#36 LON 
tention to rival, or rather to fupplant, the Burfe of Bri¬ 
tain, dr New Exchange, the building of which is noticed 
a little farther on. At any rate it has furvived it. It 
Was originally a handfome building, with an arcade in 
front, and two ranges or llories of (hops, one above the 
other. But, as the plan did not l'ucceed fo well as might 
have been expected, the arcades were filled up, and the 
place now contains two rows of dark (hops, principally 
for hardware, with a paved paflfage between them. The 
upper (lory is chiefly ufed as lodgings for the (hop- 
keepers ; and at the eaft end is an exhibition of living 
fubjedts of natural hiftory. On this fpot formerly flood 
the parfonage-houfe of the parifh of St. Martin ; but fir 
Thomas Palmer, a dependent of the proteflor Somerfet, 
emulating the example of his patron, obtained it by com- 
pofition, and began to erett a (lately manfion of brick 
and timber. This afterwards came into the hands of the 
lord-treafurer Burleigh, who finifhed it in a very magni¬ 
ficent manner, and adorned it with four fquare turrets. 
He died here in 1598; after which it delcended to his 
fon, and took the name of Exeter Houfe from liis title.— 
The paffage, as it now {lands, is much frequented, parti¬ 
cularly in (bowery weather, and being at all times a plea- 
fanter road than the narrow part of the Strand outfide, 
which now remains to remind us of what the path by £t. 
Clement’s once was. The (hops, or flails as fome are fo 
rude as to call them, are very (mart; and a great deal of 
money is taken there. The congregation above, under 
the direction and correction of Mr. Polito, is at times 
rather noify, and becomes a nuifance to the fedentary fliop- 
woman below. 
Oppofite to Exeter ’Change, a pafinge witli fteps leads 
us to the old Savoy palace, the ruins of which are Hill 
extant. We have often, for more than twenty years, taken 
great pleafure in pacing the remains of this ancient place. 
The contrail arifing from the (lately and folid edifice of 
Somerfet-houfe and of the Adelphi Terrace, and the fal¬ 
len grandeur of the Savoy, when feen on an evening from 
the water, brings to the mind a melancholy train of ideas 
upon the fubjeCt of tranfaCtions long gone by, and by 
mod people forgotten. Some of thefe tranfafticns we mult 
endeavour to renew in the mind of the reader, by the 
liillory of this celebrated palace. It was named, records 
fay, from Peter earl of Savoy and Richmond, who built 
it about the year 1245, and afterwards transferred it to 
the Friars of Montjoy; of whom queen Eleanor, the 
wife of Henry III. purchafed it for her fon, Henry duke 
of Lancalter. The duke, in 1328, enlarged and beauti¬ 
fied it, at the expenfe of fifty-two thoufand marks; and 
fo fuperb was it, at that time, as to exceed in magnificence 
every other (hufture in the kingdom. In this palace 
John king of France relided, when a prifoner in England 
in the year 1357, as alfo on his return thither in the year 
1363. In 1381, this (lately palace, with all its furniture, 
was dellroyed by the Kentifli rebels; but, the ground de¬ 
volving to the crown, Henry VII. began to rebuild it in 
the manner it now appears, as an hofpital for the reception 
of one hundred diftreffed objefts. He fays, in his will, he 
intended, by this foundation, “ to do and execute VI out 
of the VII works of pitie and mercy, by means of keping, 
Tufteynyng, and mayntenyng, of common hofpilallis; 
wherein, if thei be duly kept, the faid nede pouer people 
bee lodged, vifited in their licknefi'es, refrefhed with mete 
and drinke, and, if nede be, with clothe, and alfo buried, 
yf thei fourtune to die within the fame ; for lack of theim, 
infinite nombreof pouer nede people miferably dnillie die, 
no man putting handeofhelpe orremedie.” That prince, 
however, not living to fee it completed, his fon Henry 
VIII. in the year 1511, not only granted his manor of the 
Savoy to the bifhop of Winchelfer, and others, executors 
of his father’s will, towards finifhing tlie hofpital; but by 
his charter, dated July 5, j 51 3, conHituted them a body 
politic and corporate, to coniiit of a mailer, five fecular 
chaplains, and four regulars, in honour of Jefus Ohrid, 
the Virgin Mary, and Jit. John the •Baptift-j and at the 
DON. 
fame time direfled, that the foundation fliould be called, 
“ j he Hofpital of King Henry VII. late King of England, 
of the Savoy.” This hofpital was fupprefl’ed in the reign 
of Edward VI. when the revenues amounted to 529I. 15s. 
