Halfmoon Court EC1
This little patch squeezed between Aldersgate Street and St Bartholomew’s church is a real treasure of intrigue. Halfmoon Court is the southern most of five passages leading eastward from Kinghorn Street. Its route used to continue round a curious dog-leg bend before emerging through a narrow covered passage into Aldersgate Street, but the path was truncated earlier this century and is now only half its original length. Many of the neighbouring byways, tiny openings dotted here and there, have gone the same way as in other parts of London – sunken from view, forgotten and erased from the scene. There used to be an array of short connecting passages around here, some can still be found but most have either been sealed off or building developments have obliterated their very existence.
Here, as though you had not guessed, was the Half Moon Tavern. It stood on the corner of Aldersgate Street, an enchanting little place favoured in the 16th century by artists, writers, critics, or anyone feeling the need to engage in literary conversation. In 1866 one of these faithful clients wrote in a local paper that the Half Moon ‘is filled with carved woodwork of the most elaborate kind and the walls are curiously panelled’. The old tavern, with its projecting gables and quaint bow windows was certainly a striking feature in a street at that time largely deprived of character. Taking time out from writing Bartholomew Fair, Ben Jonson sauntered round the corner one morning for his daily tipple and found the door firmly locked. He rattled and banged for a while but unknown to him, the landlord had had a heavy night and was still in bed. With the occasional shake of the head and exaggerated tut he shuffled off to the Sun, another celebrated old haunt in Long Lane. There, he settled in a corner, drew out his quill and recorded for posterity the inconvenient occasion:
‘Since the Half Moon is so unkind
to make me go about,
The Sun my money now shall have,
The Moon shall go without.’
Tasting the ale, he couldn’t resist scribbling down:
‘The thirst that from the soul doth rise
doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.’
and went back to the Half Moon.
Two hundred and fifty years after the death of Ben Jonson in 1637, the Half Moon was hanging on by the skin of its teeth. One by one the taverns around St Bartholomew’s were shutting up shop and the Half Moon echoed the call of ‘last orders’ for the final time in 1881. The Court is still here, much changed over the years, but it remains as a memorial to a dearly loved tavern.
There is still a goodly selection of pubs in the confines of St Bartholomew’s but reflecting on the area around the turn of the last century when literally every corner was a tavern door, it is now an ocean turned to desert.
Ham Yard W1
UG: Piccadilly Circus
Bus: Any to Piccadilly Circus
Leave Piccadilly Circus via Shaftsbury Avenue and turn left into Gt Windmill Street. Ham Yard is then about 50 yds on the left opposite Archer Street.
Ham Yard, or at least its site, has seen more appealing times than it can now boast. It was once the luscious open space that from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I took on the name of Windmill Fields – from an impressive brick windmill built at that time. It occupied the exact site of this Yard and stood, apparently in working condition, until about 1780 when the line of the main street was first laid out. The Lyric tavern which stands on the corner of Ham Yard is the successor to a tavern built about 1730 and at that time called the Ham and Windmill from which the Yard gets its name. The name of the tavern was changed at the end of the 19th century when the building was replaced.
The most interesting feature of this spacious Yard is the market barrows stored here when not laden with fruit and vegetables in the Rupert Street extension of Berwick Street market.
Hand Court WC1
UG: Chancery Lane
Bus: 8 17 25 45 46 171A 243 501 521
From Chancery Lane Station walk west along the north side of High Holborn for about 220 yds. Turn right into Brownlow Street. At the end of Brownlow Street turn left and Hand Court is about 45 yds on the left.
A partly covered passage between the Bung Hole public house and Lloyd’s Bank. In the Court are the bookmakers William Hill and, at number 23, the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy.
Hand Court probably takes its name from a trade sign hanging outside the business premises of a previous occupant. In the days when illiteracy was common place and few people could read and write, it was usual to display a familiar sign outside shops to illustrate the style of business being carried on. A well known tradesman would sometimes have his personal sign hanging outside his place of business. Although not nearly as familiar as they were, we still occasionally come across old trade signs in use today, like the barbers pole and the tree balls of the pawnbroker. The sign of the hand would signify a manufacturing trade and would usually incorporate the article being made. What particular trade was carried on in Hand Court is not known but it is quite certain that this was the origin of its name.
Harp Alley EC4
UG: Blackfriars
Bus: Any to Ludgate Circus
From Ludgate Circus walk north along Farringdon Street. The court is about 100 yds on the left.
At the time of writing, the whole length of the north side of this Alley is adorned with scaffolding against a new stone faced construction of some six or seven storeys. At the western end of the Alley a dozen stone steps raise the level to its opening in St Bride’s Street.
