Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/697

Rh LONDON. 689 LONDON. generally pronounced, " Bedlam ") Hospital forluuatica. It covers in its whole extent an area of 14 acre's, con- tains 375 patients, and is supported at an annual ex- pense of upwards of 20,000. The commissariat of so vast a city as London is supplied by several markets. The great market for live stock, called the " Metropo- litan Cattle Market," is situated in the Caledoniau- - road, Islington. The number of animals for sale aver- ages of beasts above 5,000, sheep and lambs over 27,000, calves about 500, and piga between 400 and 500 weekly. The great market for dead stock is Newgate Market, between Newgate-street and Paternoster-row. For fish, Billingsgate Market, in Thames-street, is the great emporium ; but it is in contemplation to remove it to the site of the present Farringdon Market, in Farring- don-street. For fruit and flowers Covent-garden is the great mart, the market-days being Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and thus alternating with Farringdon Market, where they are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. In Lcadenhall Market is an excellent supply of all sort? of miscellaneous produce, such as meat, bacon, poultry, vegetables, fish, and most of all, hides ; and many live animals, such as fancy fowls and dogs, are bought and sold here. There is also a very good miscellaneous market in Farringdon-street (which, how- ever, is scarcely large enough to serve its purpose), and another in York-street, near St. Saviour's church this Jast being called the Borough Market. Besides these, there are the Spitalfields, Cumberland, Newport, and Portman markets ; and several for the lower orders, such as Clare Market, which aro plentifully supplied with provisions and wares of all sorts suitable to the wants of the poorer classes. Old Smithfield, which used to be so famous as a cattle-market, is now used only for the sale of hay and straw on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Satur- days, but it ia intended to erect a meat and poultry market there. The largest of the London breweries ia that of Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, Buxton and Co., whose pre- mises in Brick-lane, Spitalfields, cover an area of 8 acres. The principal bazaars are the Soho in Soho- squarc, the Pantheon in Oxford-street, the London Crystal Palace, near the North Circus, Oxford-street; the " Panklibanon," or Baker-street Bazaar. There are also several large warehouses for the temporary deposit of carriages, furniture, and goods of all kinds, which are placed there by persons leaving London for long or short periods, the chief of them being the " Pantechnicon," near Belgrave-squarc. The parks of London are Hyde Park, the Green Park, St. James's Park, the Regent's Park, Battersca Park, and Victoria Park. The first of these lies between the Knightsbridgo and Uxbridge roads, and covers an area of about 400 acres. It is ornamentally laid out, and is separated from Ken- sington Gardens by a low wall and the Serpentine , which is an artificial piece of water of about 50 acres, formed by Queen Caroline in 1733, is sup- plied by the Chelsea Waterworks, and ia the resort of numerous bathers in the summer mornings, and of crowds of skaters and sliders when it is frozen in the winter. Hyde Park is the most fashionable resort of the higher classes for the purpose of riding, driving, or ^ng, and in "Rotten How," which is thronged during the season with riders, and in the " ring," which i-i '1'jvoted to driving, crowds of splendid equipages may be seen during the season, and not only all the elite of >n society, but the best appointed "turns-out," nrobably the finest horses in the world. The has several entrances, both from the N. and S., the principal of them being the " Marble Arch," Oxford-street, the largo gates near Apsley House Piccadilly, and the Albert Gate at Knightsbridge. 'Ji. Green Park consists of about 50 acres, lying 'iccadilly and Constitution Hill, which latter ii an ascent leading from an arch opposite Hyde Park Gates to the front of Buckingham Palace. St. .'s Park-lies between the Mall on the N. and the Birdcage-walk on the S. The former was laid out by 'us II. for the purpose of playing at a game so 1. This monarch also formed tho ornamental water, which is 2,800 feet long by 100 broad. It is crossed by an ornamental suspension-bridge, and the Ornithological Society have placed several foreign and domestic aqua- tic birds on it. Besides tho entrance into tho park by Buckingham Gate the palace itself standing at the W. end of the park and one under the archway of the Horse- guards, there is a third down tho steps of the Duke of York's column, and another by a passage from Spring- gardens. The Regent's Park consists of 450 acres, lying between the New-road and Hampstead. It is nearly cir- cular in form, is laid out in shrubberies and small planta- tions, and has a sheet of ornamental water. It has an outer and an inner circle, the former being 2 miles in circum- ference and connected with tho latter by a bridge. It has been already said that the gardens of the Botanical, Toxophilite, and Zoological Societies, and tho Colosseum, are in this park ; and there is also at tho residence of a private gentleman an observatory, from which many well-known astronomical discoveries have been made. The Regent's Park contains many terraces, villas, and some large private mansions, and ia a favourite resort, especially in the summer evenings, to a somewhat inferior grade to those who frequent Hyde Park. Adjoin- ing it on the N. side is Primrose Hill, which in old times was an isolated spot famous for robberies and duels, but now surrounded with streets, shops, and houses. Bat- tersea Park extends along tho S. bank of tho Thames from Chelsea suspension-bridge to Battersea. It con- tains 186 acres, and is planted with flowers and orna- mental trees. There aro several level patches of turf left for the purposes of cricket and athletic sports ; and as there is a refreshment-house, it is a great resort for those who live in those parts of London, and is sought by those who come from tho more distant parts for the purposes of pic-nics, &c. Victoria Park lies near Hackney, on the N.W. side of London. It contains nearly 300 acres, and ia used chiefly by tho inhabitants of Whitechapcl, Bethnal-green, and Shoreditch. Im- mediately adjoining Hyde Park on the W. are Ken- sington Gardens. They extend over a space of nearly 300 acres, arid are planted with trees, and a great variety of ornamental shrubs and flowers. They abound in shady and secluded walks and groves, arid the orna- mental water-works at the head of the Serpentine, which flows through them, aro made to resemble an Italian garden. On the banks of the Serpentine there are flower-beds and terraces adorned with statuary, and the gardens form a favourite resort of tho public at all times, but especially on those afternoons when military bands play, and in the skating season. The Thames between London Bridge and Hammersmith ia crossed by 11 bridges, of which the following are the names, ascending tho river: 1. London; 2. Southwark ; 3. Blackfriars ; 4. Waterloo ; 5. Charing-crosa railway- bridge ; 6. Westminster ; 7. Lambeth ; 8. Vauxhall ; 9. Pimlico railway-bridge ; 10. Chelsea suspension-bridge ; 11. Hammersmith. Besides these 11, there are wooden bridges at Battersea and Putney, and a magnificent iron railway-bridge of tho South-Eastern lino is in progress from Cannon-street to tho S. side of the river. All these highways across the Thames, from London Bridge to Kew, present great varieties in styles, costs, uses, and profits. The bridges free of toll aro London, Blackfriars, Westminster, and Southwark Bridge, which belongs to a company. It has been offered to tho Cor- poration for 200,000, but it appears unlikely that tho nfler will be accepted, and the probability is that the toll system will bo resumed on Southwark Bridge. London Bridge was commenced in 1824, and was finished ia 1831. The cost was about 620,000. The carriage way admits of four lines of vehicles. It has five arches, tho centre one 152 feet, with four side arches, one pair 140 feet, and tho other 130 feet span. Southwark Bridge consists of three arches, one of 240 feet, and the others of 210 feet span. The arches are of cast iron, of which 5,308 tons were used in the structure. The bridge ami approaches cost about 666,000, the bridge separately about 400,000. Blackfriars Bridge now (1SG5) open ay a temporary structure, until the new bridge has