Strand, The (London, England); Streets -- England -- London
The south side of Lincoln's Inn Fields only is within our boundaries,
but the square is worth seeing. It is the largest in London, and was
partly designed by Inigo Jones, who built the west side, called the Arch
Row; the east side was bounded by the garden wall of Lincoln's Inn; on
the north was Holborn Row; the south side was Portugal Row. The history
of Lincoln's Inn Fields is a curious combination of rascality and of
aristocracy. The rascals infested the fields, which were filled with
wrestlers, rogues and cheats, pick-pockets, cripples and footpads; the
aristocrats occupied the stately houses on the west side. Among the
residents here were Lord Somers, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Kenyon,
Lord Erskine, and Spencer Percival. In the fields Babington and his
accomplices were executed, some of them on the 20th, and some on the
21st, of September, 1586. Here also on July 21, 1683, William, Lord
Russell was beheaded.
East of Drury Lane there lies a curious district mainly made up of lanes
now rapidly disappearing, such as Clare Market, Wild Street, and a
network of narrow courts. In 1657 Howell speaks of the Earl of Clare as
living "in a princely manner" in this neighbourhood. It was in Clare
Market that Orator Henley had his chapel. The market was one chiefly for
meat, and the shops and sheds were mainly occupied by butchers. Dr.
Radcliffe frequented a tavern in this place, and Mrs. Bracegirdle, the
actress, used to visit the market in order to assist the poor
basket-women. The place is now almost gone. There was a notorious
burial-ground, closed at last after its enormities had been exposed over
and over again. King's College Hospital is built upon a part of the
slums. Clement's Inn will be swept away by the Strand improvements. New
Inn is still standing; Danes' Inn is a modern court with offices and
residential chambers. Wych Street itself has still some of the old
houses left. In Newcastle Street was Lyons' Inn, cleared away to make
room for a theatre.
Drury Lane derives its name from the family mansion of the Druries which
stood on the site. The brave Lord Craven bought this house and rebuilt
it. It is stated that he married privately the Queen of Bohemia,
daughter of James I. Timbs says that she occupied the house adjoining
Craven House, which was connected with it by a subterranean passage.
Craven Buildings were built in 1723 upon the site of the house; Hayman,
the artist, and Mrs. Bracegirdle, the actress, both had rooms in these
buildings. The Olympic Theatre is also partly on the site of Craven
House.
Drury Lane was once a fashionable quarter, but lost that reputation
before many of its contemporaries, and since the time of the third
William has borne a more or less vile character. Nell Gwynne was born in
Coal Yard, which opens off on the east side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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