London in 1731

From these Bars in Goswell Street, where the manor of Finsbury begins, the line extends by Golden Lane to the posts and chain in Whitecross Street, and from thence to the posts and chain in Grub Street; and then runs through Ropemakers Alley to the posts and chain in the highway from Moorgate, and from thence by the north side of Moorfields; after which it runs northwards to Nortonfalgate, meeting with the bars in Bishopsgate Street, and from thence runs eastward into Spittlefields, abutting all along upon Nortonfalgate.

From Nortonfalgate it returns southwards by Spittlefields, and then south-east by Wentworth Street, to the bars in Whitechapel. From hence it inclines more southerly to the Little Minories and Goodman’s Fields: from whence it returns westward to the posts and chain in the Minories, and so on more westerly till it comes to London Wall, abutting on the Tower Liberty, and there it ends. The ground comprehended betwixt this line and the city wall contains about three hundred acres.

There is no wall or fence, as has been hinted already, to separate the freedom of the City from that part of the town which lies in the county of Middlesex, only posts and chains at certain places, and one gate at the west end of Fleet Street which goes by the name of Temple Bar.

This gate resembles a triumphal arch; it is built of hewn stone, each side being adorned with four pilasters, their entablature, and an arched pediment of the Corinthian order. The intercolumns are niches replenished; those within the Bar towards the east, with the figures of King James I. and his queen; and those without the Bar, with the figures of King Charles I. and King Charles II. It is encircled also with cornucopias, and has two large cartouches by way of supporters to the whole; and on the inside of the gate is the following inscription, viz., “Erected in the year 1671, Sir Samuel Starling, Mayor: continued in the year 1670, Sir Richard Ford, Lord Mayor: and finished in the year 1672, Sir George Waterman, Lord Mayor.”

The city is divided into twenty-six wards or governments, each having its peculiar officers, as alderman, common council, &c. But all are subject to the lord mayor, the supreme magistrate of this great metropolis. Of each of these wards take the following account.

1. Portsoken ward is situate without Aldgate, the most easterly ward belonging to the City; and extends from Aldgate eastward to the bars. The chief streets and places comprehended in it, are part of Whitechapel Street, the Minories, Houndsditch, and the west side of Petticoat Lane.

Whitechapel is a handsome broad street, by which we enter the town from the east. The south side, or great part of it, is taken up by butchers who deal in the wholesale way, selling whole carcases of veal, mutton, and lamb (which come chiefly out of Essex) to the town butchers. On the north side are a great many good inns, and several considerable tradesmen’s houses, who serve the east part of England with such goods and merchandise as London affords. On the south side is a great market for hay three times a week.

Tower ward extends along the Thames from the Tower on the east almost to Billingsgate on the west, and that part of the Tower itself which lies to the westward of the White Tower is held by some to be within this ward. The principal streets and places contained in it are Great Tower Street, part of Little Tower Street and Tower Hill, part of Thames Street, Mark Lane, Mincing Lane, Seething Lane, St. Olave Hart Street, Idle Lane, St. Dunstan’s Hill, Harp Lane, Water Lane, and Bear Lane, with the courts and alleys that fall into them.

Great Tower Hill lies on the outside of the Tower Ditch towards the north-west.

Upon this hill is a scaffold erected, at the charge of the City, for the execution of noble offenders imprisoned in the Tower (after sentence passed upon them).

The names of the quays or wharves lying on the Thames side in this ward between the Tower and Billingsgate, are Brewer’s Quay, Chester Quay, Galley Quay, Wool Quay, Porter’s Quay, Custom-House Quay, Great Bear Quay, Little Bear Quay, Wigging’s Quay, Ralph’s Quay, Little Dice Quay, Great Dice Quay, and Smart’s Quay, of which, next to the Custom-House Quay, Bear Quays are the most considerable, there being one of the greatest markets in England for wheat and other kinds of grain, brought hither by coasting vessels.

The public buildings in this ward (besides the western part of the Tower above-mentioned to be within the City) are the Custom House, Cloth-workers’ Hall, Bakers’ Hall, and the three parish churches of Allhallows Barking, St. Olave Hart Street, and St. Dunstan’s in the East.

The Custom House is situated on the north side of the Thames, between the Tower and Billingsgate, consisting of two floors, in the uppermost of which, in a wainscoted magnificent room, almost the whole length of the building, and fifteen feet in height, sit the commissioners of the customs, with their under officers and clerks. The length of this edifice is a hundred and eighty-nine feet, and the general breadth twenty-seven, but at the west end it is sixty feet broad. It is built of brick and stone, and covered with lead, being adorned with the upper and lower orders of architecture.

