September 16, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAKDENKR. 



253 



first called the " Portioo Walk," an appropriate name enongb. 

 The term then changed to "Piazza" — an Italian word for 

 square or place — subsequently misapplied to the arcade, being 

 out of place. Hollar's view of Covent Garden in 16t7, looking 

 in the direction of the church from Kassell Street, shows the 

 south-eastern part of the colonnade destroyed by fire, and in 

 the distance the picturesque gabled fronts of Hcn-ietta and 

 King Streets. Another picture, by Inigo Jones himself, at 

 Wilton House, Salisbury, the residence of the Karl of Pem- 

 broke, shows tlie gardea in its original state, with the tree in 

 the middle; while Hogarth, in his " Morning," has immortal- 

 ised on canvas King's Coffee House, under the portico of the 

 Church of St. Paul's. The Square and Piazza figure also in 

 the drama of the Stuarts. Gay, too, has given us in a few 

 lines of his " Trivia," a vivid picture of the church as it existed 

 in his day : — 



" Whore Covent Garden's famous temple stands, 

 That boasts the work of Jones' immortal hands, 

 Columns with plain mai,'nificenco appear, 

 Ami graceful porches lead along the square." 



The " famous temple " here spoken of is the present Church 

 of St. Paul, whose columns and projecting cornice are noted 

 for their Vitruvian proportions. The original structure was 

 erected between 1631 and 1638, and forms the west side of the 

 " Garden." The " graceful porches " are in allusion to the 

 porticos which ran along the north and eastern sides of the 

 square, and which, for aught we know, were intended to have 

 surrounded the area, and to have invested it with an air of 

 truly Italian magnificence. Unhappily Jones's design was never 

 completed, and if it had been it is probable the present square 

 would have been a more attractive place. The present market 

 was established by charter in 1671 granted to the Earl of 

 Bedford. At that time a mere handful of salesmen tenanted 

 the stalls and sheds, which were of the most temporary kind. 

 Strype, one of the few topographical chroniclers of old London 

 we can rely upon, sptaks of it as it was in 1689, and Pepya in 

 his "Diary" alludes to the locality: — "The south side of 

 Covent Garden square lieth open to the Bedford garden, where 

 there is a small grotto of trees, most pleasant in the summer 

 season, and on thi? side there is kept a market for fruit, herbs, 

 roots, and flowers every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 

 which is grown to a considerable account, and well served with 

 choice goods, which make it much resoited unto." The ancient 

 boundary of the parish of Covent Garden was the subject of 

 ojnsiderahle contention some years ago, and a committee was 

 appointed to investigate the limits. An ancient map from a 

 survey made in 1686, and given in Strype's edition of Stowe's 

 " Survey of London," clears up the matter, and helps us to 

 form an opinion of the true extent of the parish, which was 

 made a distinct parish by an Act of Parliament 12 Car. H., 

 1660. Stowe minutely particularises the inward boundaries 

 of the parish and Bedford House, which is said to be " seated 

 in the Strand, but runneth backwards, being a large but old- 

 built house, having a large yard before it for the reception of 

 coaches, with a spacious garden, having a terrace walk adjoin- 

 ing to the brick wall next the garden, and from thence received 

 the prospect thereof." Bedford House was pulled down in 

 1701, and the result of the committee's investigations, and 

 evidence adduced, shows that the parish establishes the claim 

 to the site of Bedford House, though, by some irregularity, 

 certain assessments to the land-tax were discontinued, and an 

 injustice done to the ratepayers. Bedford House and out- 

 buildings, from the plan we have alluded to, had one front 

 towards the Strand, and occupied the sites of Southampton 

 and Exeter Streets, the parish boundary circumscribing this 

 property. Afterwards, early in the eighteenth century, great 

 progress was made, though no permanent buildings marked 

 the site of the present market ; and contemporary prints show 

 the square enclosed by a post fence, and having a column of 

 the Corinthian order in the centre, which was taken away in 

 1790. During the time of the first Georges the vicinity was 

 patronised by the fashion and learning of the day. Dryden, 

 Pope, Johnson, Butler, Addison, Voltaire, Garrick, Sir James 

 Thornhill, Hogarth, and Dance resorted to the neighbourhood, 

 whose cofiee houses and cellars became noted, and whose 

 piazza was thronged by fashionable loungers. Sir Godfrey 

 Kneller, state painter, lived near Covent Garden Theatre ; 

 WUson, the painter, lived in the piazza; and Sheridan fre- 

 quented the Piazza Hotel. 