7d. per annum; which, with all its furniture, that prince 
gave to the citizens of London, towards the new founda¬ 
tions of Bridewell and St. Thomas’s Hofpitals. Upon the 
demife Cf Edward, his fifter Mary re-founded this hofpi¬ 
tal, and endowed it anew; when her ladies and maids of 
honour completely furniftied it with all necefiaries, at 
their own exper.fe ; but it was again fupprefied on the ac- 
cefiion of Elizabeth to the crown. At prefer.t, the Savoy 
is the property of the crown; an aft of refumption hav¬ 
ing pafied in the 4th and 5th of William, and Mary. Part 
of it is ufed as habitations and warehouses for private peo¬ 
ple, and part as a prifen for deferters from the army, and 
other military offenders. Here is alfo the ancient chapel 
belonging to the hofpital, which was originally dedicated to 
St. John the Baptifl; but, when the old church of Sf. Mary- 
le-Strand was dellroyed by the protestor Somerfet, the in¬ 
habitants of that parifh united themfelves to thofe of the 
precinft of the Savoy ; and, this chapel being confequently 
ufed as their parifh-church, it acquired the name of St. 
Mary-le-Savoy. This llrufture, being built of fquared 
llone and bouider, in the Gothic Hyle, has an afpeft of 
great antiquity. Contrary to the general conllruftion of 
religious edifices, its greateH length is north and fouth ; 
and the altar is placed at the north end. The roof is 
remarkably fine, being adorned witli carved figures of the 
Holy Lamb, fiiields of arms, and other decorations, within 
elegant circular compartments. It was completely re¬ 
paired in the year 1721, at the expenfe of king George I. 
who alfo inclofed the burial-ground with a wall; and it has 
been repaired and beautified within a few years. There 
are many ancient monuments in this chapel, iome of which 
are very magnificent. This precinft is extra-parochial, 
and the right of prefentation to the chapel is in the lord 
high-treafurer, or the coiilmiffioners for executing that 
office.—Within the S^voy are alfo two German chapels : a 
Lutheran, in which is a very fine organ with pedals; and 
a CalViniff. 
Farther to the weft, on the fame bank of the river, are 
vi harfs for coals, which waggons with long teams of horfes 
bring up to the Strand, wherefrom they deal them out 
chiefly in the weftern part of the town. There we find 
alfo a fmall neat place called Beaufort Buildings, of fome 
notoriety in the latter end of the laft century, where for 
a, few years Mr. Thelwali gave proof's of his democratic 
eloquence to a numerous afiembiy, till a bill of parliament 
put an end to thefe patriotic conventicles, and “all was 
hufhed.” On the fite of Beaufort Buildings was formerly 
the manfion-houfe of the earls of Worcelter. Speaking 
of this place, Pennant fays, “The earls of Worceiter had 
a very large houfe, between Durham-place and the S.fvoy, 
with gardens to the water-tide. The great earl of Claren¬ 
don lived in it before his own was built, and paid for it 
the extravagant rent of five hundred pounds a-year. This 
was pulled down by their defeendant, the duke of Beau¬ 
fort; and the prefent Beaufort Buildings role on its fite. 
This had originally been the tovvn-houie ot the billions 
of Carlifle.” 
Immediately after quitting the duchy of Lancafter, 
which we have juft furveyed, and feveral parts adjoining 
to it, we enter the large parifh of St. Martin, once in the 
Jields, but now nearly in the centre of what is generally 
called the weft end of the town, and which in ancient 
times included the whole liberty of Weftmiilfter.—This 
famous convent had under its direction, and indeed in its 
poffefiion, the whole of Thorney, Charing, and all the ad¬ 
jacent places, down to their garden on the borders of the 
duchy. St. Martin’s was at firll a fort of chapel of eaie, 
where the monks performed mats for the inhabitants of the 
neighbourhood ; and, thefe having conliderably increafed, 
and the parifh difplayed itfelf to a great, extent, it gene¬ 
rated, in cowrie of time, other pxrifhes. St. James, St. 
S George, 
