November 28, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



427 



was divided into pastures, with two or three small houses in 

 their corners. 



Sir William Cecil had his house huilt by Sir Thomas Palmer 

 in Edward VI.'s reign, where the parsonage of St. Martin's 

 now stands, in the High Street, at the south end of Drury 

 Lane. It adjoined the Earl of Bedford's property, and had an 

 orchard adjoining the Covent Garden enclosure, of which Sir 

 William had on lease a portion enclosed by " stulpes and rails 

 of wood." Stulj) is a word still used in Norfolk, and means a 

 low post fixed as a boundary. By an indenture made Septem- 

 ber 7th, 1570, being in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl 

 of Bedford " to fermeletton " to Sir William Cecil for twenty- 

 one years a parcel at the east end of the enclosure or pasture 

 called Covent Garden;" and besides ojdier boundaries it had 

 " on the west end towards the south the orcharde wall of the 

 said Sir William Cecyll." The rent was 5s., to be paid " yerelye 

 at the feast of St. Mychaell th' archangell." 



In 1631 Francis fourth Earl of Bedford, having completed 

 his great work of draining the Lincolnshire fens, decided on 

 improving his " piece of pasture land called Covent Garden." 

 He obtained the aid of Inigo Jones, who planned and erected 

 the church and a piazzaed square, which became the Belgravia 

 of Charles I.'s time. Wo have the lease granted to Sir Edward 

 Verney, Knight Marshall to Charles I. Gardens are specified 

 as included in the lease, but " the portico walke " is excepted, 

 that being for public use. The lease, executed in 1634, was 

 for four years, and the rent " one hundred and threescore 

 pounds." That house is now the Bedford Hotel and Coffee 

 House, at the corner of Great Russell Street. In 1631 the Earl 

 of Bedford, also by lease dated from his house in the Strand, 

 granted to Edward Palmer and others for thirty-four years 

 " that part of the Earl's pasture called Covent Garden and 

 Long Acre." This was a cause of great annoyance, the lessees 

 sub-letting, and erecting small houses ; but in the year 1634-5, 

 authorised by the Privy Council, the Earl of Bedford cleared 

 away those small houses, employed Inigo Jones as his architect, 

 laid out streets, built the houses, and about the centre set out 

 a square, or, ratter, oblong, 500 feet in length and 400 feet in 

 breadth, and erected around it a piazza and residences for 

 " the dwelling of persons of repute and quality." The square 

 was "kept well gravelled for the accommodation of people 

 walking there," and in the centre " a curious sun-dial ;" but 

 this dial was not placed until 1688, and was removed about 

 1792. In 1720, on the south side next Bedford House garden, 

 there was "a small grotto of trees;" and, says Strype, "In 

 this side there is kept a market for fruits, herbs, roots, and 

 flowers every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, which is 

 grown to a considerable account, and well served with choice 

 goods, which makes it much resorted to." 



Bedford House, however, had now become unsuitable for a 

 nobleman's town residence, and Maitland, writing in 1739, 

 states that Southampton and Tavistock Streets being con- 

 structed on the site of Bedford House and garden, the market 

 was removed further into the square, which proved so offen- 

 sive to the inhabitants of the stately residences around it, 

 that " instead of being inhabited by persons of the greatest 

 distinction as formerly, they are now obliged to take up with 

 vintners, coffeemen, and other such inhabitants ; and in the 

 magnificent square, to its great disgrace, is kept an herb and 

 fruit market." Long previously — namely, by a grant from 

 Charles II., the Earl of Bedford was empowered to hold a 

 market in Covent Garden, and to receive the accustomed tolls. 

 That such a market was greatly needed there is ample evi- 

 dence ; but before proceeding to details let it be remembered 

 that the name " Covent " is not a corruption of the word 

 convent, but was derived from the French couvent. The 

 only corruption to which the name has been subjected is 

 that mentioned by Maitland in 1739 — namely, " Common 

 Garden." 



In 1345, during Edward III.'s reign, " the gardeners of the 

 earls, barons, and bishops, and of the citizens," petitioned the 

 Lord Mayor that they, "the said gardeners, may stand in 

 peace in the same place where they have been wont in times 

 of old, in front of the church of St. Austin, at the side of the 

 gate of St. Paul's churchyard, there to sell the garden produce 

 of their said masters, and make their profit as heretofore." 

