The Oxford Arms, Coaching Inn.
West side of Warwick Lane,
Faringdon Within,
City of London.
Not really relevant to 17th / 18th Century Sculpture but just down the road from the original College of Surgeons.
Demolished 1876.
A stroll through time down Warwick Lane.
A stroll through time down Warwick Lane.
Anyone can do this once one has a sufficient knowledge of where to look and the wonders of Google.
See my previous post for much more on Sculpture and the Royal College of Physicians.
See my previous post for much more on Sculpture and the Royal College of Physicians.
There was something of an outcry before the Oxford Arms was dismantled but not enough to save what had become an outmoded institution with the advent of Railway transport. Although indirectly its disappearance lead to the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings set up in 1877 by William Morris and other enthusiasts so perhaps something good came of it.
This post has only a tangential interest to the sculpture enthusiast - it was written entirely for my own enjoyment and because it is now possible to take a virtual walk around Warwick Lane in the Parish of Faringdon Within.
The house was an inn with the sign of the Oxford Arms before
the Great Fire, as appears by the following advertisement in the London Gazette
for March, 1672-3, No. 762:
‘These are to give notice, that Edward Bartlett, Oxford carrier,
hath removed his inn, in London, from the Swan, at Holborn-bridge, to the
Oxford Arms, in Warwick-lane, where he did before the Fire: his coaches and
wagons going forth on their usual days, — Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He
hath also a hearse, with all things convenient, to carry a corpse to any part
of England.’
The Oxford Arms was not part of the Earl of Warwick’s
property, but belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s.
The photographic images below are from 'Photographs of Old London' and have been easily available from various online sources including Collage, the V and A, and the British Library for some time, I have chosen what I believe to be the best and highest resolution on line reproductions from the very excellent British Museum download facility. The drawings and water colours are less well known.
In 'Photographs of Old London' Alfred Marks' letterpress
accompanying this view of the entrance to the Inn from Warwick Lane reads,
"The 'Oxford Arms' Inn, demolished in 1878, was an excellent example of
the galleried Inns now becoming every year more scarce...That it existed before
the Great Fire of London is proved by an advertisement in the London Gazette
for March 1672-3."
Photographs of Old London by Alfred (1844 - 1926 & John Bool (1850 - 1923) of 3 Warwick Street, Pimlico, published by the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London, 1875.
Photograph in the yard of the Oxford Arms looking East onto Warwick Lane
In 'Photographs of Old London' Alfred Marks' letterpress accompanying this view of the entrance to the Inn from Warwick Lane reads, "The 'Oxford Arms' Inn, demolished in 1878, was an excellent example of the galleried Inns now becoming every year more scarce...That it existed before the Great Fire of London is proved by an advertisement in the London Gazette for March 1672-3."
In 'Photographs of Old London' Alfred Marks' letterpress accompanying this view of the entrance to the Inn from Warwick Lane reads, "The 'Oxford Arms' Inn, demolished in 1878, was an excellent example of the galleried Inns now becoming every year more scarce...That it existed before the Great Fire of London is proved by an advertisement in the London Gazette for March 1672-3."
The Entrance of The Oxford Arms, Warwick Lane, 1875, looking
from Warwick Lane. ca.1875.
A.& J. Bool.
"The "Oxford Arm" Inn, demolished in 1878,
was an excellent example of the galleried inns now becoming every year more
scarce. As was said by a writer in the Athenaeum of May 20th 1876:
"Despite the confusion, the dirt, and the decay. he who stands in the yard
of this ancient Inn may get an excellent idea of what it was like in the days
of its prosperity, when not only travellers in coach or saddle rode in and out
of the yard, but poor players and mountebanks set up their stage for the
entertainment of spectators, who hung over the galleries or looked on from
their rooms - a name by which the boxes of a theatre were first known."
The "Oxford Arms" was situate, as shown in No.3, at the end of a
short lane leading out of the west side of Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row. The
buildings were disposed on four sides of a large courtyard, being bonded on the
west by the old City Wall.
But little is known of the history of the "Oxford
Arms." That it existed before the Great Fire is proved by an advertisement
in the London Gazette for March, 1672-3, quoted in Cunningham's Handbook of
London:- "These are to give notice that Edward Bartlett, Oxford Carrier,
hath removed his Inn in London from the Swan at Holborn Bridge to the Oxford
Armes in Warwick Lane, where he did Inn before the Fire. His coaches and wagons
going forth on their usual days, Mondays, Wednesdays and Frydays. He hath also
a hearse, with all things convenient to carry a Corps to any part of
England." The Inn was within the area of the Fire, in which it no doubt
perished, being rebuilt, however, a few years later on the old plan. In
Strype's Stowe we read that the "Oxford Arms" was much frequented by
persons attending the Market, i.e., Newgate Market, close by.
