Springs, streams and spas of London; history and associations

CHAPTER I The Wallbrook, and Parts of the City Adjacent . 25

Early water-supply — Walebroc — Wallbrook — Barge Yard, Bucklersbury — Dour or Dowgate — Tokenhouse Yard — Remains of tan-pits — Finsbury — Subterranean aqueduct noticed by Mr. Roach Smith — Blomfield Street — All Hallows on the Wall — Bethlehem Hospital — Tower Royal Street and Cloak Lane — Channel of the Wallbrook — Roman Wall of London in relation to the Wallbrook — Bank of England : stream first reached in digging a foundation for the original building — Dowgate Hill — Churches on banks of the Wallbrook : St. Mildred's, Poultry ; St. Stephen's, Wallbrook ; St. John the Baptist upon Wallbrook — Halls of the Livery Companies along or near its banks — Cutlers', Dyers', Joiners', and Innholders' Halls — Bridges over the Wallbrook — National Safe Deposit : excavations on its site — Stocks Market — Langbourne Stream — Sharebourne.

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The Holebourne or Fleet, Tybourne, Westbourne,

and Serpentine . . . . .40

Fleet River— Ditch— Bridge— Turnmill Brook— River of Wells — Holebourne (or Fleet) : its source and direction traced — Blemund's Ditch— Tybourne Brook : its course described — Marylebone Lane twice crossed by it— Formed a delta at Thorney Island, Westminster — Kilburn Stream, an affluent of the Westbourne — Aye or Eye Brook — Eia Estate — Bayswater Brook, a name applied to the Westbourne — Course of the stream defined — Serpentine : formed at the instigation of Queen Caroline — Old maps of Middlesex.

Holy Wells and Well Worship . . .53

Holy wells — Enactments against offerings at springs in Saxon times — Survival of superstitions relating to them — Flower - dressing of wells : a custom still observed at Tissington in Derbyshire — Offerings of coins — Holy wells in London.

St. Bride's Well — Milton's lodgings in the churchyard — Clement's Well — Stow's evidence as to its position and identification — Allusions to it by later writers — Evidence of the Ordnance Survey maps — Holy Well, Strand — Remarks of various observers regarding its true position — Gray's Inn Lane — Bagnigge House and Wells — Origin of the name — Nell Gwynne at Bagnigge House — Properties of the water — Battle Bridge — Black Mary's Hole — St. Chad's Well : its many vicissitudes — Pancras Wells and garden — Visit of Pepys thereto — Holt Waters — Sadler's Music House and Wells — Sadler succeeded by Miles and Forcer — The Theatre and notable performers — It sinks to a low-

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type music-hall — Islington Spa, or New Tunbridge Wells — At one time a fashionable resort — The proprietor's house — Rosebery Avenue — London Spaw — New Wells near the latter — Priory of St. John of Jerusalem — Clerks' Well — Miracle or Mystery Plays performed there — St. Mary's Nunnery, Clerkenwell — Hockley in the Hole — Skinners' Well — Fagswell — Godewell — Loder's Well — Radwell — Crowder's Well — Monkswell — St. Agnes le Clere — Well or pool — Mineral Baths — Perilous Pond, later called Peerless Pool — Swimming - bath and fishing - pond — The former survived to nineteenth century.

CHAPTER V

North and East London Group of Wells and Spas . 115

Holywell, Shoreditch — Conventual House of St. John the Baptist at Haliwell — Position of the well discussed — Hoxton "Balsamic Wells'' — Dr. Byfield's account of them in 1687 — Shadwell — Sun Tavern Fields : mineral spring — Postern Waters, Tower Hill — Hackney — Its Wells and Springs — Pig or Pyke Well — Churchfield Well— Shacklewell— Wells at Tottenham— Offertory or Cell of St. Eloy — Hermitage and Chapel of St. Anne —Bishop's Well — Well in Spotton's Wood— St. Dunstan's Well — Bruce Castle — Woodford Wells ; a mineral spring near the " Horse and Groom " — Chigwell — Derivation of the name — Purgative spring in Chigwell Row — Muswell Hill — Two ancient wells, differing in quality.

