The Story of LondonWheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
History
The Story of London
Wheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
London (England) -- History
Shakespeare lived outside the city walls, and although we cannot exactly
tell the position of his houses it is pretty certain that he lived both
in the parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, and in the Clink on the
Bankside.
Stuart London followed Tudor London, but with the death of James I. in
1625 the older history may be said to close, for there was a
considerable change during the reign of Charles I. The upper classes
moved westward to Lincoln's Inn and Great Queen Street and Covent
Garden. The great architect, Inigo Jones, built houses for them in both
these districts.
There was a certain stagnation in the movements of the population during
the period of the Commonwealth, but at the Restoration of Charles II. a
new life came into existence. The exiled Cavaliers returned to their
country and found their fathers' houses in the City of London either
occupied by others or unfitted for their reception. In consequence, they
migrated to a district far from the city. The builders were busy in
covering fields with houses, and Pall Mall, where the game of that name
had been played, was planned out as a fine street, which it remains to
the present day. Lords Clarendon, Burlington and Berkeley erected
mansions in Piccadilly, and Lord St. Albans created St. James's Square.
Many others followed the example of these leaders of Society, and the
upper classes were completely cut off from the city. The contemptuous
references to the traders of London, which are first noticed in
Elizabeth's reign, became common. The cits were laughed at, and the
courtiers poured out a torrent of abuse upon all those who lived in the
east.
The Great Fire of 1666 made an enormous change in the topography of
London, and caused great misery, but it is supposed to have been a
blessing in disguise as it cleared out many a centre of plague and
disease.
When we read of the heroism of the homeless Londoner we must feel proud
of our ancestors. They had lost everything, but they did not sit down
and wring their hands. When the streets were destroyed by fire the river
became more than ever a highway, and boats filled with the goods of the
sufferers covered the waters. Moorfields formed a handy open space, and
soon streets of huts were raised to shelter the homeless families. Wren,
England's greatest architect, John Evelyn, the most accomplished man of
his time and the model of a Royalist gentleman, and Robert Hooke, the
great philosopher, were all three, ready within a few hours of the fire
with plans for the rebuilding of the city, but none of the plans were
adopted although all had their good points, and Wren's especially would
certainly have given us fine avenues and convenient thoroughfares.
The difficulties in carrying out these schemes would no doubt have been
very great, and it is useless now to regret that a great opportunity was
lost.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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