Prior to 1868 Harp Alley was about twice the length it is today and emerged at its western end into Shoe Lane. With the building of the new St Bride’s Street in that year the Alley suffered in much the same way as the byways on the east side of Farringdon Street; it was severely truncated to accommodate the new layout. During the 17th century the Harp Tavern occupied the adjacent site facing onto Farringdon Street.
Hartshorn Alley EC3
UG: Aldgate
Bus: 15B 25 40 67 100 253 D1 D11
From Aldgate Station walk in a south westerly direction along Aldgate High Street, crossing Hounsditch, Mitre Street, and Leadenhall Street. Hartshorn Alley is about 35 yds on the right.
In the 15th century, when the Earl of Northumberland had his mansion on the south side of Fenchurch Street and the monks of the Order of St Augustin had their priory just to the north of here, the Harts Horn was a flourishing tavern on this site. At that time, the passage at the side of the tavern was called Angel Alley but through close association with the tavern it was more often referred to as Harthorn Court. The official change to Hartshorn Alley occurred shortly after the house was demolished, about the mid-18th century.
Walking through Hartshorn Alley is an experience that can quite justly be described as modernly curious. It is covered throughout its length, its walls are clad with no-expense-spared modern granite blocks, and up-to-the-minute light fixtures illuminate the way. The narrow passage twists and turns between its two extremes through what can easily be mistaken for a fairyland grotto. Wrought iron gates at both ends preclude access in evening times and at weekends to this pleasant, contemporary Alley which only seems to serve the purpose of linking Fenchurch Street with Leadenhall Street. With wide open mouth and tingling neurons one wonders why they went to such expense when it is, after all, merely a cut-through.
Haunch of Venison Yard W1
UG: Bond Street
Bus: Any to Bond St station
Follow the directions for Globe Yard and turn into Globe Yard. Follow it round to the right and then left. This leads into Haunch of Venison Yard.
Between the early 18th century and 1910 the Haunch of Venison Tavern stood at the Brook Street entrance to this Yard – it was possibly named from the speciality dish of the chef. The expanse of the place might suggest that the tavern itself was of some considerable dimensions.
All the buildings in the Yard are of commercial usage and those on the west side are the rear of shops fronting onto New Bond Street. Alexon Fashions are here and at the end of the Yard are Philips and Glendining. Number 3 is particularly attractive with window boxes and canopies.
Haunch of Venison Yard is directly opposite number 25 Brook Street where Handel lived for over 30 years. In this house he composed the Messiah and died there in 1759.
Hen and Chicken Court EC4
UG: Chancery Lane/Temple
Bus: 4 11 15 23 26 76 171A
Off the north side of Fleet Street, adjacent to the west side of Fetter Lane.
Leaving Fleet Street through a narrow covered opening, Hen and Chicken Court continues as a passage before opening out into an elongated yard lined with a number of a-little-the-worse-for-ware buildings. This is a quaint Court – but perhaps not, as might be imagined, so quaint as when the Hen and Chicken Inn stood on the spot. Documentation relating to the inn is extremely thin on the ground and although Boswell, in his Life of Samuel Johnson, makes mention of a fair selection of Fleet Street inns and taverns he conveys no reference to this one. Of course the name could have been an affectionate handle for one of the more familiar establishments.
Whatever… with the literary tavern-dwelling inhabitants of Fleet Street and its tributaries, the hostelry was doubtless a thriving one in its 18th century hey-day. There is now no great activity in Hen and Chicken Court. Funnelled away from the bustling main street and almost sealed off from its roar, the only audible sound is the rattle of odds and ends sliding down a rubbish shoot.
Hind Court EC4
UG: Blackfriars
Bus: 4 11 15 23 26 76 171A
The Court is one of a cluster to the north side of Fleet Street. It is situated about 200 yds west of Ludgate Circus.
During the 17th and 18th centuries there was certainly an abundance of taverns in Fleet Street and it has been said that the ‘Hind’ was among them. It is quite true that the sign portraying a female red deer was a popular inn sign of past years but I can uncover no trace of such an inn sign in Fleet Street.
Beneath its covered access and beyond, Hind Court is a quiet place compared with its next door neighbour, Wine Office Court, where, on a summer evening the multitudes quaffing at the Old Cheshire Cheese can render its passage impassable. There are no taverns here and for that matter there is precious little else. With the gentle intervention of Bolt Court joining from the left, it slinks effortlessly into Gough Square and that is where it ends.
Hogarth Court EC3
UG: Monument
Bus: 40 100 D1 D11
Follow the directions for Fenn Court but continue past Fenn Court for about 20 yds. Hogarth Court is on the left.
Hogarth Court, in name, is a relative newcomer to the London street scene; it used to be called Fishmonger Alley until 1936 when the authorities seized on a little piece of history connecting William Hogarth with the adjacent Elephant Tavern. Apparently, the famous painter took lodging at the Tavern at some point in his career and humorously portrayed it in Modern Midnight Conversation, painted to raise a fistful of the readies when he was in a spot of financial difficulty. Ever since that time the walls have been adorned with his works and devotees of the man have reverenced the place on bended knee.