CHAPTER VI

North-West London Group of Wells and Spas . 137

Hampstead — Geological features described — Chalybeate wells — The Assembly Rooms in Wells Walk ; celebrities who frequented them — Wells Charity Estate and Baptist Noel, Earl of Gainsborough — Mr. Goodwin's discovery of a medicinal spring near Pond Street — Analysis of the Wells Walk spring — Barnet Wells

— Purgative spring — Visited by Pepys — Lysons' mention of it — Chalybeate spring at Northaw — Trick of practical jokers — Acton Wells — An attractive resort in Queen Anne's reign — Kilburn Wells and Priory — History of the latter — Pleasure gardens attached to the Wells — Analyses of the waters.

CHAPTER VII West London Group of Wells and Spas . . . 165

Marylebone Gardens and medicinal spring — Known as Marybone Spa — Mentioned in J. T. Smith's " Book for a Rainy Day" — Powis Wells in Lamb's Conduit Fields — Assemblies for dancing held in Long Room — Kensington Wells— St. Govor's Well— St. Agnes' Well of medicinal water — Frequented chiefly by the lower orders — Medicinal spring at Earl's Court mentioned by Faulkner.

CHAPTER VIII

Mineral Springs as Remedial Agents . . 173

Thermal waters : their temperature, whence derived — the mineral matter they contain — British and foreign waters compared — Analysis in its application to mineral waters very imperfectly understood before the nineteenth century.

Part II Streams And Spas South Of The Thames

South London : physical features — Effra River — John Aubrey makes no mention of it — Brayley's allusion to it — Tracing of its entire course — Branch of the Effra

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near Kennington Church — Another arm of the Effra — Falcon Brook — The Neckinger Stream : its rise and course — Navigable for small craft — Tanneries and mills on its banks — St. Saviour's Dock.

Bermondsey Spa — Opened by an artist, Thomas Keyse — Mr. William Herbert, one of the singers engaged here ; he afterwards became first librarian of the Guildhall Library — Gallery of Paintings by Keyse — Picture model of siege of Gibraltar — Lambeth Wells — Dancing and musical entertainments — Water esteemed serviceable in disorders of the eyes — " Dog and Duck," otherwise St. George's Spa — Its career under Hedger — Old stone sign of the inn let into wall of Bethlehem Hospital — Ladywell — Two wells here : one medicinal — Coping-stones preserved and form the rim of a drinking fountain at the Ladywell Public Baths — Shooter's Hill — Its height and structure — John Evelyn drinks the waters of the mineral spring here — Dipping Well on the top of the hill.

Camberwell — Evelyn's record of a visit — Different theories about the origin of the name — Lysons, Bray, Salmon, and Allport — Well at Dr. Lettsom's Villa at Grove Hill — Milkwell Manor — Effects of an iron spring upon the water in the public baths in the Old Kent Road — Dulwich Wells — Manor of Dulwich presented to the Prioryof Bermondsey by Henry I. — Bew's Corner — Grove Tavern — The sinking of a well in the grounds by the proprietor Cox leads to discovery of a purging water — John Martyn experimented on the water, which was supplied to St. Bartholomew's Hospital — Sydenham Wells — Evelyn, an early visitor here — Called also

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Dulwich Wells — John Peter, a physician, writes the first detailed account of Sydenham Wells — Wells Cottage in Wells Road — George III.'s visit to the cottage — Thomas Campbell's house at Sydenham — Beulah Spa — Beauty of its situation — Not known when or how the mineral spring was discovered — Described by Dr. Weatherhead — Analysis of the water by Professor Faraday — Entertainments recorded — Mr. J. Corbet Anderson on the spa and well open when he wrote — Mineral spring at Biggin Hill — Analysis of the water — Streatham Wells — First account of them by Aubrey — Circumstances of their discovery — Well House, now The Rookery — Closing of the old spring and opening of another on Lime Common — Miss Priscilla Wakefield tastes the water — Analysis of the water made by Messrs. Redwood and de Hailes in 1895.

