Page 101 [101]
OCR
THE GROWTH OF THE CITY 79 panelling mitigated draughts, and were supplemented in the houses of the wealthy by tapestry. Chimneys with great fireplaces, like one we may still see in Crosby Hall, were becoming common; while in the streets the comparative cleanliness, the sidepaths, and the many covered markets, made handsome clothes possible. The military element was very prominent. The King-maker’s soldiers thronged the streets north of St. Paul's, where Warwick Lane still commemorates his palace, and probably few houses were seen in the city except those of knights or great nobles. Wheeled vehicles must have been unknown, and, indeed, impossible, except in the widest thoroughfares. The labouring folk might be seen each morning crowding the gates on their way from their homes at Stepney or Clerkenwell or Walworth, for the stately houses of the nobles and aldermen, and the great gardens of the numerous convents, left little room for the lodgings of the meaner folk, even though both the Cheaps were nearly built over. To make up, two smooth fields, one east and one west of the city, were used for markets, and most of us can remember when cattle were still sold in West = Smithfield. Notwithstanding many outward improvements at this time, the public health grew worse and worse. All kinds of theories, religious, superstitious, meteorological, and i ag A CITY CHARACTER—NEW LONDON STREET, FENCHURCH STREET
