THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| VOL. XVII, NO. 490.] | SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1831. | [PRICE 2d. |
OLD HOUSE IN SOUTHWARK.This crazy, but not unpicturesque building, was taken down in the autumnof last year, in forming an approach to the New London Bridge. It stoodon the eastern side of the High-street, and is worthy of record amongthe pleasing relics of antiquity, which it has ever been the object ofThe Mirror to rescue from oblivion. Its style of architecture—that ofthe seventh Henry—is interesting: there is a florid picturesqueness inthe carvings on the fronts of the first and second stories, and probablythis ornament extended originally to the uppermost stories, which hadsubsequently been covered with plaster.
We remember the house for the last twenty years, but cannot trace thisor any other alteration in its front. The windows, it will be seen, areof different periods, those on the right-hand second[pg 338]and the left-handthird floor being of the oldest date.
Apart from these attractions, and as a specimen of the olden domesticarchitecture of the metropolis, the annexed Cut bears an historicinterest, in its having been the residence of the ill-starred AnneBoleyn, queen of Henry the Eighth. The interior was in palatial style,having been elaborately finished; and in one of the apartments, we learnthat the royal arms were very conspicuous.
In early times, Southwark was one of the most celebrated of themetropolitan suburbs; and it is much to be regretted that the liberalityof our times has not encouraged the production of its ancient history.Every one at all familiar with London is aware of the antiquity of St.Saviour's Church, the original foundation of which was from the profitsof a ferry over the Thames, whence its original name, St. Mary Overy, or"over the ferry." This was some time before the Conquest; but the churchwas principally rebuilt in the fourteenth century. We have spoken of itsancient fame elsewhere.1 Bankside, its name in spiritual and secularstory, is likewise of some note. The early Bishops of Winchester had apalace and park here; remains of the former were laid open by afire about seventeen years since. Then, who does not remember, in thelove of sports and pastimes, the bull and bear-baiting theatres, andthe uncouth glory of the Globe theatre, associated with the poet of alltime—Shakspeare. Southwark was, therefore, a fitting site for a royalpalace for occasional retirement, and its contiguity to the Thames musthave enhanced its pleasantness.
Miss Benger, in her agreeable Memoirs of Anne Boleyn, does notmention the Queen's abode in Southwark; but the date of the architectureof the annexed house, and its closer identification with QueenElizabeth, render the first mentioned circumstance by no meansimprobable. Previous to the marriage of Anne Boleyn, we learn that Henrypassed not a few of his leisure hours "in the delightful society of AnneBoleyn." "Every day they met and spent many hours in ridi