Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood Part 7

Botanical Gardens.-These are also situated in the Regent's Park, occupying the chief portion of the s.p.a.ce within the inner circle. They belong to the Botanical Society, and contain a very choice collection of trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants generally. Admission by strangers can only be obtained through the medium of the members, or occasionally on the payment of rather a high fee. On the days of the princ.i.p.al flower and plant shows, these gardens are especially distinguished by the display of aristocratic fas.h.i.+on and beauty.

[Picture: Horticultural Gardens]

Horticultural Gardens.-These beautiful new grounds are objects of attraction on many accounts-their merit in connection with garden architecture, the interest attending the flower-shows there held, and the special relation existing between the grounds and the Exhibitions at Brompton. You can enter them by the gates in Exhibition Road and Prince Albert Road, South Kensington. A few years ago, besides an office in London, the society had only facilities at Chiswick for holding the great flower-shows. The present arrangement is in all respects a superior one.

Twenty acres of land were purchased or rented from the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition of 1851, between the Kensington and Brompton Roads; the subscribers of the purchase-money being admitted to members.h.i.+p on favourable conditions. The ground is laid out in three terraces, rising successively in elevation, and surrounded by Italian arcades open to the gardens. There are also cascades and waterworks. The highest terrace has a s.p.a.cious conservatory, to form a winter-garden. Mr. Sidney Smith is the architect. The last Great Exhibition building was so planned as to form a vast southern background to the gardens; and the latter were spread out in all their beauty, as seen from certain points in the former. During the summer months the gardens are open on certain occasions to the public by paying, the days and terms being duly advertised in the newspapers and journals. Near these gardens is the towering _Royal Albert Hall of Science and Art_, which was formally opened by Queen Victoria, on the 29th of March, 1871. The fact of 8,000 people attending within one building to witness the opening of it, will shew its vast size. The sum of 200,000, up to that date, had been expended on it. The Hall, in some sense, has been erected in memory of the late Prince Consort, whose aspirations, during his honourable life here, were always towards whatever tended to the moral and intellectual culture of the people of this country. The management of the undertaking is entrusted to the energetic attention of the scientific men to whom we owe the South Kensington Museum.

OMNIBUSES; TRAMWAYS; CABS; RAILWAYS; STEAMERS.

Omnibuses.-Very few indeed of the regular old-fas.h.i.+oned coaches are now to be seen in London. Most of the places within twenty miles of the metropolis, on every side, are supplied with omnibuses instead. The first omnibus was started by Mr. s.h.i.+llibeer, from Paddington to the Bank, July 4, 1829. From a return with which, by the courtesy of Colonel Henderson, C.B., Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, we were kindly favoured, we gathered, that up to date of the communication in question,-viz., 28th June, 1870,-the number of such vehicles licensed in the Metropolitan district was 1,218. Every omnibus and hackney carriage within the Metropolitan district and the City of London, and the liberties thereof, has to take out a yearly license, in full force for one year, unless revoked or suspended; and all such licenses are to be granted by the Commissioners of Police, whose officers are constantly inspecting these public vehicles. Generally speaking, each _omnibus_ travels over the same route, and exactly the same number of times, day after day, with the exception of some few of the omnibuses which go longer journeys than the rest, and run not quite so often in winter as in summer. Hence the former cla.s.s of omnibus comes to be a.s.sociated with a particular route. It is known to the pa.s.sengers by its colour, the name of its owner, the name given to the omnibus itself, or the places to and from which it runs, according to circ.u.mstances. The designations given to the omnibuses, whether meaning or unmeaning in themselves, are found to be very convenient, because they are generally written in large conspicuous characters. This being an important matter to strangers, we shall give a condensed list of some of the chief omnibus routes in London in the _Appendix_.

Large omnibuses, to work on _street tramways_, after having been tried within the last few years, having evoked angry discussion between opponents and defenders, and having been entirely withdrawn, have now been revived, from Brixton Church to Kennington Gate, on the Mile End and Whitechapel Roads, City Road, Kingsland, &c., &c., and are rapidly extending.

There are, to a male visitor, few better ways of getting a bird's-eye view of London than by riding outside an omnibus from one end of London to the other, as, according to the omnibus taken, the route can be greatly varied.

