London in 1731 by Don Manoel Gonzales
page 43 of 146 (29%)
page 43 of 146 (29%)
|
part of Cateaton Street, part of Bow Lane, and all Guildhall.
The public buildings in this ward are, Guildhall, Mercers' Chapel and Hall, Grocers' Hall, the Poultry Compter, the churches of St. Mildred, Poultry, and St. Lawrence Jewry. Guildhall, the town house of this great City, stands at the north end of King Street, and is a large handsome structure, built with stone, anno 1666, the old hall having been destroyed by the Fire in 1666. By a large portico on the south side we enter the principal room, properly called the hall, being 153 feet in length, 48 in breadth, and 55 in height. On the right hand, at the upper end, is the ancient court of the hustings; at the other end of the hall opposite to it are the Sheriff's Courts. The roof of the inside is flat, divided into panels; the walls on the north and south sides adorned with four demy pillars of the Gothic order, painted white, and veined with blue, the capitals gilt with gold, and the arms finely depicted in their proper colour, viz., at the east the arms of St. Edward the Confessor, and of the Kings of England the shield and cross of St. George. At the west end the arms of the Confessor, those of England and France quarterly, and the arms of England. On the fourteen demy pillars (above the capital) are the king's arms, the arms of London, and the arms of the twelve companies. At the east end are the King's arms carved between the portraits of the late Queen, at the foot of an arabathram, under a rich canopy northward, and those of King William and Queen Mary southward, painted at full length. The inter-columns are painted in imitation of porphyry, and embellished with the portraitures, painted in full proportion, of eighteen judges, which were there put up by the City, in gratitude for their signal service done in determining |
|