Richmond Wells — Saline spring — Noticed by Dr. Benjamin Allen in 1699 — House of entertainment — Balls and concerts advertised — Dissipated company at the Wells — Raffling and card-playing — The place eventually purchased by the Misses Houblon — Well at East Sheen, adjoining Palewell Park.

Part III Conduit System Of Water-supply

The London Basin, Shallow Wells, City Conduits . 247

Geology of the London Basin — Tyburn Conduit — Population of London — Great Conduit in Chepe — Pay of workmen — Little Conduit — Conduit at Stocks Market — The Standard opposite the end of Honey Lane — John Lydgate — Pageants — Catherine of Aragon's state entry into London — The Tonne, or Tun, upon Cornhill — Stow's explanation of the name — Charterhouse, provided its own water-supply — Conduits at London Wall, Coleman Street, Bishopsgate.

CHAPTER II Conduits without the City 264

The White Conduit — Supplied water to the Carthusian Friars — Fleet Street — Its water-supply — Fleet Street Standard — Cistern made to receive its overflow — Thames water used by Londoners — Springs in Paddington granted by the Abbot of Westminster to the Mayor and citizens of London — Water from springs at Hackney — Banqueting House on the site of Stratford Place, with cisterns in the basement — Lamb's Conduit — References to the Conduits in the Letter Books — Keepers or wardens to look after them — Measures taken to restrain keepers of brew-houses and others from making ale with the water from the Conduits — Tynes and tankards used for conveying water — Grants of Quills — The London Waterbearers — Their petition — Waterbearers' Hall — List of Conduits removed — The Standard in Cornhill a point of measurement for distances from the City — Explanation of a complete service on the Conduit System.

Conduits without the City, continued — London

Bridge Water Works 282

Bayswater or Roundhead Conduit — Its position and course indicated — Remarks by Matthews in " Hydraulia " — Mr. Morley Davies on the " Roundhead" — Paddington Conduit System transferred from the City to the Bishop of London and Trustees of Paddington Estate — Ancient Conduit in Queen Square, Bloomsbury — Identification of the White Conduit — Conduit near Hyde Park Corner — Conduit House in Greenwich Park — Underground passages in the Park ;

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their elaborate construction — Wooden water-pipes — Use of tree-trunks for water-pipes abroad — Morice and his London Bridge Water Works — The engine described — Other schemes for supplying London with water.

CHAPTER IV The New River — Artesian Wells .... 307

Hugh Myddelton and the New River — Appeals against its construction by landowners and others — Myddelton receives financial assistance from the King — And a loan from the Corporation of London — Opening ceremony on Michaelmas Day, 1613, described by Stow — Monopoly established to oblige consumers to use the New River Company's water — Great value of King's and Adventurers' shares — Transference of the New River Company's business to the Metropolitan Water Board — Artesian Wells.

Shallow or Surface Wells and Pumps of London . 325

Index 343

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS cornhill pump, 1800 . . . .Frontispiece

After a print in the Guildhall Art Collections

TO FACE PAGE

THE MOUTH OF THE FLEET RIVER, CIRCA 1 765 . . 41

Guildhall Art Collections

BAGNIGGE WELLS GARDENS . . . . -73

Frontispiece to the Sunday Ramble {circa 1774), in the Guildhall Library

ST. chad's well, showing the pump room and house, circa 1830 . . . . . -74

Drawn by the Author from a pencil sketch in the Guildhall Library

SOUTH-WEST VIEW OF SADLER'S WELLS . . .89

From a drawing by R. C. Andrews, 1792 ; together with a view of an earlier building ; both from Wilkinson's " Londina Illustrata"

