FAMOUS BUILDINGS AND STREETS OF NORTH LAMBETH

LET us walk through some of the streets and past some of the buildings with which you are familiar, and linger now and again to visualise the past, to ask the reason of the names, and to recapture something of the atmosphere of days long gone by.

When we leave St. Mary's Church we find ourselves on a very fine broad road running parallel with the Albert Embankment.

The first stone of the Embankment was laid in 1866; before that the river was bordered by a confused straggling line of houses, boat yards, sheds, and shanties. There, as far back as the reign of Charles II, was the home of the boat building industry.

We read in Pepys' diary under the date August 13th, 1662, "To Lambeth and there saw the little pleasure boat in building according to new lines. but how it will prove we shall soon see.”

Searle's boat yard which used to be just above Westminster Bridge, was a familiar resort of boating men in the last century.

The landward side of these houses faced on to a narrow promenade bounded by the Palace walls, and named the Bishop's Walk.

Where Bishop's Walk terminated, Stangate began, and ran in a slanting direction from the Palace walls to the foot of Westminster Bridge. Of the association of Stangate with the beginning of the Roman road across the Marsh, we have already spoken.

The fine buildings of St. Thomas's Hospital now grace the eastern end of the Albert Embankment, and as they are so integral a part of Lambeth life, we will pause awhile to consider their history. The buildings themselves are modern, but the Hospital is one of the oldest charitable institutions connected with the City of London.

The story of its origin takes us back to the days before the Norman conquest, when a convent was founded on the banks of the Thames by a pious woman called Mary.

By the beginning of the twelfth century this convent had developed into the Priory of St. Mary Overie, and within its walls was provision for the sick and maimed. A neighbouring priory was that of Bermondsey, built among the open fields on the south side of the Thames, and attached to this abbey was an Almonry for the treatment of poor women and children.

Destroyed by fire in 1207, the ancient hospital built of old to entertain the poor was re-endowed by the Bishop of Winchester, and by his decree, the Hospital attached to the Priory of St. Mary Overie and the Almonry of Bermondsey were united in the one building of St. Thomas's Spittal - so named after St. Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas à Becket).

The building was erected at the southern end of London Bridge, then the only bridge across the river, and for many long years the work of healing and caring for the sick was carried on by the Master and Brethren, funds for its maintenance being obtained from the legacies and endowments of pious folk.

In the days of the Reformation, the Hospital shared the fate of other monastic institutions and was closed, but so great was the loss, that the citizens of London soon petitioned the King for its restoration.

Henry VIII died before this desire had been granted, but his young son Edward VI granted a charter by which the rights and privileges of the ancient Hospital were conveyed to the Mayor and Corporation of London, who thus became governors of the Hospital.

From this date 1553, when it was re-opened, the Hospital continued a magnificent work in relieving the sufferings of the sick, and in combating plague and other diseases.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the demands upon it had become so great, that a benefactor, Thomas Guy, determined to build a new Hospital under the shadow of the parent one.

Thus for a century and a half St. Thomas's and Guy's stood and worked side by side.

In 1831 London Bridge was rebuilt, and the years following saw great railway developments in the neighbourhood. These developments interfered with the Hospital buildings, and finally St. Thomas's was displaced from Southwark, to take up its present abode in 1871.

Probably many of you have seen the splendid wards where in-patients are treated, the casualty rooms for accidents, the out-patients' department; you may have heard of the operating theatres, massage, medical, electricity, and X-ray departments, and you will know that the Hospital never fails to give of its best to the people who come for help.

But now we have arrived at the foot of Westminster Bridge, and as we survey the busy scene, and the gleaming river below, we will try to recall some facts of its history.

As you already know, London Bridge was for many long centuries, the only bridge across the river.

With the growth of London, however, and the rapid extension of trade, came the need for another bridge further up the river, and from the time of James I onward, many petitions were presented to the King. The project was defeated, sometimes by the watermen, who feared the loss of their livelihood, sometimes by the merchants of London who were jealous of the rival Westminster.

Not until 1736 was an Act passed, permitting the erection of the bridge, and a Swiss Architect, Labelye, was appointed to design it.

