LONDON (PUBLIC BUILDINGS). 



525 



to 1,077,285 barrels. The ale annually brewed, 

 by the six principal ale-brewers, amounts to about 

 80,000 barrels. In 1827, the quantity returned, by 

 the ten principal brewers, was 1,129,772 barrels. 

 The decrease within these years is owing, perhaps, 

 partly to the deteriorated quality ; for it appears, 

 that, while the quantity actually brewed throughout 

 England amounted, during the last ten years, to 

 6,170,000 barrels, the actual quantity of malt used 

 decreased annually in a remarkable degree. But, 

 besides this, the comparative cheapness, and more 

 rapid excitation produced by ardent spirits, especial- 

 ly that deleterious compound called English gin, have 

 induced the most destructive habits of intemperance 

 among the lower classes. It is stated that there are 

 about 11,000 public houses, i. e. houses for the sale 

 of beer and spirituous liquors, in London alone. 

 The total consumption of gin, in London, is about 

 24,000,000 gallons ! 



Public Buildings. The public buildings of Lon- 

 don are numerous, but many of them being encir- 

 cled by houses, or not advantageously exposed, 

 they do not form a prominent feature of the metro- 

 polis. St James's palace, at the west end of Pall 

 Mall, the principal town residence of royalty, is 

 an irregular brick building, with nothing attractive 

 in its exterior, but very magnificently decora- 

 ted within. It was originally erected by Henry 

 VIII. The Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace 

 (being all that remains of that palace, which was 

 destroyed by fire in 1697,) is an elegant structure, 

 designed by Inigo Jones. It consists chiefly of one 

 room, of an oblong form, forty feet high, which has 

 been converted into a chapel, where divine service is 

 regularly performed by the royal chaplains. The 

 ceiling is decorated with paintings by Rubens. 

 Buckingham-house, in St James's Park, was erected 

 in 1703, but, between 1825 and 1830, the whole of 

 the building was remodelled at an enormous expense, 

 and is now called the King's Palace in St James's 

 Park. Besides these, there are Kensington Palace, 

 the residence of the duchess of Kent, and Lambeth 

 Palace, the residence of the archbishop of Canter- 

 bury. Among the town mansions of the nobility are 

 Northumberland House, in the Strand, erected 

 chiefly in the reign of James I.; Burlington House, 

 Piccadilly; Uxbridge House, Burlington Gardens ; 

 Cleveland House, St James's Place ; Devonshire 

 House, Piccadilly ; Apsley House, Hyde Park Cor- 

 ner, the town residence of the duke of Wellington ; 

 and Grosvenor House, Park Lane. Public structures, 

 purely ornamental, are extremely rare in this metro- 

 polis. The Monument, on Fish Street Hill, is the 

 only work of architecture deserving notice, strictly 

 appertaining to this class. It was erected by Sir 

 Christopher Wren, between the years 1671 and 1677, 

 in commemoration of the great fire of London, on 

 the site of the ancient church of St Margaret, de- 

 stroyed in that conflagration. It consists of a noble 

 Doric column, 202 feet in height, surmounted by a 

 balcony, in the centre of which rises a flaming vase 

 of gilt bronze ; and the sides of the pedestal of the 

 columns display emblematic sculpture and various 

 inscriptions. The other principal detached public 

 monuments are the fine equestrian statue of Charles 

 I., at Charing Cross, cast in bronze by Hubert le 

 Sueur, in 1633, and placed in its present situation in 

 1678; and the colossal statue of Achilles, in Hyde 

 Park, cast by II. Westmacott, R.A., erected in 1822, 

 in honour of the duke of Wellington and his compan- 

 ions in arms, by their country-women. The ancient 

 city gates were entirely removed in 1760. Temple 

 Bar was erected by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1671, 

 to mark the boundary between London and West- 

 minster. On the east side are niches, containing the 



statues of queen Elizabeth and James I.; and on the 

 west, others with the statues of Charles I. and 

 Charles II. The only ancient gate remaining is St 

 John's Gate, west Smithfield, a relic of the priory of 

 the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. 

 Buckingham Stairs water-gate is a deservedly-ad- 

 mired production of Inigo Jones. The beautiful 

 gate at Hyde Park Corner, ornamented with Ionic 

 columns and sculpture on the entablature, and con- 

 nected with tlie richly decorated iron railing in front 

 of Apsley House, was recently erected from the 

 designs of Decimus Burton, Esq. On the opposite 

 side of the road is a noble gateway, or triumphal 

 arch, leading into the grounds belonging to the new 

 palace at Pimlico, (Buckingham-house) with appro- 

 priate architectural decorations, and richly ornamen- 

 ted bron;a;d gates. For the bridges, see Bridge. 



The Tower of London is situated at the south- 

 eastern angle of the city, and the oldest part, calk-d 

 the White Tower, is supposed to have been built in 

 the reign of William I., by Gundulph, bishop of 

 Rochester, a distinguished Norman architect, but it 

 was renovated or rebuilt in 1638, and various addi- 

 tional structures and fortifications have been erected 

 at different periods. The present extent of ground 

 within the walls is more than twelve acres, and the 

 circumference outside the ditch 1052 feet. This 

 fortress was anciently the principal palace of the 

 kings of England ; but it has long been used as a 

 state prison ; and it also includes a menagerie of 

 wild beasts and an armoury. Within its walls like- 

 wise is the church of St Peter in Vinculis, a Gothic 

 structure, founded by Edward I. The Mint, Tower 

 Hill, for the coinage of the United Kingdom, is a 

 large and handsome building, erected partly from 

 the designs of R. Smirke, R.A. The Trinity House, 

 Tower Hill, originally founded at Deptford, as the 

 office of a corporation for the management of certain 

 naval affairs, was built under the direction of Samuel 

 Wyatt, Esq., and opened in 1795. The Guildhall, 

 or City Hall of the Corporation, King Street, Cheap- 

 side, was founded in the reign of Henry IV.; the 

 interior was destroyed by the fire in 1666 ; and the 

 ancient front was rebuilt in 1789, by George Dance, 

 Esq. In the Great Hall are sculptural monuments 

 in honour of William Pitt, earl of Chatham ; Wil- 

 liam Pitt, the son of that great statesman ; admiral 

 Lord Nelson ; and William Beckford, lord mayor in 

 1762 and 1769. In the Council Chamber and other 

 apartments, there are a considerable number of 

 historical paintings and portraits. Near Guildhall, 

 on the site of Blackwell Hall is the office of the com- 

 missioners of Bankrupts, erected in 1820 ; to the 

 south of which stands a range of building comprising 

 the London Land-tax Office, the Irish Chamber, and 

 the City Court of Requests. The mansion house of 

 the lord mayor, near the west end of Lombard street, 

 is a spacious structure, with a Corinthian portico in 

 front, built between 1739 and 1753, from the designs 

 of George Dance, sen. Somerset House, so called from 

 a palace erected by the Protector Somerset, the uncle 

 of Edward VI., was rebuilt in 1775, under the autho- 

 rity of an act of parliament, from the designs of Sir 

 William Chambers, the front facing the Strand being 

 ornamented with Corinthian columns and various 

 sculptures. The interior includes several govern- 

 ment offices, and apartments appropriated to the use 

 of the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Anti- 

 quarian Societies. Part of the new university called 

 King's College forms the eastern wing of Somerset 

 House. The Duchy of Lancaster Office, on the 

 western side of Wellington street, in the Strand, is a 

 handsome and extensive modern edifice, for the 

 transaction of the affairs of that duchy. The Ad- 

 miralty Office, Whitehall, has in front a handsome 



