Part 8 (1/2)

There is a small Baptist chapel at the back of Porchester Gardens.

Across the Queen's Road there are St. Matthew's Parochial Schools, built in 1831, enlarged 1861. Further northward in Queen's Road are the capacious buildings of the Paddington Public Baths and Washhouses, erected at a cost of 40,000.

Holy Trinity Church, in Bishop's Road, was consecrated July 30, 1846, and considerably renovated in 1893. It is a very handsome church, of Kentish ragstone, in the Perpendicular style, with quatrefoil parapet, ornamental pinnacles and spire. The site on which it stands was formerly a deep hole, and consequently the cost of foundations alone came to 2,000.

Almost on the spot where Royal Oak Station now is was once the rural Westbourne Green, companion to Paddington Green further eastward. In Rocque's time there were a few scattered houses here. At Westbourne Farm, which stood until about 1860, Mrs. Siddons lived for some time.

Lysons says: ”A capital messuage called Westbourne Place, with certain lands thereto belonging, was granted by Henry VIII. anno 1540 to Robert White. This estate was some years ago the property of Isaac Ware, the architect (editor of Palladio's works and other professional publications), who, with the materials brought from Lord Chesterfield's house in Mayfair (which he was employed to rebuild), erected the present mansion called Westbourne Place a little to the south of the old house, which was suffered to stand several years longer. Westbourne Place was sold by Ware's executors to Sir William Yorke, Bart., Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, who resided there a short time and afterwards let it to a Venetian Amba.s.sador. In the year 1768 he sold it to Jukes Coulson, Esq., who expended a very considerable sum in enlarging the house and laying out the grounds. The library which he added to the house is said to have cost about 1,500. The situation is extremely pleasant, and so uncommonly retired that a person residing here could hardly conceive himself to be in a parish adjoining that of St. George's, Hanover Square.” The vast meshes of the railway network at present on the spot are in eloquent contrast to the above. Further down in the Porchester Road is the Westbourne Park Chapel, a red-brick building in the Pointed or Gothic style, built in 1876.

To the south, near Westbourne Grove, lies St. Thomas's Church, a temporary iron building. Close by is a Presbyterian church named St.

Paul's. It is faced with Kentish ragstone, and was consecrated 1862. In the Artesian Road is a Roman Catholic church, St. Mary of the Angels, consecrated on July 2, 1857, but since enlarged three times. The architect of the latter portions was J. F. Bentley. There is in the interior a fine painting of St. Anthony of Padua, supposed to be a genuine Murillo. The schools in connection are on the south side. In Westbourne Park Road is St. Stephen's Church. The organ is by Hill. At the north end of Westbourne Park Road are national schools.

St. Paul's Church and schools stand in Marlborough Street. The church was built in 1873, and is of earth-brick, without spire or tower. This part of Paddington is considerably cut up both by the railway and ca.n.a.l.

Crossing the latter at the Lock Bridge, we see the Lock Hospital and Asylum standing on the west side of the road. The hospital was established in 1737, and the asylum in 1787. Adjoining the hospital is the workhouse, occupying with its infirmary about 5 acres. The workhouse has 623 beds, and the infirmary 280. All the wards are here and all the paupers except the school-children. Beyond the workhouse still remain some nursery gardens, and in the continuation of the Harrow Road is a Roman Catholic church, the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Vincent de Paul, of Kentish ragstone with a wheel window in the east end. The foundation-stone was laid in 1878, and it was opened in 1882 as a private chapel. In 1893 it was opened to the public. The altar and altar-rails are of white Carrara marble inlaid with malachite. In connection with the church next door is the St. Vincent's Home for boys.

This was begun by a railway clerk, and pa.s.sed into the hands of the Brotherhood of St. Vincent de Paul. Lord Douglas took up the work, established the home in its present position, and built the church. In 1889 St. Joseph's Home, Enfield, was amalgamated with St. Vincent's. The home contains 100 boys, received between the years of twelve and sixteen, who are taught various trades by which to earn their own living. Further on in the Harrow Road, opposite Ashmore Road, is Emmanuel Church, built of brick in a plain Pointed style. The foundation-stone was laid in 1886. The schools in connection are next door.

The new bit of Paddington at Kensal Green requires little comment; chapels, schools, and St. John's Church break the monotony of dreary streets. In fact, all this part of northern Paddington, though varying in the width of streets and the cla.s.s of its houses, contains nothing of any interest. We must now return southward and eastward to what is known as Church Ward, which contains nearly all that is most interesting of old Paddington. The old parish church, named St. Mary's, stands to the north of the Harrow Road. It is a small building of earth-brick in the form of a Maltese cross, with a cupola in the centre, supposed to have been designed after a Greek model. The side fronting the road has a portico, and on the south and west walls there are curious niches formed by bricks. The interior is heavy and ugly, with a ma.s.sive circular gallery running round three sides. The pulpit stands right over the central aisle, supported by the steps on one side and the reading-desk on the other, making thus a curious arch under which everyone must pa.s.s to reach the Communion rails; it is of mahogany which has been painted, and the figures of Dutch oak on the panels are supposed to be Flemish work. The church holds about 800 persons. There are many monuments and tablets on the walls, but only two worthy of note: one in memory of Mrs.