The supports of the bridge were built of stone with a superstructure of timber, but in 1739 came a terrible frost, the Thames was frozen over, and when the thaw set in the floating pieces of ice swept away the timber. The bridge had to be reconstructed and was not re-opened until 1750. It proved unsuitable for the traffic of later years, the number of supports being dangerous for boats, and a new bridge was built in 1860.

As we stand on the bridge and look first west and then east, we see plainly the outlines of three other bridges.

Lambeth Suspension Bridge, erected in 1862, is now used only as a foot bridge. It follows the line of the old ferry from Lambeth to Westminster. In its early days it was a toll bridge, not even visitors to the episcopal Palace being allowed "free".

Looking towards the sea, we notice first the extremely ugly Charing Cross railway bridge. Perhaps one day when the beautifying of London is considered of greater importance, this bridge will be abolished, and a more beautiful structure take its place.

Behind it are the massive outlines of Waterloo Bridge. The first stone of this bridge was laid in 1811, and its architect was a very famous man, John Rennie.

Its erection caused the demolition of the remains of the old Savoy Palace on the north side and of Cuper's gardens, of which we shall read later, on the south.

It was originally called "The Strand Bridge", but as it was not opened until 1817, Parliament decided to call it ” Waterloo" in memory of Wellington's famous victory two years before.

London's smoke and grime have dimmed the gleaming white granite, tragic and sordid stories have ended here, but the beauty of its wide arches still remains - a beauty which an Italian sculptor is supposed to have considered worthy of a visit to England.

As we turn from a consideration of the bridges, our glance rests upon the magnificent building of the L.C.C. Hall, with its delightful red roof and massive groups of statuary.

The opening of the County Hall by the King on 17th July, 1922, is fresh in the memory of all.

The need for a fitting abode for such an important authority as the L.C.C. was felt as long ago as 1893, for the scattered offices then occupied, caused waste and delay.

After much discussion the site was purchased in 1905 and designs for the building were submitted. The successful architect was Mr. Ralph Knott. Our King and Queen laid the foundation stone in 1912, and the building went on until the outbreak of the Great War, when the difficulty of obtaining labour and materials caused it to cease.

Work was resumed soon after the Armistice, and the result is a dignified and stately building, its interior enriched by beautiful marble, its honeycomb of corridors and offices, typical of the myriad activities of the municipal government of London.

Not less interesting than the building is the site on which it stands.

This particular piece of land lying between Belvedere Road and the river, was known for many years as the Pedlar's Acre.

One legend is that a pedlar, who possessed a favourite dog, asked for permission to bury it in holy ground in St. Mary's Churchyard, and in return for the permission, gave this acre of land to the Church. Another legend, not so interesting and probably equally inaccurate, is that a rich pedlar, whom the Church had befriended in the days of his poverty, gave the land in gratitude for past favours.

Probably neither story is correct; the name is most likely a rebus on the name of the donor, and one William de Pedlar has been named as the most likely person. The legend, however, is delightfully preserved by the little coloured window we saw on our visit to St. Mary's Church.

Curiously enough the name "Pedlar's Acre" does not occur in the churchwarden's accounts until 1745.

Previous to that the land is called Church Hoopys, Church Hopes, or Church Osiers, the spelling appearing to vary with the inclination of the writer. Osiers were extensively used for basket manufacture, and this little island in the marsh was probably a very favourable spot for their cultivation.

The value of the district increased as time went on from 2/8 annually in 1504 to £4 in 1656. In the nineteenth century the value increased enormously and the amount paid by the L.C.C. for this bit of one-time marsh land was over £80,000 per acre.

Belvedere Road was at one time called Narrow Wall, to distinguish it from Broad Wall, another embankment bounding the marsh on the east. It has its name from an old mansion that stood here in Queen Anne's reign. In 1781 the place became a tavern and tea garden, and gradually fell into disrepute.

Almost adjoining the Belvedere gardens and occupying what is now the approach to Waterloo Bridge, were Cuper's Gardens, a very famous or rather infamous resort in the eighteenth century. They were so named after Boydell Cuper, a gardener in the service of the Earl of Arundel.

