Westminster | Page 3

twenty years (1834-54).
The fire-station and Western District Post-Office also occupy part of the same site. The extension of the Army and Navy Stores stands on the site of the Greencoat School, demolished in 1877. Certain gentlemen founded this school; in Charles I.'s reign it was constituted "a body politic and corporate," and the seal bears date 1636. The lads wore a long green skirt, bound round with a red girdle. In 1874, when the United Westminster Schools were formed from the amalgamation of the various school charities of Westminster, the work was begun here, but three years later the boys were removed to the new buildings in Palace Street. The old school buildings were very picturesque. They stood round a quadrangle, and the Master's house faced the entrance, and was decorated with a bust of King Charles and the royal arms. In the wainscoted board-room hung portraits of King Charles I. by Vandyck, and King Charles II. by Lely.
The name of Artillery Row is connected with the artillery practice at the butts, which stood near here in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. At the end, if we turn to the left, we come into Old Rochester Row, and so to Greycoat Place, in which stands the Greycoat Hospital. This building, one of the few old ones left in the parish, has a red-tiled roof and dormer windows, projecting eaves and heavy window-frames. Two wings enclose a courtyard, which is below the level of the road. Above the central porch, in niches, are the figures of a boy and girl in the old-fashioned Greycoat garb. In the centre are the Royal arms of Queen Anne, and a turret with clock and vane surmounts the roof.
This hospital was founded in 1698 for the education of seventy poor boys and forty poor girls. In 1706, by letters patent of Queen Anne, the trustees were constituted a body 'politic and corporate.' In this year also the school was established in the present quaint building, which had been a workhouse, perhaps that referred to in the vestry reports of 1664 as the "new workhouse in Tuttle ffields."
The boys then wore a long gray skirt and girdle, something similar to the Christ's Hospital uniform, and the girls a dress of gray. The hospital originated in the charity of the parishioners. Various additions have since been made to the building, and class-rooms have been added. The older class-rooms and board-room are wainscoted. In the latter are oil-paintings of Queen Anne, Bishops Compton and Smalridge (of Bristol), and various governors. The corporate seal represents two male figures tending a young sapling, a reference to 1 Cor. vii. 8. An old organ, contemporary with the date of the establishment, and a massive Bible and Prayer-Book, are among the most interesting relics. The latter, dated 1706, contains the "Prayer for the Healing" at the King's touch.
The hospital is a very wealthy foundation, and is able to support the strain of its immense expenses without difficulty. The governors have recently erected a row of red-brick flats to the west of the garden, which will further augment the income. The garden is charming with flower-beds and grass plots, while the vine and the ampelopsis climb over the old building.
Rochester Row owes its name to the connection of the See of Rochester with the Deanery of Westminster, which continued through nine successive incumbencies. The row was considered by the Dean and Chapter as a private thoroughfare until the beginning of the present century, but they had no reason to be proud of it. A filthy ditch caused much complaint; even in 1837 the state of the row was described as "shameful and dangerous." At the north-east end stood the parish pound-house. St. Stephen's Church and Schools are handsome, in a decorated Gothic style, and were built in 1847 by Ferrey, at the cost of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. The spire rises to a height of 200 feet.
Immediately opposite, two neat rows of almshouses, in red brick, face one another; on the exterior wall of each wing is the half-length effigy of a man in a niche. Beneath that on the northern wing is the inscription: "Mr. Emery Hill, late of the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster, founded these almshouses Anno Domini 1708. Christian Reader, in Hopes of thy Assistance." On each side similar inscriptions commemorate donations.
On the southern wing the slab beneath the figure bears the words: "Rev. James Palmer founded almshouses in Palmer's Passage for six poor old men and six poor old women Anno Domini 1856; re-erected here, 1881"; and a further record: "Mr. Nicholas Butler founded the almshouses in Little Chapel Street, near Palmer's Passage, for two of the most ancient couples of the best repute, Anno Domini 1675; re-erected here 1881." These are the Westminster United Almshouses. They were consolidated