Siddons, who is buried in the churchyard, on the north side of the chancel; one to Nollekens the sculptor, who died 1823, on the south side of the chancel. This is a bas-relief of a man seated by the side of a pallet or bench, on which rests a woman holding a baby; behind, an angel, representing Religion, points upward. The apparently irrelevant subject excited much comment until an explanation was suggested. In the Howard Chapel of Wetherall Church, in c.u.mberland, there is a sculptured monument in memory of one of the ladies of the Howard family who died in childbirth. The bas-relief over Nollekens' tomb is the facsimile of this sculpture, with the exception of the male figure in the foreground. The sculpture was executed by Nollekens himself, and is supposed to be one of his masterpieces. The monument to Nollekens is, therefore, obviously representative of the sculptor himself executing this great work. The present church was built in 1791, and stands on the site of a pond. Its predecessor was dedicated to St. James, a saint to whom the present parish church has returned, and stood a little to the northward on the site of the present right of way.

But this itself was only the successor of a still more ancient building, of which Newcourt says: ”As to the church here, I guess it was dedicated to St. Katharine, because, before the old church was pulled down, I observed the picture of St. Katharine to be set up in painted gla.s.s at the top of the middle panel of the east window in the chancel.... The church was but small, and being very old and ruinous, was, about the year 1678, pulled down, and new-built from the ground at the cost and charges of Sir Joseph Sheldon, knight, sometime Lord Mayor of the City of London, and his brother, Mr. Daniel Sheldon, then Lessees of the Mannor of Paddington.”

These Sheldons were the nephews of the Bishop Sheldon to whom the manor was restored at the Restoration in 1661. Newcourt tells us that before the Parliament had seized it the church was a donative or curacy in the gift of the Bishop of London; that the pension of the curate was but 28 per annum. This was increased by Bishop Sheldon to 80, and the larger sum was fixed by Act of Parliament, and the lessee was bound by his lease to pay the Vicar 80 a year. The first curate mentioned is one ”Griffin Edwards, A.B., licentiat., December 18, 1598.” The churchyard proper only comprises about 1 acre of land, but the old burial-ground, including the site of the older church, adjoins to the northward and includes 3 acres. This was laid out as a public garden in 1885. The freehold rests with the Vicar of Paddington. On the east side, above the centre pathway, is a flat stone to the memory of Mrs. Siddons, who died 1831, aged 76. On it are three glazed vases added later by the parish.

In the same vault is buried Mrs. Martha Wilkinson, her dresser, who died in 1847, and was laid here by her own especial request. On the west side, below the centre path, is a flat stone to the memory of one John Hubbard, who lived from 1554 to 1665, and therefore reached the patriarchal age of 111 years. The churchyard also contains the remains of Collins, an artist, who painted English coast scenery; Dr. Geddes, translator of the historical books of the Old Testament; Banks, the sculptor, 1805; Nollekens; the Marquis of Lansdowne; Vivares, the engraver, 1780. The churchyard was enlarged in 1753, when Sherlock was Bishop of London, and further in 1810, when the piece of ground at the north-east corner, which is marked on a map of the beginning of the nineteenth century ”Manor House,” was enclosed. To the east of the church is the famous Paddington Green, now shrunk to very small dimensions. A statue of Mrs. Siddons in white marble has been erected on Paddington Green. The statue was designed by M. Chavalliand, and executed by Messrs. Brindley. The total cost was about 450.

In Greville House, which stands on the north side of the Green, Emma, afterwards Lady Hamilton, lived for four years under the protection of the Hon. Charles Greville, to whom her mother was housekeeper. None of the other houses now standing are old enough to merit comment.

Paddington House, ”a handsome brick structure,” built by Denis Chirac, who had been jeweller to Queen Anne, formerly stood on the east side of the Green, near to Harrow Road. He entered upon his residence here in 1753. At the corner of Church Street, on the Green, stands the Children's Hospital, a large red-brick building. The origin of this was a Free Dispensary for Sick Children, opened in 1862 in Lisson Grove by two medical men. Relief was afforded to 20,000 children during the first six years of the work, which was carried on under the management of a medical committee. In 1869 a building fund was suggested. But it was in 1881, by the earnest work of Mr. George Hanbury, that practical steps were taken for the establishment of a small hospital. In 1883 the freehold of the land at the corner of Church Street was purchased, and the buildings standing there were adapted for the purpose. Further ground was bought at the back in 1885, and an out-patient department established. In 1890, owing to the pressure of applications for in-patients, it was decided to build a new wing. However, for sanitary reasons, it was considered better to pull down the old building and entirely rebuild the hospital. The children then in the hospital were temporarily sent to Harrow, and the new building was commenced in 1894, and was reopened in June, 1895. An interesting old shop at the corner of Church Street was pulled down to make way for it. It contains all modern improvements, including electric light and cooking by gas. There is an isolation ward for any infectious illness which may break out, and two large, bright wards for the ordinary patients. The walls of these are lined with glazed bricks and tiles, and one of the wards contains large tile-work pictures representing well-known fairy tales. Boys are received up to the age of twelve, and girls to fourteen years. Babes of even three and four days are admitted. The out-patients' department is entirely free, no letter of any sort being required. The payment of a nominal fee of a penny to insure genuine cases is all that is exacted.