He rented the ground from the Earl and in 1678 opened a tavern surrounded by arbours and walks. These he ornamented by pieces of Greek statuary, which he had been fortunate enough to obtain when Arundel House was pulled down.

The place soon became the resort of undesirable people, and was notorious for the bad behaviour of its visitors. It was closed in 1753, and the site was occupied by Beaufoy's vinegar works, until the building of Waterloo Bridge, and its approaches, necessitated the removal of the firm to Kennington.

One writer declares that some of the plane trees which now flourish in the grounds of St. John's Church are survivors of the old garden.

Waterloo Hospital, though not of such ancient foundation as St. Thomas's, is not without historical distinction. It can boast of being the oldest institution of its kind in the Empire, having been the first hospital entirely for poor children. Even to-day children occupy two thirds of the accommodation.

The hospital was first founded in the City at St. Andrew's Hill and removed to its present position in 1823. Re-building took place in 1903-5, but the plans are still incomplete, owing to the serious lack of funds.

St. John's Church, that rather heavy looking building in the main road, has a peculiarly interesting origin.

After the battle of Waterloo in 1815, Parliament passed a resolution that it was "Necessary and becoming to make some demonstration of thankfulness to Almighty God for the return of peace, by promoting the building of Churches."

A certain sum of money was accordingly voted, and in Lambeth four churches were built - St. Matthew's at Brixton, St. Mark's at Kennington, St. Luke's at Norwood, and St. John's, Waterloo Road.

The site of the last named was very marshy - in fact there is an old print showing a pond on the very spot - so piles were driven into the ground to obtain a firm foundation.

The first stone was laid in 1823. The church contains a splendid organ, once played on by Mendelssohn, and among its monuments is one to Robert Elliston, an actor and a friend of Charles Lamb. He is mentioned in the latter's "Essays of Elia".

Passing along Waterloo Road, we come to a building well known to all-viz., "The Old Vic" or to give its correct title "The Royal Victoria Hall."

It was built in 1817, and was known originally as the Coburg Theatre. Some of the stones in its foundations came from the Savoy Palace in the Strand.

In 1833, the name of the theatre was changed to "Victoria ", a compliment to the young princess who was heiress to the throne. For many years the reputation of the theatre was not good. Charles Kingsley in his "Alton Locke" makes one of the characters say “They say the Queen's a good woman, and I don't doubt it. I often wonder whether she knows what her precious namesake here is like."

Some years later, with Mr. Samuel Morley's generous help, the character of the entertainments was changed, and ballad concerts, lectures and conferences were held. Then it was that the premises of Morley College were added, and were used for classes in science, literature and art.

In our own time the theatre has become the home of Shakespeare and Opera; many of you will remember the delightful hours you have spent within its walls, listening to a Shakespearian play.

The theatre has done a magnificent work in the past, and we hope is entering now upon a new career of glory and service. It is for the people of Lambeth to appreciate the unique opportunities for culture which lie at their very door.

Almost opposite "The Old Vic" is the road known as the Lower Marsh. If ever a name embodied a story, this one does. We have already spoken of the very marshy character of the district. Even after it became partially inhabited, it remained a favourite haunt for game. In 1594 some marsh land here was leased to one Jane Denham, with license to drive her cattle to pasture over the two bridges (probably rough wooden structures over channels in the marsh.)

But in all documents of the sixteenth century the name was given to the whole of the swampy tract lying along the Thames between Lambeth Church and Blackfriars. As late as the reign of James I, it was a haunt of wild fowl, and a royal hunting ground, and among the State Papers for 1611-18 is the following:- "Grant to Alex. and Vincent Glover of the office of game keeper in Lambeth Marsh and elsewhere."

Until the early years of the nineteenth century, it remained for the most part open fields divided by deep ditches. Parts were cultivated as flower gardens or occupied by cottages, but the more inhabited parts soon became notorious as a haunt of thieves. There is a tradition that Inigo Jones, the great architect, buried his money in Lambeth Marsh during the Civil War. The streets known as the Upper and Lower Marsh, traverse what was the centre of the old marsh, and perpetuate its memory.