3. Aldgate, or Ealdgate Ward. The principal streets and places in it are Aldgate Street, Berry Street, part of St. Mary Axe, part of Leadenhall Street, part of Lime Street, Billiter Lane and Square, part of Mark Lane, Fenchurch Street, and Crutchedfriars.

The public buildings in this ward are the African House, the Navy Office, Bricklayers’ Hall, the churches of St. Catherine Creechurch, St. James’s, Duke’s Place, St. Andrew Undershaft, St. Catherine Coleman, and the Jews’ Synagogues.

The Royal African House is situated on the south side of Leadenhall Street, near the east end of it. Here the affairs of the company are transacted; but the house has nothing in it that merits a particular description.

The Navy Office is situated on the south side of Crutchedfriars, near Tower Hill, being a large, well-built pile of buildings, and the offices for every branch of business relating to the navy admirably well disposed.

The Jews’ synagogues are in Duke’s Place, where, and in that neighbourhood, many of that religion inhabit. The synagogue stands east and West, as Christian churches usually do: the great door is on the west, within which is a long desk upon an ascent, raised above the floor, from whence the law is read. The east part of the synagogue also is railed in, and the places where the women sit enclosed with lattices; the men sit on benches with backs to them, running east and west; and there are abundance of fine branches for candles, besides lamps, especially in that belonging to the Portuguese.

4. Lime Street Ward. The principal streets and places in it are part of Leadenhall Street, and Leadenhall Market, part of Lime Street, and part of St. Mary Axe.

Leadenhall Market, the finest shambles in Europe, lies between Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street. Of the three courts or yards which it consists of, the first is that at the north-east corner of Gracechurch Street, and opens into Leadenhall Street. This court or yard contains in length from north to south 164 feet, and in breadth from east to west eighty feet: within this court or yard, round about the same, are about 100 standing stalls for butchers, for the selling of beef only, and therefore this court is called the beef market. These stalls are either under warehouses, or sheltered from the weather by roofs over them. This yard is on Tuesdays a market for leather, to which the tanners resort; on Thursdays the waggons from Colchester, and other parts, come with baize, &c., and the fellmongers with their wool; and on Fridays it is a market for raw hides; on Saturdays, for beef and other provisions.

The second market yard is called the Greenyard, as being once a green plot of ground; afterwards it was the City’s storeyard for materials for building and the like; but now a market only for veal, mutton, lamb, &c. This yard is 170 feet in length from east to west, and ninety feet broad from north to south; it hath in it 140 stalls for the butchers, all covered over. In the middle of this Greenyard market from north to south is a row of shops, with rooms over them, for fishmongers: and on the south side and west end are houses and shops also for fishmongers. Towards the east end of this yard is erected a fair market-house, standing upon columns, with vaults underneath, and rooms above, with a bell tower, and a clock, and under it are butchers’ stalls. The tenements round about this yard are for the most part inhabited by cooks and victuallers; and in the passages leading out of the streets into this market are fishmongers, poulterers, cheesemongers, and other traders in provisions.

The third market belonging to Leadenhall is called the Herb Market, for that herbs, roots, fruits, &c., are only there sold. This market is about 140 feet square; the west, east, and north sides had walks round them, covered over for shelter, and standing upon columns; in which walks there were twenty-eight stalls for gardeners, with cellars under them.

The public buildings in this ward are Leadenhall, the East India House, Pewterers’ Hall, and Fletchers’ Hall.

Leadenhall is situated on the south side of Leadenhall Street. It is a large stone fabric, consisting of three large courts or yards, as has been observed already; part of it is at present a warehouse, in the occupation of the East India Company, where the finest calicoes, and other curiosities of the Eastern part of the world, are reposited; another part of it is for Colchester baize, and is open every Thursday and Friday. Here was also anciently a chapel, and a fraternity of sixty priests constituted to celebrate Divine Service every day to the market people; but was dissolved with other religious societies at the Reformation.

On the south side of Leadenhall Street also, and a little to the eastward of Leadenhall, stands the East India House, lately magnificently built, with a stone front to the street; but the front being very narrow, does not make an appearance answerable to the grandeur of the house within, which stands upon a great deal of ground, the offices and storehouses admirably well contrived, and the public hall and the committee room scarce inferior to anything of the like nature in the City.