ISLINGTON SPA ; OR NEW TUNBRIDGE WELLS . . 92

View of the Gardens, Well, Coffee House, &c, engraved by G. Bickham, jun., as the headpiece to " The Charms of Dishabille ; or, New Tunbridge Wells," a song published in Bickham's Musical Entertainer, 1733

ISLINGTON SPA ; OR NEW TUNBRIDGE WELLS . . 96

From a photograph of the proprietor's house in 1907

HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY AND PUMP ROOMS IN WELL WALK . 141 The original drawing by E. H. Dixon bears no date, but was probably done before 1725. Drawn by the author from the reproduction in " Records of Hampstead " by F. E. Baines

HAMPSTEAD (NEW) ASSEMBLY ROOMS ON THE NORTH-WEST

SIDE OF WELL WALK ..... I47

Drawn by the author from the print by Chatelaine of 1745

Drawn by the author from the view in Lysons' " Environs of London," Guildhall Library

ST. GOVOR'S WELL, KENSINGTON GARDENS . . . 171

From a photograph taken in 1910

INTERIOR OF THE " DOG AND DUCK," ST. GEORGE'S FIELDS,

From a stipple engraving, Guildhall Art Collections

List of Illustrations

TO FACE PAGE

THE OLD LADY WELL (LEWISHAM), 1842 . . . 203

Drawn by the author from " Knight's Journey Book of England "

FOUNTAIN AT LADYWELL BATHS, CONTAINING THE COPING- STONES OF THE OLD LADY WELL . . . 203 Drawn by the author from a photograph

SYDENHAM WELLS EARLY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . 2l8 Drawn by the author from an old print belonging to Mr. J. T. Coling

WELLS COTTAGE, SYDENHAM . . . . . 2l8

From a photograph taken in 1903. The well was behind the palings on the left of the picture

BEULAH SPA, VIEW OF THE GREAT LAWN, WELL HOUSE,

Drawn by the author from a wood-engraving in the Illustrated London News, July 26, 1851

From a photograph taken in 1903

STREATHAM (NEW) WELLS HOUSE .... 237

From a photograph taken about 1902

"THE ROOKERY," STREATHAM COMMON, FORMERLY CALLED

From a photograph taken about 1900

STREATHAM (NEW) WELLS HOUSE, 1 83 1 . . . 235

Drawn by the author from an indian-ink wash drawing by E. A. Tylor, in the Rendle Collection, Guildhall Library

THE TUN UPON CORNHILL, CIRCA 1630 . . . 262

After a print in the Guildhall Library

BAYSWATER CONDUIT ...... 282

Drawn by the author from the engraving of 1798 in the Guildhall Library

CONDUIT-HOUSE IN HYDE PARK .... 292

From an original drawing by the author

CONDUIT-HOUSE OR STANDARD IN GREENWICH PARK . 293

From a photograph taken in 1908

WOODEN WATER-PIPES AT CLERKENWELL . . . 296

From a reproduction by Mr. F. W. Reader of the drawing in the Soane Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields

PUMP IN CHURCHYARD OF ST. DUNSTAN-IN-THE-EAST . 330

From an original sketch by the author in 1909

Some of the illustrations in the foregoing list have been copied from works in the Guildhall Library. Tlie author hereby desires to thank the Library Committee for kindly permitting him to reproduce them. He also takes this opportunity of thanking the Editor of the Illustrated London News for the like courtesy in allowing him to use the engraving qf Beulah Spa.

