L.—NORTH OF SHORT'S GARDENS.
The land to the north-east of Short's Gardens seems also to have
formed part of that acquired by William Short in 1590, for certain premises
which can be identified as occupying a site to the rear of the centre of the
frontage to Drury Lane between Short's Gardens and Broad Street, are
stated to be bounded on the south by ground of Robert Clifton, "which
ground was heretofore the inheritance of William Short, deceased." (fn. 1) The
fact that the property in Crown Court sold by Thomas Short in 1679 (fn. 2) was
also bounded on the south by land "late in the possession of Robert Clifton"
shows that the Short property originally extended further westwards.
It stretched, in fact, as far as the eastern boundary of Marshland. (fn. 3)
The Subsidy Roll for 1646 gives three names between that of the
Earl of Downe, probably representing Lennox House, and Paviors Alley,
afterwards Ashlin Place. The first is that of "Mr. Edw. Smyth," who
was taxed 6s. 8d. for land, and 8s. for goods, and was evidently a person
of much more substance than his two neighbours, who figure each at 2s.
for land only. Mr. Smith had caused much concern by his building.
As early as June, 1618, the Privy Council wrote (fn. 4) to the justices pointing
out that "there is a faire building now goeing up in Drury Lane, wch
is by credible informatin erected upon a new foundaction," that the
"said building is under his Maties eye as he passeth that way, and is
observed as a speciall marke of contempt amongst all the rest," and
asking for particulars as to the date of the foundation, etc. As a result it
was found that Smith's new building, which had been assigned him
by William Short, (fn. 5) was contrary to the proclamation as going beyond the
old foundations, and converting a stable into a dwelling house, (fn. 6) and order
was accordingly given for the demolition of that part, (fn. 7) but Smith seems to
have made a successful protest. Eighteen years elapsed, and Smith was
again in trouble. On 20th June, 1636, the Earl of Dorset reported to the
Privy Council that "one Smith hath lately erected an house in or neare
Drury Lane suddenly and for the most part by stealth in the night, not
onely contrary to His Maties proclamation, but after he was commanded
by his Lopp to forbeare to proceed in the building thereof." Smith was
thereupon committed to prison until the house should be wholly
demolished. (fn. 8)
The north-eastern angle of land formed by Drury Lane and Broad
Street, like the land on the opposite side of the way, is one of the very few
sites which can be indentified with certainty in the book of grants to the
Hospital of St. Giles. In some unknown year, but apparently in the reign of
Henry III., John de Cruce demised to Hugh, the smith, "all that his land
situate at the angle or corner formed by the meeting of the two streets,
whereof the one comes from St. Giles and is called St. Giles Street, and the
other goes towards the Thames by the forge of the said Hugh, and is called
Aldewych. And which land begins on the east part of the said corner, and
stretches westwards towards the Hospital of St. Giles; and again beginning
at the said corner or forge, and facing the spring, (fn. 9) extends southwards
towards the Thames, in a line with the street called Aldewych, by the garden
of Roger, the son of Alan." (fn. 10) Before Elizabethan times the forge had disappeared, and the site in question was occupied by The Bear inn, and
property connected therewith.
