London (England) -- Antiquities; London (England) -- Maps; London (England) -- Maps -- Early works to 1800
"Outside Cripplegate the houses begin again, leaving between the Lower
Moorfields dotted with ponds; there are houses lining the road outside
Aldersgate. The courts are still standing of St. Bartholomew's Priory,
Charterhouse, St. John's Priory, and the Clerkenwell nunnery; Smithfield is
surrounded with houses; Bridewell, with its two square courts, stands upon
the river bank; Fleet Street is irregular in shape, the houses being
nowhere in line; the courts of Whitefriars are still remaining. The Strand
has all its great houses facing the river; their backs open upon a broad
street, with a line of mean houses on the north side. On the south of the
river there is a line of houses on the High Street, a line of houses along
the river bank on either side, and another one running near Bermondsey
Abbey.
"Within the walls we observe that some of the religious houses have quite
disappeared--Crutched Friars, for instance. There is a vacant space, which
is probably one of the courts of St. Helen's. The Priory of the Holy
Trinity preserves its courts, but there is no sign of the church. There are
still visible the courts and gardens of Austin Friars. There is still the
great court of the Grey Friars, but the buildings of Blackfriars seem to
have vanished entirely" (_London in the Time of the Tudors_, p. 185).
* * * * *
NORDEN'S MAPS OF LONDON AND WESTMINSTER
DESIGNER.--Being on a very small scale, these maps are not so attractive as
some that have been already discussed. John Norden, the designer, was born
about 1548, and seems to have had from the first an extraordinary gift of
delicate penmanship, which he turned to much account in map-making. He
projected a whole "Speculum Britanniæ," but during his lifetime only
managed to publish books on two counties--namely, Middlesex and
Hertfordshire. He left behind him the results of his labours on many other
counties in manuscript, and these have since been published. Norden was
appointed Surveyor of His Majesty's Woods in 1609. The engraving of the
Middlesex maps was done by Peter Van den Keere.
ORIGINALS.--The reproductions are taken from those which appear in Norden's
_Middlesex_, dated 1593. Each map is 9½ inches by 6¾ inches. The wonderful
delicacy of Norden's work makes these maps peculiarly appreciated by
students of London cartography.
* * * * *
FAITHORNE AND NEWCOURT
DESCRIPTION.--This map generally goes by the name of Faithorne, the
engraver, but in reality the credit is due quite as much to Richard
Newcourt the elder (d. 1679), who was the draughtsman. It is selected for a
place here because, the date being 1658, it shows the City as it was before
the Fire, and therefore forms a supplement to the map of Ogilby which
follows, and shows the City as it was when rebuilt after the Fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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