London From The Top Of A Bus

By Martin Collins

London is a galaxy of fascinating buildings, sculptures and the unusual. This book, via four bus journeys through the cities of London and Westminster, introduces the reader to the diversity of what is progressively seen, including churches, pubs and theatres and is peppered with amusing anecdotes. The reader is also introduced to architectural terms used in describing buildings and the derivation of street names.Professor Martin Collins has had a fascination with London since childhood, walking the streets, travelling on buses and generally nosing around, with a predilection for interesting stories. He is a qualified City Guide, Freeman of the City and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Educators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
• Release date: Nov 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781913340551

Martin Collins

This is the first book by Martin Collins

Book preview

LONDON FROM THE

TOP OF A BUS

Its history, architecture…

and much more

Martin Collins

Preface

It has often been said, ‘To see London, look up!’ There is much to be seen that cannot be at ground level and what better way to do so than from the top of a bus, about 4 metres (14 feet) above the ground, without the need to strain one’s neck?

It is over 70 years since Lucy Masterman wrote, London from the Bus-Top. A guide for the impecunious traveller. She began her book by quoting Gladstone, an English prime minister of the late nineteenth century, who apparently once told an overseas visitor that the best way to see London is from the top of a bus. She appropriately commented that buses at the time she was writing were very different from the open-topped buses of his day.

London is also a very different place today than it was in 1947. It had then barely recovered from the Second World War ‘Blitz’ that reduced large areas of it to rubble, much of which at that time was still evident. Some pre-war buildings survived, others were erected quickly and cheaply to meet the need for office space and residential accommodation. Many of these buildings have now been replaced, the current ones in a very different architectural style and of different materials and construction techniques. The bus routes themselves have also changed.

This book differs also from that of Lucy Masterman in that she focused on routes outside of the Cities of London and Westminster, whereas this book concentrates primarily on them. It also differs from many books on London by including details on the architecture of buildings. In some cases this may seem excessive and stating the obvious, but the intent is to encourage the reader to undertake a systematic appraisal of their architectural style: whether they are faced in stone, brick, terracotta or a mixture, the number of bays and storeys, window surrounds and pediments, and ornamentation and sculpture if any. I have intentionally introduced the reader to architectural terms, with a glossary of them provided.

Why use public transport when there are now several tourist buses with live or audio commentary? Tourist buses provide whistle-stop tours of only the main sites (St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London etcetera). Apart from the fact that for the ‘impecunious’ (i.e. having little money) public transport buses are much cheaper, they have the advantage of travelling past some of the lesser known, but still very interesting places in London. This guide covers these, including, churches, theatres, pubs and sculptures.

London is fast-changing. A number of buildings and sculptures mentioned in the sources I have used are no longer there. During the writing of this book, on some buildings referred to scaffolding has now been erected. Whether what was there before will still be there when it is removed is unknown. In other cases scaffolding has come down to reveal a building very different from that before it went up. There will probably be changes even between now and it being read. Readers should not be too surprised at this.

I have intentionally subtitled the book ‘… and much more’, in part because I have included interesting stories and anecdotes, but also because I have not restricted what is discussed only to that seen from the bus. In some cases there is much of interest en-route, that cannot actually be seen from it. It seemed a lost opportunity not to bring it to the attention of readers.

The routes were chosen to ensure as many as possible locations of interest are seen with a minimal overlap of routes. Readers may, however, choose to ‘mix and match’ between the bus routes described and other routes that cover in part the same journeys.

A decision had to be made as to whether to cover independently that which can be seen only from the left of the bus, i.e. nearest to the buildings and then cover the opposite side of the street on the return journey, or to discuss both in parallel. The former was chosen, as in some cases, due to a one-way system, the two journeys are not identical and, additionally, occasionally some things can be seen better on the return journey from the opposite side of the street. Covering both sides in parallel also creates a problem when there is much to see in rapid succession on both the left and the right.

