LON 
tlie crown. In the year 1551, Edward VI. granted the 
advowfon to Nicholas Ridley, bifhop of London, and his 
fucceflbrs; which grant was confirmed by queen Mary, 
in 1553; but it appears to have reverted to the crown af¬ 
terwards; for, in 1368, queen Elizabeth granted it, by 
leafe, to Crefar Aldermarie and Thomas Colcel, in trull 
for the pari (hioners, fora term of twenty-one years; which 
leafe being expired, fhe fold it to Michael and’ Edward 
Stanhope, to be held by them, their heirs and afligns, in 
foccage. It has, however, been (ince re-granted to the 
dean and chapter of St. Paul’s. This church, which efcaped 
the fire of London, in 1666, is a Gothic ftrufture of the 
lighter kind, confifting of a plain body, with large win¬ 
dows. The length, a hundred and eleven feet; breadth, 
fifty; height thirty-eight; that of the tower, which was 
not built till 1669, is (ixty-eight feet. It is adorned with 
ruftic work at the corners, and crowned with a turret and 
dome, wherein are two bells. 
On the left-hand fide of the entrance into Great St. 
Helen's, are a fet of alms-houfes, founded by fir Andrew 
Judd, knt. as appears by a tablet in front of the building; 
though fome of the hiftorians of London afiert, that he 
was only the executor of lady Hollis, the relidt of fir Wil¬ 
liam Hollis, lord-mayor in the year 1531, by whom the 
money for this foundation was devifed. They are for the 
reception of fix poor men or women ; and the Skinners’ 
Company are truftees of the charity, which has been fo 
much increafed by the contributions of other benefactors, 
that the houfes have been rebuilt, and the penfions of the 
poor inhabitants, at firft only 7b. per week, increafed. 
Immediately adjoining to Great St. Helen's, is Lit¬ 
tle St. Helen’s, on the fite of the priory mentioned be¬ 
fore; the remains of which were to be feen, till lately, 
in Leatherfellers' Hall, now pulled down to make way 
for a handfome range of new building, called St. He¬ 
len’s Place. This company purchafed the priory of 
queen Elizabeth, and, with part of the materials, built 
the largeft and ruoft elegant hall at that time in London. 
Their bufinefs is now carried on in a houfe at the eaft 
«nd of the place, built by them at the fame period, of 
■which the upper panes of the windows, on the firft floor, 
are formed of painted glafs, faid to have been taken from 
the priory. This houfe may be confidered as a perfefl fpe- 
cimen of the architecture of queen Elizabeth’s reign. 
All that is now left of the priory, is in the cellars under 
the two old houfes on the right hand of St. Helen’s Place. 
Near the corner of Little St. Helen’s, in Bifhopfgate- 
ftreet, (lands the church of St. Ethelburga, fo called from 
its dedication to the firft Chriftian princefs of the Saxon 
race, the daughter of Ethelbert king of Kent, who em¬ 
braced the Chriftian religion, and became the patron of 
Auftin, the Englilh apoftle. The earlieft account of 
this church, on record, is in 1366, when Robert Kil- 
wardeby was reCtor. The advowfon was in the pri- 
orefs and nuns of St. Helen till the fupprelfion of their 
convent, in the year 1339 ; when, coming to the crown, 
it was fome time after granted by queen Elizabeth to the 
bifhop of London and his fucceflbrs, who have ever (ince 
collated and induCted to the fame; and in ecclefiaftical 
matters it is fubjeCt to the archdeacon.—This church is 
s/ery ancient, having efcaped the fire of London. The 
body is irregular, and in the Gothic ftyle, with very large 
windows; and the fteeple is a tall fpire, fupported on a 
fquare tower. The length of this church is fifty-four 
-feet, its breadth twenty-five, and its altitude thirty-one ; 
and that of the fpire is about ninety feet. 
