LON 
Zoar-ftreet; and from him we gathered the following in¬ 
terefting, though not very fatisfactory, information. He 
is of opinion that the name of Bunyan given to this meet- 
ing-houfe mud have originated from- fome other preacher, 
relation or defcendant of the celebrated one 5 fince Bun¬ 
yan himfelf died in 1688, and the houfes feem plainly to 
be of a later date. He recollects that a friend of his told 
him that he had heard the Mr. Bunyan who gave name to 
the houfe; but furely it could not be the author of the 
“ Progrefs,” iince he has been now dead 126 years. A 
Dr. Bradbury, our authority remembers well, ufed to 
preach there a number of years ago; and he has not for¬ 
gotten to have feen the fconces and lights for the ufe of 
his congregation, the pulpit and benches of which were 
ibid only about four years ago.—Added to this, John 
Bunyan’s meeting-houfe was at Bedford ; and it appears 
very doubtful whether he ever had any congregation in 
London, though he died there. See the word Bunyan, 
vol. iii. p. 509. Our opinion upon the houfes is, how¬ 
ever, that they are of very old Handing ; and there are 
fome of thofe wooden abodes in the neighbourhood which 
we could eaiily believe to have been coeval with the reign 
of Elizabeth. Thefe buildings may have been often re¬ 
paired and propped up ; but the window of the meet¬ 
ing is apparently of a lefs ancient date than the reft ; 
the panes of glafs being much larger than they were ufu- 
ally even at the end of the feventeer.th century. 
Between this and Bandy-leg Walk, now ftraightened 
to the better denomination of Great Guilford-ftreet, is a- 
large piece of unoccupied ground, crofted over by a dirty 
brook, which receives the tide, and was ufeful to the dyers 
who had their factory there. From the Dyers’ Field we en¬ 
ter Maid-lane, now called, as a continuation, Great Guil¬ 
ford-ftreet. This ftreet is moft certainly one of the heft 
in the Borough. It is of a new creation : the eaft fide has 
but few houfes; they are new built, high and handfotne ; 
and, above the wall which parts them, and is elegantly or¬ 
namented with plain modillions under a running courfe 
of flag-ftones, riles in great majelty, at a diftance, the 
cupola of St. Paul’s, which feems infulated in the vaft ex- 
panfe of the Ikies. This view is interefting, and prefents 
fomething new to the perambulator. 
From Great Guilford-ftreet we enter the eaftern part 
of Maid-lane, which leads 11s to the very place where the 
ftews mentioned above were kept. Maid-lane, Rofe-lane, 
Bear-gardens, and feveral others, are fufticient mementos; 
and we could not help fmiling, when on our left we dill 
covered a fmall cul de fac, with, at the corner, the inscrip¬ 
tion of Cuckold's Court ; the whole in perfect analogy with 
the old trade carried on there. For, although it is not li¬ 
beral to fuppofe that decent married women went to thofe 
haunts, for the purpofe of bellowing crooked honours on 
the foreheads of their hufbar.ds, yet this little fnug court 
has all the appearance of a lurking-place, where very likely 
fufpicion ufed to lead, by the nofe and in the dark, the 
fearful hulband, there to watch, and fret and fob, in the 
apprehenfion left his ftray rib lhould be one of the prieftelfes 
at the altar of the God of the Gardens , and (if he could) to 
catch her in flagrante delidlo. 
Leaving Maid-lane on our right, we come to Bank- 
fide ; and following our intended track, through wind¬ 
ings and mills, narrow and crooked paflages, we arrive, 
after fome trouble, at the old gate in Montague Clofe, 
and next to St. Mary-Overy. What remains of this gate, 
the mere vault of the arch, is remarkable for the purity 
of its ftyle, which is Norman, and gives us an idea of 
what the whole edifice to which it was annexed muft have 
been.—The fexton’s booth, or fhop, or whatever it may 
be called, occupies the angle, between the opening of 
Montague Clofe and the weft front of the church, on the 
ioutli tranfept of which we read engraved on a Hone 
plinth : “This and the eaft fronts were repaired in 1735.” 