 But the Lord Mayor answered that the place aforesaid " is 

 such a nuisance to the priests who are singing matins and 

 mass in the church of St. Austin, as also to others, as well as 

 to persons dwelling in houses there, who by the scurrility, 

 clamour, and nuisance of the gardeners and their servants 

 there selling pods, Cherries, vegetables, and other wares to 



then- trade belonging," that henceforth they must stand and 

 sell their goods " between the south gate of the churchyard of 

 the said church and the garden wall of the Black Friars at 

 Baynard's Castle." This continued until 1661, when by an order 

 of the authorities, " The market that was kept in St. Paul's 

 Churchyard was removed into Aldersgate Street, in regard 

 the bishops were very much against that market because it 

 was kept in a churchyard." Besides that in Aldersgate 

 Street, we read that in Leadenhall Market not only flesh, 

 fowl, and fish were sold, but also "herbage in abundance 

 for furnishing this great city ;" also that " a market was in 

 Gracious (Gracechurch) Street for herbs," and that Stocks 

 Market was " much resorted to by the greengrocers for the 

 furnishing of then- shops or stalls in other markets." Stocks 

 Market took its name from a pair of stocks for the punish- 

 ment of offenders erected there in 1281. It was the chief 

 market of the city during several centuries, but was abolished, 

 and the Mansion House stands on a part of its area. 



The lease of the first recognised Covent Garden Market was 

 granted in 1677, being the twenty-ninth year of Charles II. 's 

 reign, by the Earl of Bedford, afterwards the first Duke, and 

 father of the celebrated Lord William Russell, to "Adam 

 Pigott and James Allen, citizens and cutlers of London." The 

 market was " to be held every day in the week, except Sunday 

 and the feast day of the birth of our Lord, for buying and 

 selling of all manner of fruits, flowers, roots, and herbs whatso- 

 ever; and also liberty to build and make cellars and shops, so 

 as in such buildings no chimneys or tunnels be made or put, 

 and so as all such shops shall be made uniform in roofs and 

 fronts; together with all tolls, customs, stallage, pittage, and 

 all other profits. The said market to be kept without the rails 

 there, and the market people to sit in order between the said 

 rails and the garden wafi of Bedford House, from the one end 

 to the other end thereof, and on each other outside of the said 

 rails ; and all carts brought to the said market to be placed 

 close to the said rails, and at the east and west ends thereof." 

 The lease was for one-and-twenty years, " at the yearly rent of 

 fourscore pounds of lawful money of England." 



The lessees built shops " all along the said garden wall, and 

 also two shops against the banqueting-houses of Bedford 

 House garden," also cellars under some, and the whole of the 

 roofs were covered with slates. They then surrendered the 

 said lease in 1678, and had another granted upon similar 

 terms for twenty-six years to the same Adam Pigott and 

 Thomas Day, to whom James Allen's interest had " lawfully 

 come." The lessees were bound also to have a free roadway 

 left, and to sweep up and carry away all " dirt and filth," so 

 that " the same may be no annoyance either to the market 

 people or others thither resorting." 



In 1679 the churchwardens' accounts of St. Paul's church 

 show that the market was rated for the relief of the poor for 

 the first time. There were twenty-three salesmen, some rated 

 at Is., and others at 2s. 



The market remained in this state in 1740, when Hogarth 

 made of it at least two drawings. In one, entitled " Morn- 

 ing," the only part that is permissible for me to notice in 

 these columns is that vegetables were in heaps, and a coffee- 

 shop permanently erected directly in front of St. Paul's 

 church. In another picture the vegetables and fruits were 

 similarly exposed to sale, although there were stalls around 

 the railing, and one prominent figure in the centre, with vege- 

 tables before her, was a well-known woman, nicknamed " The 

 Duchess." The customs of the time are illustrated by Lady 

 Archer being there with two maids and a footboy marketing. 

 Her husband, Lord Archer, lived in the house that is now 

 Evans's Hotel, at the north-west corner of the market, and 

 where previously lived the celebrated Admiral, Earl of Orford, 

 victor in the battle of La Hogue. George Carpenter, with a 

 pile of empty Cherry sieves on his head, is also portraited. 

 He was employed to carry them to the water side, and had 

 acquired the knack of placing twenty-four half-sieves on his 

 head, and could shake off any number of them required with- 

 out the remainder falling. Subsequently he became landlord 

 of " The Finish," a notorious night house, and succeeded Mr. 

 Gyfford, the brewer, as lessee of the market, paying the Duke 

 of Bedford the yearly rent of £1400. 



Another painting of Covent Garden Market is by Joseph 

 Vanaken. It is in the possession of the Marquis of Bute, as 

 is its companion picture of Stocks Market. It was painted 

 in 1745, and the engraving which accompanies these notes is 

 taken from that picture. 



Even when that was painted, and when Gay wrote his 



