CHAPEL STREET faces SOUTH AUDLEY CHAPEL, one of the chapels of ease to St. George, Hanover Square. It is a plain brick structure, with a low stone portico, above which is a heavy tower, surmounted by an equally heavy brick spire; the interior is very plain.

In Upper Grosvenor Street, is the town palace of his highness the DUKE of GLOCESTER, nephew of the king. It is a plain handsome mansion.

GROSVENOR SQUARE, is entirely surrounded with buildings, which are very magnificent, though the fronts are not uniform, some being entirely of stone, others of brick and stone, and others of rubbed brick, with only their quoins, facios, windows, and door cases of stone. Some are adorned with stone columns of the several orders, whilst others have only plain fronts. Indeed here is a great variety of fine buildings in a small compass, and they are so far uniform, as to be all sashed, and nearly of an equal height. The area of the quadrangle contains about five acres, and in the centre is a spacious garden, surrounded with railing; the garden is laid out into walks, and orną. mented with a gilt equestrian statue of king George I. This square was first projected by Sir RICHARD GROSVENOR, bart. ancestor of earl Grosvenor. To enumeraté the inhabitants would be to give a list of a considerable portion of the British peerage.

UPPER BROOK STREET is a very fine avenue, and is inhabited by the nobility, and families of vast opulence.

TYBORN TURNPIKE, is another considerable entrance to the metropolis from the western counties. The view over Hyde Park to the Surrey hills, on the south; over Paddington to Harrow, on the north-west; and the extent of prospect down Oxford Street, altogether constitute this a very beautiful avenue.

The manor of Tybourn contained five hides of land belonging to the convent of Barking, who had it of the crown at the Conquest. Having passed through various descents, part of it was given by William, marquis of Berkley, to Sir Reginald Bray, prime minister to Henry VIII. the other portions belonged to lord Bergavenny, the earl

of Derby, and the earl of Surrey. Queen Elizabeth, in 1583, granted a lease of it to Edward Forset, for twentyone years, at the yearly rent of 167. 11s. Ed. The whole manor and its appurtenances, excepting the park, was again granted to the same family, by James I. for the sum of 8291. 3s. 4d. In the year 1710, it was purchased of John Austin, Esq. (afterwards Sir John Austin) by John Holles, duke of Newcastle, whose only daughter and heir married Edward Harley, earl of Oxford and Mortimer. The manor is now the property of his grace the duke of Portland, whose father, the late duke, married lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, heiress of the two noble families of Newcastle and Oxford *.

OXFORD STREET extends about one mile from east to west, and is a very spacious and airy street; it looks into six of the principal squares, Soho, Hanover, and Grosvenor Squares, on the south; Cavendish, Manchester, and Portman Squares, on the north.

PORTMAN SQUARE is esteemed the next in beauty to Grosvenor Square, as it is in dimensions; it is built with more regularity, but the uniformity of the houses, and the small projection of the cornices, are not favourable to grandeur and picturesque effect. In the north-west corner stands the house formerly the residence of the amiable Mrs. MONTAGUE, the patroness of the arts and sciences, the reliever of distress, and a benefactress to mankind. It was her custom, whilst she lived, annually on May Day, to invite all the little chimney-sweepers, who were regaled in her house and gardens, with good and wholesome fare; so that they might enjoy one happy day in the year. Mr. Hanway, and other philanthropic characters, have humanely been the advocates of these infants of distress, and

*Lysons's Environs of London, Vol. III. 243.

+ It has been said that this custom originated from a circumstance relating to Mrs. Montague's brother, who in his infancy was trepanned, and afterwards discovered in the service of a chimney-sweeper. The remembrance of which was so strongly imprinted upon the mind of his relative, upon recapitulating his sufferings, that she, in consequence, established the May-day festival, which ceased at her decease. Thus far the tradition.

we

we trust will ultimately succeed in procuring some degree of alleviation to their unmerited sufferings.

DUKE STREET crosses Oxford Street.