Up to the time of its close, it still did a considerable
carriers' business, carts daily leaving the Inn for Oxford and other places. An
old servant of the Inn told the writer that, in the days before the railroads,
he had frequently seen wagons drawn by nine horses leave the Inn, a portion of
the goods being packed after the Inn yard had been cleared. It must have needed
careful handling to get such a team and such a load safely round the corner of
the narrow street. Mr Samuel Hill, who has kindly communicated much of the
above, says the sumptuous furniture of the Inn was sold in 1868, since which
time its many rooms were let out in tenements. The site is now occupied by the
new buildings and gardens of the Minor Canons of St. Paul's.
Warwick Lane still contains vestiges of another old Inn, the
"Bell", reduced now to a mere receiving office. Here, in 1684, died
Archbishop Leighton, who thus obtained what he had often desired, frequently
saying that if he was to choose a place to die in, it should be an Inn".
The Oxford Arms looking westward into the inner yard.
The large images above from the Crace Collection, British Museum website.
______________________________
Oxford Arms Looking East on to Warwick Lane.
Photographed by J Sanford.
Purchased from the photographer in 1876.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
________________________
________________________
The Oxford Arms.
Dixon and Boole.
1875?
Victoria and Albert Museum.
_______________________________
Illustration from the Book of Days by WR Chambers, 1870.
________________________________
_________________________________
The Oxford Arms.
signed H.F.
1875.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image courtesy Collage.
Oxford Arms.
Thomas Colman Dibdin (1810 - 93).
Watercolour
1851
London Metropolitan Archives
Image courtesy Collage
The Oxford Arms.
1854.
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793 - 1864).
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image courtesy Collage.
Oxford Arms with two Figures under the Gateway.
Thomas Colman Dibdin (1810 - 93).
1851.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Courtesy Collage.
Warwick Lane looking North.
Thomas Colman Dibdin (1810 - 93).
c. 1850.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image courtesy Collage.
_____________________
View of the Yard of the Oxford Arms.
George Frederick Sargent (1811 - 64).
Pencil/wash.
23 cms.
1851.
The Oxford Arms.
Oxford Arms.
Robert E Angel.
1880.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image Courtesy Collage.
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Oxford Arms.
Looking Eastward into Warwick Lane.
signed H.I.
1876.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image courtesy Collage.
Oxford Arms.
c. 1854.
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd.
170 x 240 mm.
Image courtesy British Museum.
Oxford Arms.
Etching.
Ernest George.
1880.
The group of images of the old Oxford Arms above are taken from the website of Collage.
This website hosts the digitalised image collection of the London Metropolitan Archives
and the Guildhall Art Gallery.
contact them for the purchase of higher resolution images.
__________________________________
Illustration from the Book of Days by WR Chambers, 1870.
The Bell Inn, Warwick Lane.
Image courtesy Look and learn website.
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The Bell Inn.
East Side of Warwick Lane.
The Bell Inn Yard and adjoining properties.
Warwick Lane at the Bottom.
Ground Plan 1778.
Low resolution image from Collage.
The Bell Inn.
on the East Side of Warwick Lane.
Entrance to the Yard of the Bell Inn Emslie
In the Yard of the Bell Inn looking West.
John Philips Emslie (1839 - 1913).
1883
London Metropolitan Archives
Image courtesy Collage
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Newgate Market.
Looking South with the Sillhouette odf St Paul's Cathedral in the distance.
Illustrated London News, 1845.
Newgate Meat Market.
Hosmer Shepherd.
"In the afternoon, went from Charing Cross to Cannon Street
by rail, and thence walked up to certain old bookshops, beyond Finsbury Square.
On my way back I rambled through the oldfashioned streets about Cripplegate;
attracted first by the fine massive antique tower of Cripplegate church, which
is a-repairing. In the quiet of a Saturday afternoon, when offices are closed
and busy men departed, the world of modern life disappears for a moment, and
these old 17th & 18th century streets and alleys, these deserted old
churches, bring back something of the interest and delight with which one
wanders through a mediaeval town abroad. Far better it is to ramble here, at
such a time, than in some bustling suburb, mean, newfangled, fashionable or
vulgar. I went, probably for the last time, through the mazes of old Newgate
market: long low alleys, glazed in of late years, but walled on both sides with
butchers' shops nearly as old as the Fire: open sheds, with massy beams and
rafters and blocks, browned and polished by age and friction. Many of the
alleys were closed and dark, for the butchers had removed to the new Market in Smithfield:
but two or three were lighted up & busy with buyers and sellers- long rude
vistas of meat and men".
Arthur Munby, Diary, 12 December 1868.
For a truly much grimmer picture of the Newgate Meat Market see -
Unsentimental Journeys; or Byways of the Modern Babylon, by James Greenwood, 1867.
Available online at - http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/unsentimental-3.htm
__________________________
Warwick Lane looking North.
Entrance to the Warwick Square on the left.
Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793-1864).
____________________________________
Hosmer Sheperd.
The corner of Warwick Lane and Paternoster Row looking East.
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House on the West side of Warwick Lane next to Newgate Street
with Bas Relief of Guy of Warwick dated 1668.
Frederick Nash (1782 - 1856).
c.1820.