Out-patients are selected by the medical staff to become in-patients.

The children look bright and well cared for; the wards are models of cleanliness and comfort. The hospital is entirely supported by voluntary contributions and subscriptions. The temporary house at Harrow has been retained as a convalescent home.

A house, No. 13, close by the hospital, is one of Dr. Stainer's Homes for Deaf and Dumb Children.

The Paddington charities may be here described. But it must be remembered that amounts where mentioned are only given in general terms, and are liable to variation.

The _Bread and Cheese Charity_ is of very ancient origin, and is said to have been founded by two maiden ladies. The bequest was in the form of land, though the name of the donors and the date of the gift are unknown. With the rents of the land bread and cheese were purchased, and thrown from the church tower to poor people on the Sunday before Christmas. The annual income arising from this source is now divided, being expended partly upon education, partly upon apprentices.h.i.+p, and a certain amount upon coals and blankets to be distributed among the poor of the parish.

_Johnson's Charity_ is a rent-charge of 1 a year, distributed in small sums among the poor of the parish. The date of this bequest is not known.

_Lyon's Charity_ is of very ancient date--namely, 1578. It consists of an estate in Kilburn and an estate in Paddington, and is distributed among many different parishes. The greater part of the income, which, of course, varies in amount, goes to the repairing of roads.

_Harvest's Charity_ in 1610 bequeathed an estate to the parishes of Paddington and Marylebone for repairing the highways. The income derived from this source is devoted to the above-mentioned purpose.

_Dr. Compton's and Margaret Robertson's, or Robinson's Charity._--This is supposed to have been partly the gift of Dr. Compton, Bishop of London. The first grant was made in 1717, which was after Dr. Compton's death, but it is possible that he promised the gift which was granted by his successor, Dr. Robinson. Lysons says ”the donation was confirmed by Dr. Robinson.” ”The first admission to the land, the property of Margaret Robertson's Charity, was on the 18th day of April, 1721”

(Charity Commissioners' Report). The same persons are trustees for both charities. The gross total income, which amounts to about 535, is distributed as follows: 321 for education purposes, 107 for apprenticing, and the same as the latter sum to be given to the poor of the parish in kind.

_The Almshouse Charity._--Paddington is singularly deficient in almshouses, the only houses of the kind having been pulled down between 1860 and 1870. These stood opposite the Vestry Hall, and are mentioned below. The Almshouse Charity includes the charity of Frances King. It is described as having been mentioned first on the Court Rolls of the manor of Paddington in 1720, but Lysons, in referring to the same charity, says: ”Several small almshouses were built at the parish expense in the year 1714.” There were seventeen of these almshouses in all, inclusive of four built by Samuel Pepys c.o.c.kerell. Two of them were used as rooms by the master and mistress of the Charity School. Some of these houses must have been pulled down previous to the year 1853, for at that date the Vestry applied for permission to pull down the twelve almshouses in the Harrow Road, considering that the estate could be more advantageously administered. It was not until 1867, however, that the order of the Court of Chancery was finally obtained, and after the demolition part of the land was let on a building lease. Another part, with a frontage to the Harrow Road, was let also on a building lease 1869. The houses erected on this are Nos. 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, Harrow Road. Frances King's Charity was 200, given by will in 1845 to be expended in coals for the inhabitants of the above-mentioned almshouses. The total income of the Almshouse Charity is somewhere about 200; of this amount the trustees pay a yearly sum of 50 to the trustees of St. Mary's School, and the remainder is applied to necessary expenses, and to pensions of 10 to 12 a year to deserving candidates in the parish.

Denis Chirac left in 1777 a sum of 100 (Report Charity Commissioners; Lysons says 138) for the benefit of the poor children of the parish.

This amount, together with 120 given by Baron Maseres, was applied to the building of a schoolroom. The old Charity School, still standing near the site of the almshouses, was built in 1822 upon copyhold land granted for the purpose by the Bishop. St. Mary's Schools at present stand near the spot in Church Place.

_Abourne's Charity_ was left in 1767. It is at present 300 in stock, and produces an annual income of from 8 to 9, distributed in bread among the poor of the parish.