The best view from the bus is without doubt from the front seat on the left. Generally, when travelling by bus the best time to use it is out of busy hours, at weekends for the City and weekdays for shopping areas. When roads are clear, buses travel fast, but then the only opportunity to see interesting buildings is when the bus halts at bus stops and traffic lights. Heavy traffic slowing the bus can for these trips actually be an advantage!

In some cases there is so much of interest within a short distance that you may find it an impossible challenge keeping up with both reading this book and attempting to look at what is described. It is therefore advised to read the appropriate section beforehand and to keep an eye on the street maps during the bus trip.

The book is principally intended for those unfamiliar with London and its history. To avoid detailed descriptions in the main body of the book, appendices are provided of a list of English rulers, a chronology of major events in the history of London, brief accounts of some of the major people mentioned who were born or lived in London, the major architect and their work referred to in the book and a glossary of architectural terms used to describe buildings.

Enjoy the journeys!

Acknowledgements

This book is based on personal observations made when travelling on buses and walking on foot, and on many written sources that I have collated over several years.

In the writing of this book I have checked and supplemented these with information from a number of additional sources. As an academic I am acutely aware of the importance of acknowledging all sources, but as this is a book for the general reader, I did not want to clutter it up with references and footnotes to the source of every statement made. I have, however, included a list of my sources in Appendix F and I acknowledge with gratitude the authors and publishers of them.

The London Encyclopaedia and the books by Pevsner et al. have been valuable sources of historical facts and architectural detail, respectively. Ward-Jackson was useful for detailed information on sculptures in the City of London and Bob Speel’s excellent website and the blog of Chris Partridge for those in Westminster, both supplemented by Thompson’s book on statues. The series of booklets produced by Camden History Society were very helpful as a source for part of the journey of bus 19 through the London Borough of Camden. Murphy’s One Man’s London was a wonderful source of anecdotes. Other books listed provided specialist information on theatres, pubs and specific streets and locations. I made cautious dips into the internet to obtain specific information, too numerous to list. I acknowledge with thanks all of these sources and others listed in Appendix E.

Last, but by no means least, I am very grateful to Graham Tomalin, who scrutinised the manuscript for non-factual errors.

Contents

Title Page

Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Street Maps

Journey 1A

The 15 bus from Charing Cross to Tower Hill

via Strand, Aldwych, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, St Paul’s Churchyard, Cannon Street, Eastcheap and Great Tower Street.

Journey 1B

The 15 bus from Tower Hill to Charing Cross

via Eastcheap, Cannon Street, St Paul’s Churchyard, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street and Strand.

Journey 2A

The 25 bus from Holborn Circus to Aldgate Underground Station

via Holborn Viaduct, Newgate Street, Cheapside, Poultry, Cornhill, Leadenhall Street and Aldgate.

Journey 2B

The 25 Bus from Aldgate Underground Station to Holborn Viaduct

via Aldgate, Leadenhall Street, Cornhill, Poultry, Cheapside and Newgate Street.

Journey 3A

The 88 bus from Oxford Circus to Great Smith Street

via Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Westminster.

Journey 3B

The 88 bus from Great Smith Street to Oxford Circus

via Westminster, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Regent Street, St James’s, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street.

Journey 4A

The 19 bus from The Angel, Islington to Hyde Park Corner

via Rosebery Avenue, Theobalds Road, Bloomsbury Way, Charing Cross Road, Shaftsbury Avenue, Piccadilly Circus and Piccadilly.

Journey 4B

The 19 bus from Hyde Park Corner to Angel, Islington

via Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road, New Oxford Street, Bloomsbury Way, Theobalds Road and Rosebery Avenue.

