Cremorne and the later London gardens — John Shaqi
Cremorne and the later London gardensWroth, Warwick William
History
Cremorne and the later London gardens
Wroth, Warwick William
London (England) -- History -- 1800-1950; Parks -- England -- London
In 1857 the Chelsea Vestry had presented the first of many annual
petitions against the renewal of the licence, setting forth the
inconvenience of the late hours of Cremorne, the immoral character of its
female frequenters, and its detrimental influence generally on the morals
(and house property) of the neighbourhood. Such petitions, like the
annual protests against old Bartholomew Fair, were a long time in taking
effect, but, as Cremorne grew older, the rowdy and wanton element
certainly increased, and finally, as we shall see, not undeservedly
brought about its downfall. In spite of all this, we know of more than
one respected paterfamilias who has still somewhere a Cremorne programme
or two, the relic of some pleasant and doubtless romantic evening in the
sixties or seventies, when he imagined himself to be seeing something—if
not too much—of ‘real life’ in London. In the sixties some charming
little folding programmes were issued, printed in colour, and presenting
on every page a view of Cremorne. Portions of the programme were
ingeniously cut out, so that on the front page there was a view up the
long walk, flanked by its trees and lamp-bearing goddesses, right to the
great fountain. Another page depicted the supper-table spread with its
choice viands and ‘rarest vintages,’ and on another was a view of the
circus, the supper-boxes, and the promenade enlivened by a peripatetic
band—all for a shilling admission, and the patron, Her Majesty the Queen.
{12a}
Time has cast a veil over the orgiastic features of Cremorne, and though
this is just as well, some of its old frequenters may cherish the feeling
that there are no ‘intrepid aeronauts’ now, no fireworks like Duffell’s,
no gaily-lighted tiers of supper-boxes, and no waltzing on circular
platforms with beauteous, if little known, damsels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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