In 1567 George Harrison purchased (fn. 11) from Lord and Lady Mountjoy,
inter alia, the messuage called The Bear, two messuages lying between The
Bear on the east and the tenement of Godfrey Matthew (i.e., The Swan) on
the west, and all other houses, etc., lying between Godfrey Matthew's tenement on the west and the Queen's highway from the Strand to St. Giles
on the east. Harrison sold the property in 1568 to John Walgrave
who in the following year parted with it to Johanna Wise, who subsequently married James Briscowe, and in 1582 (fn. 12) the property, including
brewing vessels and other implements belonging to the inn and the brewhouse, was acquired by James Mascall, brewer, who was then actually in
occupation of The Bear. The property continued in the Mascall family,
and in 1634, according to a deed (fn. 13) relating to the marriage portionof Frances
Godman, daughter of Olive Godman (née Mascall) it included (i.) a messuage
sometime in the tenure of John Vavasour and then of Matthew Quire,
(ii.) the messuage, inn or tenement commonly called The Black Bear,
sometime in the tenure of Richard Robins and then of Matthew Quire,
(iii.) ten messuages in Black Bear Yard, (iv.) a number of other messuages, (fn. 14)
and (v.) two gardens to the rear of Black Bear Yard, one of them formerly
in the tenure of John Vavasour, and the other occupied with the inn. Vavasour's house, it is known, occupied the site of Ragged Staff Court, (fn. 15) which
was situated about 60 feet northwards from Paviors Alley, (fn. 16) and as no
mention of it occurs in the sale to Mascall, it may be taken for granted that
it was built either by the latter within the course of the next three years, (fn. 17)
or by John Vavasour, who married Mascall's widow. The first building
on that spot therefore was erected some time between 1582 and 1608. (fn. 18)
To the west of The Bear property was The Swan. In 1566 Lord and
Lady Mountjoy sold to Thomas Allen (fn. 19) all that messuage or tenement
"sometyme called … The Swanne," in the tenure of Geoffrey Matthew,
abutting to the east on The Bear, west on the tenement of Robert Bromeley,
"sometyme called The Graybounde," south-west on Matthew's stables, south
on the Greyhound Close, and north on the Queen's highway. It has
unfortunately not proved possible to trace the later history of The Swan,
but there can be no doubt that the property is identical with that sold in
1723 by William Gyles to Peniston Lamb and Thos. Hanson, (fn. 20) and which
consisted of three houses in the main street with the alley behind, formerly
called Cock alley and then Gyles' Court, and is described as having a
frontage to the street of 44½ feet and a depth of 114 feet, and bounded on
the south by the brewhouse late Mr. Theedham's, (fn. 21) on the east partly by
messuages and lands in the occupation of Theedham, and on the west by
messuages and lands "heretofore of one Short" (i.e., The Greybound).
A comparison between the names of the occupiers of the three houses
as given in the deed of 1723, and the entries in various issues of the sewer
ratebook, shows that the houses in question corresponded with the present
Nos. 59 to 61 (formerly 56 to 58).
There does not seem any reason to doubt the identity of The Swan
of the time of Elizabeth with Le Swan on le Hop, (fn. 22) demised by the
Hospital of St. Giles to John de Polton in 1360–61. It was then
described as standing south on land of the said Hospital and north on the
king's highway. This description certainly does not warrant the statement
of Parton that the inn must "have been situate somewhat eastward from
Drury Lane end, and on the south side of Holborn." (fn. 23)
Immediately to the west of The Swan came The Greybound. Unfortunately no description of the inn or the property connected with it
has come down from Elizabethan times. In 1679, however, Thomas Short,
son and heir of Dudley Short, sold the whole to John Pery, and the indenture (fn. 24) embodying the transaction gave a description of the property as it
then existed. It included two houses in the main thoroughfare, both
extending southward to Greyhound Court and one of them being
"commonly called … or knowne by the name or signe of The Crowne."
It would seem therefore that The Greybound had by now been renamed
The Crown, although the court still retained the old name. By 1704 the
court had also been re-named Crown Court. (fn. 25) Included in the sale was
a quantity of land in the rear, with buildings, garden ground and other
ground, including the house in Greyhound Court where Thomas Short had
himself lived. The details given, though full, are not sufficient to enable a
plan to be drawn of the property. It certainly included the eastern portion
of the site of St. Giles's Workhouse, (fn. 26) and did not extend as far south as
Short's Gardens, as it is said to be bounded in that direction by a "peice
of ground commonly called the mulberry garden, late in the possession of
Robert Clifton."