Cabs.-These convenient vehicles have completely superseded the old pair-horse hackney-coaches in London; no vehicle of the kind being now ever seen. There are, according to the return above quoted, 6,793 of the modern single-horse hackney-coaches in the metropolis altogether-of two different kinds, 'four-wheelers' and 'Hansoms,' (named after the patentee.) The 'four-wheelers' are the more numerous; they have two seats and two doors; they carry four persons, and are entirely enclosed.

The 'Hansoms' have two very large wheels, one seat to accommodate two persons, and are open in front; the driver is perched up behind, and drives his vehicle at a rapid rate.

Railways.-If omnibuses and cabs are more important than railways to strangers while _in_ London, railways are obviously the most important of the three when coming to or departing from London. The following are a few particulars concerning such railways as enter the metropolis.

_London and North-Western Railway_ has its terminus just behind Euston Square. The n.o.ble portico in front-by far the finest thing of the kind connected with railway architecture-has been rendered ridiculous by the alterations in the buildings behind it; for it is now at one corner of an enclosed court, instead of being in the centre of the frontage. A new hall leading to the booking-offices, finished in 1849, is worthy of the great company to which it belongs; the vast dimensions, the fine statue of George Stephenson, and the _ba.s.si-rilievi_ by Thomas, render it an object deserving of a visit. This station is the London terminus of a system exceeding 1,446 miles.

The _Midland Railway_ has a magnificent terminus in the Euston Road, and a junction with the Metropolitan line. It has already more than 800 miles open.

_Great Northern Railway_ has its terminus at King's Cross-a building more remarkable for novelty than for beauty. This company, a severe compet.i.tor to some of older date, has few stations near London; but the directness of the line of railway renders it important as an outlet to the north. A good hotel is contiguous to the terminus. The goods' depot has become famous for the vast quant.i.ty of coal brought to the metropolis.

_Great Western Railway_ has its terminus at Paddington, where a fine new station was built a few years ago. A style of arabesque polychrome decoration has been adopted, not seen at other metropolitan stations.

Paddington is the head-quarters of the broad-gauge system, which extends to Weymouth in one direction, to Truro in a second, to Milford Haven in a third, and to Wolverhampton in a fourth; but some of the broad-gauge lines belong to other companies; while, on the other hand, this company has adopted the double-gauge on about 400 miles of its line. The terminus has a splendid new hotel adjoining it.

_West London Railway_ (now better known as the _West London Extension Railway_) can hardly be said to have an independent commercial existence.

It was an old and unsuccessful affair, till taken up by four of the great companies, and enlarged in an important way. It now includes a railway bridge over the Thames at Battersea; it is connected with the London and North-Western, the Great Western, and the Metropolitan, on the north, and with the South-Western, the Brighton, and the Chatham and Dover, on the south. There are stations at Kensington, Chelsea, and Battersea.

_Hammersmith and City Junction Railway_ crosses the last-named line at Shepherds' Bush, and joins the Great Western at Kensal New Town, a mile or two beyond Paddington.

_North and South-Western Junction Railway_ is, perhaps, valuable rather as a link between the greater railways, than as an independent line. It joins the North London at Camden Town, and the South-Western at Kew; and has stations at Kentish Town, Hampstead, Finchley New Road, Edgeware Road, Kensal Green, Acton, and Hammersmith. It establishes through trains with other companies; and although it has no actual London terminus of its own, it is a great convenience to the western margin of the metropolis, for the fares are low.

_South-Western Railway_ has its terminus in the Waterloo Road, which has been placed in connection with the London Bridge Station. The main lines of the company extend to Portsmouth in one direction, Dorchester in another, and Exeter in a third; while there is a mult.i.tude of branches-from Wimbledon to Croydon, from Wimbledon to Epsom and Leatherhead, from Wandsworth to Richmond and Windsor, from Barnes to Hounslow, from Staines to Reading, &c. There is no good hotel whatever near the Waterloo or Vauxhall Stations-a defect which seems to need a remedy.

_Victoria and Crystal Palace Railway_ is a concern in which so many companies have an interest, that it is not easy to define the owners.h.i.+p.

