Polytechnic Institution. 103 THE CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Margaret Street, Regent Street, is considered one of the handsomest of modern Gothic churches after the design of Mr. Butterfield, architect. Its painted windows, marble decorations, polished granite piers, with carved alabaster capitals; its frescoes, by the late W. Dyce, R.A., and low choir screen of alabaster, are the accessories to a High-church service, which attracts many of the upper classes. At 93 Mortimer Place is the German Athenæum Club. THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION, a cheap place of instructive amusement, erected in 1838, was abolished as such in 1882. It became (Sept. 1882) the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute, which provides, besides other means of recreation and instruction, Technical and Scientific Classes in connection with various trades and manufactures. Langham Place was built upon the site of Foley House, and named after Sir James Langham. Here also stands the Langham Hotel, a magnificent structure upon the scale of the largest railway hotels of recent date, and chiefly noted as being a great resort of travelling Americans. All Souls' Church, Langham Place, was built by Nash, in 1822-5; and though not in the most attractive of ecclesiastical styles, it is not ill-suited to the surrounding houses. Nash was the great introducer of stucco. He taught how good or bad bricks might be concealed by cement, and made to imitate Bath stone. The following epigram is worth remembering : "Augustus at Rome was for building renowned, And of marble he left what of brick he had found; There is a well-known School for Artists in Langham Place,and at 4 Langham Place is St. George's Hall, wherein is given Mr. and Mrs. German Reed's Entertainment. Portland Place is a wide and noble street of mansions, built by the Brothers Adam (1778), and named after the Duke of Portland, the owner of the land about this quarter. It is continued to Park Crescent, across which runs Marylebone Road, and beyond the Crescent, a broad walk or avenue, in a line with Portland Place, is carried straight through Regent's Park and alongside of the Royal Zoological Gardens. REGENT'S PARK (named after the Prince Regent), of 472 acres, containing part of what was known as Marylebone Park or Fields, lies between the south foot of Primrose Hill and the Marylebone Road, and was formed in 1812 by Nash the architect, who also built most of the terraces which surround it, nearly all of which are Crown property. In the south-west portion is a lake with three forks crossed by suspension bridges. In the south part of the Park is the Inner Circle, the whole of which is occupied by the Garden of the Royal Botanic Society (inst. 1839), open every week-day from nine 104 The Zoological Gardens. -and in the months of May, June and July, from seven a.m. till sunset, and on Sundays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Exhibition days, after two o'clock, to persons presenting orders from Fellows of the Society. Artists and Students have free admission from 9 to 1 on recommendations from their teachers. The Garden of the Toxophilite Society is situated in the road leading from the Inner Circle to Marylebone Road. At the north end of the Park are the Gardens of the Zoological Society. Admission from nine till dusk; Mondays 6d., other days 18., except Sundays, when admission is only by Fellows' order. The Zoological Collection includes 1331 birds, 735 quadrupeds, 459 reptiles, and is one of the sights of London. The hippopotamus, the monkey house, the snakes, the fishes, the seals, the bears, are well worth a visit. The lions, &c., are fed at 4 P.M. in summer, and at 3 P.M. in November, December and January. A promenade at the 'Zoo,' on a fine Sunday afternoon in the London season, is a pleasant opportunity for seeing fashionable life in London. "If I have cares in my mind," wrote Thackeray, "I come to the Zoo, and fancy they don't pass the gate. I recognise my friends, my enemies, in countless cages." On the east side of Regent's Park is St. Katharine's Hospital, an ancient foundation for charitable uses, now serving as a retreat for old servants of the Crown. The Marquis of Hertford's Villa is in the outer road, its portico is an adaptation of the Temple of the Winds, at Athens; in a recess near the entrance are the clock and two gigantic statues, with clubs and bells, from old St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street. From the top of Primrose Hill is to be enjoyed upon a fine morning one of the most extensive views of London. Primrose Hill in Charles II.'s reign was rendered notorious by the murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, whose body was found there transfixed with a sword, but" with money in his pocket and rings on his fingers." Sir Edmondbury had been an active magistrate, and his assassination was supposed to have been prompted by the queen; but although three persons were hanged for the crime, it was believed that the real criminals went unpunished. The Shakespeare Oak on the summit was planted April 23, 1864, to commemorate the tercentenary of the poet's birth. The Regent's Canal, City, and Docks Railway, intended to utilise the north bank of the Regent's Canal, and to connect the west with the east end of town, with a terminus upon one branch, in the Barbican, and another (via Islington and Kingsland) at St. Katharine's Docks, if it can be carried out without too much injury to the residents on the route, may probably soon be made. |