But the Covent Garden of the present day has a somewhat 

 altered aspect. We content ourselves with noting some of the 

 changes that have taken place during the last few years in 



the locality. Its square is no longer crowded in the daytime 

 by the fashionable, nor is it at nightfall the resort of footpads 

 and Mohocks, as it was in the reign of George II. Shenstone 

 and Gay have given a picture of life at that time ; Shadwell's 

 comedy of the "Scourers" shows the danger of the London 

 streets at night early in the eighteenth century ; and Mr. 

 Cunningham alludes to the pranks played upon the watchmen 

 of the time. All this has changed, and if we have other incon- 

 veniences to submit to, such as the overcrowded and uncleanly 

 state of the streets round Covent Garden on market days, we 

 are at least safe in our rambles, and our absolutely sanitary 

 wants are tolerably looked after. To begin with the Garden, 

 whose aspect our readers are all doubtless acquainted with. 

 The market has lately undergone some improvements. The 

 original structure, built from the design of the late Mr. Wm. 

 Fowler in 1830, for the sixth Dtike of Bedford, is more con- 

 spicuous for its granite colonnade of Tuscan columns which 

 front the shops than for any striking elegance of structure. 

 Indeed, few strangers would imagine from the precincts of this 

 market that Flora was enthroned here, or that Nature here 

 emptied her lap of produce. Considering it the central con- 

 gress of the vegetable woill, in which every variety of plant 

 and vegetable, from the humble esculent to the choicest of 

 flowers, may be seen, it can hardly be said to be a fitting re- 

 ceptacle since the erection of larger and more costly markets, 

 and we hope the Duke of Bedford will some day expend some 

 of the fortune accruing to him from this fine property upon its 

 improvements. Lately, we are glad to see, a light iron and 

 glass roof has been erected over a portion of the market, and 

 we might suggest some improvement to the main arcade in 

 the shape of glass panels, and a little decoration in the timber 

 roof and clerestory, if the old structure is to remain. The 

 centre arcade is very much too narrow for the present traffic, 

 however well it may hKVe answered its purpose forty years ago. 

 No doubt an iron and glass structure, somewhat after the 

 design of the Floral Hall, by Mr. Edward M. Barry, close by, 

 would be more in unison with its purpose than the present 

 basilican-looking building, with its flat kingpost, close-boarded 

 roof, and its Tuscan clerestory. A well-proportioned centre 

 vista of greater width and height than the present, and the 

 transverse vista only developed, woald meet the demand of 

 the trade, though a slight encroachment would be made upon 

 the side rows of shops. As it is, the new roof somewhat dwarfs 

 the present centre building, though it provides shelter for a 

 large area devoted to the sale of fruit and vegetables. The 

 construction adopted, though exceedingly plain, is light and 

 effective. The roof comprises the area between the centre 

 arcade and southern row of shops. The ribs are semicircular, 

 supported on round cast-iron columns resting on high bases, 

 and are of plate iron with double flange, a light spandrel sup- 

 porting the straight rafters. Kunning along the top of the 

 roof is a raised ventilating skylight with glass roof, supported 

 by smaller semicircular ribs springing from the larger ones 

 with light spandrels, and having a wide overhanging roof. The 

 side upright lights are composed of a series of semicircular- 

 headed openings. The part of the main roof above the side 

 shops forms a clerestory above the roofs, and consists of an 

 arcade of light iron with a frieze panel of circles over the lights. 

 Below this clerestory the pillars are cross-braced loDgitndinally 

 by circular ribs with circle spandrels, each arch embracing the 

 width of one shop. The ribs of the roof have round iron cross 

 bracing to stiffen them lengthwise, above which the upper half 

 of the main roof is glazed ; below it is boarded. The glass is 

 rough plate, fitted into light sash bars of T section. The iron 

 ribs are coloured a light blue of two shades, and the pillars and 

 bases are of buff and chocolate. The works have been carried 

 out by Messrs. Cubitt. On the south-east corner, with its 

 entrance in Wellington Street, the recent addition in the shape 

 of a flower market is certainly wanting in character or ex- 

 prfssion, and its heavy front in no way suggests its purpose. 



Confining ourselves to the square, we may notice that new 

 buildings have scarcely replaced the old haunts. The "Bedford" 

 still retains at least the external appearance it had when 

 Garrick, Foote, Sheridan, critics, scholars, and wits frequented 

 its coffee room. The late Mr. Timbs has popularised this once 

 famous house in his " Curiosities of London." Its stone arcade, 

 now painted, looks modern ; but traces of its age are apparent 

 on examination. On close inspection of the arcade near Evans's 

 we found the groined arches have thrust out of perpendicular 

 the rather slight piers which support the front of the hotel, 

 and we should suggest that an iron tie rod or two be inserted. 

 Probably the defect is not of recent origin. It extends through 