Appendices

A.Rulers of England

B.Major events in the history of London

C.Famous people mentioned

D.Architects mentioned

E.Sources of information

F.Glossary of architectural terms

G.Index to famous people and architects mentioned

Copyright

List of Street Maps

15 Bus Route (1A and 1B)

(1) Strand (West)

(2) Aldwych and Strand (East)

(3) Fleet Street

(4) Ludgate Hil and St Paul’s Churchyard

(5) Cannon Street

(6) Eastcheap and Tower Hill

25 Bus Route (2A and 2B)

(1) Holborn Circus to Cheapside

(2) Cheapside

(3) Cornhill

(4) Leadenhall Street and Aldgate

88 Bus Route 88 (3A and 3B)

(1) Regent Street

(2) Piccadilly Circus and Haymarket

(3) Trafalgar Square

(4) Whitehall

(5) Westminster

88 Bus Route 88 (3B)

(6) Waterloo Place and Regent Street, St James’s

19 Bus Route (4A and 4B)

(1) Upper Street Islington to Theobalds Road

(2) Theobalds Road and Bloomsbury Way

(3) New Oxford Street, St Giles, Charing Cross Road

(4) Shaftesbury Avenue and Piccadilly Circus

(5) Piccadilly (East)

(6) Piccadilly (West)