Following the course of the Lower Marsh we emerge upon Westminster Bridge Road, a busy, hurrying thoroughfare.

A turnpike once stood at the junction of the two roads, and from the foot of Westminster Bridge a narrow pathway ran slantwise across the fields towards Blackfriars. This was known as the Halfpenny Hatch and at the Westminster end of it, during the later years of the eighteenth century, a curiously arresting figure took up his position every evening.

This was Philip Astley, a discharged soldier, and a magnificent horseman. He set up a riding school in the fields hard by, and came every evening to distribute bills and point out with his sword the way to the performance.

As the popularity of his entertainment increased, he obtained a piece of land near Westminster Bridge, and built a covered-in edifice in which his horses could perform, regardless of the weather. Horace Walpole, in a letter dated September 12th, 1783, writes:- "I could find nothing at all to do, so went to Astley's, which indeed was much beyond my expectation ... Astley can make his horses dance minuets and horn-pipes".

The first building was destroyed by fire in 1794, but the one which took its place was more imposing and commodious, and became a popular resort of fashionable Londoners. It is mentioned by Charles Dickens in his “Sketches by Boz", and in Thackeray's novel “The Newcomes",

The modern Music Hall "The Canterbury” stands on the site of a very interesting building. This was an ancient hostelry used in the far-off days by pilgrims on their way to pray at sacred shrines; in Tudor times when the marsh was being gradually converted into arable land, a brook ran in front of the inn, and all around were pretty walks where the citizens of London might take their evening stroll.

The inn was then used by the retainers of Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth when the Sovereigns paid their visits to Lambeth Palace.

One writer has suggested that here also came Shakespeare and Ben Jonson and others, after attendance on Her Majesty, preferring to spend the night at this half-way house rather than attempt the journey through St. George's Fields to their quarters by the Blackfriars or Globe theatre.

On the site now occupied by Christ Church was once the Female Orphan Asylum and before that the Hercules Inn and Gardens stood there. The latter were opened in 1758, and their memory is still preserved by Hercules Buildings and Hercules Road.

The Apollo gardens and the Flora gardens were also favourite resorts in the immediate neighbourhood, but in a few years they acquired such an evil repute that they were suppressed.

Another place of public entertainment was Lambeth Wells, situated in what is now Lambeth Walk. This was opened avowedly for the sale of mineral waters "at a penny a quart" to those who could afford to pay for it, but given gratis to the poor. The Wells opened for the season on Easter Monday, being closed during the winter. The price for admission was 3d. and on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays there was music from seven in the morning until sunset. There were grand gala and dancing days held, with prizes for the most successful competitors. But the Wells shared the fate of similar institutions and were closed for becoming a public nuisance.

In old prints of Lambeth, you may see a curious sugar-loaf shaped mill. This old windmill stood near Lambeth Walk from 1788-1868. It was the property of the Society of Apothecaries and was used by them for the preparation of their drugs. Its site is marked by Mill Street, now re-named Juxon Street.

Retracing our steps towards the Embankment we pass near Carlisle Street and Norfolk Row.

The former keeps in remembrance Carlisle House which stood here between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.

You will remember that Lambeth Palace became the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury by reason of an exchange effected with the Bishop of Rochester. A small piece of land near the Palace was retained by the Bishop on which to build a house for himself and his successors.

The house built by Bishop Glanville lasted only about twenty years, and was then re-built on a more sumptuous scale and named La Place. It remained the residence of the Bishops of Rochester till 1540 when it passed into the hands of Henry VIII.

Fisher was the last Bishop of Rochester to reside here, and during his residence the house was a scene of tragedy, for one Richard Rose, a cook, put a deadly poison into the soup he was making, and thereby caused the death of nineteen people. The murderous cook met his end by a barbarous punishment of the period - he was boiled to death at Smithfield.

Henry VIII granted the mansion to the Bishop of Carlisle, and it was henceforward known as Carlisle House.

Sold by the Long Parliament to Matthew Hardyng, it reverted to the See of Carlisle at the Restoration. It was not used again as an episcopal residence, and after a time fell into neglect. A pottery was established on part of the premises and existed in the reign of George II. It subsequently became a tavern, then a dancing academy, then a school and was finally pulled down in 1827, the site being covered with streets of small houses.

