CHAPTER 19: THE NORTH SIDE OF THE STRAND
In the plan given on the next page an attempt has been made to plot
out the properties on the north side of the Strand as they were in the reign of
Henry VIII and to show their development during the following century. Prior
to the Dissolution, the "Covent Garden," which belonged to Westminster
Abbey, extended from St. Martin's Lane to Drury Lane and a large part of the
ground between Covent Garden and the Strand was unbuilt on, though by
the end of the fifteenth century a fringe of small tenements was springing up
on the street frontage. After the Dissolution, Bedford House, Burleigh House
(afterwards Exeter House) and Cecil
House, and a few houses of the lesser
gentry, were built there, the rest of
the frontage being used for inns and
shops. In 1646, when St. Paul's,
Covent Garden, was made a separate
parish, the street frontage between
Covent Garden and the Strand remained a part of the parish of St.
Martin-in-the-Fields.
Figure 36:
The "pergular" at Cecil House.
From a drawing in the Smithson collection
Two passages had connected
the Strand with St. Martin's churchyard from mediæval times, and a lane
had led from Drury Lane to the
church in a line roughly parallel with
the Strand. During the early part of
the seventeenth century several inn
yards were formed into thoroughfares,
and towards the end of that century a
large amount of rebuilding was carried
out, and the network of small courts
shown on the extract from Morden
and Lea's map (p. 27) was the result.
No further important alteration was
carried out on the north side of the
Strand until the beginning of the
nineteenth century. Then Exeter
Change, east of Burleigh Street, was
pulled down and the street frontage
westward to Southampton Street was
set back. The formation of Trafalgar
Square, and of Duncannon Street,
Adelaide Street, King William Street and Agar Street entirely transformed
the north-west corner of the Strand, and though several small courts
still remain between Southampton Street and Bedford
Street (formerly Half Moon Street), practically all
the buildings there have been erected within recent
years. A brief history of the properties on the north
side of the Strand working westward from the parish
boundary (the centre of Burleigh Street), to St. Martin's
Lane, is given below.
Figure 37:
Plan of north isde of the Strand showing arrangement of properties in the
reign of Henry VIII
(i) Burleigh House (afterwards Exeter House) was
built on the site of the rectory of St. Clement Danes, a
house of the master of the Savoy, and the Hartshorn and
other tenements which had formerly been the property
of Westminster Abbey. The house was begun by Sir
Thomas Palmer (executed in 1553) and completed by
Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley. (ref. 336) The
latter also built Cecil House adjoining it on the east
which formed the residence of Sir Robert Cecil until
the erection of Salisbury House on the south side of
the Strand. (ref. 337) At Burghley's death his house passed to
his elder son, Sir Thomas Cecil, who in 1605 was created
Earl of Exeter. Cecil House was burnt down in 1627,
when it was in use as the Dutch Embassy. (ref. 338) After the
Restoration, Exeter House was occupied by Anthony
Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, who had married
Frances, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Exeter. (ref. 339) Views
of it are given on Norden's plan of Westminster
(Plate 1b) and on the plan of the west central part of
London by Hollar, which shows the corner turrets to
the main building, the garden behind, and an avenue of
trees with an outlet towards Drury Lane. In 1676 the
house was sold for building, (ref. 93) and Burleigh Street,
Exeter Street, Exeter Court, Exchange Court, etc.,
were erected on the site, with Exeter Change jutting
out on the street frontage as Exeter House had
previously. Exeter Change, famous for its menagerie,
remained in existence until 1830, when it was
taken down to widen the Strand. Nash originally
proposed to erected a similar bazaar father back, (ref. 129) but
instead the Lowther Arcade was built between
Adelaide Street and the Strand through the new
triangular block of buildings there where Coutts' Bank
now stands.
(ii) Fryers Pies. The origin of this name is
obscure. It occurs under various forms in the rolls of
the Cellarer of Westminster Abbey, to whom the ground
belonged. It was stated to be 58 feet wide in the
earliest deed (ref. 340) to give measurements, but it may
originally have been larger. (fn. a) It was granted to John Russell, Earl of
Bedford, after the Dissolution, (ref. 341) and by him leased to Arnold Oldisworth
and others. (ref. 342) Part of it may have been acquired by Cecil for Burleigh
House. A conduit head in or near Fryers Pies has already been mentioned
(p. 120).