1. Strand

2. Trafalgar Square

3. Charing Cross

4. The Eleanor Cross

5. Charing Cross Station and Amba (Charing Cross) Hotel

6. Craven Street

7. Northumberland Street

8. Admiralty Arch

9. South Africa House

10. Duncannon Street

11. West Strand Improvements

12. William IV Street

13. Agar Street

14. Zimbabwe House

15. Bedford Street

16. Exchange Court

17. Heathcock Court

18. The Adelphi Theatre

19. Gatti House

20. Bull Inn Court

21. Vaudeville Theatre

22. Lumley Court

23. Southampton Street

24. Exeter Street

25. The Strand Palace Hotel

26. Burleigh Street

27. The Lyceum Tavern (pub)

28. The Wellington (pub)

29. Wellington Street

30. St Mary-le-Strand church

206. Lancaster Place

207. Waterloo Bridge

208. Savoy Street

209. Savoy Buildings

210. Simpson’s Divan Tavern

211. Savoy Court, Theatre and Hotel

212. Cole Hole pub

213. Carting Lane

214. Cecil Chambers

215. Adam Street

216. Durham House Street

217. Royal Society of Arts

218. George Court

219. Buckingham Street

220. Villiers Street

29. Wellington Street

30. St Mary-le-Strand church

31. Aldwych

32. Catherine Street

33. The Novello Theatre

34. The Waldorf Hotel

35. The Aldwych Theatre

36. India Place

37. India House

38. Drury Lane

39. Kingsway

40. Bush House

41. Melbourne House

42. Melbourne Place

43. Australia House

44. St Clement Danes church

45. Gladstone memorial

46. Statue of Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding

47. Statue of Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris

48. Clement’s Inn

49. Statue of Samuel Johnson

50. Royal Courts of Justice

51. Temple Bar Memorial

193. Thai Square restaurant

194. 222-5 Strand

195. 217-221 Strand

196. Twinings shop

197. Devereux Court

198. The George Tavern

199. Essex Street

200. Milford Lane

201. Arundel Street

202. Surrey Street

203. Aldwych Underground Station

204. King’s College London

205. Somerset House

206. Lancaster Place

207. Waterloo Bridge

50. Royal Courts of Justice

51. Temple Bar Memorial

52. Fleet Street

53. Bell Yard

54. Old Bank of England (Previously)

55. George Attenborough & Sons

56. Chancery Lane

57. Clifford’s Inn Passage

58. St Dunstan-in-the-West

59. Hen and Chicken Court

60. Fetter Lane

61. Crane Court

62. Red Lion Court

63. Johnson’s Court

64. St Dunstan’s Court

65. Bolt Court

66. Hind Court

67. Wine Office Court

68. Ye Old Cheshire Cheese pub

69. Cheshire Cheese Court

70. Queen of Scots House/statue

71. Previous King and Keys pub

72. Peterborough Court

73. Shoe Lane

74. Daily Express building

75. Poppin’s Court

76. Ludgate House

77. Ludgate Circus

78. Farringdon Street

79. Ludgate Hill

170. New Bridge Street

171. Blackfriars Bridge

172. The Punch Tavern

173. Bride Lane

174. The Old Bell pub

175. St Bride’s Avenue

176. St Bride’s church

177. Salisbury Court

178. Whitefriars Street

179. The Tipperary pub

180. Bouverie Street

181. Pleydell Court

182. El Vino’s wine bar

183. Hare Place

184. Old Mitre Court/Mitre House

185. Hoare’s bank

186. Falcon Court

187. Ye Old Cock Tavern

188. Gosling House

189. Inner Temple Gateway/Prince Henry’s Room

190. Inner Temple Lane

191. Middle Temple Lane

192. Royal Bank of Scotland

77. Ludgate Circus

78. Farringdon Street

79. Ludgate Hill

80. Limeburner Lane

81. Old Bailey

82. Ye Olde London pub

83. St Martin Ludgate

84. Stationers’ Hall Court

85. Ave Maria Lane

86. Statue of Queen Anne

87. Paternoster Square

88. St Paul’s Cathedral

89. St Paul’s Churchyard

90. Cannon Street

91. Festival Gardens

92. St Augustine Watling Street

93. New Change

155. Water Fountain

156. National Firefighter Memorial

157. Sermon Lane/Peter’s Hill

158. Millennium Bridge

159. Carter Lane

160. Wren House

161. City Information Centre

162. Godliman Street

163. Condor House

164. Dean’s Court

165. Creed Lane

166. Ludgate Square

167. Pilgrim Street

168. Pageantmaster Court

169. City Thameslink Station

170. New Bridge Street

93. New Change

94. Bread Street

95. Bow Lane

96. Queen Victoria Street

97. St Mary Aldermary church

98. Albert Buildings

99. The Sugarloaf pub

100. Queen Street

101. Walbrook

102. The Walbrook Building

103. Salterers’ Hall Court

104. London Stone

105. St Swithin’s Lane

106. Abchurch Lane

107. Nicholas Lane

108. King William Street

109. Gracechurch Street

144. Martin Lane

145. Laurence Pountney Lane

146. Laurence Pountney Hill

147. Bush Lane

148. Cannon Street Station

149. Dowgate Hill

150. College Hill

151. Garlick Hill

152. Friday Street

153. Bracken House

154. Distaff Lane

108. King William Street

109. Gracechurch Street

110. Eastcheap

111. Philpot Lane

112. St Margaret Pattens church

113. Rood Lane

114. Mincing Lane

115. Great Tower Street

116. Mark Lane

117. Byward Street

118. All Hallow Barking church

119. Seething Lane

120. Liberty Bounds pub

121. Trinity Square

122. Trinity Square Gardens

123. Tower Hill (road)

124. Tower Hill (location)

125. Mercantile Marine Memorial

126. Wakefield Gardens

127. Tower Hill Underground Station

128. Tower Gardens

129. Roman Wall

130. Minories

131. Tower of London

132. The Ditch

133. Legge’s Mount

134. Brass Mount

135. The Hung Drawn and Quartered pub

136. St Dunstan’s Hill

137. Idol Lane

138. St Mary-at-Hill

139. Peek House

140. Lovat Lane

141. Botolph Lane

142. Pudding Lane

143. Fish Street Hill

Journey 1A

The 15 bus from Charing Cross to Tower Hill

Before the Journey

The 15 bus travels from Charing Cross occasionally as far as Poplar High Street and Blackwell, but this journey covers only the 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) east along the ‘Heritage Route’ from Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill, traversing: the Strand, Aldwych, Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, St Paul’s Churchyard, Cannon Street and Eastcheap. The route occasionally employs Routemaster buses, generally not in use; travelling on one is a step into the past. The following description is of what mostly can be seen to the left of the bus (north). That mostly seen to the right (south) is described on the reverse route.