Adjoining to this church is a very handfome building, 
occupied by the Marine Society ; a molt excellent charity, 
begun in 1736, by a voluntary afiociation of Jonas Han- 
way, the justices Fielding and Welfh, and feveral mer¬ 
chants and others, for clothing and fitting out fuch or¬ 
phan, friendlels, and deftitute, boys, as were willing to 
engage in the feiwice of the navy. This fcheme was pro- 
fee u ted with fuch zeal, that many thoufands have,through 
its means, been refeued from an abandoned courfe of life, 
DON. 455 
and rendered ferviceablc to their king and country. The 
fociety was incorporated on the 24-th of June, 1772 ; and, 
whether we confider it as a prominent feature of well- 
regulated police, or as a nurfery for feamen, its advantages 
will be ftrikingiy evident, and entitle it to the warmed 
fupport of the benevolent. In addition to their firft plan, 
the fociety have a veffel fitted for the reception of too 
hoys, which lies between Deptford and Greenwich, and 
is provided with proper officers to inftruCt them in nau¬ 
tical and moral duties. 
Though irregularly built, Bifiiopfgate-ftreet, which is 
fpacious and long, prefents a great number of modern 
houfes contrafted by fome old ones which efcaped the fire 
of London.—At the fouth en I is a noble houfe, called 
the London Tavern, where accommodations of the' mod 
elegant kind are fupplied for companies of any number, 
from one to many hundred. Here the folitary epicure 
may enjoy by himfelf bis delightful piece of prime turbot, 
potted char ami lampreys, his firloin, or whatever his 
tade leads him to call for—and parties are accommodated 
with private rooms, where they confume in friendly mirth 
the refult of a bet, or celebrate a birth-day. Here city- 
feafts call their numerous convives; and patriotic dinners 
ftimnlate one of the bell propenfities of the Britifli heart, 
public beneficence. The bufinefs of this edablifhment has 
proved fo great and fo profitable for many years, that a 
rival houfe has lately rilen nearly oppofite, and is called 
the City of London Tavern, to diftinguifli it from the 
other. Both thefe taverns are furnifhed in a ftyle of ele¬ 
gance adapted only to the metropolis of fo wealthy a 
nation. 
The church at the corner of Threadneedle-ftreet and 
Bi(hopfgate-ftreet, is called St. Martin Outwich, from be¬ 
ing dedicated to Martin bifhop of Tours, in France, 
about the year 376, is of great antiquity. It derives its 
additional name of Outwich from the family of Otefwich. 
Stow names four of them, who were buried here, viz. 
Martin, Nicholas, William, and John, who were proprie¬ 
tors of it. In the year 1325, John de Warren, earl of 
Surrey, prefented to this living; but, he dying without 
•jfTue, and leaving his eftates to the crown, the advowfon 
was purchafed, in 1387, by the above family ; who, in the 
fixth year of the reign of Henry II. gave it, with four 
mefluages, feventeen (hops, and the appurtenances, in the 
faid parifli, to the mafter and wardens of the Taylors and 
Linen-armourers, and to their fucceflbrs, to be employed 
for the perpetual help and relief of the poor brethren and 
fillers of the faid company ; by virtue of which grant, the 
company of Merchant-Taylors have ever (ince enjoyed 
the right of patronage to this (Lurch. The old church, 
which was built in 1340, was one of the few that efcaped 
the fire of London; but the ravages of time, affifted by 
the injuries it fuftained from a fire in Biffiopfgate-ilreet 
in 1765, had affefled it fo much, that it was taken down 
in 1793, and the prefent llrufture erected in its Head; this 
afforded an opportunity for enlarging the entrance into 
Threadneedle-ftreet, by taking off the angle which before 
projected into that ftreet. It is a plain neat building of 
brick, except the eaft end, which is of (lone; above which 
rifes a low circular tower, furmeunted by a dome. It is 
a reCtory. Over the altar is a fort of embrafure in which 
the afcenfion of-our Lord is reprefented. It is a curious 
work in frefco; and was done by the late Mr. Rigaud, R. A. 
One of the principal objects which next attracts the 
fight is the church commonly called Bifhopfgate-cfturcb. 
It is a few Iteps beyond the place where the old gate flood, 
and therefore was out of the precincts of the city, accord¬ 
ing to the ancient limits marked by the walls. It is dedi¬ 
cated to St. Botolph, an Anglo-Saxon faint who lived and 
died in the feventh century. The ancient fabric, theorii- 
ginal foundation of which, is effectually flirouded in the 
milt of antiquity, it may, from the veltiges of remote ages 
that have been at different periods difeovered beneath or 
near its walls, be fairly conjectured rofe upon the ruins of 
a Roman temple. It was built in the Saxon ftyle of ar¬ 
chitectin';. 