Marygold Alley was formed on this ground in the seventeenth century,
but most of the houses there, which were small and dilapidated, were burnt
down in February, 1707–8. (ref. 343) The houses were rebuilt, (ref. 99) and throughout the
eighteenth century were in the occupation of small tradesmen. The Act of
7 George IV cap. 77 authorised the widening of the Strand "on the north side
thereof opposite Cecil Street in an easterly direction to the east end of Exeter
Change." The street frontage was taken down, and on part of the site thus
cleared Exeter Hall was erected by J. T. Deering-Gandy, R.A. (fn. b) The hall
was used mainly for concerts and meetings until, in 1880, the lease was
purchased for the Young Men's Christian Association. Exeter Hall, which
was demolished in 1907, is shown on Plate 111b. Its massive stone entrance
porch was a fine example of the Corinthian order of Grecian architecture.
The capitals of the columns bore a strong resemblance to the Choragic
Monument of Lysicrates at Athens (335 B.C.). One of them was obtained
by the Council for the use of the students at the Brixton School of Building.
(iii) In 1403 John Bedforde and Richard Gaynesburghe presented to
Richard Dereham, the parson of Saint Botolph, Aldersgate, two and a half
acres of ground and two tofts in Charing Cross Street to found a yearly obit
in that church for Alice Colwell. (ref. 344) After the Dissolution this property, which
was then described as five tenements with gardens, was in the tenure of John
Russell. (ref. 7) Part of this ground was utilised for
Bedford House, the town house of the Dukes of Bedford until its demolition
in 1704, when they removed to Bloomsbury. (fn. c) During the eighteenth century
there were several small courts, Coral Court, Denmark Court, etc., eastward
of Southampton Street, some of which were cleared away at the time of the
Strand alterations in 1830. Denmark Court was rebuilt at that time and
incorporated in Exeter Street.
(iv) In addition to the ground adjoining Durham Place, the Bishop
of Durham owned a garden on the north side of the road, which was sold to
the King in 1536, and, like Durham Rents, came into the possession of the
Fortescue family (see p. 87). (ref. 274) Henry Rominge, smith to the King, obtained
a lease of a "new tenement and a cottage" (ref. 345) at the west end of this ground,
the new tenement being the Black Bull Inn, (ref. 346) which remained in existence
until about 1680, (ref. 347) when Bull Inn Court was formed on the site. <A court or passage existed here as early as 1635. See E/BER Survey 1635, in London Metropolitan Archives.> East of this
were several larger houses, but these were demolished for the formation of
small courts—Raindeer Court, Boyles Head Court, Lumley Court and
Olivers Alley—before 1700. From the beginning of the eighteenth century
onwards, the Strand frontage was entirely occupied by small traders. Bull
Inn Court and Lumley Court still remain.
(v) Immediately west of the Bishop of Durham's garden was a piece
of ground which at the time of the Dissolution was in private hands. At the
beginning of the fifteenth century it belonged to Thomas Freke, citizen and
woodmonger of London, who at his death in 1410–11 left it to his wife,
Avice. (ref. 348) A century later it was in the possession of the John Rede who owned
the Rounceval property (see p. 4). In 1592 there were nine tenements there
which had been sold away to different owners, (ref. 349) one of them being known
as the Flower de Luce <somewhere between Southampton and Bedford Streets. See Westminster Abbey Muniments, 17213.>.
Almost in the centre of the Rede property was
the Half Moon Tavern, through the yard of which a
thoroughfare, Half Moon Street, was made to Chandos
Street. In the late eighteenth century Half Moon
Street was widened to form a continuation of Bedford
Street. On the east side of the Half Moon Tavern was a
court taking its name from the new Exchange on the
opposite side of the Strand. This court still remains
between Nos. 418 and 419, Strand. East of this again
were a few houses which retained their thatched roofs
until the end of the seventeenth century, when they must
have formed a unique feature in the Strand. (fn. d) Thatched
House Alley, shown on Rocque's map, but now swept
away, was built on the site.