The numbers in brackets refer to locations on the maps.

The journey begins at the bus stop F in the Strand (1). The nearest underground station is Charing Cross on the Northern and Bakerloo Lines.

While waiting for the bus, look around. In front of you is where the Strand meets Trafalgar Square (2) at Charing Cross (3). It is difficult to imagine this area when it was a filthy, disreputable ‘rookery’ of small streets and courts inhabited by the very poor, before the Square was developed from the 1830s. This busy junction was once the small village of Charing, a name that may derive from the old English ‘to turn’ as it is on the bend of the River Thames, or from ‘Chere Reine’ Dear Queen, in honour of Eleanor, the wife of King Edward I. When she died in Nottinghamshire in 1290 the funeral cortege rested at nights on the journey to Westminster Abbey. At each of the 12 locations the King erected a cross. The ‘cross’ of Charing Cross may refer to the last of the latter, which was originally at the other side of Trafalgar Square, where the statue of King Charles I now stands, in what was Charing village. That cross was demolished by Puritans in 1647 at the time of the Civil Wars as it was considered a symbol of Royalty and the ‘old religion’. The current Eleanor Cross (4), in the forecourt of Charing Cross Station across the road, is an 1865 replica, designed by E. M. Barry and erected by the railway company as a public relations exercise in view of the disquiet at the construction of a station so close to the centre of London. It has eight statues of the queen on it, four as sovereign (wearing a crown) and four showing her engaged in charitable work, in one she has a purse in her hand giving alms to the poor, in another she is holding a building (as founder of a church or monastery).

Charing Cross Station (5) is better viewed now as on the return journey you will probably be too busy preparing to leave the bus to take much notice of it. It was opened in 1865 as the London terminus for the South-Eastern Railway and redeveloped from 1986 to 1991. It is on the site of the old Hungerford Market, named after the Earl of Hungerford, who built it as a rival to Covent Garden Market in 1692, though Hungerford Market never achieved the same popularity. In Hungerford Stairs close by Charles Dickens worked as a small boy in a blacking factory, which he described in David Copperfield.

The Amba (previously Charing Cross) Hotel (5) above the station was designed by E. M. Barry in 1883–4. It is in French Renaissance style, based on the Louvre, Paris and when built was one of the first large, modern hotels in London and a building with an artificial stone facing of terracotta.

Opposite the bus stop is Craven Street (6), originally Spur Alley. Dame Elizabeth Craven bought land here for her sons in 1742. Benjamin Franklin, one of the fourteen who signed the American Declaration of Independence, had ‘genteel lodgings’ here 1757–62 and 1764–72 at what is now number 36, a house that still exists. Since he came to England to represent the colony of America, it was the first de facto American Embassy. In his laboratory in the house he undertook many scientific experiments and inventions, such as bifocal spectacles. In the street also lived the German poet Heinrich Heine in 1827, the year he wrote Die Lorelei, as well as the famous woodcarver Grinling Gibbons.

A little further along towards Trafalgar Square is Northumberland Street (7) that leads into Northumberland Avenue built on the site of Northumberland House, a large mansion that extended from the Strand to the river, the town house of the Percys, Dukes of Northumberland. The house, built in 1605, was not demolished until 1874, the last of the great mansions that once lined the Strand.

In the distance, on the other side of Trafalgar Square, you can see Admiralty Arch (8), described in detail on trip 3A.

Walk along the side of the building towards Trafalgar Square. Between the first and second storeys is written, ‘Golden Cross House’. The Golden Cross was a famous coaching inn close by, mentioned by Charles Dickens in his novels The Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield. The Cross refers to the original Eleanor Cross previously mentioned. Further along is the south-east wall of South Africa House (9), the home of the South African High Commission and Consulate, designed by Sir Herbert Baker and opened in 1933. You will see the front of it during bus trip 3A. On the stonework are the heads of three South African animals.