Although all of the buildings around here were destroyed in the Great Fire, because of its stone structure the Elephant survived the tremendous heat, and provided refuge for a great many who had lost their homes. Due to deterioration the place was rebuilt in 1826, and in 1900 the frontage of the house was altered to conform with the line of buildings taken back by the widening of Fenchurch Street. The devastation of the Second World War almost saw the disappearance of the Elephant altogether but the brewers, in cooperation with the developers have resurrected the tavern, although somewhat differently styled, on the ground and basement floors of Victoria House. The tavern has an entrance on Hogarth Court.
William Hogarth was born in 1697 in Bartholomew Close, West Smithfield. His schoolmaster father was an easy going man who enforced nothing on young William but encouraged him in the development of his natural talents. Very early in his life the lad showed a flare for sketching and painting, so that when he left school it seemed quite natural that he would follow an artistic career. It was while working as an apprentice engraver at Gamble’s silversmith’s shop in Cranbourne Alley, near to Leicester Square, that he acquired perfection in a skill that was to pay off multifold in the years to come.
In 1727 his great potential was recognised by Sir James Thornhill who favoured him by agreeing to take him on as a student at his art school in James Street, Covent Garden. But Hogarth was dizzily attracted to Thornhill’s daughter and spent as much time attending to her as he did to his studies, eventually eloping with her to distant Paddington where the two were secretly married in 1729.
The taverns around St Martin’s Lane were the openings to Hogarth’s success and fortune; here he found the wealthy punters in the way of actors and other stage performers who were willing to pay the price of a portrait. He was a master of exaggeration; his scenes of every-day events depict the theme with great accuracy yet in a style which is uncannily burlesque. His painting of the central archway of Horse Guards illustrates in typical caricature a coach with headless driver emerging from the low tunnel. One of Hogarth’s most sought after works at the time were the prints made from an engraving of Sarah Malcolm, a destitute washer woman who viciously murdered Mrs Duncumbe and her maid, Anne Price in Church Court (The Temple) in 1733. The Duke of Roxburghe was desperate enough to secure a copy that he paid £8.5s (£8.25p) for a single print.
Receipts from sales like this enabled Hogarth to purchase a house near to Leicester Square where he added a studio and workshops for a team of engravers. After his death his widow remained at the house until her final day in 1789; it was then sold to a Mr Pagliano who transformed it into the Sablonnier Hotel and it became popular with his native Italians until the site was required for development in 1870. About the same time of his Leicester Square purchase Hogarth invested his resources in some of the worldly comforts that one would expect of a successful artist and bought a country house in Chiswick. At first the house was used as an occasional retreat in the summer months but in later years he increasingly spent more time away from the noise of inner city and died in ‘the little country box by the Thames’ on the 25th October 1764, aged 67. The red-brick house in Hogarth Lane was opened as the Hogarth Museum in 1902 and was renovated in 1951 after a narrowly escaping total destruction in World War II.
William Hogarth is buried in Chiswick churchyard.
Hood Court EC4
UG: Blackfriars
Bus: Any to Ludgate Circus
Follow the directions for Salisbury Court. Continue past Salisbury Court and Hood Court is a tiny opening on the left.
Hood Court leaves Fleet Street by way of a quaint narrow covered passage and leads up two shallow steps into a secluded little courtyard to the south, where a mixture of modern and older buildings surround. A connecting path in the southeast corner links with Salisbury Square. In the passageway is the entrance to the Presscala Club Restaurant. The name of the Court is probably taken from a previous inhabitant although it has been suggested that there may have been a connection with Thomas Hood who founded a paper called ‘Hood’s Magazine’.
Horse and Dolphin Yard W1
UG: Leicester Square
Bus: 14 19 38 to Classic Cinema, Shaftsbury Ave
24 29 176 to Cambridge Circus
From Leicester Square Station walk north along Charing Cross Road for a few yds and turn left into Newport Street. In about 50 yds turn right into Newport Place then in about 45 yds turn left into Gerrard Street. Continue for about 100 yds and turn right into Macclesfield Street. Horse and Dolphin Yard is a few yards on right
Here, throughout the span of almost 300 years, stood the Horse and Dolphin tavern. It was built around the beginning of the 17th century and survived many changes of environment as the West End evolved around it until its days ended in 1890. This traumatic occasion was brought about through work surrounding the widening of former Dudley Street and King Street to form the eastern end of the newly constructed Shaftsbury Avenue. Included in the plans was the redevelopment of Macclesfield Street, an old road built to provide access to the mansion of Charles Gerard, Earl of Macclesfield. The planned remodelling of this street which led to the fall of the Horse and Dolphin left many a broken man sheading tears in what they assumed was their final vessel at the tavern. But this all changed to joyful celebration when the locals heard that it was to be rebuilt.