There is not one church in this ward at present. The officers of the ward are, an alderman, his deputy, four common-council men, four constables, two scavengers, sixteen for the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

5. Bishopsgate Ward is divided into two parts, one within Bishopsgate, and the other without.

The streets and places in this ward, within the gate, are, all Bishopsgate Street, part of Gracechurch Street, all Great and Little St. Helen’s, all Crosby Square, all Camomile Street, and a small part of Wormwood Street, with several courts and alleys that fall into them.

That part of this ward that lies without Bishopsgate extends northwards as far as the bars, being the bounds of the City freedom on this side.

The principal streets and places in this ward, without the gate, are, Bishopsgate Street, Petty France, Bethlem Court and Lane, and Devonshire Square; besides which, there are little courts and alleys without number between Bishopsgate Street and Moorfields.

The public buildings in this ward are Leather-sellers’ Hall, Gresham College, the churches of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, St. Ethelburga, and St. Helen.

London Workhouse, for the poor of the City of London, also stands in this ward, just without Bishopsgate, being a long brick edifice four hundred feet in length, consisting of several work-rooms and lodging rooms for the vagrants and parish children brought thither, who are employed in spinning wool and flax, in sewing, knitting, or winding silk, or making their clothes or shoes, and are taught to write, read, and cast accounts. The grown vagrants brought here for a time only are employed in washing, beating hemp, and picking oakum, and have no more to keep them than they earn, unless they are sick; and the boys are put out apprentices to seafaring men or artificers, at a certain age, and in the meantime have their diet, clothes, physic, and other necessaries provided for them by the house, which is supported by private charities, by sums raised annually by the City, or by the labour of the children, which last article produces seven or eight hundred pounds per annum.

6. Broad Street Ward contains part of Threadneedle Street, Bartholomew Lane, part of Prince’s Street, part of Lothbury, part of Throgmorton Street, great part of Broad Street, Winchester Street, Austinfriars, part of Wormwood Street, and part of London Wall Street, with the courts and lanes running into them.

The public buildings in this ward are Carpenters’ Hall, Drapers’ Hall, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, the South Sea House, the Pay Office, Allhallows on the Wall, St. Peter’s Poor, the Dutch Church, St. Martin’s, St. Bennet’s, St. Bartholomew’s, St. Christopher’s, and the French Church.

The most magnificent and beautiful edifice of the kind in this ward, and indeed in the City of London, is the South Sea House, lately erected at the north-east corner of Threadneedle Street, near Bishopsgate Street, and over against the church of St. Martin Outwich. It is built of stone and brick.

The several offices for transacting the business of this great company are admirably well disposed; and the great hall for sales is nowhere to be paralleled, either in its dimensions or ornaments, any more than the dining-room, galleries, and chambers above.

7. Cornhill Ward comprehends little more than the street of the same name, and some little lanes and alleys that fall into it, as Castle Alley, Sweeting’s or Swithin’s Alley, Freeman’s Yard, part of Finch Lane, Weigh House Yard, Star Court, the north end of Birching Lane, St. Michael’s Alley, Pope’s Head Alley, and Exchange Alley.

Cornhill Street may, in many respects, be looked upon as the principal street of the City of London; for here almost all affairs relating to navigation and commerce are transacted; and here all the business relating to the great companies and the Bank are negotiated. This street also is situated near the centre of the City, and some say, upon the highest ground in it. It is spacious, and well built with lofty houses, four or five storeys high, inhabited by linendrapers and other considerable tradesmen, who deal by wholesale as well as retail, and adorned with the principal gate and front of the Royal Exchange. Here also it is said the metropolitan church was situated, when London was an archbishopric.

Exchange Alley, so denominated from its being situated on the south side of this street, over against the Royal Exchange, has long been famous for the great concourse of merchants and commanders of ships, and the bargains and contracts made there and in the two celebrated coffee-houses in it, which go under the respective names of “Jonathan’s” and “Garraway’s,” where land, stocks, debentures, and merchandise, and everything that has an existence in Nature, is bought, sold, and transferred from one to another; and many things contracted for, that subsists only in the imagination of the parties.

The public buildings in this ward are, the Royal Exchange, and the churches of St. Peter and St. Michael.

The Royal Exchange is situated on the north side of Cornhill, about the middle of the street, forming an oblong open square, the inside whereof is a hundred and forty-four feet in length from east to west, and a hundred and seventeen in breadth from north to south; the area sixty-one square poles, on every side whereof is a noble piazza or cloister, consisting of twenty-eight columns and arches that support the galleries above.

