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No.56 July 2003 | Contex HOME AROUND LONDON - Just outside the City ROY WALKER When you have the time, if you do not already know the area, when next heading into the City from the Strand take a right turn at St Clement Danes and walk towards the Thames along Milford Lane. The lane runs alongside thewestern boundary of The Temple, the home of lawyers, and terminates on the Embankment at Temple Place. Running parallel to Milford Lane are Arundel Street onthe west and Essex Street to the east. Both thoroughfares take their names from the owners of the grand estates that lined the Strand from the late 1500s -Arundel House was the home of the Earls of Arundel (amongst others) and Essex House was inherited by Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex in 1588. Milford Lane follows the boundary between these estates. Some authorities say that it takes its name from the ford which crossed a stream flowing from the Strand down to the Thames - and the mill presumably powered by the stream. However, in 1472 a 90-year lease was granted to one William Milford for land in the area and Milford Lane has existed since 1556. It's here that you can appreciate the topography of the River Thames and its original width before generations of encroachment ending with the construction of the Victoria Embankment in the 1860s. The slope of the streets leading down to the river is very pronounced. The arch at Temple Stairs was designed by Joseph Bazalgette in 1868 as part of the drive to clean up the River Thames after the Great Stink of 1858. Will Owen, author and chronicler of London, in his book Old London Town (Arrowsmith, 1921) tells of the forge to be found in Tweezer Alley, a turning at foot of the Lane. He describes it as a narrow thoroughfare noisy with the hum of printing presses. Not surprisingly, it was here that the horses used by W H Smith and Son were stabled and shod. In 1842 The Illustrated London News (ILN) moved into 198 Strand on the corner of Milford Lane. Photography was in its infancy so the upper floor of the building still included an engraving studio. The adjoining 9 Milford Lane was acquired and by the 1860s many buildings in the Lane were occupied by the ILN including Milford House. The Cheshire Cheese pub is in Milford Lane. Not the "rebuilt in 1667" literary venue in Fleet Street but one haunted by a ghost who, for reasons best known to himself, moves the juke box around during the night! |
