THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. XVII. No. 473.] | SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1831. | [PRICE 2d. |
THE STRAND, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
(Inscription copied from the original of the annexed Engraving.)
| THE STRAND, | THE STRAND, |
|---|---|
In its ancient state, anno 1547. With the Strand Cross, Convent Garden, &c. With the Procession of Edward VI. | And its Neighbourhood, anno 1700. Looking from Arundel House, northwards, With the Maypole and Garland. |
We have often, in our antiquarian notices of the Metropolis, touched uponthe olden topography of COVENT GARDEN and THE STRAND, and illustrated ourpages with some portion of its history. Thus, in vol. xii. p. 40, the"regular subscriber" will find, an Engraving, and descriptive notes of OldCovent Garden: in vol. xiii. p. 122, he will find a second notice of thesame spot; and in the same volume, p. 241, is a whole-page Engraving ofthe original Somerset House, with ample details of its foundation, theneighbouring district, &c. The reader should turn to these pages, andre-read them in connexion with the few particulars we have now to add.
To aid the first Engraving, with the Strand Cross and Covent Garden, wemay quote that—
"Most of the ground occupied by the above parish was, in ancient times(anno 1222), an extensive garden, belonging to the Abbot and Convent ofWestminster, and thence called the Convent Garden, from which thepresent appellation is an evident corruption. This estate, with othercontiguous lands of the Abbots, which were originally named the Elms,and afterwards Seven Acres, and Long Acre, having reverted to the townat the Dissolution, was given by Edward the Sixth to his ill-fated uncle,the Duke of Somerset; after whose attainder, as appears from the originalMinutes of the Privy Council, there was a patent granted in March, 1552,to John Russell, Earl of Bedford, and Lord Privy Seal, per Bill. Dom.Regis 'of the gift of the Covent, or Convent Garden, lying in the parishof St. Martin in the Fields, near Charing Cross, with seven acres, calledLong Acre, of the yearly value of 6l. 6s. 8d., parcel ofthe possessions of the late Duke of Somerset, to have to him and his heirs,reserving a tenure to the King's Majesty in socage, and not in capite.'Shortly after, the Earl of Bedford erected a mansion, principally of wood,for his town residence, near the bottom of what is now SouthamptonStreet; ...