Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-16
OLD LONDON STONE SIGNS.
Ancient Figures Which Are Rapidly
Disappearing.
From the London Globe.


A new London is rapidly rising around
us-a London of today. which is ruthlessly
erasing the few remaining traces of the
old city. Each new boulevard sweeps away
some interesting relics of the past almost
every new building supersedes one which
served to link us with less unitarian, but
more romantic. times. Care is certainly
taken in the process of demolition to pre-
serve any portable fragments of antiouar.-
an interest, but mere collection Of stones
or carvingss1p a museum Is a poor substf-
tute for the original building of which
they formed part. More commendable ts
the plan OF Incorporating such relics in the
new building which displaces the old, so
that they may remain connected with the.
site, and this practice was followed in the
city with many of the old carved signs
which adorned the houses of the seven
teenth century. Several OF these NAV be
found, with a little search In dark sIIevs
or built high up in walls, rocking strange.
ly forlorn and out of place In their mod
ern settings, but reminding one forcibly
of the old associations of the snots tbay
mark.
One of the best known of these Is the
boy and Pannier," in the narrow passage
between Paternoster Row and Newgate
This is mentioned by Stow as far hack as
1898, though there is some doubt whether
the present Is the original sign 1t repre-
sents boy sitting astride what is said to
be basket, and commemorates the ems
tom of the bakers boys vending their
wares there. The Inscription beneath. set
ting forth that the spot Is the highest
ground within the city. has nothing to do
from some other site and built into the
wall with 1t for convenience sake ANYWAY
its contention is not justified by fact. MOI
far on. nj high up In the wall forming the
front OF 81 Cheapside Is an heraldic sign a
swan with collar and chain. but its ascot
atoms with the site are unknown Close
by, within No. Al, the mutiliated fipura Of
a bear muzzled. Is preserved, which was
cavating for the foundations of the present
building There is also bear on the front
OF house in Addle street, at the top of
A Al and another in Lower
the initials, probably, OF the builder and
his wife, All three animals have q, sinh
stantial collar, and chain across their
backs, but the one In Cheapside faces the
opposite way to the others This is m1Ich
the most lifelike of the three. There used
to be a similar bear, carved in wood on
the front of house in Piccadilly, where
the Criterion now stands, and this Is now
going to decay in a garden near Croydon
High up In front of No. 20 Alderma injury
is a good example of The Pelican" carved
in the legendary attitude of drawing blood
from her breast to feed her young, and al
the corner of Gresham street and old
Jewry is a female head with a helmet,
probably meant for Minerva. The Prince
of Wales Feathers. with the date 1870
appears in st. Pauls churchyard at the
corner of Cannon alley, and a sign. dated
1862 representing fox sitting on its
haunches, is shown inside No. "a Lombard
street, which, like the bear In Cheapside.
was dug UP. on, or near, the site. Built
into the wall of the staircase Just inside
the doorway of 2s Bulge row is an ex-
cellently preserved sign, that of the Loop
ard This may conceivably be the original
sign of the hall of the SINNERS Company.
which stood CLOSE by, for the leopard is
their crest, and the street takes ITS name
from the ''budges.' or lambs fleeces which
Were at one time exposed for sale there.
Perhaps the oldest Of these signs Is the
Mitre, In Mitre court, Hatton Garden, to
which attention was called in e contem-
porary the other day. This 10 dated l646,
and no doubt Is the same that originally
ornamented the gateway OF the chapel in
Sa ,y dc clo1e a RI n H Ens same nnsn
seen a stone sign Of the Bell, with initials