The Victoria Station, within a quarter of a mile of the Queen's Palace, Pimlico, is very large, but certainly not very handsome. The _Grosvenor Hotel_, attached to it, may rank among the finest in the metropolis. The Brighton, the Chatham and Dover, and the Great Western, are accommodated at this station, where both the broad and narrow gauges are laid down.

The railway leads thence, to join the Brighton at Sydenham and Norwood, by a railway-bridge across the Thames; it has stations at Battersea, Wandsworth, Balham, Streatham, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace; and throws off branches to meet the lines of the other three companies above named.

_London_, _Brighton_, _and South Coast Railway_ has for its terminus a portion of the great London Bridge Station, contiguous to which a hotel has been constructed. It also has termini at Victoria and Kensington.

The line leads nearly due south to the sea at Brighton, and then along the sea-coast, from Hastings in the east to Portsmouth in the west.

There are also several branches to accommodate Surrey and Suss.e.x. Taken altogether, this is the most remarkable _pleasure-line_ in England,-the traffic of this kind between London and Brighton being something marvellous.

_South-Eastern Railway_ has another portion of the large but incongruous London Bridge Station in its possession. The seaside termini of the line are at Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover, and Hastings. The Greenwich and North Kent branches are important feeders; while there are others of less value. The company have spent a vast sum of money in extending their line to the north of the Thames-by forming a city station in Cannon Street, with a bridge over the river midway between London and Southwark Bridges; and a West-end Station at Charing Cross, with a bridge over the river at (what was till lately) Hungerford Market. There is also a connection with the South-Western terminus in the Waterloo Road. The company have been forced to pay a sum of 300,000 for St. Thomas's Hospital, as the only means of insuring a convenient course for this extension-a striking instance of the stupendous scale on which railway operations are now conducted.

_London_, _Chatham_, _and Dover Railway_ is a very costly enterprise. It may be said to start from two junctions with the Metropolitan, has a large station near Ludgate Hill, (involving great destruction of property,) crosses the Thames a little eastward of Blackfriars Bridge, and proceeds through Surrey and Kent to Sydenham, Bromley, Crays, Sevenoaks, Chatham, Sheerness, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Dover Pier, &c. It also comprises a curvilinear line from Ludgate to Pimlico, with stations at Blackfriars, Newington, Walworth, Camberwell, Loughborough Road, Brixton, Clapham, Wandsworth Road, and Battersea; and a branch to Peckham, Nunhead, and the Crystal Palace.

_Blackwall Railway_, with which is a.s.sociated the _Tilbury and Southend_, has its terminus in Fenchurch Street. The station is small and unattractive; but it accommodates a wonderful amount of pa.s.senger traffic. The original line extended only from London to Blackwall, with intermediate stations at Shadwell, Stepney, Limehouse, West India Docks, and Poplar. An important branch from Stepney to Bow establishes a connection with the Great Eastern Railway valuable to both companies. At Stepney also begins the Tilbury and Southend line, pa.s.sing through Bromley, Barking, and numerous other places. Accommodation is provided, a little way from the Fenchurch Street Station, for a large amount of goods traffic. The line is now leased in perpetuity to the Great Eastern Company.

_Great Eastern Railway_ has its terminus in Bishopsgate Street, or rather Sh.o.r.editch, and a large depot and station at Stratford. The Sh.o.r.editch station is large. This terminus, however, will shortly be removed to Broad Street, City. The lines of this company are numerous, and ramify in many directions towards the east, north-east, and north. Its terminal points (with those of the a.s.sociated companies) at present are-Peterborough, Hunstanton, Wells, Yarmouth, Aldborough, and Harwich; with less distant termini at Ongar and North Woolwich.

_North London Railway_, consisting wholly of viaduct and cutting, has its terminus at Broad Street, Finsbury. All its stations are considered to be in London. It joins the London and North-Western near Primrose Hill, and the Blackwall at Stepney. It has intermediate stations at Camden Road, Caledonian Road, Islington, Cannonbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, Victoria Park, and Bow. Trains run every quarter of an hour, in both directions, at fares varying from 2d. to 4d.; and the number of pa.s.sengers is immense.