THE history of the various sources and means whereby the City of London, and the suburbs which later grew up around it, derived their water-supply, may be found scattered through the pages of innumerable books, pamphlets, and magazines, as well as in the columns of newspapers, ranging from the seventeenth century to the present time, in which a variety of information has been published, bearing more or less directly upon the subject. London's water-supply is a theme that has been treated by different writers from very diverse points of views — traditional, historical, anecdotal, and statistical — but in no single volume, so far as the writer can learn, has any attempt hitherto been made to collect the stray fragments, and to piece them together so as to form something like a consecutive story. The chief aim of the present compilation has therefore been in the direction of carrying out this idea of continuity of narration, by sketching the gradual progress effected in the means of water-supply, from the crude methods of the earlier denizens of London, when they depended for their requirements upon streams and shallow wells, down to the more matured system of a house-to-house service.

i5

A great many volumes upon London have been consulted — from FitzStephen and Stow, to Maitland and Besant. Maps and plans have also proved invaluable in their record of the successive stages in the annals of the Great City's water-supply : these have been examined and compared with later and contemporary plans, including the publications of the Ordnance Survey. The Crace collection I of maps and views of London is a veritable mine of information to the student of the capital : the maps, some of which are rare and unique, form a continuous series from 1560 to 1859 ; many of the drawings have an artistic as well as an antiquarian interest, and often incidentally illustrate bygone manners and customs. No one writing about London can dispense with so rich a depository.

The very nature of the subject dealt with in the following pages has necessitated frequent quotations from the works of the earlier writers, many of whom lived in the times they treat of; the people, places, and scenes which they depict thus coming under their own observation. In this respect they enjoyed an immeasurable advantage over those who, after a lapse of years and with impressions faded, have attempted, as it were, to repeople a world, and to reconstruct scenes that have long passed out of existence. But the present-day writer may be said to possess this advantage over his predecessors ; that within his reach are ancient records, which have been translated

1 The whole collection, which was purchased in 1880 by the Trustees of the British Museum from Mr. J. G. Crace, consists of between 5,000 and 6,000 prints and drawings, besides three volumes of maps, &c.

by scholars in recent years from the mediaeval Latin and Norman-French of the originals. For this most useful work, all inquirers into the social and municipal history of ancient London are under special obligation to the late Mr. H. T. Riley, who edited the " Mediaeval Chronicles and Memorials " series of the Master of the Rolls, with the title of " Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis." These include the " Liber Horn," 1 compiled about 1311-1314 ; the "Liber Custumarum," compiled about the year 1320 ; both works containing valuable compilations of City laws and customs ; and the " Liber Albus," compiled in i4ioby John Carpenter, Common Clerk in the mayoralty of Richard Whittington. As regards the varied contents of the " Liber Albus," Mr. Riley himself writes at considerable length in his Introduction. "There is," he says, " hardly a phase or feature of London life, from the time of the Conqueror to the reign of Henry V., upon which, in a greater or less degree, from the pages of the ' Liber Albus,' some light is not reflected." Another prolific source of information is an Analytical Index to Civic Records known as the " Remembrancia," consisting of nine manuscript volumes of correspondence, covering the period from 1579 to 1664. This Index was published in 1878, with valuable notes, by the Guildhall Library Committee. There are also Riley's " Memorials of London, and London Life," from circa 1275 to 14 19, founded on the Letter Books A to I of the Corporation for that period. This series of volumes is so called from their beinoseverally distinguished by a letter of the alphabet from

1 Named from Andrew Horn, Chamberlain of London, an office he probably held for about eight years : died 1328.

A to Z, and from A A to ZZ, comprising just fifty volumes, and in point of time extending from the early years of the reign of Edward I. almost to the close of the reign of James II. The earlier volumes possess the greater interest, inasmuch as they contain the chief, if not the only existing record of the proceedings of the Court of Common Council and Court of Aldermen prior to the fifteenth century, commencing about 140 years before the Journals of the Common Council which date from 14 16. These Letter Books have been edited by Dr. Reginald R. Sharpe (1899).

