50:2 L O N 
and the advowfon of the vicarage was purchafed by the 
prefident and fellows of St. John’s College, Oxford, who 
•continue patrons thereof.—The prefent ftntclure was much 
damaged by the fire of London in iS 65 . The outward 
walls and the tower were, however, capable of reparation; 
and the middle aide of the church was at the farge time 
made with an arched roof, which was not fo originally. 
This church, in its prefent fituation, meafures one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-fix feet in length, exclufive of the broad 
pafi'age at the weft end ; the breadth, exclufive of the north 
chapel, is fifty-eight feet; the height of the roof in the 
middle aide is thirty-five feet; and the height of the fcee- 
ple, to the top of the pinnacles, a hundred and forty-fix 
feet. The body of the church is lighted with a row of 
very large Gothic windows, with buttreil’es between, over 
which runs a dight cornice; and on the top a plain and 
fubftantial battlement-work, in the ftyle of the public 
buildings in the reign of Edward IV. At the fteeple is a 
plain fquare tower, crowned with four pinnacles.—The or¬ 
gan of this church is an extremely good one; there is not 
perhaps in England an organ with fo fine a trunipet-ftop. 
Oppofite St. Sepulchre’s church is Angel-court, at the 
upper end of which is a handfome old ho life, formerly 
the Farthing-office. It was afterwards occupied by the 
Hnnd-in-Hand fire-office; and is now the refidence of 
Mr. Buckle, printer; the reft is let in tenements. The 
accefs to it is alio through Gieen-Arbour-court. 
Between Snow-hill and Ludgate-hill runs the ftreet 
called the Old Bailey, which many of our antiquaries are 
of opinion is a corruption of Bale-hill , an eminence where¬ 
on was lituated the bale, of bailiff’s houfe, wherein he 
held a court for the trial of malefactors ; and this opinion 
feems to be corroborated by fuch a court having been 
held here for many centuries, in which there is a place of 
jecurity, where the dierilfs keep their prifoners during 
the feliion, which ftill retains the name of the Bale-dock. 
On the eaft fide of the Old.Bailey, and contiguous to the 
place where the Newgate of the city formerly ltood, is the 
^aol for the county of Middlefex, which, from being ap¬ 
propriated to the fame ufes, alfo bears the name of New¬ 
gate. It is a mafly ftone building, confiding of two parts, 
that on the north being appropriated for debtors, and 
that on the fouth for felons, between which is a dwelling- 
houfe, occupied by the keeper. The whole of the front 
is formed of rultic work, and at the extremities of each face 
is an arched niche for a tlatue, but only two in the fouth 
front of the felons’ fide are yet occupied. Contiguous to 
this building, and only feparated from it by a fquare 
court, is Juftice-hall, commonly called the Seffions-houfe. 
This was formerly a plain brick edifice ; but it has lately 
been rebuilt entirely of ftone, and is brought fo much for¬ 
warder than the old one as to be parallel with the ftreet. 
On each of the fides is a flight of fteps that lead to the 
court-room, which has a gallery on each fide for the ac¬ 
commodation of fpedators. The prifoners are brought 
to this court from Newgate by a paflage that clofely con- 
nefts the two buildings; and there is a convenient place 
under the feffions-houfe in front, for detaining the pri- 
fcners till they are called upon their trials. There are 
alfo rooms for the grand and petty jury, with other necef- 
-fary accommodations. A court is held here eight times 
a-year by the king’s contmiffion of oyer and terminer, for 
the trial of prifoners for crimes committed within the city 
of London and county of Middlefex. The judges are 
the lord-mayor, the aldermen pall the chair, and the re¬ 
corder; who, on fuch occafions, are attended by both the 
{heriffs, and by one or more of the national judges. The 
offences committed in the city are tried by a jury of citi¬ 
zens, and thole committed in the county by a jury formed 
of the houfe-keepers in the county. 
As the frequency of the feffions occafions a great re¬ 
fort of ftrangers to this place, it is well furnifiied with 
houfes of refrelhment: the Old Bailey, though not along 
ftreet, contains feven eating-houfes and plenty of drink- 
ing-houfes. 
