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one erected in 1741. This structure is built
with brick in as plain a manner as possible.
It has two series of small arched windows
on each side, and the only ornaments are
a vase at each corner, and a turret at the
west end. There are here also a French
meeting-house, a charity school, and a
place of public entertainment, which has
a pleasant garden, and a band of vocal and
instrumental music. This may be con-
sidered as a kind of humble imitation of
Vauxhall.
St. MARY LE BOW, near the corner of
Bow lane in Cheapside, received the epi-
thet le Bow, from its being the first
church in this city built with arches: for
so early as in the time of William the
Conqueror a church of the same name
stood in this place; a massy Gothic pile,
decorated with lofty arches, which the
vulgar of that time called bows, and this
name has been continued through all its
succeeding changes. Here the court of
Arches used to meet, and from these
arches received its name. Stowe.
In the history of the ancient edifice we
find, that in the year 1271, a great number
of people were destroyed, and many more
maimed by the falling of the steeple, after
which it remained without one till the
year 1512, when it was finished upon the
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old plan, with stone brought from Caen
in Normandy; and thus continued till it
was destroyed with the other buildings in
the city, by the fire in 1666.
The present edifice, which was built by
the great Sir Christopher Wren, was fi-
nished in 1673, and is a handsome struc-
ture, chiefly admired for the elegance of its
steeple, which is extremely light in its
aspect, and though very high and full of
openings, is secure from any second fall
by the geometrical proportion and light-
ness of its several parts. It is thought to
be the most beautiful thing of its kind in
Europe.
The tower is square from the ground,
and in this form rises to a considerable
height; but with more ornament as it
advances. The principal decoration of
the lower part is the entrance, which is a
lofty, noble, and well-proportioned arch,
on two of the sides faced with a bold
rustic, and raised on a plain solid course
from the foundation. Within the arch is
a portal of the Doric order; the freeze
ornamented with trigliphs, and with
sculpture in the metopes; over this arch
is an opening with a small balcony, which
answers to a window on the other face.
The first stage is terminated by an elegant
cornice, over which again rises a plain
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