Figure 37:
The front of a house opposite in the New Exchange.
From a drawing in the
Smithson collection
Nos. 413 and 415, Strand, shown on Plate
110b, which were demolished circa 1912, are a good
example of the type of houses which formerly faced the
Strand. They had square projecting bays of three storeys
in height over the shop premises with a wood entablature
supported on panelled pilasters, and a good projecting
cornice at the eaves carried on carved consoles. The shop
fronts had been modernised, but Plate 15b illustrates the
manner in which the shop windows were formerly divided
into small squares of glass. The government office of the
Dominion of New Zealand has been built on the site of
Nos. 413 and 415, Strand, but Heathcock Court which
ran between them still remains. (fn. e)
The original Adelphi Theatre (the Sans Pareil), east of Heathcock
Court, was first opened in 1806. Pierce Egan's Tom and Jerry was produced
there in 1821, and the theatre at once became popular. It was rebuilt in
1858, and the Strand front was widened and entirely altered in 1887–8.
(vi) West of Rede's property was a garden which in the fifteenth
century was held by the Abbot of Abingdon and his tenants, the Stonor
family, who also held a considerable amount of land in other parts of
Westminster. This garden, after the Dissolution, was granted to Robert
Huyck, "Phisitian to the Quenes grace," who also obtained a long lease of
the Westminster Abbey property adjoining which had previously been leased
to John Twilly and William Waller. (ref. 352) Huyck pulled down "the olde
Ruynose Cotages and deforme dennes and buylded new hansome and comly
tenements" there "to the extirpacion of beggerye and other annoyaunces," (ref. 353)
and in consideration thereof was allowed to move the public way to St.
Martin's Church (shown on the plan) farther west, i.e. to Church Lane. (ref. 354)
Extensive alterations were carried out to this property circa 1700 when
New Round Court, Southouse Court, etc., were formed. (ref. 99) The lay-out of
the ground had been so much altered during the period of Huyck's lease that
the boundaries became a subject of dispute, and several plans, now among the
Abbey muniments, were drawn to clear up the matter. Part of the street
frontage of this property (then numbered 442–53, Strand) in 1824 is shown
on Plate 15b. Six years later, the whole of this area was cleared for the
formation of Trafalgar Square and of the triangular blocks of buildings which
now lie between St. Martin's Church and the Strand.
The building illustrated on Plate 111a, stood, until 1908, at the corner
of Agar Street on the site of Rhodesia House. It was originally designed by
Professor Cockerell, R.A., (fn. f) as the Westminster Insurance Offices. It exhibited
the refinement of classic detail that is always found in this great artist's work,
while the treatment of the pediment was a foretaste of a feature which was
developed in many of his later buildings. The elegant figures to the arched
heads of the first-floor windows to the street front and the tasteful ironwork
to the balconies are worthy of note. Prior to their demolition these premises
were used by the British Medical Association.
(vii) West of Church Lane were two pieces of property in private
hands, the Axe, which afterwards came into the possession of the Hewet
family from whom Hewet's Court later took its name, and the ground granted
by Henry VIII (ref. 4) to Thomas Fowler, later Controller of the Queen's Works,
who is sometimes stated to have been the stepfather of Ben Jonson (see footnote
to p. 22). Fowler's house was afterwards occupied by Sir Thomas Lake,
Secretary of State to James I. (fn. g) Church Court was formed on this property
at the end of the seventeenth century. The west end of the block of buildings
between Adelaide Street, King William Street and the Strand now covers the
site.
(viii) At the west end of the Strand lay three gardens belonging to
officials of Westminster Abbey, the sacristan, the keeper of the Lady Chapel,
and the cellarer. These remained in the possession of the abbey after the
Dissolution, and were leased to various tenants. (ref. 152) Several inns were erected
there—the King's Head (site of Lancaster Court), the Three Tobacco Pipes,
and the Bear and Ragged Staff. By the end of the eighteenth century the area
in the immediate neighbourhood of St. Martin's Church had become very
squalid, and the clearance made in 1830 was as welcome as it was overdue.
The site of the Swan Inn, later the Star, at the south-east end of St. Martin's
Lane, became part of Trafalgar Square.