DON, 
Oppofite to the north end of the Old Bailey in aline with 
Newgate, is Giltfpur-ftreet Compter. It is compofed of 
three pavilHons crowned with triangular pediments, and 
connected by two galleries with flat roofs. The whole of 
this building, like Newgate, is of ruftic ftone work ; but, 
having arched windows to the front, it has a lighter appear¬ 
ance. In 1518, there was a prifon in Bread-ftreet, Cheap- 
fide, belonging to the fheriff’s court for fmall debts. In 
1622, it was removed to Wood-ftreet, and called the New 
Compter. This prifon was deftroyed by the fire of Lon¬ 
don, and rebuilt. In 1791 it again changed its fituation 
as well as name, and it is now called Giltfpur-ftreet Comp¬ 
ter. The north fide is occupied on the ground-floor by 
female debtors ; on the fecond ftory is the gaoler’s kitchen ; 
the third ftory is inhabited by pcrfons fined. The fouth 
fide belongs to men-debtors. The centre is the gaoler’s 
houfe. At the entrance, on the right-hand, is the fheriff’s 
office. The prifon is divided into nine wards, appropri¬ 
ated to prifoners of different defcriptions; debtors, male 
and female; felons; perfons fined; committed for mif- 
detneanors; and vagrants. The debtors have two courts, 
nearly of the fame ditnenficns, twenty-eight or thirty feet 
by eighteen or twenty, both well fupplied with wafer. 
The fouth court has feven rooms. The north court has 
five rooms, inhabited by fuch as have been committed for 
fmall offences. Cold and warm baths are provided, and 
the prifoners are admitted to the ufe of them on proper 
occafions; and all the rooms have fire-places. The cha¬ 
pel, and indeed the entire building, is the neateft of all 
the London prifons. 
Ludgate is fituated clofe behind the laft-mentioned pri¬ 
fon, being part of the fame building, and is appropriated 
to debtors, citizens of London. The prifoners were 
brought to this place in 1794.. This prifon is very fmall, 
but has every indulgence and accommodation which fuch 
narrow premiles admit of. The court is but twenty-five 
feet by ten, but there are two pumps in it. There are in 
all eleven rooms, of which one is a hall, where the debtors 
aflociate in the day. There is alfo a long room, admit¬ 
ting fix inhabitants; and another, the women’s ward, that 
admits two ; and alfo a fmall chapel. 
If we return now to that elevated fpot in the quadriviwn 
of Giltfpur-ftreet and the Old Bailey, of Newgate and 
Skinner-ltreet, we find there a pump, handfome enough, 
but which excites in our mind the wifii of feeing fome 
monument and a fountain on this fpot. It would cer¬ 
tainly be a great ornament to the place; and indeed it is 
extraordinary that “ fonraines,” this branch of orna¬ 
mental architecture, have been fo neglefled in this coun¬ 
try, when nearly all the towns of Italy, and many in 
France, prefent forne beautiful fpecimens of the kind.— 
A fountain is not only a picturef'que objeft and an orna¬ 
ment, but the flowing of lympid cryftal in large mattes, 
the running of the ftream along the ftreets, would be truly 
conducive to the falubrity of the air and to the health of 
the inhabitants, vvhilft the perennial murmur of the wa¬ 
ters would lull the penfive mind into foft moods of the 
moft pleating melancholy. 
This place is the centre of that long artery of the town 
which, nearly in a direft line, extends from Tyburn to 
Mile-end. Dd'cending the flope of Skinner-flreet, we re¬ 
mark on one fide the remains of the Commercial Hall, re¬ 
duced to allies a few years fince; (fee p. 362.) on the 
other fide the ftill winding and fteep remains of Snow-hill, 
the only accefs which, for a long lapfe of years, exifted 
from Holborn to Newgate-ftreet. Several elegant ffi.ops 
adorn both fides of Skinner-llreet; and this new-madecom- 
munication increafes everyday in refpeflabiiity and trade. 
At the bottom is the entrance into Fleet Market. We 
have already traced the river Fleet nearly from its fource. 
Suffice it now to add, that over this canal were four 
bridges, not inelegant, fince they were built of Portland- 
ftone ; the firft was at the bottom of Holborn, or Old- 
bourne ; the fecond where now Fleet-lane on one fide 
leads to Harp-alley on the other; the third at the bottom 