The length of the building on the outside is two hundred and three feet, the breadth a hundred and seventy-one, and the height fifty-six. On the front towards Cornhill also is a noble piazza, consisting of ten pillars; and another on the opposite side next Threadneedle Street, of as many; and in the middle of each a magnificent gate. Over the Cornhill gate is a beautiful tower, a hundred and seventy-eight feet high, furnished with twelve small bells for chimes; and underneath the piazzas are capacious cellars, which serve for warehouses.

The whole building is of Portland stone, rustic work; above the arches the inward piazza is an entablament, with fine enrichments; and on the cornice a range of pilasters, within entablature, and a spacious compass pediment in the middle of the corners of each of the four sides. Under the pediment on the north side are the king’s arms; on the south those of the City; and on the east the arms of Sir Thomas Gresham. And under the pediment on the west side the arms of the Company of Mercers, with their respective enrichments. The intercolumns of the upper range are twenty-four niches, nineteen of which are filled with the statues of the kings and queens regent of England, standing erect with their robes and regalia, except that of King James II. and King George II., which are habited like the Cæsars.

On the south side are seven niches, of which four are filled, viz.: —

1. The most easterly figure, which has this inscription in gold letters, Edvardus Primus Rex, Anno Dom. 1272. 2. Westward, Edvardus III. Rex, Anno Dom. 1329. 3. Henricus V. Rex, Anno Domini 1412. 4. Henricus VI. Rex, Anno Domini 1422.

On the west side five niches, four of which are filled, viz.: —

1. Under the most southerly figures is subscribed in gold letters, Edvardus IV. Rex, Anno Domini 1460. 2. Northward (the crown pendent over his head) Edvardus V. Rex, Anno Domini 1483. 3. Henricus VII. Rex, Anno Domini 1487. 4. Henricus VIII. Rex, Anno Domini 1508.

On the north side seven niches are filled, viz.: —

1. The most westerly, subscribed in golden characters, Edvardus VI. Rex, Anno Domini 1547. 2. Maria Regina, Anno Domini 1553. 3. Elizabetha Regina, Anno Domini 1558. 4. Is subscribed Serenissim & Potentissim’ Princip’ Jacobo Primo, Mag. Brit’ Fran’ & Hibern’ Reg. Fid. Defensori, Societas Pannitonsorum posuit, A.D. 1684. 5. ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ Serenissimi & Religiosissimi Principis Caroli Primi, Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ Hiberniæ Regis, Fidei Defensoris; Bis Martyris (in Corpore Effigie) Impiis Rebellium Manibus, ex hoc loco deturbata confracta, Anno Dom. 1647. Restituta hic demum collocata, Anno Dom. 1683. Gloria Martyrii qui te fregêre Rebelles non potuere ipsum quem voluere Deum. 6. Carolus Secundus Rex, Anno Domini 1648. 7. Jacobus II. Rex, Anno Domini 1685.

On the east side five niches, one of which is vacant, the other filled, viz.: —

1. The most northerly contains two statues, viz., of King William and Queen Mary, subscribed Gulielmus III. Rex, & Maria II. Regina, A.D. 1688. S. P. Q. Londin’ Optim Principibus, P. C. 1695. 2. Anna Regina Dei Gratia Mag. Britan’ Franciæ & Hiberniæ, 1701. 3. George I. inscribed Georgius D. G. Magnæ Britan’ Franciæ & Hiberniæ Rex, Anno Dom. 1714. S.P.Q.L. 4. Southerly the statue of King George II. in the habiliment of a Cæsar, wreathed on the head, and a battoon or truncheon in his hand, little differing from that of Charles II. in the centre of the area, only in looking northward; inscribed Georgius II. D. G. Mag. Brit. Fra. & Hib. Rex, Anno Dom. 1727. S.P.Q.L.

On the four sides of the piazza within the Exchange are twenty-eight niches, which are all vacant yet, except one near the north-west angle, where is the figure of Sir Thomas Gresham. The piazza itself is paved with black and white marble, and the court, or area, pitched with pebbles; in the middle whereof is the statue of King Charles II. in a Roman habit, with a battoon in his hand, erected on a marble pedestal, about eight feet high and looking southward; on which side of the pedestal, under an imperial crown, wings, trumpet of fame, sceptre and sword, palm branches, &c., are these words inscribed, viz.: —

Carolo II. Cæsari Britannico, Patriæ Patri, Regum Optimo Clementissimo Augustissimo, Generis Humani Deliciis, Utriusq; Fortunæ Victori, Pacis Europæ Arbitro, Marium Domino, ac Vindici Societatis Mercatorum Adventur’ Angliæ, quæ per CCCC jam prope Annos Regia benignitate floret, Fidei Intemeratæ & Gratitudinis æternæ hoc Testimonium venerabunda posuit, Anno Salutis Humanæ 1684.

