Aldgate, four constables, four scavengers, eighteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

3. Aldgate Ward, so named from the gate; the chief street begins between the Gate and Lime Street, and goes again to Billeter Lane, and Fenchurch Street, to Culver Alley, from thence to Crutched Friers, Woodroof Lane, Hart Street, and the north end of Mark Lane, where the Ward endeth. Wherein there are three parish churches, St. Katherine Cree Church, St. Andrew Undershaft, and St. Katherines's Coleman; and there were three halls of companies, that is the Bricklayer's Hall, Fletcher's Hall, and Ironmonger's Hall. This Ward hath an alderman, deputy, and six common council-men; six constables, nine scavengers, eighteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

4. Lime Street Ward, which hath no parish church therein, nor any one whole parish, but only small portions of two parishes. This Ward hath an alderman, his deputy, and four common council men; four constable, two scavengers, sixteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

5. Bishopsgate Ward, part of which is without the Gate, from St. Mary Spittle to Bishopsgate, and almost half Houndsditch, and Bethlem, cast of the new postern to Morefields. In this Ward is Fisher's Folly (now called Devonshire House, and lately made into stately buildings) the old Artillery Ground, Spittle Fields, now built into streets; likewise the church of St. Buttolph's, Bishopsgate. Within the Gate this Ward contains Bishopsgate Street, to the east end of St. Martin's Outwhich Church, and then winding by Leadenball down Grace-Church Street, Great St. Helen's, and Little St. Helen's. In this Ward there is remarkable, Bethlem, which is now removed to Morefields, St. Mary Spittle, where sermons are preached Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in Easter week, yearly: also the church of St. Buttolph's, Bishopsgate, the small church of St. Ethelborough, and the fair church of St. Helen; near this church a child was found buried in the seacoal ashes by his unnatural mother, with his face upward, yet found alive, without any rag about it, but all bloody, because the naval string was untied; the body was crusted over with seacoal dust, but being made clean by a poor woman, it was found to be a very handsome male child, strong and well featured, without any harm done to it, but only sucking in the ashes; he was christened and named Job cinere extractus, Job taken out of the ashes; be lived three days, and lies buried in that church yard. This Ward hath an alderman, and two deputies, one within and another without the Gate,

eight common council men within, and three without, seven constables, seven scavengers, thirteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

6. Broad Street Ward, so called from the street, wherein is contained Throgmorton Street, Threadneedle Street, half Finch Lane, and an alley; and to the east end of St. Margaret's, Lothbury, and to a pump over against St. Bennet Finck's church. In this Ward is part of Gresham College, and eight alms-houses. The church of St. Peters Poor, in Broad Street, Augustine's Friars, now the Dutch church, the church of St. Martin's Outwich, St. Bennet Finck, St. Bartholomew Exchange, and St. Christopher's parish. Also Carpenter's Hall, Draper's Hall, and Merchant Taylor's Hall; then there was St. Anthony's College or Hospital, which is now a church for the French nation, and exercise Calvin's religion. Scalding Alley is the farthest part of this Ward; wherein there is an alderman, his deputy, and nine common council men, ten constables, eight scavengers, thirteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

7. Cornhill from a cornkept there; the therein is the formerly called first erected in down an hundred was built at the of Sir Thomas merchant, and mand of Queen claimed Exchange;

and

it

of brick, and yet splendid burse sidered) that was

before the build

burse for mer

in Lombard-str.

ful fire it was re-faw stone, with such

Ward, so called market,antiently chief ornament Royal Exchange the Burse, was 1566, and burnt It years after. cost and charges Gresham, a noble by special comElizabeth pronamed the Royal was built most was the most (all things conthen in Europe, ing whereof, the chants was kept After the dread

built mostly with

mirable archi- SIR T. GRESHAM. curious and ad

checture, especially for a front, a turret, and for archwork, that it surpasseth all other burses. It is built quadrangular, with a large court, wherein

the merchants may assemble, and the greatest part, in case of rain, and hot sun-shine, may be sheltered in side galleries, or porticoes. The whole fabric cost above £50,000. whereof one half is disbursed by the chamber of London, or corporation of the City, and the other half by the company of Mercers; and to reimburse, there are to be let to hire 190 shops above stairs, at the rent of £20. each, and £30. for fine; besides several shops below on the east and west sides, and large vaults and cellars underneath, which yield considerable rents, so that it is the richest piece of ground perhaps in the whole world, for according to exact dimensions, the ground whereon this goodly fabric is erected, is but 171 feet from north to south, and 203 feet, from east to west, so that is but very little more than three quarters of an acre of ground, and will produce £4000. yearly Rent. This Ward of Cornhill begins at the west end of Leadenhall, and so down to Finch Lane on one side, and Birchin Lane on the other; half of which is in this Ward, and so to the Stock's Market. In this Ward is the church of St. Peter's, Cornhill, which is accounted the eldest church in London, and the church of St. Michael, both which, as likewise all, or the greatest part of this Ward, was burnt down by the lamentable fire, but are since nobly rebuilt, as well as the rest of the streets. St. Michael's church had ten bells formerly; and John Stow gives this account thereof, "I have heard my father say, said he, that upon St. James's night, certain men ringing the bells in the loft, a tempest of thunder and lightning did arise, and a thing of an ugly shape was seen come in at the south window, which lighted on the north, for fear whereof all the ringers fell down, and lay as dead for a time, letting the bells ring and cease of their own accord; when the ringers came to themselves, they found certain stones of the north window to be raised, and scratched, as if they had been so much butter printed with a lion's claw; the same stones were fastened there again when it was repaired, and remain so to this day. He adds, that one William Rus, or Rous, gave a bell to this church, to be rung nightly at eight o'clock, and for knells and peels, which was rung by one man for 160 years together. In this Ward there is an alderman, his deputy, five common council men, four constables, four scavengers, sixteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

8. Langbourn Ward, so called of a long bourn of water coming out of Fenchurch Street, and runing down to the end of St. Mary Woolnoth church in Lombard Street, and from thence dividing into small streams, left the name of Sherbourn Lane. In this Ward is Fenchurch Street, Lombard Street, half Lime Street, half Birchin Lane down to St.

