such exclusive privileges, that the fair London traders were considered as subservient only to the views of these mercenary men.

Their extortions at last became so excessive in the reign of Edward III. that the king seized on their estates; they quickly surmounted this misfortune, continued their iniquitous practices, and were so opulent in the reign of Henry VI. that they furnished that unhappy king with money; though not till the English custom duties were mortgaged to them as securities for the sum advanced. In this street they continued till the reign of queen Elizabeth; when the measures pursued by Sir Thomas Gresham confounded all their projects, and ultimately caused them to quit this country. They are only now remembered by the armorial bearings which distinguished them, viz. three golden balls, the ensign at present applicable to pawnbrokers.* This street was afterwards converted to dwellings for bankers of eminence, as it still continues.

The object which claims our first attention is the parish church of

ST. EDMUND THE KING.

VOL. II. No. 46.

Antiquarian Repertory.

3 M

SAINT

SAINT Edmund, to whom this church is dedicated, was a Saxon king of the East Angles, murdered by the Danes, being tied to a tree and shot with arrows, at Hoxon in Suffolk, in the year 870, for his stedfast adherence to the Christian religion. Stow says the church was formerly called St. Edmund Grass Church, because the grass-market came so far westward.

It is probable that a place of worship subsisted here before the dissolution of the Saxon Heptarchy; it afterwards belonged to the priory of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate, and after the dissolution of that priory, it was given by the crown to the archbishop of Canterbury and his successors, in whom the presentation still continues. It was one of those that shared in the destruction made by the fire in 1666, and was rebuilt and finished in the year 1690.

The greatest length of the church is from north to south; it is well built of stone, and of the Tuscan order; the roof is flat, and there are no pillars within that help to support it.

The altar is placed in the north, over which is a handsome painted window, of the arms of queen Anne. The altarpiece is very neat, the pulpit neatly carved, and the font of marble, under a handsome canopy. There is also a neat little organ gallery, and the church is very well pewed and wainscoted with oak.

In other respects the church is merely composed of plain walls, with tall arched niches. The ceiling is partly coved; the rest being horizontal and plain, except an aperture for a sky-light, and a large border above.

The exterior is composed of two stories in the same order, the lower with two square windows and a door, the second story has three arched windows, and a clock projecting over the street, above which rifes a tower, and an ornamented spire.

The dimensions of the church are as follow; length sixtynine feet, breadth thirty-nine, height thirty-two, and that of the steeple about ninety feet.

MONUMENTS

MONUMENTS mentioned by Stow,-Sir John Milborne, mayor, 1521; Humphrey Heyford, mayor, 1477; Sir William Chester, mayor, 1560; Sir George Barne, mayor, 1586.

MONUMENTS since 1700;

"In a vault under the Communion-table lie the bodies of Mrs. Rebecca Sheppard, who died Oct. 8, 1721, and of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Sheppard, M. A. her Husband, who died, Aug. 28, 1724. "He was Curate and Lecturer of these two united Parishes of St. Edmund the King, and Nicholas Acons above twenty Years; and, during the whole course of his Ministry, was very diligent and conscientious in the Discharge of every Part of his sacred Function, performing the several Offices of the Church with great Reverence and Devotion, was deservedly commended for his pious and instructive Discourses from the Pulpit, and was generally and deservedly esteemed for his courteous and obliging Behaviour, for the evenness and sweetness of his Temper, and for his universal Charity and Good-will to Mankind.”

A handsome sarcophagus, pyramid, and tablet, with a long Latin inscription to the memory of EDWARD IRONSIDE, Esq. lord mayor, who died in his mayoralty, A. D. 1753.

Another monument over the vestry door to the memory of Mr. Thomas Witherby, fifty years an inhabitant of this parish, and twenty-six years deputy aldermen of Langbourn ward; he died Nov. 26, 1797.