On the west side of the pedestal is neatly cut in relievo the figure of a Cupid reposing his right hand on a shield containing the arms of England and France quartered, and in his left hand a rose.

On the north side are the arms of Ireland on a shield, supported by a Cupid.

On the east side the arms of Scotland, with a Cupid holding a thistle all in relievo.

The inner piazza and court are divided into several stations, or walks, where the merchants of the respective nations, and those who have business with them, assemble distinctly; so that any merchant or commander of a vessel is readily found, if it be known to what country he trades. The several walks are described in the following ground-plot of the Exchange: —

Near the south gate is a spacious staircase, and near the north gate another, that lead up to the galleries, on each side whereof are shops for milliners and other trades, to the number of near two hundred, which brought in a good revenue at first, nothing being thought fashionable that was not purchased there; but the milliners are now dispersed all over the town, and the shops in the Exchange almost deserted.

8. Langbourn Ward, so called of a bourne, or brook, that had its source in it, and run down Fenchurch Street, contains these principal streets: part of Lombard Street, part of Fenchurch Street, part of Lime Street, and part of Gracechurch Street, with part of the courts, lanes, and alleys in them, particularly White Hart Court, Exchange Alley, Sherbourne Lane, Abchurch Lane, St. Nicholas Lane, Mark Lane, Mincing Lane, Rood Lane, Cullum Court, Philpot Lane, and Braben Court.

The public buildings in this ward are, the Post Office, Ironmongers’ Hall, Pewterers’ Hall; the churches of Allhallows, Lombard Street, St. Edmund’s, Lombard Street, St. Mary Woolnoth, St. Dionis Backchurch, and St. Allhallows Staining.

The Post Office is situated on the south side of Lombard Street, near Stocks Market. It was the dwelling-house of Sir Robert Vyner, in the reign of King Charles II. The principal entrance is out of Lombard Street, through a great gate and passage that leads into a handsome paved court, about which are the several offices for receiving and distributing letters, extremely well contrived.

Letters and packets are despatched from hence every Monday to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Flanders, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Kent, and the Downs.

Every Tuesday to the United Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and to all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Every Wednesday to Kent only, and the Downs.

Every Thursday to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and all parts of England and Scotland.

Every Friday to the Austrian and United Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and to Kent and the Downs.

Every Saturday to all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

The post goes also every day to those places where the Court resides, as also to the usual stations and rendezvous of His Majesty’s fleet, as the Downs, Spithead, and to Tunbridge during the season for drinking waters, &c.

Letters and packets are received from all parts of England and Scotland, except Wales, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; from Wales every Monday and Friday; and from Kent and the Downs every day.

His Majesty keeps constantly, for the transport of the said letters and packets, in times of peace,

Between England and France, three packet-boats; Spain, one in a fortnight; Portugal, one ditto; Flanders, two packet-boats; Holland, three packet-boats; Ireland, three packet-boats.

And at Deal, two packet-boats for the Downs.

Not to mention the extraordinary packet-boats, in time of war with France and Spain, to the Leeward Islands, &c.

A letter containing a whole sheet of paper is conveyed eighty miles for 3d., and two sheets 6d. and an ounce of letters but 1s. And above eighty miles a single letter is 4d., a double letter 8d., and an ounce 1s. 4d.

9. Billingsgate Ward is bounded by Langbourn Ward towards the north, by Tower Street Ward on the east, by the River Thames on the south, and by Bridge Ward Within on the west. The principal streets and places in this ward are, Thames Street, Little East Cheap, Pudding Lane, Botolph Lane, Love Lane, St. Mary Hill, and Rood Lane.