The contents of these records were early appreciated and partially extracted from. Fabyan, 1 Stow, Strype, Seymour, and indeed almost every City historian, have had recourse to them. Of the use made of them by Stow we have only to turn to the recent scholarly version of the "Survey of London" (1908), in which the editor, Mr. Lethbridge Kingsford, draws attention to passages in that famous classic which had been extracted from the archives at the Guildhall. It is certain, says Mr. Kingsford, that Stow used the "Liber Albus" and "Liber Custumarum," but it is not so clear that he was acquainted with the "Liber de Antiquis Legibus." 2 The next writer, probably, who was indebted for any of his

1 Alderman Robert Fabyan, Sheriff in 1493, was buried in St. Michael's, Cornhill, in 1513. He compiled an elaborate Chronicle dealing with France as well as England, which he called "The Concordance of Histories," and which Stow characterises as " a painful labour to the honour of the City and the whole realm."

a " Liber de Antiquis Legibus " — temp. Edward I., published in 1846 from the City Records as an addition to the Chroniques de Londres in 1844.

matter to the Letter Books and other compilations at the Guildhall, was the indefatigable Rymer (1641-1713). His " Fcedera " is a collection of leagues, treaties, alliances, &c, between the Crown of England and other Kingdoms, and is of high value and authority for almost all periods of the Middle Ages and for the sixteenth century. The first volume was published in 1704. It opens with a Convention between Henry I. and Robert, Earl of Flanders, dated May 17, 1101. The latest document was dated 1654. Strype, the historian and ecclesiologist, in preparing his elaborate edition of Stow's "Survey" (1720) was evidently at considerable pains to consult the City archives, with the view of improving upon Stow's rather scanty information as to the early history of its institutions.

It may seem superfluous to add that in a subject which engaged the attention of so many competent writers, there can be little left that is really new or original to say about it. A few facts, however, which appear to have hitherto escaped notice, have been introduced into these pages, more especially in connection with some of the later-discovered medicinal springs.

To guard against the repetition of errors which are known to occur in the writings of some of the older historians (and unfortunately copied by later ones), either through inadvertence, or more frequently perhaps from the want of facilities for obtaining authentic information — statements of fact, as well as dates (where there was reason to suspect inaccuracy) have been carefully verified, and, where possible, from the original sources. But in saying this, the author does not suggest that he may not himself have fallen into some errors, which, in a subject covering so large an extent of ground, will, in spite of every effort to ensure accuracy, creep in. Those who may be led by the perusal of this book to desire more detailed information of any persons or incidents, can obtain it by consulting such works as are referred to in the text and in the foot-notes, which may usually be seen at one or other of the great public libraries.

With regard to the plan adopted : it has been found most convenient to divide the subject into three parts, of which the first deals with the streams and spas north of the Thames ; the second with those on the south side of the river ; the third part being devoted to a short review of the earlier methods of transport and distribution of water by means of the conduit system ; concluding with some observations upon the New River Company, from its inception as a private undertaking down to the time when it was numbered among the Great Water Companies of London. A chapter upon Holy Wells and their origin, and another upon Mineral Waters, are also included.

Beyond the information that books can give, a point is at length reached when recourse must be had to personal knowledge and unwritten, or they might be called living recollections.

My thanks are due, and are here most gratefully tendered, to all who have assisted me during the progress of my book. On occasions when personal or local knowledge could alone clear up a doubtful point or difficulty, my applications have invariably met with a courteous response, which I have greatly appreciated. I also owe a special debt of gratitude for the ready and frequently unsolicited help which I have received at the Guildhall Library. To the librarians of many of the suburban libraries I desire likewise to express my warm acknowledgments for valuable information, and for facilities which they have afforded me in the furtherance of my work.

With regard to the illustrations : the view of Acton Wells Assembly-house has, the author believes, never before been reproduced ; that of St. Chad's Well has certainly never appeared elsewhere ; and the same remark applies to the drawing of the fountain at Ladywell Baths. A drawing was made by the author of the Conduit-house in Hyde Park because of the difficulty of getting a satisfactory photograph, owing to its awkward position close to the Park railings. The drawing of the pump in the churchyard of St. Dunstan-in-the-East is from an original sketch by the author.