True to the planners’ word the tavern was replaced, but by some quirk of which we shall never come to understand, it was renamed the Macclesfield Arms, – with the yard of the Horse and Dolphin along side. Today the Yard is accessed through a square covered opening and leads through to a wide area of generous proportions. Somewhat spoiling the aspect are the numerous commercial receptacles for the disposal waste. I suppose they have to be sited somewhere but it seems out of order that they need to be so conspicuous in what could be classed as a rather presentable district. The necessity for these grim waste-bins quickly becomes apparent in the realisation that this is China Town and the array of menus of true cuisine Chinese decorate almost every door in this vicinity. Gerrard Street, to the south of here, is the real centre where, amid the restaurants, supermarkets and bake-shops, the Council has constructed an authentic atmosphere by the addition of Chinese furnishings.
On an informative note, lest some should be confused by the extraordinary combination of a horse and a dolphin. In this instance the dolphin was a bollard or stump, often seen outside inns in those days, for securing a horse while the owner secured himself to the bar.
Horse Shoe Yard W1
UG: Bond Street
Bus: Any to Bond St station
Turn right out of Bond Street Station and right again into New Bond Street. Cross Blenheim Street and at the next junction turn right into Brook Street. Horse Shoe Yard is then a few yards on the left.
For years this has been a private Yard and the fading old sign telling you so is still to be seen on the wall. Horseshoe Yard once formed the stage loading bays to one of the many inns which sprung up along this end of Brook Street during the late 18th century. It was reported at the turn of the century that ‘The demand for hotels is every year increasing’ although the aristocratic class of the neighbourhood was maintained as the report goes on to point out, that those leasing the rooms were ‘very respectable’.
It is a long time since coaches rattled over the cobble stones in this Yard, in fact it is a good many years since the cobble stones were removed, but the memory of the old inn lives on – at least for the time being. However, Laing’s Construction has been working on this site for many months and the status quo may not be preserved for very much longer.
Huggin Court (and Hill) EC4
UG: Mansion House
Bus: 4 11 15 17 23 26 76 172 521
From Mansion House Station (Cannon Street south side) walk west, crossing Garlick Hill for about 100 yds. Turn left into Huggin Hill.
Huggin Hill is one of those centuries old byways, of which London is so well endowed. It has been here since at least the 13th century and was recorded in 1281 as Hoggenlane, a notable resort of pig keepers. By the 19th century the name had been corrupted to Huggin Lane and consisted of tiny houses and shops with a proliferation of hanging signboards almost extending across to the opposite buildings. The walkway was surfaced with cobbles sloping inwards towards a central drainage channel. On the west side of the Hill is Cleary Gardens built on war damaged property in memory of Frederick Cleary, a member of the Court of Common Council between 1959 and 1984. Near to this site, in 1964, the remains of a Roman bath dating from about 80 AD was uncovered. It is thought that this bath originally covered the area to the east and west of Huggin Hill, constructed on terraces built into the rising Thames-side ground where a constant flow of water from underground channels fed the bath.
On the east corner at the junction with Upper Thames Street stood the church of St Michael Queenhithe, built about 1150. The church was totally destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and the site remained derelict until eleven years later when its replacement was built by Wren. It was pulled down in 1876 and some of the fittings were donated to other churches; the font was transferred to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Huggin Court is an inconspicuous place, found about half way down the Lane on the east side. Its slender way through to Little Trinity Lane serves the same purpose today as it has for many years, – to pass between the two lanes.
Hunt’s Court WC2
UG: Leicester Square
Bus: 24 29 176
Off the west side of Charing Cross Road, about 50 yds south of Leicester Square Station.
What, you might ask, has Hunt’s Court got to offer the adventurous London tourist on a day out looking for spectacular entertaining sights? To be quite honest and to-the-point, not a lot. One can scarcely see into its now diminished confines; you cannot protrude beyond its iron ‘grill’, and if you could a hasty retreat would most surely ensue. It started out as a privately owned court and has remained so almost throughout the entire duration of its long existence; the present owners use it as a store area.
During the late 17th century it was the workshop of Samuel Hunt, one of the renowned carpenters operating in this area at the time. His dedicated skill and a constant demand for his lovingly prepared work ensured a constant flow of orders envied by many of his fellow craftsmen.
The alleyways and courtyards of London
This page is taken from Ivor Hoole’s defunct GeoCities site listing the alleys and courtyards in Central London, last updated in 2004 and now taken offline.
The Underground Map blog lists this information as is, with no claim of copyright.