Page 244 [244]
tHE CITY AS SEs
iJ
iv
ty
the huge mass of the Law Courts, where
formerly was a rookery of dilapidated, if
picturesque, houses. Then where is Temple
Bar? Where is the dingy front of Child’s
Bank with its curious little room over the
arch? Where, on the opposite side, are the
familiar oyster shop and the old Cock? All
are gone, and we might be better resigned
to their loss if we could persuade ourselves
that the. region still vaguely denominated
Temple Bar had been improved in the
process of alteration. |
I have not heard any adequate reason
advanced for the removal of the old archway.
| Li Some people said it obstructed the highway ;
0 GHANCERY Lane to which the obvious answer was, ‘‘ Make
the street wider and leave Temple Bar in the middle.” That is what
they have done in Paris. If the road was ob¬
structed, why was that funny Dragon set up?
It will be well, however, in passing, to assert
once more that Temple Bar was not a city gate.
I regret its removal, because it was extremely
beautiful in itself, and because it had many in¬
teresting associations. There has been a kind of
crusade against Wren’s works of late years ; and
Temple Bar was doomed from the first. The
age that spared not the College of Physicians
was not likely to respect Temple Bar, even if it
had been what it was not, a city gate. As there
was no boundary wall or fence between the ward
DOORWAY IN TOOK'S COURT, CHANCERY LANE