Part I Streams And Spas North Of The Thames

THE WALLBROOK, AND PARTS OF THE CITY ADJACENT

Early water-supply — Walebroc — Wallbrook — Barge Yard, Bucklersbury — Dour or Dowgate — Tokenhouse Yard — Remains of tanpits — Finsbury — Subterranean aqueduct noticed by Mr. Roach Smith — Blomfield Street — All Hallows on the Wall — Bethlehem Hospital — Tower Royal Street and Cloak Lane — Channel of the Wallbrook — Roman Wall of London in relation to the Wallbrook — Bank of England : stream first reached in digging a foundation for the original building — Dowgate Hill — Churches on banks of the Wallbrook : St. Mildred's, Poultry ; St. Stephen's, Wallbrook ; St. John the Baptist upon Wallbrook — Halls of the Livery Companies along or near its banks — Cutlers', Dyers', Joiners', and Innholders' Halls — Bridges over the Wallbrook — National Safe Deposit : excavations on its site — Stocks Market — Langbourne Stream — Sharebourne.

FOR nearly two hundred years after the Conquest London obtained ample supplies of pure water, partly from the streams flowing near to or passing through it, and partly from wells sunk into the sands above the chalk. The river-side population doubtless found in "silver" Thames an abundant and neverfailing store. In streets more remote from the river, sources more accessible were at hand. Such were the brooks, the names of which still survive in

Walbrook, Holborn (formerly Oldbourne or Holebourne), and Langbourne, though modern authorities doubt the existence of such a stream as Stow describes, the name "long borne," which he gives it, being merely based on its supposed meaning. More distant from the City — westward — were the Tybourne and the Westbourne.

Although the rapid disappearance of Old London before the inexorable march of " improvements " must always be a matter for regret, yet the very destruction and removal of ancient buildings, by laying bare large tracts, have often afforded opportunities to competent observers to elucidate problems in the early history of the metropolis which might otherwise have remained unsolved. In this way — to give an example — it has been possible to trace the course of a stream, such as the Wallbrook, with considerable exactness, and by the same means to discover, or perhaps rediscover, some ancient well or watercourse.

The first water-supply of London within the walls was in all probability furnished by the Wallbrook, which was also an important factor in the mapping out of the streets and wards. It has been generally believed that it was at no time other than a very small stream, both in regard to its width and volume, and this is doubtless true of its later history, when buildings began to line its banks, and its channel in consequence became narrow and confined ; but recent investigations along its course tend to prove that it was formerly very much wider and altogether more considerable.

It appears to have formed the western boundary, from the Poultry to Dowgate, of Londinium, the first Roman City of London, and in the time of the Romans was extra-mural. The best and most authentic account of its course is that given by Mr. F. W. Reader, whose paper, illustrated by a plan, appeared in the Archceological Journal (1903), 1 being written from the experience of actual excavations. The Wallbrook was formed by a number of small streams flowing from the north-east of London and meeting in the neighbourhood of Finsbury, five of which, says Mr. William Tite 2 (afterwards Sir William) are still in existence as sewers. The main stream rose in the district now represented by Hoxton, flowing in the direction of Wilson Street, and, within the walls, to the east of Finsbury, ran through the midst of the City from north to south, forming a dividing line between the thirteen eastern and eleven western Wards. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Wallbrook was an important waterway. Various derivations have been proposed for its name, and as there is always a significance in local names — they are never mere arbitrary sounds devoid of meaning — it may be well to quote some opinions on the point. Mr. J. R. Green, who devotes a considerable space in " The Conquest of England " (1884), in dealing with London, traces the name Walebroc,3 as it is written in ancient deeds, to the