On the north wall, a handsome monument of statuary marble, exhibiting Hope, reclining on an urn, with the following inscription:

"In Memory of Jeremiah Milles, D. D. Dean of Exeter, Rector of these united Parishes, and President of the Society of Antiquarians, who died Feb. 13, 1784, aged 70 Years. And of Edith, his Wife, Daughter of the Most Reverend John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died June 11, 1761, aged 35 Years. Among the Scholars of his Time he was conspicuous for the variety and extent of his Knowledge; and to the Cultivation of an elegant and correct Taste for polite Literature, superadded the most judicious Researches into the abstruse Points and Learning of Antiquity. His public Character was distinguished by an unremitted zeal and activity in those Stations to which his merit had raised him. In private life he was beloved and respected for the natural sweet3 M 2

ness

ness of his Disposition, the purity of his Manners, and the inte grity of his. Conduct. Blessed with a Consort worthy of himself, amiable, affectionate, and truly pious, they mutually fulfilled every domestic Duty with chearfulness and fidelity; and their grateful Children have the fullest confidence that they are gone to receive, in a more perfect State, the certain and final Rewards of their exemplary Lives upon Earth.”*

The church of ST. NICHOLAS ACON or Hacon, stood on the west side of Nicholas Lane, and was very antient; for in 1084, Godwin with his wife Turund, for the redemption of their souls, and the remission of their sins, and of all Christians, gave the church of St. Nicholas, and all his houses, with their appurtenances to St. Mary and St. Aldelme the confessor, in the church of Malmsbury, for ever; which grant was afterwards confirmed by the bull of pope Innocent IV. Upon the dissolution of Malmsbury abbey, this living came to the crown, where it still continues. The fabric was consumed in the great fire, 1666, and the site is now used as a burial ground.

Among the antient monuments were, Sir John Bridges, mayor, 1520; Francis Bowyer, alderman and sheriff, 1580; Julian, wife to John Lambard, alderman, and mother of WILLIAM LAMBARD, Esq. the famous Kentish antiquary.

Returning towards Gracechurch Street, we pass GEORGE YARD. This spot was formerly covered with a mansion belonging to the earl Ferrars in 1175; it was afterwards an inn for travellers; but since the great fire, the site was converted to dwelling houses, one of which is THE GEORGE AND VULTURE TAVERN.

Here the following livery companies transact their business, and hold their courts, annual and other entertainments:

FARRIERS. This company derive an origin from Henry de Ferraries or Ferrers, a Norman adherent to William I. who gave him, as being his farrier, or master of the horse,

*The publications of Dean Milles are numerous. In the early part of his life he had made ample collections for a History of the County of Devon; and had also applied himself to the illustration of the Danish coinage, and of Domesday Book. Gent. Mag. vol. LIV. p. 153.

the

the honour of Tutbury in Staffordshire; the first dignity given to Farriers in England. This company was incorpo rated by letters patent granted by Charles II. in the year 1673, and governed by a master, wardens, assistants and livery.

FLETCHERS, or Arrow Makers, from Flêche, an arrow, are a company by prescription, and are become as firmly established as though they were incorporated. This fraternity consists of two wardens, assistants, and livery; all of different occupations, the use of arrows having been discontinued in England for three centuries. They had formerly a hall in St. Mary Axe.

BOWYERS. This is also a company by prescription, and of great antiquity; but not incorporated till the twenty-first year of the reign of James I. by the name of the Master, Wardens, and Society of the Mystery of Bowyers of the City of London. They, however, consist of other trades, and are governed as above; their hall was formerly in Hart Street, Cripplegate; and before the fire in 1666, situated on St. Peter's Hill, Doctors' Commons.

Besides the above trades of Bowyers and Arrow-makers, there were antiently two others, named Stringers, and Arrowhead Makers.

The decrease of these trades was so great, in consequence of the general use of gunpowder, that about 1570, they collectively petitioned the lord treasurer Burleigh, that he would exert his good offices with queen Elizabeth in their favour. In this petition they style themselves "The decayed companies of Bowyers, Fletchers, Stringers, and Arrow-head Makers." They requested a prohibition of unlawful games, and that the exercises of the long-bow might be enforced. Lord Burleigh interested himself so much in their favour that a commission was granted, to put the statute of Henry VIII. for the maintenance and exercise of the long bow in full force. The commissioners were appointed in every county "to take due and lawful search, as well for such as used unlawful games, as also, whether every person, for himself, his servants, and other youth, had sufficient bows and arrows, and had not occupied the same according to the statute."