To the west of The Greyhound, were a number of houses, which in
1567 were sold (fn. 27) by Lord and Lady Mountjoy to Henry Ampthill. (fn. 28) They
are described as in eleven occupations, adjoining The Greyhound on the east,
the highway on the north, and a close (probably Greyhound Close) on the
south. The western boundary, unfortunately, is not given. The property
was subsequently split up, about half coming into the hands of a family
named Hawkins, (fn. 29) and this in 1726 certainly included property on either side
of Lamb Alley, (fn. 30) probably as far as the site of the present No. 45, Broad
Street. How much further the Ampthill property extended is not known.
In 1631 Ann Barber, widow, and her son Thomas, sold (fn. 31) to Henry
Lambe a tenement and two acres of land, the said two acres being garden
ground and adjoining on the west "a parcell of ground called Masslings," on
the south "a parcell of ground in the occuption of one Master Smith," on
the east a "parcell of ground in the occupation of Mistris Margarett Hamlyn," and on the north certain tenements and garden plots in the occupation
of Robert Johnson and others. In 1654 John Lambe sold the property to
Henry Stratton, who in the following year parted with it to Thomas Blythe. (fn. 32)
In the indenture accompanying the latter sale, the two acres are stated
to be "a garden or ground late in the occupation of Samuel Bennet," and
the remainder of the property is described as 10 messuages late in the
tenure of Edmund Lawrence, 4 small messuages also late in Lawrence's
occupation, a chamber commonly called the Gate House, a messuage called
The Bowl, and a messuage called The Black Lamb. The property had
formerly belonged to William Barber, (fn. 33) Ann's husband. There is nothing
to show how he became possessed of it, but it is possible that the property
is identical with the "one messuage, one garden and two acres of land with
appurtenances" sold by John Vavasour in 1590 to Thomas Young. (fn. 34)
The eastern limits of the property above described may be fixed
within a little, as it is known that a portion of it was utilised in the 18th
century for the building of the original workhouse, and is described in a
deed quoted by Parton (fn. 35) as bounded on the east by the backs of houses in
Crown Court. It may be regarded therefore as including the site of the
central portion of the present workhouse. The "parcel of ground in the
occupation of one Master Smith" described as the southern boundary, and
referred to in a deed of 1680 (fn. 36) as the garden and grounds of William Short,
is obviously the strip of ground on the north side of Short's Gardens, leased
by Short to Edward Smith. (fn. 37) The western boundary, "Masslings," has
been strangely misconstrued. Parton read it as "Noselings," (fn. 38) which he
regarded as a corruption of "Newlands," (fn. 39) and located the ground on the
east side of Neal Street. Blott copied the error and, in a highly imaginative
paragraph, connected it with Noseley, in Leicestershire. (fn. 40) As a matter of
fact, there is not the slightest doubt that "Masslings" (fn. 41) is "Marshlands,"
between which the form "Marshlins" appearing in a deed of 1615 (fn. 42) is
evidently a connecting link.
The boundary between Marshland and The Bowl property is shown
on Plate 39.
By 1680 (fn. 43) a considerable portion of The Bowl property had been built
on and Bowl Yard had been formed. In the first instance, the latter led by
a narrow passage into Short's Gardens, but afterwards the entrance was
widened, and the southern part of the thoroughfare was named New Belton
Street, Belton Street proper being distinguished as Old Belton Street. About
1846 both were widened on the east side to form Endell Street, and the still
remaining portion of Bowl Yard at the northern end was swept away. Bowl
Yard obviously derived its name from The Bowl inn, which, together with
The Black Lamb, is mentioned in the deed of 1655, above referred to. The
sign had no doubt reference to the custom mentioned by Stow (fn. 44) that
criminals on their way to execution at Tyburn were, at St. Giles's Hospital,
presented with a great bowl of ale "thereof to drinke at theyr pleasure, as
to be theyr last refreshing in this life." The inn itself probably fronted
Broad Street, and the brewhouse attached to it was situated behind, on the
west side of Bowl Yard.
Plate 38 shows the west front of The Bowl Brewery in 1846, and the
houses at the northern end of Belton Street.
In the Council's collection are:—
(fn. 45) The Bowl Brewery in 1846 (photograph).
Nos. 7 and 9, Broad Street. Exterior (photograph).