. At the southern end there is a bronze statue of Lord George Bentinck by Campbell. James Brydges, Duke of Chandos, formed a design for building in the Square a princely residence, and he took the whole of the north side for a site. He had ama.s.sed a large fortune as Paymaster in Queen Anne's reign, and he intended to purchase all the property between this spot and Edgware, so that he might ride from town to country over his own domain. But only a part of his palace was ever completed. The two similar buildings still standing on each side of Dean's Mews were designed for lodges. One of the wings was occupied for a time by Princess Amelia, aunt to George III., and subsequently by the Earl of Hopetown. This has since been demolished. One of these is now a convent of the nuns of the Holy Child Jesus.

On the west side of the Square is Portland House, a heavy stone edifice of great size standing back behind a high brick wall. The stables and grounds connected with it stretch through to Wimpole Street. The house was first called Bingley, and later Harcourt House. It was designed by Inigo Jones for Lord Bingley in 1722-23, and purchased after his death by the Earl of Harcourt, and when it was bought by the Duke of Portland, it was for a second time renamed. This was the only house standing when the Duke of Chandos designed his palace. The ground was then worth 2s.

6d. a square foot. In 1833 a man then living remembered a fox being killed in the Square.

The streets leading from the Square are all of about the same date, and were built or laid out in the eighteenth century. At No. 24, Holles Street Lord Byron was born.

Chandos House in Chandos Street was a part of the original house designed by the Duke of Chandos. A long, low, rough, stuccoed building, containing the Medical Society of London, is here also, besides numerous offices of other societies, mostly medical.

In Queen Anne Street, No. 23 contains the offices of the Portland estate. It is a quaintly-built house, quite modern, with a commemorative tablet to Turner, R.A., who lived here. At No. 72 Fuseli formerly lived.

Portland Place was built about 1772, and measures 126 feet in width. It is one-third of a mile long, and was designed by the brothers Adam. It was Nash's fancy to make Regent Street run straight on into Portland Place to lead up to a palace to be built for the King in Regent's Park, but this design was subsequently abandoned. The Chinese Emba.s.sy is in No. 49.

On the site of the Langham Hotel originally stood Foley House, built by the Duke of Foley. In his lease with the Duke of Portland it was expressly stipulated that no other house should be built to block the view northward. Thus, when Portland Place was built, it was made of the present enormous width in consequence of this stipulation. Foley House was demolished in 1820, and part of the site was bought by Sir James Langham, whose name is preserved in the adjacent street. The well-known architect, Nash, was employed by him to build a house, but Sir James was dissatisfied with the construction. It is said that Nash, then employed in carrying out Langham Place, made it curve, to spite his employer, instead of carrying it on in a continuous line to Portland Place, as was at first designed.

All Souls' Church is also Nash's work. This church was built 1822-24, and is of a curious design with a circular portico surrounding a circular tower surmounted by a spire. The altar-piece is by Westall, R.A. The church was restored in 1876. Dr. Thomson, late Archbishop of York, and Bishop Baring of Durham, were among the former inc.u.mbents.

Queen's Hall, close by, is used for concerts and entertainments.

The London Crystal Palace, erected in 1858, stood formerly on the site of a great drapery establishment at the north-east corner of Regent Circus.

Halfway down the part of Regent Street above the Circus is the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Inst.i.tute and Day Schools, also the Polytechnic School of Art, founded in 1838, and enlarged ten years later. It was originally intended for the exhibition of novelties in the Arts and practical Sciences, especially agriculture and other branches of industry. Exhibitions were held here and lectures and cla.s.ses established, but in 1881 the building was sold, and is now used as above indicated.