Another interesting old mansion was Norfolk House, which stood on the site now marked by Paradise Street and Norfolk Row.

Here lived the old Duke of Norfolk, whose life was saved the night before his execution, whose poems you may read in Palgrave's "Golden Treasury".

You will remember that we saw the Howard Chapel, built by the Duke of Norfolk, on our visit to St. Mary's Church. In course of time the house passed into the possession of the Crown. It was granted to the widow of Archbishop Parker, but her heirs ceased to live there, and the house was finally pulled down.

In Lambeth Road, almost opposite to St. Mary's Church, there stood until 1888 the remains of what was once a famous hostelry. In the courtyard of the inn "Lambeth Fayre” was held, permission for the holding of which, was originally obtained from King John, by Archbishop Langton. During a long period, an upper room in the inn was a Nonconformist meeting place and contained a pulpit, said to have been used by John Bunyan.

Emerging on to the Lambeth Palace Road, we notice on the left the imposing buildings of Doulton's Pottery. The making of pottery and earthenware has long been associated with the locality of Lambeth. John Ariens van Hamme, a Dutch potter, settled in this district in 1676, and started works "for the makeinge tiles and porcelane and other earthenwares after the way practised in Holland."

In 1671 and 1684 John Dwight took out patents for improvements in stoneware and produced articles showing artistic and technical skill. Before he died, however, he buried all his moulds and books and his descendants merely continued the making of common brown jugs.

John Doulton was an apprentice in the pottery thus begun and he founded the firm of Doulton and Watts in Vauxhall Walk at the time of Waterloo. They made brown and enamelled stoneware, and after the Reform Bill of 1832 became famous for their "Reform Bottles" - flat bottles with necks representing the heads of the King or Lords Grey or Russell.

In 1862 the pottery removed to High Street, Lambeth, but a few years previously Henry Doulton had erected a factory designed solely for the manufacture of stoneware pipes for sanitary purposes. The demand for these was great, hence success came to the firm.

Canon Gregory, later Dean of St. Paul's, who lived in Lambeth, established the Lambeth School of Art, of which the foundation stone was laid in 1854. Great artistic talent was evinced by many of the pupils who studied here, and designs originated in the School were applied to the more artistic pottery, for which Doulton's soon became famous.

Lambeth Faience, brown Lambeth, Carrara ware, are names of varying kinds of pottery and you may see examples in both the London and South Kensington Museums. You will remember the terra cotta reredos we noticed in St. Mary's Church. This was by a famous artist, George Tinworth, whose father was a wheelwright in Lambeth, and who received his early training in the Lambeth School of Art.

Sir Henry Doulton was awarded the Albert Medal of the Society of Arts, "in recognition of the impulse given by him to the production of artistic pottery in this country."

A description of North Lambeth would be sadly incomplete without a mention of its historic school, called after the founder, Archbishop Temple.

The boys who attend this school can glory in the fact that its history dates back to 1660, when money was set aside by one Alexander Jones towards the maintenance of a free school. Richard Lawrence who is buried in the Leigh Chapel of St. Mary's, left land and property for the same purpose, and a school was probably founded about 1661.

Ducarel and Nichols, the great historians of Lambeth, mention a little school which was kept by Francis Moore, an astrologer and almanac maker, the original compiler of "Old Moore's Almanac ".

This school was held at the North corner of Calcot's Alley in the Back Lane (now High Street). In 1708 at a vestry meeting, it was decided that a house in Bear and Ragged Staff Lane be made a Charity School for the poor boys of this Parish of Lambeth. This later developed into a working" school - i.e., a school where the boys learnt reading and writing in the morning, and spun the material for their own clothes in the afternoon.

Eventually the two schools merged into one, and buildings were taken in Hercules Road. The extension of the railway, however, caused the removal of the school to the present beautiful building in 1904.

The "Charity Boy” in stone who stands over the doorway came from Coade's factory of artificial stone in Belvedere Road, and is thought to be the work of the great artist, John Flaxman.

The sister school for girls is called after Archbishop Tenison and was founded and endowed by him in 1704.