Crosby Hall

Crosby Hall

On the east side of Bishopsgate (Street Within) at the north-east corner of Crosby Square (O.S.).

This was the great hall of Crosby Place (q.v.), and having survived the Great Fire and been repaired and restored from time to time, it remained intact until the year 1909–10, when, being threatened with destruction, it was removed and re-erected in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, forming the most interesting example in London of the domestic architecture of the 15th century.

Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate Street, the great hall of Crosby Place, built by Sir John Crosby, who obtained a lease of the ground in 1466, and died in 1475. From the discovery in the course of excavations for additions to the building made in 1871 and 1873 of two tesselated pavements, Crosby Place appears to have been erected on the site of an ancient Roman villa. The portions remaining of Crosby Place consist of the hall, 69 feet long, 27 feet wide and 38 high, having a fine open timber roof; a "throne room" on the ground-floor, 42 feet long, 22 feet wide and 16 feet high; a "withdrawing" or "council-room" over, of the same size but 20 feet high, having a very richly carved ceiling. Many of the fine brick cellars exist, and are used by the adjoining houses. The oriel window of the hall is uncommonly beautiful, and altogether the hall is the most interesting example we possess in London of the domestic architecture of the 15th century. ...

The fire of 1666 destroyed the greater part of Crosby Place, and six years later another fire destroyed nearly all that had been left of the house, but happily the hall escaped on both occasions without material injury. In 1672 it was converted into a nonconformist meeting-house, and continued to be so used for nearly a century, the last sermon being preached here, October 1, 1769, when the congregation migrated to Maze Pond, Southwark. "The grand office of the Penny Post" was held in Crosby Hall, 1678–1687;³ and in 1700 the East India Company occupied part of the hall, but removed to a building of their own a year or two later. Its later history may be summed up in few words. From 1810 to 1831 it was leased by a firm of packers, who divided it into floors and greatly damaged the building. On the lease running out public attention was called to the historical interest and architectural value of the hall, a fund was raised, and the interior was carefully restored, the portion fronting Great St. Helen's rebuilt of stone from the designs of E.L. Blackburn, architect, and subsequently of John Davies, architect. The entrance from Bishopsgate Street forms no part of the ancient buildings of Crosby Place, although it has been composed in the style of the timber houses of the period. The first stone of the new works was laid June 27, 1836, and the hall reopened by the Lord Mayor, Alderman W.T. Copeland, M.P., July 27, 1842, with a public dinner "served in the old English style," the floor of the hall being strewed with rushes. In the interval it was used occasionally for benevolent purposes. Thus Bunsen notes:

March 1, 1839.—Fetched by Lady Raffles and Ella to Crosby Hall, in Bishopsgate Street, to see Mrs. Fry, who was presiding over a bazaar of work and books, to be sold for the benefit of female prisoners and convicts.—Memoirs of Baron Bunsen, vol. i. p. 510.

In 1842 the hall was leased to the Crosby Hall Literary Institute; but this came to an end in 1860, and for seven years the old Hall served as a wine merchant's warehouse. Since 1868 it has been a restaurant. Alterations have been made and a good deal of money has been spent on its embellishment, not, as may be supposed, without injury to its character; but on the whole it has been handled tenderly, and it well deserves the term bestowed upon it by Bunsen of "glorious Crosby Hall." The public passage to Crosby Square is under the gallery of the hall.

[Crosby Hall.]

In 1672 the great hall of the now neglected [Crosby] house was turned into a Presbyterian chapel. Two years later the dwelling-houses which adjoined the hall, and occupied the present site of Crosby Square, were burnt down, but the hall remained uninjured. While used as a chapel (till 1769), twelve different ministers of eminence occupied the pulpit, the first being Thomas Watson, previously rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, and the author of the tract, "Heaven taken by Storm," which is said to have been the means of the sudden conversion of the celebrated Colonel Gardiner. In 1678 a sale was announced at Crosby Hall, of "tapestry, a good chariot, and a black girl of about fifteen." The Withdrawing-room and Thorne-room were let as warehouses to the East India Company. It then was taken by a packer, and much mutilated; and in 1831 the premises were advertised to be let upon a building lease. It was greatly owing to the public spirit of Miss Hackett, a lady who lived near it, that this almost unique example of domestic Gothic architecture was ultimately preserved. In 1831 this lady made strenuous efforts for its conservation, and received valuable assistance from Mr. W. Williams, of Great St. Helen's, and other residents. In 1836 it was reinstated and partially restored by public subscription, after which it was re-opened by the Lord Mayor, W. T. Copeland, Esq., M.P., a banquet in the old English style being held on the occasion. From 1842 to 1860 Crosby Hall was occupied by a literary and scientific institute. It has since been converted into a restaurant.

It is conjectured that this fine old house was originally composed of two quadrangles, separated by the Great Hall, a noble room forty feet high. The oriel of the hall is one of the finest specimens remaining; the timber roof is one of the most glorious which England possesses. The Throneroom and Council-room have suffered much. A fine oriel in one of these has been removed to Buckinghamshire, and both ceilings have been carried off. No original entrance to the hall now remains, except a flat arched doorway communicating with the Council-chamber. The main entrance, Mr. Hugo thinks, was no doubt under the minstrel's gallery, at the south end. In the centre of the oriel ceiling is still to be seen, in high relief, the crest of Sir John Crosby—a ram trippant, argent, armed and hoofed, or.