Image courtesy Collage.
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Guy of Warwick.
Bas relief .
Engraving John Thomas Smith (1766 - 1833),
1791.
42 cms tall..
Image courtesy Collage.
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Guy of Warwick.
Anonymous drawing.
1830.
London Metropolitan Archives.
Image courtesy Collage.
Water Colour by Frederick Nash (see above).
c. 1820.
Image Courtesy Collage.
Henry Dixon.
Photographed for the Society for Photographing the Relics of London.
1885.
Image courtesy Collage.
________________________________
Corner of Warwick Lane and Newgate Street looking West.
Note the plaque on the wall at first floor level.
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Crop from Roque's Map of 1746.
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Map of Faringdon Within and Baynards Castle Wards.
showing clearly the sites of The Royal College of Physicians.
The Oxford Arms, the Bell Inn and Newgate Market.
Reprint of Stow's Survey.
1755.
____________________________
Richard Horwood.
Map of London 1792 - 99.
Crop showing The Warwick Lane Area
Faden's Updated version of Horwood's Map.
1819.
The Building of the Oxford Arms are much clearer.
suggesting that they had been resurveyed and corrected.
Castle Baynard Ward, Farringdon within.
A New Survey 1794.
Showing the site of the Royal College of Physicians, The Oxford Arms, The Bell Inn and Newgate Market.
__________________________________
Goad's Insurance Map .
Sheet 39.
Showing the sites of the recently demolished frontage of The Royal College of Physicians and the Bell Inn.
It also shows the warehouses and Foundry backing onto Newgate Gaol of Messrs Tyler and Company Braziers and Brass Founders who had occupied the major part of the Old Royal Physicians College since 1829.
1886.
Image Courtesy Collage.
In 1881 Messrs Tylor of Warwick Lane and later of 2 Newgate Street were employing 175 men and 10 boys.
The company was founded by John Tylor, the son of John Tyler
and Mary Taylor Tyler. John was born on March 19th, 1756, in Newington,
Oxfordshire, the 4th of 8 children. Curiously, he was the only child of John
and Mary Taylor Tyler's to change the spelling of his family name to Tylor.
The company was originally called J. Tylor and Sons, a
bronze foundry, located at Warwick Lane, Newgate Street, London. John
purportedly got his start by selling copper pots and pans from a market stall
in 1777. John was an inventor, and patented a method of securing brass linings
to tea and coffee urns in 1783. Kent's directory for the year 1794 is "An
alphabetical List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Directors of
Companies, Persons in Public Business, Merchts., and other eminent Traders in
the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark." It
includes this entry:
"Tylor John, Tea Urn Manufacturer, 3
Cripplegate-buildings"
In 1825 when their address was 4 Cripplegate Buildings their fixed and working capital was insured for £11,500.
Like other copper and brass fabricators, J. Tylor and Sons
at some point began production of fire hydrants.
The company went through several name changes and changes in
mission over the centuries. Amongst the diverse products the company
manufactured were the cast wheels for the Duke of Wellington's funeral
carriage, water meters, small valves, garden accessories, and, early on, horse
drawn hand fire engines. In an 1850s J. Tylor and Sons sales brochure is listed
a horse drawn fire engine for 18 men at a price of £143.
For a very good and interesting overview of Messrs Tylors business see -
_______________________________
To Mr Joseph Tylor.Respected Sir _ At a meeting of Workmen
employed in your Manufactory, August 26th 1850, it was unanimously resolved
that a Memorial of Respect be presented to you... Presented August 11th 1851...
[Privately published, c.1851.]
Lithographic portrait on India, rare, 350 x 265mm, 13¾ x
10½, on paper with lithographed text, sheet 430 x 320mm, 17 x 12½". Laid
on board, some toning of backing paper.
Portrait of Joseph Tyler, a quaker who owned a succesful
brassfoundery, J. Tyler & Sons, 2 Newgate Street, London. The Post Office
Commercial Directory for 1865 described the firm as 'engineers (hydraulic,
mechanical & pharmaceutical), brassfounders, brass finishers, cockfounders,
braziers, coppersmiths, plumbers, pottery dealers, manufacturers of pumps,
water closets, soda water engines & machines, diving apparatus, baths &
patent bath boilers, hot water apparatus, fire engines, hose pipe, garden
engines & syringes, chemical apparatus for laboratories, brass
manufacturers, pewterers & beer engine makers, ice mould makers, manufacturers
of moderator & belmontine lamps, lamps for India & colonies, standard
weights & measures for corporation use, condensing apparatus for distilling
salt water for ships’ use...'. His sons, Alfred (1824-84) and Edward
(1832-1917) both started in the the family business but made their names
elsewhere. Alfred wrote extensively on geology and proposed the name 'pluvial'
for periods of extended rainfall. Edward left the business due to ill-heath,
becoming an anthropologist, developing the modern definition of 'animism',
becoming the first Professor of Anthropology at Oxford University in 1896,
receiving a knighthood in 1912. A third son, Louis, remained in the business.
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