****

A brief history of the Strand

The term ‘Strand’ refers to an area of land that borders a river, lake or the sea, in this case it is a path close to the north bank of the River Thames. The land from it slopes down to the river, but since the nineteenth century the latter has been bordered by the Embankment. The path was probably used by the Romans to travel from Londinium to a ford at Westminster and later it became the centre of Anglo-Saxon Lundenwic. It is first recorded at the beginning of the eleventh century when it became an important link between the City and Westminster, though, ‘full of pits and sloughs and very perilous and noisome’ (offensive). Two bridges were needed to cross streams, which flowed over it into the Thames. Nevertheless, the south side of the road became the site of the opulent Savoy Palace (mentioned on trip 1B) and the inns (mansions) of leading bishops, which after the Reformation were replaced by houses of the nobility, all of which are now gone, the last being Northumberland House mentioned earlier.

In the eighteenth century there were coffee houses and ‘chop-houses’ (for food) in the Strand and it was the haunt of disreputable people. Much improved in the nineteenth century, from about 1850 to the First World War it was a popular place of entertainment with restaurants, public houses and some thirteen music halls, hence its referral in the music hall songs, ‘Let’s all go down the Strand’ and ‘Burlington Bertie’.

****

The Journey Begins

The streets on the north side that are first encountered were built in the reign of King William IV, which explains their names.

After South Africa House is Duncannon Street (10). Lord Duncannon was Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1837. On its right (east) side you may just catch a glimpse of the church of St Martin-in-the Fields, mentioned on trip 3A.

Next comes the stuccoed West Strand Improvements (11) extending as far as William IV Street (12). Designed by the architect John Nash, but completed by William Herbert in 1831, it has giant pilasters and round, ‘pepperpot’ towers. John Nash’s Lowther Arcade, famous for its toy shops in the late nineteenth century, was demolished in 1904 for Coutts Bank founded in 1692 across the road that later moved into 440 Strand on this side. The bank expanded and a new building was opened by the Queen in 1978, but the bank was obliged to retain Nash’s façade, of ‘pepperpots’ on top, and shops on the ground floor. The central area created 1973–8 forms the large, glass entrance to the bank, with the first modern atrium to be created in Britain.

Inside the bank is a room with wallpaper depicting what were once all the trades of China. In 1794 it lined the walls of the British Embassy in Peking. It was decided to relocate the wallpaper to Coutts bank in London, but as the paper could not be removed from the walls, the entire walls were shipped here. Thomas Coutts was a friend of King George III and Royalty have banked with it since. Because of this it has retained its name despite an amalgamation. Until relatively recently male staff wore frock coats and having a moustache was severely discouraged.

Agar Street (13) joins William IV Street at its junction with the Strand. G. J. Agar-Ellis was Duncannon’s predecessor. At the east side of the junction is Zimbabwe House (14), built in 1908 for the British Medical Association, but sold to the Southern Rhodesian High Commission in 1930, ‘a building of more virile character than almost anything of that date in London’. It was designed by Charles Holden, responsible for many underground stations and Senate House. The ground floor and first two storeys are of grey, Cornish granite and the rest is of Portland stone. Between the second storey windows are sculptures by Jacob Epstein created in 1908, his first major work in England, depicting ‘the Ages of Man’. The nudity of the male figures and their ‘excessively large manhoods’ caused quite a shock when they were unveiled. Respectable ladies refused to walk along the Strand because of them. It is claimed that the building opposite had frosted windows installed so as to shield female workers from the view. Allegedly an ‘offending part’ fell off and hit a passer-by, but it was due to frost damage rather than respectability that the ‘offending parts’ (and other parts) were removed in 1937. The rock from which the sculptures were made was orientated so that its layers were vertical, enabling water to enter between them and on freezing separate them. The building was empty for eleven years between the Rhodesian government leaving and the Zimbabwe one occupying it in 1980.

