London . ll Green on thenorth. This occu])icd the site of what are now the parish churcli and the Close;indeed, the latter was the Nunnery Close, and the former, before it was rebuiltabout half a century ago, was part of the ancient conventual church. TheNunnery was built nearly at the same period as the adjacent Priory of St. John,and continued in existence till the dissolution by Henry VIII. Scarcely anythingis known of its history, its architectural features, or its historical associations ;differing very widely, in this respect, from the Priory. After the lleformation,when that great event
London . ll Green on thenorth. This occu])icd the site of what are now the parish churcli and the Close;indeed, the latter was the Nunnery Close, and the former, before it was rebuiltabout half a century ago, was part of the ancient conventual church. TheNunnery was built nearly at the same period as the adjacent Priory of St. John,and continued in existence till the dissolution by Henry VIII. Scarcely anythingis known of its history, its architectural features, or its historical associations ;differing very widely, in this respect, from the Priory. After the lleformation,when that great event, as well as the dissolution of the monastic establishments,had rendered necessary a remodelling of the ])arochial affairs of so many parts ofEngland, the church of St. Marys Nunnery was made a parochial church, anddedicated to St. James, the other portions of the Nunnery enclosure passing intothe hands of the Duke of Newcastle ; while the choir of the church of the Priorybecame known as St. Johns [St. Jumcss Churcli] The Duke (then Earl) of Newcastle built a family mansion on the site, andpartly out of the ruins, of the Nunnery, a little northward of the old church. Who-ever would now look for this, one anion- many larire mansions once to be foundin Clerkenwell, or rather for the site which it once occupied, must pass from theClose through Newcastle Street in the direction of the church, leaving theentrance to the New Prison on his left. He will then be standing where New-castle House stood until about half a century back. The Earl of Newcastle, onwhose estates the enormous sum of three-quarters of a million sterling was leviedby Cromwells Parliament, and who returned to England from exile at the 138 LONDON. Restoration, spent nearly the whole remainder of his life in the retirementafforded \>y his seat at Clerkenwell, where he took much pleasure in literarypursuits, and paid some necessary attention to repairing the injuries sustained byhis fortune. On the opposit
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1844
