Holborn and Bloomsbury | Page 6

George
Chapman, the translator of Homer, and a touching monument in the
lobby to "John Belayse," put up by his two daughters, there is nothing
further worth seeing.

The graveyard which surrounds the church is supposed to have been the
ancient interment-ground of the hospital. The first mention of it in the
parish books is in 1628, when three cottages were pulled down to
increase its size. It was enlarged again in 1666. Part of the old hospital
wall enclosing it remained until 1630, when it fell down, and after the
lapse of some time a new wall was built. In St. Giles's Churchyard were
buried Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Shirley, Roger L'Estrange, Andrew
Marvell, and Richard Pendrell, who assisted in Charles II.'s escape; his
altar-tomb is easily seen near the east end of the church. By 1718 the
graveyard had risen 8 feet, so that the church stood in a pit or well. The
further burial-ground at St. Pancras was taken in 1805, and after that
burials at St. Giles's were not very frequent. Pennant was one of the
first to draw attention to the disgraceful overcrowding of the old
graveyard. There seem to have been several gates into the churchyard
with the right of private entry, one of which was used by the Duchess
of Dudley. The most remarkable gate, however, was at the principal
entrance to the churchyard, and was known as the Resurrection Gate,
from an alto-relievo of the Last Day. This was erected about 1687, and
was of red and brown brick. The composition of the relievo is said to
have been borrowed, with alterations, from Michael Angelo's work on
the same subject. In 1765 the north wall of the churchyard was taken
down, and replaced by the present railing and coping. In 1800 the gate
was removed, and replaced by the present Tuscan gate, in which the
sculpture has been refixed. This stood at first on the site of the old one
on the north of the churchyard, but was removed to the west side,
where it at present stands in an unnoticeable and obscure position. It
was probably placed there in the idea that the new road, Charing Cross
Road, would run past.
Denmark Street "fronts St. Giles Church and falls into Hog Lane, a fair
broad street, with good houses well inhabited by gentry" (Strype).
This description is no longer applicable. Denmark Place was once
Dudley Court, and the house here with a garden was given by the
Duchess of Dudley as a rectory for the parish. The Court or Row was
built on the site of the house previous to 1722.

Broad Street is one of the most ancient streets in the parish, and there
were a few houses standing on the north side when the rest of the
district was open ground. It was the main route westward for many
centuries, until New Oxford Street was made.
The procession from Newgate to Tyburn used to pass along Broad
Street, and halt at the great gate of the hospital, in order that the
condemned man might take his last draught of ale on earth. An
enterprising publican set up a tavern near here in 1623, and called it the
Bowl. He provided the ale free, and no doubt made much profit by the
patronage he received thereby. The exact site of the tavern was in Bowl
Yard, which ran into Broad Street near where Endell Street now is.
Among Cruikshank's well-known drawings is a series illustrating Jack
Sheppard's progress to the gallows.
The parish almshouses were built in the wide part of Broad Street on
ground granted by Lord Southampton, but were removed as an
impediment to traffic in 1783 to the Coal Yard, near the north of Drury
Lane. A row of little alleys--Salutation, Lamb's, Crown, and
Cock--formerly extended southward over the present workhouse site.
There are still one or two small entries both north and south. The
immense yard of a well-known brewery fills up a large part of the south
side, and a large iron and hardware manufactory on the north gives a
certain manufacturing aspect to the street. The Holborn Municipal
Baths are in a fine new building on the south side.
About High Street, which joins Broad Street at its west end, there is
surely less to say than of any other High Street in London. In 1413 the
gallows were set up at the corner where it meets Tottenham Court Road.
But even previously to this executions had taken place at Tyburn, and
soon Tyburn became the recognised place of execution. Sir John
Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, is the most notable name among the victims
who suffered at St. Giles. He was hung in chains and roasted to death
over a slow fire at this spot as a