_Metropolitan Railway_, from Finsbury to Paddington, is a very remarkable one, nearly all tunnel, and requiring the carriages to be constantly lighted with gas. It runs from Westminster Bridge, _via_ Pimlico, Brompton, Kensington, Notting Hill, and Bayswater, to Paddington, where it joins the Great Western. It then goes under Praed Street and the New Road to King's Cross. There it joins the Great Northern, and thence goes on to Holborn Bridge, Smithfield Dead Meat Market, and Moorgate Street.

Since the opening of the Metropolitan District Extension Railway, you can go at present (July, 1870) from the Mansion House, under the Northern Thames Embankment, before described, to Westminster Bridge, &c. There are stations near the Mansion House, the terminus; at Blackfriars, the Temple, Charing Cross, and Westminster.

_Steamers_ and _Steamboat Piers_ have been already referred to.

SHORT EXCURSIONS.

WE shall now direct the stranger's attention to a few places of interest easily accessible from the metropolis-beginning with those situated westward, or up the river.

UP THE RIVER.

[Picture: Chelsea Hospital]

Chelsea.-Chelsea, once a village, is now a part of the metropolis, Pimlico and Belgravia having supplied the intervening link. During the last century a pleasant ramble across the fields was much in favour to the _Chelsea bunhouse_; but no one thinks of Chelsea now, except as part of London. Sloane Square and Street, and Hans Place, were named after Sir Hans Sloane, who lived in that neighbourhood. The chief place of interest at Chelsea is the _Hospital_ for retired invalid soldiers, an inst.i.tution similar to the asylum for old seamen at Greenwich. The hospital, which is situated on a flat stretch of ground bordering the Thames, and was planned by Sir Christopher Wren, consists chiefly of one large edifice of red brick, several stories in height, forming a centre and two wings, or three sides of a square, with the open side towards the bank of the Thames. On the north, in which is the main entrance, the style of architecture is simple, being ornamented with only a plain portico. The inner part of the centre building is more decorated, there being here a piazza of good proportions, forming a sheltered walk for the veteran inmates. In the centre of the open square stands a statue, by Grinling Gibbons, of Charles II., in whose time the hospital took its rise. The only parts of the structure considered worthy to be shewn to strangers are the chapel and old dining-hall, both in the central building. The chapel is neat and plain in appearance; the rows of benches being furnished with prayer-books and ha.s.socks, and the floor being paved with chequered marble. Above the communion-table is a painting of the Ascension, by Sebastian Ricci. The dining-hall is equally s.p.a.cious, but is now disused as a refectory. In the hall and chapel are about 100 flags, taken by British troops in various battles.

The usual number of in-pensioners is about 500, and of out-pensioners not fewer than 60,000 to 70,000, who reside in all parts of the United Kingdom. The former are provided with all necessaries, while the latter have each pensions varying according to their grade. The inmates wear an antique garb of red cloth, in which they may be seen loitering about the neighbourhood.

Near Sloane Square is situated a large building forming the _Royal Military Asylum_, familiarly called the _Duke of York's School_, for the support and education of about 500 poor children, whose fathers were non-commissioned officers and privates in the army. Each regiment of the British army contributes annually one day's pay, to aid in supporting the inst.i.tution. Between Sloane Square and Chelsea Bridge is the fine new Barracks for the Foot Guards: the only handsome barrack structure in the metropolis.

[Picture: Star and Garter, Putney]

Chelsea to Chiswick.-_Battersea Park_, elsewhere described, is just opposite Chelsea. Beyond the park are _Battersea_ and _Wandsworth_, places containing very few objects of interest; and backed by _Clapham_ and _Wimbledon_, where many London merchants and tradesmen have their private residences. Beyond Wandsworth lie _Putney_, _Barnes_, and _Mortlake_, where the river makes a great bend towards Kew. Between Putney and Kew many _Regattas_, or boat-races, take place during the summer; especially the famous annual contest, from Putney to Mortlake, between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge: these are among the most pleasant of the up-river scenes. Omnibuses, steamboats, and the South-Western Railway, give abundant accommodation to the places here named. On the Middles.e.x side of the river, just beyond Chelsea, are _Cremorne Gardens_. Next, we get into a region of Market-Gardens, from which London is supplied with vast quant.i.ties of fruit and vegetables.

