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See an account of the other hospitals of
the same kind, under the articles LYING-
IN HOSPITAL in Brownlow street and
LYING-IN HOSPITAL for unmarried as
well as married women in Duke street.
LONDON 'PRENTICE yard, in the Minories.
LONDON STONE, a very great piece of an-
tiquity, that has been carefully preserv-
ed from age to age, and is mentioned
by the same name so early as in the time
of Ethelstan, King of the West Saxons.
This stone, which stands close under
the south wall of St. Swithin's church,
was formerly a little nearer the channel
facing the same place, and being fixed
very deep in the ground was so strongly
fastened by bars of iron, as to be in no
danger from the carriages.
It seems very surprizing that so great a
piece of antiquity has been constantly pre-
served with such care, and yet so little
has been said of it, that the original cause
of its erection, and the use for which it
was intended, are entirely unknown. A
very ingenious author observes, that as
London appears to have been a Roman
city, it will be no improbable conjecture,
that this stone was the center, from
whence they extended its dimensions, and
might serve as the standard at which they
began to compute their miles. Of this
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opinion was also Mr. Maitland, and the
great Sir Christopher Wren, who ground-
ed his conjecture upon proofs which are
not every day to be obtained, for by re-
building many of the churches after the
fire of London, he had an opportunity of
discovering and tracing the ancient boun-
daries of London, with a greater nicety
than is ever to be expected again: on
clearing the foundations of St. Mary le
Bow in Cheapside, he found, upon open-
ing the ground, the walls with the win-
dows and pavement of a Roman temple,
entirely buried under the level of the pre-
sent street; this temple stood about forty
feet backwards; but having occasion to
bring the steeple of the new church to
range with the high street, he again be-
gan to dig through the made ground, till
having proceeded eighteen feet deep, to
his surprize he discovered a Roman cause-
way of rough stone four feet thick, close
and well rammed, with Roman brick
and rubbish at the bottom, all firmly ce-
mented; he was therefore of opinion,
that this was the northern boundary of
the Roman colony, and that the breadth
from north to south was from this cause-
way, now Cheapside, to the Thames; the
extent east and west from Tower hill to
Ludgate: the principal or Prætorian Way,
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