The wharves, or quays, as they lie on the Thames side from east to west, are, Smart’s Quay, Billings gate, Little Somer’s Quay, Great Somer’s Quay, Botolph Wharf, Cox’s Quay, and Fresh Wharf which last is the next quay to the bridge; of which Billingsgate is much the most resorted to. It is a kind of square dock, or inlet, having quays on three sides of it, to which the vessels lie close while they are unloading. By a statute of the 10th and 11th of William III. it was enacted, “That Billingsgate should be a free market for fish every day in the week, except Sundays. That a fishing-vessel should pay no other toll or duty than the Act prescribes, viz., every salt-fish vessel, for groundage, 8d. per day, and 20d. per voyage; a lobster boat 2d. per day groundage, and 13d. the voyage; every dogger boat, or smack with sea-fish, 2d. per day groundage, and 13d. the voyage; every oyster vessel, 2d. per day groundage, and a halfpenny per bushel metage. And that it should be lawful for any person who should buy fish in the said market to sell the same in any other market or place in London, or elsewhere, by retail.” And because the fishmongers used to buy up great part of the fish at Billingsgate, and then divide the same among themselves, in order to set an extravagant price upon them, it was enacted, “That no person should buy, or cause to be bought, in the said market of Billingsgate, any quantity of fish, to be divided by lot among the fishmongers, or other persons, with an intent to sell them afterwards by retail; and that no fishmonger should buy any more than for his own use, on pain of £20.” And by the 6th Annæ it was enacted, “That no person should buy fish at Billingsgate to sell again in the same market; and that none but fishermen, their wives, or servants, should sell fish by retail at Billingsgate; and that none should buy or sell fish there before the ringing of the market bell.”

The public buildings in this ward are Butchers’ Hall, and the churches of St. Mary Hill, St. Margaret Pattens, and St. George, in Botolph Lane.

10. Bridge Ward Within contains London Bridge, New Fish Street, Gracechurch Street as far as Fenchurch Street, Thames Street from Fish Street to the Old Swan, part of St. Martin’s Lane, part of St. Michael’s Lane, and part of Crooked Lane.

The public buildings in this ward are London Bridge, the Monument, Fishmongers’ Hall, and the churches of St. Magnus and St Bennet, Gracechurch Street.

The Monument stands on the west side of Fish Street Hill, a little to the northward of the bridge, and was erected by the legislative authority, in memory of the Fire, anno 1666, and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It has a fluted column, 202 feet high from the ground; the greatest diameter of the shaft 15 feet, and the plinth, or lowest part of the pedestal, 28 feet square, and 40 feet high; the whole being of Portland stone, except the staircase within, which is of black marble, containing 345 steps, ten inches and a half broad, and six inches deep; and a balcony on the outside 32 feet from the top, on which is a gilded flame. The front of the pedestal, towards the west, contains a representation of the Fire, and the resurrection of the present city out of the ruins of the former.

11. Candlewick or Cannon Street Ward contains part of Great East Cheap, part of Candlewick, now called Cannon Street, part of Abchurch Lane, St. Nicholas Lane, St. Clement’s Lane, St. Michael’s Lane, Crooked Lane, St. Martin’s Lane, St. Lawrence Poultney Lane, with the courts and alleys that fall into them.

In Cannon Street is that remarkable stone called London Stone, which has remained fixed in the ground many hundred years, but for what end is uncertain, though supposed by some to be the place from whence the Romans began to compute the number of miles anciently to any part of the kingdom.

12. Walbrook Ward contains the best part of Walbrook, part of Bucklersbury, the east end of Budge Row, the north end of Dowgate, part of Cannon Street, most of Swithin’s Lane, most of Bearbinder Lane, part of Bush Lane, part of Suffolk Lane, part of Green Lattice Lane, and part of Abchurch Lane, with several courts and lanes that fall into them.

Stocks Market consists of a pretty large square, having Cornhill and Lombard Street on the north-east, the Poultry on the north-west, and Walbrook on the south-east. Before the Fire it was a market chiefly for fish and flesh, and afterwards for fruit and garden stuff.

In this market Sir Robert Vyner, Bart. and Alderman, erected a marble equestrian statue of King Charles II., standing on a pedestal eighteen feet high, and trampling on his enemies.

The public buildings in this ward are Salters’ Hall, the churches of St. Swithin and St. Stephen, Walbrook.

13. Dowgate, or Dowgate Ward, so called from the principal street, which has a steep descent or fall into the Thames, contains part of Thames Street, part of St. Lawrence-Poultney Hill, part of Duxford Lane, part of Suffolk Lane, part of Bush Lane, part of Dowgate Hill, Checquer Yard, Elbow Lane, and Cloak Lane; and the southward of Thames Street, Old Swan Lane, Cole Harbour, Allhallows Lane, Campion Lane, Friars Lane, Cozens Lane, Dowgate Dock, and the Steel Yard.

The public buildings in this ward are Tallow-chandlers’ Hall, Skinners’ Hall, Innholders’ Hall, Plumbers’ Hall, Joiners’ Hall, Watermen’s Hall, and the church of Allhallows the Great.