PORTMAN SQUARE was begun about 1764. nearly twenty years before the whole was completed,

It was

BERKELEY STREET, leads to MANCHESTER SQUARE, the three sides of which are composed of neat and respectable dwellings. "It appears that it was intended to have been dignified with the name of QUEEN ANNE'S SQUARE, and to have had a handsome parochial church in the centre; the design, however, not having been carried into execution, and the ground on the north side lying vacant, the late duke of Manchester purchased the site, and erected on it his town residence, and from this circumstance the whole took its present name. Upon the sudden death of the duke, and the minority of his heir, the premises were pur chased by the king of Spain, as the residence of his ambassador. The house afterwards became the property of Extra the marquis of Hertford. Whilst in the occupation of the lates ambassador, he erected a small chapel in SPANISH PLACE, 7 on the east side of his mansion, from designs by Bonomi, which for its classic purity of stile deserves the attention of all lovers of architecture."

Mr. Lysons + has furnished us with a curious account of the progress of building in this quarter: At the beginning of the last century, Marybone was a small village, nearly a mile from any part of the metropolis. In the year 1715, a plan was formed for building CAVENDISH SQUARE, and several streets on the north of TYBOURN ROAD. In 1717, or 1718, the ground was laid out, the circle on the centre inclosed, and surrounded with a parapet wall and palisadoes. In the centre of this inclosure is an equestrian statue of William duke of Cumberland. It is of lead, gilt, and was made by Mr. Chew, in the year 1770, at the expence of lieutenant-general William Strode. It was put • Malton's Picturesque Tour, 104. + Environs of London, III. 256.

up

up on the 4th of November, that year, "in gratitude for private kindness, and in honour of public worth." The duke of Chandos, (then earl of Carnarvon) took the whole north side, intending, it is said, to build a very magnificent mansion, of which the houses belonging to the earl of Hopetown (late the princess Amelia's) and the earl of Gainsborough's, were to have been wings. Lord Harcourt*, and lord Bingley, took some ground on the east and west sides, the rest was let to builders; but the failures of the South Sea year put a stop to the improvements for a time, and it was several years before the square was com pleted. As an inducement to the builders to go on, a chapel and a market were projected for the convenience of the inhabitants of the new streets. Mr. Gibbs gave the design, and they were both finished in 1724; but the market was not opened till 1732, in consequence of the opposition of lord Craven, who feared that it would effect the profits of Carnaby Market. The row of houses on the north side of Tybourn Road was completed in 1729, and it was then called OXFORD STREET. About the same time most of the following streets leading to Cavendish Square, and Oxford Market, were built, and the ground laid out for several others, viz. Henrietta Street, Vere Street, Holles Street, Margaret Street, Cavendish Street, Welbeck Street, Wimpole Street, Princes Street, Bolsover Street, Castle Street, John Street, Market Street, Lower Harley Street, Wigmore Street, Mortimer Street, &c. mostly named from the title and family distinctions of the noble houses of Oxford and Portland.--Maitland says, there were in his time five hundred and seventy-seven houses in the parish of Marybone, which consisted of pasture fields. In 1770, the continuation of Harley Street was begun; and Mansfield Street, on ground where had been formerly a bason of water. Soon afterwards Portland

The ground which lord Harcourt took was on the east side of the square; the mansion which belongs to the present earl was Bingley House, and was purchased after the death of lord Bingley. Ibid.

Place

Every war had which were car

Place was built, and the streets adjoining. Stratford Place was built about 1774, on some ground belonging to the city of London, called CONDUIT MEAD, where the lord mayor's banqueting house formerly stood. The Crescent, now called CUMBERLAND PLACE, (originally intended for a circus), was begun about the same year. checked the progress of new buildings, ried on at its close with fresh vigour. From 1786, till the commencement of the French war, they increased very rapidly; all the duke of Portland's property, except one farm, was let on building leases; the buildings in the northwest part were equally numerous.

Pursuing the route from Manchester Square, we come to HIGH STREET, in which is situated the parish church of

ST. MARY AT BOURN, VULGARLY ST. MARY-LA

IT appears that in the year 1400, bishop Braybroke granted a licence "to remove the old church of Tybourn, dedicated to St. John, which stood in a lonely place, near the highway (on or near the site of the present Court House at the corner of Stratford Place) subject to the depredations of robbers, who frequently stole the images, bells, and ornaments, and to build a new church of stones or flints, near the place where a chapel had been then lately erected, which chapel might in the mean time be used." The bishop claimed the privilege of laying the first stone. The

old