THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 93
consisting of one segmental arch of fine proportion, was built by Sir John Rennie
1837-39, at a cost of £12,000.
To build the approach to this new bridge, an old roadside inn called the
"Bombay Grab," which stood at the S.W. corner (in Middlesex), had to be
pulled down. It abutted on the river, whose waters washed its side walls (as
at the inn at Waltham). In 1860 I noted that the site was occupied by a slate
merchant, opposite Abbott's brewery (now Smith, Garrett & Co.).
In 1858 two of the bridges were kept in repair by the Bridge House of
London, and the ancient estate at Stratford, charged with these repairs, produced
a rent of £409 4s. 0d. per annum.
No doubt when the bridge had been made, and the traffic thereby increased,
a cluster of houses and inns soon gathered around the improved means of
communication ; and the Parish Church of Stepney being over two miles away,
a new church was soon required. Lysons tells us "that the Church of St. Mary,
Stratford-le-Bow, was founded by King Edward III. on a piece cf ground which
formed part of the king's highway" ; but Newcourt places it earlier, saying :
"that on account of the distance from Stepney, the Bishop of London granted a
license in 1311 to erect a chapel there. The present church, however, standing
in the middle of the road, shows no evidence of an earlier date than I4S0. It
consists of a nave, with two aisles and chancel, and a west tower. It contains a
number of monuments ; the most notable being that of Mrs. Prisca Coburne,
who was a liberal benefactor in lands and money to the parishes of Bow and
Stepney, the founder of the Coborn Schools, and died in 1701. She was the
daughter of one of the ministers of Bow, and widow of a brewer. Another
monument is in memory of their daughter Alice, who died in 1689, at the age of
sixteen. This contains a marble bust, with a lengthy inscription in Latin,
with Greek and Hebrew, written by her lover, Mr. Wollaston. The Registers
begin 1538.
This church was nearly surrounded by houses—one, an old market-place
supported on pillars, with a justice-room above ; and among the old views I have
brought with me to-day, there is a very pretty engraving by George Cooke,
from a drawing by A. W. Calcott, R.A., which gives a good idea of the place in
1826. It was sketched just in time, for about 1830 the old houses were taken
down, the iron frame of the fire-beacon removed from the church tower, and the
top story cased with new stone, with an embattled parapet. The present
condition is well depicted in the water-colour drawing taken for me in 1863
by E. S. Chatterton.
Mr. Walter Besant thus mentions it in his novel, "All Sorts and Conditions
of Men" : "There is not much in the Bow Road except the beautiful old church,
standing in the middle of the road, crumbling slowly away in the East End fog, with
its narrow strip of crowded churchyard. One hopes that before it has quite
crumbled away, someone will go and make a picture of it—an etching would
be best."
Bow was created a separate Parish in 1711, and the Rectory House, where
I have spent many a pleasant day with a former Rector, was built about
1720-30.
By the time of Queen Elizabeth, Bow had grown into a large village.
Some fine houses of her reign were removed in my early days, and I have
some carved oak trusses from one of them. Fox, in his "Book of Martyrs,"
says that Stratford-le-Bow was the scene of the burning of one person for