An epitome of the interefting hiftory of this church, 
which is next to Weftminfter-abbey in ancienty and mag¬ 
nificence of Gothic architecture, will follow.—Where the 
D O N. 50?. 
church now ftands, was anciently fitunted a priory of 
nuns, founded by one Mary, the owner of a ferry over 
the river Thames, before the building of London-bridge, 
This accounts for the derivation of the latter name, which 
appears to have been originally called St. Mary of the 
Ferry ; but at length,- as we now find it, St. Mary Overy, 
The priory was afterwards converted into a college of 
priefts; but that eftablilbment, as well as the former, 
proving of no long duration, it was, in the year 1106,; 
founded by two Norman knights, William Pont de 
FArche, and William Dauncy, and the bishop ofWin- 
chefter, for canons regular; and dedicated to the Virgin 
Mary. In the year 1207, this college was burnt down; 
but Peter de Rupihus, bifnop of Winchefter, rebuilt it, 
and added to it a fine chapel for the ufe of the canons, 
which he dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. This ftruc- 
ture remained till the reign of Richard II. when the whole 
was pulled down and rebuilt, together with the conven¬ 
tual church, which, by aft of parliament in the reign of 
Henry VIII. was made parochial, and fold by that prince' 
to the inhabitants of St. Margaret’s on the Hill and St. 
Mary’s ; after which it was called by the name of St. Sa¬ 
viour’s. 
This is,, perhaps, the largeft parifh-church in the king-, 
dom ; and is a noble Gothic ftrufture in the form of a ca¬ 
thedral, only that fome additions of brick have been made 
to it: thefe, however, being placed in the room of fuch 
parts as were decayed, the uniformity of it is not hurt, 
and the whole has a grand and venerable appearance. 
The length of the church is two hundred and lixty feet, 
and that of the crofs-aifle one hundred and nine; the 
breadth of the body is fifty-four feet, and the height of 
the tower, including the pinnacles, is one hundred and 
fifty feet. The conliruftion of the windows, entrance,. 
and every other part, except one door, which is modern, 
is purely in the Gothic ftyle. The tower, which is fquare,. 
and well-proportioned, is fupported by maffy pillars over 
the meeting of the middle and crofs aides: it is crowned- 
with battlements, and at each corner is a tall (lender pin¬ 
nacle.—Upon the platform of the tower, on a fummer 
evening, the fexton often admits people to enjoy a fine 
view of the river and of the metropolis, with the adjacent 
parts. And vve are told that they are provided there with 
all the requifites for enjoying a comfortable cup of tea,which, 
being drunk in the clouds, muft of courfe appear to parti¬ 
cipate in tafte with the nedtar of the gods, and have a hea¬ 
venly flavour ; unlefs the treacherous winds choofe to waft 
thither the black and dufty breathings of the neighbour¬ 
ing glafs-houfes and iron-foundries.—However, a painter 
would have from hence a moft beautiful fcope for his 
glowing pallet, and an artift of genius might here find 
lufficient objects for his ftudies; even the humble limner, 
might exercife his pencil in pourtraying the fexton himfelf. 
The peal of hells contained in the tower is reckoned 
among the moft harmonious in England ; and people 
fond of that fort of entertainment, are often feen in boats 
moored about the middle of the diftance between Black- 
-friars and London-bridge, liftening with delight to the 
melodious found, “ fwi'nging flow” with the evening, 
breeze, and dying away on the water. Among thefe bells, 
one in particular, which belonged to the ancient fet, fur- 
pafies all the reft in fweetnefs of tone, and is, on that ac¬ 
count, eafily diltinguifhed among her chiming filters ; fa 
much greater , was the (kill of bell-founders in ancient 
times ! 
The infide of the church is extremely grand ; and in it 
are many monuments to the memory of eminent perfons; 
fome of which have been lately repaired by the defcendants 
of thofe families who. have made choice of this place for 
their interment. Among thefe, in a chapel at ti c eall: 
end of the church, is a remarkable monument belonging 
to the family of the Auitins, ereftcd in the year 1.626^ 
and againft the north wall, is that of the celebrated Em>-- 
lilh poet John Gower, a great benefaftor to the church in, 
the reigns of Ed ward III. and Richard II. Little remains 
2 JiOW 