Next door, 428 Strand, is a narrow, two-bay, four-storey building, dwarfed by those either side. It is allegedly of 1650, which if so has been much altered. It has a lively, decorative Art-Deco façade with a blue zig-zag pattern.

The thoroughfares north of the Strand lead into Covent Garden, originally the convent garden of the abbey of St Peter, Westminster. After the Reformation the area was given to the 1st Earl of Bedford. Bedford House was built by the 3rd Earl in about 1586 and his successor developed the area in the seventeenth century. The thoroughfares from the Strand to it are alleys, courts, and streets. Alleys are too narrow for vehicles, buts sufficiently wide for two men to roll a barrel of wine; courts were blindly ending, in many cases leading to large houses, but, as here, most have been extended through to streets; streets are broad enough for three armed knights to ride side by side!

What became Exeter House was built north of the Strand in King Edward VI’s reign for Thomas Palmer. He was executed and Queen Elizabeth I gave the house to Lord Burghley (sometimes spelt Burleigh), whose eldest son in 1605 became Earl of Exeter. It was demolished about 1676. As well as streets, on the site was built the Exeter Change/Exchange of shops and offices and which latterly had a menagerie of animals, which included Chunee the elephant that eventually had to be put down, though not without difficulty. The Exchange closed in 1829.

The remaining buildings on the north side of the Strand, like many on the main thoroughfares of Westminster and the City, are in a range of architectural styles, all Victorian or later. Some are large, some only two-bay or even one-bay; some simple, others ornate. The following streets reflect the history of the area. Bedford Street (15) (after the 4th Earl of Bedford) was constructed from 1633–40, west of Bedford House.

Between Bedford Street and Southampton Street there are four narrow courts, barely discernible from the bus due to the encroachment of neighbouring buildings: Exchange Court (16) named after the New Exchange that was on the opposite side of the Strand; Heathcock Court (17) named after the Heathcock Tavern, which until 1844 had a replica of the bird at the entrance; Bull Inn Court (20) named after the inn and where in the sixteenth century the secret service was located that sought out those engaged in heresy and treason, and Lumley Court (22) (the source of the name is unknown). These narrow lanes are remnants of a bygone era when many London thoroughfares were like this. Others once existed, which also led into Maiden Lane, an ancient track through the convent garden. Developed as Covent Garden by the Dukes of Bedford as an area for the wealthy, the difficulty of access was intentional.

Between Heathcock Court and Bull Inn Court is the Adelphi Theatre (18), begun in 1806 as the Sans Pareil by John Scott, at the back of his shop, initially for his daughter to perform. The theatre proved a success and was enlarged in 1813–4. It has since been rebuilt and its name changed several times and two houses taken over by it in Maiden Lane. The theatre’s name in large capital letters is a 1937 addition. It was in the news in 1897 when William Terriss, a popular, melodramatic actor, was shot at the Maiden Lane exit by a mentally deranged, younger actor.

In 1878 restauranteurs Agostino and Stefano Gatti bought the lease (who also had the Vaudeville Theatre which you will next see) and then acquired adjacent 409 and 410 Strand to the right of the theatre, now Gatti House (19), which was built as the Adelphi Theatre Restaurant and opened in 1887. It is still a restaurant. Agostino’s son, Sir John Gatti, became Mayor of Westminster in 1911.

After Bull Inn Court is the Vaudeville Theatre (21). Originally built in 1870 on the site of a failed billiard club and reconstructed several times, it was behind two houses, which were later demolished to expand the theatre onto the Strand.

The bus stops just beyond Lumley Court (22), which follows. Further along is Southampton Street (23), built in 1706 on the site of Bedford House. Lord William Russell, Duke of Bedford, married Lady Rachel, the daughter of the Earl of Southampton. The street is named in her honour, though why it bears the formal name of her father is a mystery.

