The London pleasure gardens of the eighteenth centuryWroth, Warwick William
History
The London pleasure gardens of the eighteenth century
Wroth, Warwick William
London (England) -- History -- 18th century; Parks -- England -- London -- History
[Sainthill’s _Memoirs_, 1659 [_Gent. Mag._ vol. 83; p. 524);
advertisements, songs, &c., relating to Marybone Gardens
(1763–1775), Brit. Mus. (840, m. 29); Newspaper advertisements,
songs, &c., in W. Coll. Newspaper cuttings, &c., relating to
London Public Gardens in the Guildhall Library, London; Smith’s
_Book for a Rainy Day_, p. 40, ff.; Thomas Smith’s _Marylebone_;
Blanchard, in _Era Almanack_, 1869, p. 32, ff.; Grove’s
_Dict. of Music_ (1880), art. “Marylebone Gardens,” by W. H.
Husk. Angelo’s _Reminiscences_, ii. p. 3; Timbs’s _Romance of
London_; Walford, iv. 431, ff.; Thomas Harris’s _Historical and
Descriptive Sketch of Marylebone Gardens_, London, 1887.]
VIEWS.
1. A view of Marybone Gardens and orchestra, J. Donnowell del.
1755; published by J. Tinney. Crace, _Cat._ p. 566, No. 74.
2. Modifications of 1, published by R. Sayer, 1755, and by
Bowles and Carver. Crace, _Cat._ p. 566, Nos. 75, 76. Also
1761, published by J. Ryall [W. Coll.].
3. Views of Rose of Normandy. Crace, _Cat._ p. 566, Nos.
79–81; p. 567, No. 82.
THE QUEEN’S HEAD AND ARTICHOKE
In the neighbourhood of the Marylebone Gardens were a few much humbler
places of entertainment, standing in what in the last century was a
rural district; the Queen’s Head and Artichoke, the Jew’s Harp house
and, farther west, the Yorkshire Stingo.
The Queen’s Head and Artichoke was in Marylebone Park, nearly opposite
Portland Road, and about five hundred yards from the north side of the
New Road (Marylebone Road). It was a small and picturesque old inn,
standing in a meadow to which a footpath led, and displaying a portrait
of Queen Elizabeth as its sign. Tradition attributed the building of
the house to a gardener of the Queen, and the curious combination of
the sign was believed to have something to do with this. The inn is
marked in Rocque’s map of 1745, and it probably then possessed, as it
did at the beginning of the present century, a ground for skittles and
“bumble-puppy,” and shady bowers, in which cream, tea and cakes were
served.
It was pulled down about 1811, and the Colosseum afterwards occupied
part of the site. A new tavern was then built near the site of the old
inn, and this is probably identical with the public-house called the
Queen’s Head and Artichoke, which is now No. 30 Albany Street, east
side.
[_Gent. Mag._ 1819, pt. 2, p. 401; Larwood and Hotten, _Hist. of
Signboards_, pp. 311, 312; Walford, v. p. 255; Smith, _Book for
a_
_Rainy Day_; Wheatley, _London P. and P._, s.v. “Jew’s Harp,”
and “Albany Street”; Hone’s _Year Book_, p. 318; Clinch’s
_Marylebone_, pp. 40 and 45.]
VIEWS.
1. A water-colour drawing by Findlay, 1796. Crace, _Cat._
p. 569, No. 104; cp. an engraving of the inn in Walford, v. p.
258, and a small sketch in Clinch’s _Marylebone_, p. 45
(dated 1796).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account