_Walham Green_, _Parson's Green_, and _Fulham_, lie in the immediate vicinity of these gardens. Strangers would find an hour or two pleasantly spent hereabouts. The bishops of London have their palace at Fulham, a picturesque old structure. After pa.s.sing _Hammersmith_, where there is a pretty suspension bridge, we come to _Chiswick_, noted for its market-gardens; here is the house in which Hogarth died; and in the churchyard is his tomb, with an inscription by David Garrick. The Duke of Sutherland has a fine mansion at Chiswick; and near at hand are the old gardens of the Horticultural Society.

[Picture: Palm-House, Kew Gardens]

Kew Gardens.-_Kew_ is one of the pleasantest villages near London. When we have crossed the Thames from Brentford, by the bridge, we come upon the green, bounded on three sides by countryfied-looking houses, and on the fourth by the splendid gardens. The place is very easily reached-by omnibuses from the city to the Middles.e.x end of the bridge; by steamers every half-hour during summer; and by trains from the Waterloo and the North London Stations. It may be well to remember, however, that the so-called Kew Station is not actually at Kew. There is another, however, near the Gardens. By far the most interesting object at Kew is the famous _Botanic Gardens_. This is a very beautiful establishment, maintained at the public expense. It contains a rare collection of plants, obtained from all parts of the world, arranged and labelled in admirable order by Dr. Dalton Hooker. The flower-beds, hot-houses, and conservatories, are very numerous. The _great palm __house_, with its exotics, reaching to a height of 60 feet, and constructed at a cost of 30,000, forms a grand object. The new _temperate-house_ was constructed from the designs of Mr. Burton; 212 feet long, 137 wide, and 60 high, with two wings 112 feet by 62. Extensive new works have been added-including a lake having a communication with the Thames by a tunnel under the river-terrace, and a winter-garden, or enclosed conservatory, more than twice as large as the palm-house. Three detached buildings have been fitted up as a _Museum of Economic Botany_. The _Pleasure Grounds_ form a kind of Park contiguous to the Botanic Gardens; the gardens are 75 acres in extent, and the grounds 240 acres. This beautiful place is freely open to the public in the afternoon, on Sundays as well as week-days, after one o'clock.

[Picture: Richmond Bridge]

Richmond.-_Richmond_ is a village situated on the south bank of the Thames, at about 9 miles by land from Hyde Park Corner, and 16 miles by following the windings of the river. The most pleasant mode of conveyance to it used to be by one of the small steamboats from Hungerford Pier; for then an opportunity was afforded of seeing numerous beautiful and interesting spots on both banks of the river. The river is now, however, so shallow, that steamers can seldom reach this spot; and the trip is usually made by railway-from the Waterloo and Vauxhall Stations, and from all stations on the Blackwall, North London, and North and South Western lines. Omnibuses also run very frequently from the City and West End. Richmond stands on a slope overhanging the river.

Opposite the village is a stone bridge crossing the Thames. South from the village, a pretty steep bank ascends to the green and bushy eminence called _Richmond Hill_; and from the terrace on its summit a view is obtained of the beautifully wooded country up the river, stretching away to Windsor. Among numerous villas, ornamental grounds, and other attractive objects, may be seen _Twickenham_, situated in the immediate vicinity, on the left bank of the Thames. In the house for which the present was erected as a subst.i.tute, lived Pope the poet, and his body is entombed in the church. [Picture: Pope's Villa] Close by Twickenham is _Strawberry Mill_, once the seat of Horace Walpole, and now belonging to Lady Waldegrave. Moving onwards along the brow of the eminence, and pa.s.sing the well known but expensive hotel called the _Star and Garter_, we enter the famous _Richmond Park_, which is eight miles in circ.u.mference, and enriched with magnificent trees. These extensive grounds were at one time connected with a royal palace, but there is now no such edifice-one or two hunting-lodges excepted; the park is, however, still a domain of the Crown, and freely open to the public. Foreigners are great admirers of this vicinity.

[Picture: Hampton Court]