Strand, The (London, England); Streets -- England -- London
Some way down this lane there is a notice pointing out a Roman bath
which is still in existence and well worth seeing. The bath now belongs
to Messrs. Glave, drapers in New Oxford Street, and is open free of
charge for anyone to inspect between eleven and twelve o'clock on
Saturday mornings. It is a rough vaulted chamber which has wisely been
left without any attempt at decoration, and the bath itself measures
about six yards by one and a half. It is four feet in depth, and is fed
by a spring which continually flows in. Subscribers are allowed to use
it on the payment of two guineas per annum. There was formerly a
companion bath quite near, but this was done away with at the building
of the Norfolk Hotel. The slabs of white marble which form the pavement
of the existing bath were taken from it. It is curious that such a
relic, computed to be perhaps 2,000 years old, should survive hidden and
almost unnoticed, where so many buildings long anterior in date have
utterly vanished. The bath is not mentioned by Stow or Malcolm in their
accounts of London, and probably was not discovered when they wrote.
In Surrey Street Congreve died in 1729. The greater part of this and the
neighbouring streets has been very recently rebuilt. Huge modern
red-brick mansions with all the latest conveniences of electric light
and lifts replace the old mansion which once stood here. These are
carefully built and not unpicturesque; they are let in flats, and house
a multitude of offices, clubs, etc. They are called by the names of the
noble families who once lived here--Arundel House, Mowbray House, and
Howard House. In Norfolk Street there are hotels and a small ladies'
club, the Writers', the only women's club in London which demands a
professional qualification from its members. Peter the Great lodged in
this street, and William Penn, the Quaker, was at the last house in the
south-west corner.
In Howard Street Mrs. Bracegirdle, the actress, once lodged, and a wild
attempt was made by an admirer to carry her off one night as she
returned from the theatre. The well-known duellist, Lord Mohun, took
part in the outrage which ended in the death of the actor Mountford.
Congreve was also a resident in Howard Street, removing afterwards to
Surrey Street. The old Crown and Anchor Tavern stood in Arundel Street,
in which was the Whittington Club, founded by Douglas Jerrold, who was
the first president. At the corner of Arundel Street is the depot of W.
H. Smith and Sons, the largest book and newspaper business in the world,
having the monopoly of the station bookstalls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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