The origin of the names of Exeter Street (24) and Burleigh Street (26) have already been mentioned. Between them is the Strand Palace Hotel (25) on the site of the garden of Exeter House, Exeter Change and Exeter Hall, the latter built for scientific and religious meetings and demolished 1907. Opened in 1909, the hotel was rebuilt 1925–30 in Art Deco style and faced with Dalton Carraraware. The original impressive entrance was removed in 1968 and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Note the fine, tall lamps on the front, the sculptures above the cornice and birds at the corners of the centre block at roof level.

Directly ahead is the Church of St Mary-le-Strand (30), the location being added to its name because of other churches in London with the same dedication. There has been a church here since the twelfth century of various names, but the Duke of Somerset, who built Somerset House on the south side of the Strand, had the predecessor to this one demolished in 1549. It was not until the Act of 1711 for the building of 50 new churches that it was rebuilt in 1714–7, the first to be so following the Act and was consecrated in 1723. James Gibbs the architect had just returned from Rome and the Baroque influence of his visit is apparent. It was his first major public work on his return. It was intended to have a column 76 metres (250 feet) high with a statute of Queen Anne on top, but she died in 1714 and so the church received a spire instead.

The church is of Portland stone, narrow and strongly vertical. It is on an island site, partly because of the widenings of the road from 1900. On its west front there is a doorway with an exquisite, semicircular porch. Above a clock stage, the tower rises in diminishing square stages. The belfry has paired pilasters and single columns at the angles and is followed by a narrow stage of single pilasters and columns and then a concave sided top-stage followed by a little lantern and a gilt weathervane. If the church has a certain Catholic flavour it is because Gibbs was a secret Catholic who had trained as a priest before becoming an architect.

Allegedly, in 1750 Bonnie Prince Charlie came here secretly to be received into the Church of England. Here also the parents of Charles Dickens were married, and close by the first hackney cab rank in England was established in 1634. It is the official church of the Women’s Royal Naval Service and WRN Reserve.

There was once a maypole here, which the Puritans removed in 1644 as ‘the last, vile remnant of vile heathenism’, but replaced by one 41 metres (135 feet) to celebrate the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660. Shortened and decayed it was replaced in 1713, but then re-erected in Wanstead Park in 1717 by Sir Isaac Newton for what was then the world’s largest telescope. The poet Bramston in 1731 lamented: ‘What’s not destroyed by Time’s devouring Hand? Where’s Troy and where’s the Maypole in the Strand?’

After Burleigh Street is the Lyceum Tavern (27) of about 1870. It is named after the Lyceum Ballroom, now the Lyceum Theatre onto which it backs. You can just see its magnificent portico around the corner and there was once a back entrance from it to the pub for performers that now is only an emergency exit from the pub.

The pub’s signboard shows an actor, possibly Sir Henry Irving, putting on makeup in front of a mirror. Note the clock in the shape of a barrel hanging from brackets.

The section of Wellington Street (29) that follows was created in 1833–5 to extend to Waterloo Bridge, not surprisingly named after the Duke of Wellington given his victory at Waterloo in 1815. The gabled 1902 Wellington pub (28) on the corner has a hanging sign depicting the duke in profile.

At Wellington Street the bus turns into Aldwych (31). To the right is Lancaster Place (206) leading to Waterloo Bridge (207), mentioned on the reverse trip (1B).

Aldwych is a crescent off the Strand, created from 1899–1905, at the same time as Kingsway, which extends north from it to High Holborn and continues north as Southampton Row encountered on trips 4A and 4B. Before Aldwych and Kingsway were created there were no main roads north from the Strand to Holborn. There was traffic congestion as vehicles had to wind through narrow lanes, such as Drury Lane, or pay tolls to drive through the estate of the Duke of Bedford.

The street name ‘Aldwych’ though Anglo-Saxon and meaning ‘old town’ was only given to it when it opened in 1905, but reflects that over a thousand years before