Clement's Lane, down to St. Clement's Church, St. Nicholas Lane beyond St. Nicholas Church, Abchurch Lane, and part of Bearbinder Lane. In this ward was formerly a church in the middle of Fenchurch Street, called St. Gabriel's, but quite taken away since the late fire; likewise St. Dionis Backchurch, Alhallows Lombard Street, St. Edmund Lombard Street, St. Nicholas Acons, and St. Mary Woolnoth Church. Thus have you six parish churches in this Ward, one hall of a company, that is Pewterer's Hall in Lime Street; there is an alderman, his deputy, and nine common council; fifteen constables, nine scavengers, seventeen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle, in this Ward. The common post-office is kept in Sir Robert Vyner's house in this Ward; most of which was burnt down and all the churches, some whereof are rebuilt and others designed to be so.

9. Belin's-gate Ward, in which there is part of Thames Street, Rood Lane, Pudding Lane; Love Lane, Buttolph Lane, St. Margaret Pattons Lane; and in this Ward there is the famous wharf at Belin'sgate; Somers Key, Boss Alley, St. Mary Hill Lane; there were Likewise these five churches therein, St. Buttolph Billingsgate, St. Mary Hill church, St. Margaret Pattons, St. Andrew Hubbert, and St. George Buttolphs Lane. This Ward was all burnt down in 1666, but now rebuilt, with most of the churches; in this Ward there is an alderman, his deputy, and nine common council men; eleven constables, six scavengers; fourteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

10. Bridge Ward within; (so called from London Bridge) begins at the south end thereof, and comes over the bridge up Fish Street hill to the north corner of Gracechurch. In which there were these four churches, St. Magnus at the bridge foot, St. Margarets new Fish Street, St. Leonard East Cheap, and St. Bennet Gracechurch; all those churches, and all the Ward except part of London Bridge was burnt down by the fire; some of which are rebuilt, but upon the place where St. Margaret's church stood, there is erected in pursuance of act of Parliament, a pillar in perpetual memory of the dreadful fire in 1666, which first began in Pudding Lane behind that church; this monument is built after the Dorick order, one hundred and seventy feet high, all of solid Portland sone, with a staircase in the middle of stone, and coped with iron, with an iron balcony on the top, not unlike those two ancient white pillars at Rome, erected in honor of those two excellent Emperors, Trajan and Antoninus, which though they were built above one thousand five hundred years ago, are still standing entire; the pedestal of this pillar is forty-three feet square.

In the Bridge Ward are an alderman, his deputy, and fourteen common council men, fifteen constables, six scavengers, sixteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

11. Candlewick Ward, which begins at the east end of great East Cheap, in Banning Street, and so to the north end thereof, and from thence to the west end of St. Laurence church-yard, part of St. Clements Lane, most part of St. Nicholas Lane, almost all Abchurch Lane, and most part of St. Martins Lane are in this Ward. It was wholly burnt down in 1666, but very handsomly rebuilt; there were five churches, that is, St. Clements East Cheap, St. Mary Abchurch, St. Michael Crooked Lane (where was the monument of Sir William Walworth Lord Mayor, who killed Wat Tyler) St. Martins Orgar and St. Laurence Poultney, which were all burnt down, and none of them as yet rebuilt. This Ward hath an alderman, his deputy, and seven common council men, eight constables, six scavengers; twelve of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle.

12. Walbrook Ward, which begins at the west end of Cannon Street by Budge Row, where is St. Swithin's Lane, Walbrook, the Stockmarket, four or five houses in Lombard Street, Bearbinder Lane, and part of Bucklers Bury. This Ward was wholly destroyed by fire, 1666, and therein six churches, that is St. Swithens in Cannon Street, St. Mary Woolchurch, St. Stephens Wallbrook, St. John Evangelist, at St. Mary Bothaw; St. Swithing, and St. Stephens Walbrook, are handsomely rebuilt, but St. Mary Woolchurch, and Stock-market are ⚫ pulled down, and made a very handsome market place, in the front whereof toward the street is a conduit, and a statue of King Charles the II. on horseback placed thereon with a Turk or enemy under his feet; which was erected at the charge of Sir Robert Vyner; this Ward hath an alderman, his deputy, and seven common council men, nine constables, six scavengers, thirteen of the wardmote inquest, and a beadle. In this Ward is Salter's Hall.

13. Dowgate Ward, which begins at the south end of Walbrook Ward over against the east corner of St. John Baptist's church, and so goes on both sides the way to Dowgate on the Thames, wherein there are Elbow Lane, Chequer Alley, Fryer Lane, Grantham Lane, the Stilyard, Church Lane, Alhallows Lane, Cole Harbour, Ebgate Lane, Bush Lane, and Suffolk Lane. This Ward was wholly consumed by fire, and in it these three churches, Alhallows the Great, Alhallows the Less, and St. Laurence Poultney, the first of which is again rebuilt; in this ward there are five halls, that is, Skinners, Dyers, Tallow-Chandlers, Inn-holders, and Joiners, and likewise