Durham Yard

Durham yard, in the Strand, betn the New Exchange and the Thames.

Durham Yard, anciently Duresme House, as being the Residence of the Bishops of Durham.

In the Place where certain old Stables stood, belonging to this House is the New Exchange being furnished with Shops on both Sides the Walks, both below and above Stairs, for Milleners, Sempstresses, and other Trades that furnish Dresses; and is a Place of great Resort and Trade for the Nobility and Gentry, and such as have Occasion for such Commodities.

Of later Times this Durham Yard came to Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, in Consideration (say some) to pay to the See of Durham 200l. per Ann. which Grant was confirmed by Act of Parliament, dated the 16th of Charles the First. And it was by his Son built into Tenements or Houses, as now they are standing, being a handsome Street descending down out of the Strand, which falls into another much better inhabited, especially on the South Side, where there are Gardens fronting the Thames, very pleasant, with two Woodmongers Wharfs for the Sale of Fuel. Besides, where the Dary House stood, now taken down, is a more open Passage to another Row of Houses, fronting the Backside of the New Exchange. And on the North Side of the Street, near Ivy Bridge, is a pretty handsome Court, with a Free-stone Pavement, called Bishop's Court. These said Buildings of Durham Yard, are now the Inheritance of Sir Thomas Mompesson of Bathampton in the County of Wilts, Knight.

Durham yard, In the Strand; from Durham House, built by Dr. Beck Bishop of Durham. Camden's Britan.

Durham Yard, Strand, on the river side and a part of the grounds of Durham House.

Durham Yard, anciently Duresme House, as being the residence of the Bishops of Durham. ... Of later times this Durham-yard came to Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, in consideration (say some) to pay to the see of Durham £200 per annum, which grant was confirmed by Act of Parliament, dated the 16th of Charles I. And it was by his son built into tenements or houses, as now they are standing, being a handsome street descending down out of the Strand.—Strype, B. vi. pp. 75, 76.

From some satirical verses, printed by Anthony à Wood, respecting Le Tellier, Archbishop and Duke of Rheims, who came to England in April 1677 to "treat about a marriage with the Lady Mary, daughter of the Duke of York, with the Dauphin," it would seem that even then Durham Yard was a place of questionable resort. For—

The bishop who from France came slowly o'er
Did go to Betty Beaulie's;

and this Betty, we are told in a note, was "an old bawd in Durham Yard."¹ In Dryden's Sir Martin Marr-all, the scene of which is laid in Covent Garden, Lady Dupe speaks of Durham Yard as if it were the usual landing-place for that neighbourhood; and in The Tatler of June 7, 1709, mention is made of "a certain lady who left her coach at the New Exchange door in the Strand, and whipt down Durham Yard into a boat with a young gentleman for Fox Hall." Sir Godfrey Kneller's first London residence was in Durham Yard.² David Garrick in his short-lived venture as a wine merchant had his "vaults" in this yard. His brother was his partner. "Foote used sarcastically to say that he remembered Garrick living in Durham Yard, with three quarts of vinegar in the cellar, calling himself a Wine Merchant."³ During a part of the time that Garrick had his vault in Durham Yard his friend Johnson had his "garret in the Strand," at "the Black Boy over against Durham Yard."⁴ There was an earlier wine merchant than Garrick in Durham Yard, one Brinsden, whom Voltaire addresses as "dear John," wishes "good health and a quick sale of your Burgundy," and shows, by the general tenor of his letter, that in the bright springtime of his genius the great French writer must have been a frequent visitor at "durham's yard by charing cross."

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¹ Wood's Autobiography, p. 196.
² Walpole's Anecdotes, Works, 4to, 1798, vol. iv. p. 364, note.
³ Davies's Garrick, vol. i. p. 16.
⁴ Croker's Boswell, p. 30.

[Durham Yard.] Soon after the Restoration [Philip, 4th Earl of] Pembroke's son, the 5th Earl, decided to take down the dilapidated old [Durham] house and lease the site in building plots. (fn. 295) The new lay-out of the ground is shown on the extract from Morden and Lea's map of 1682 (p. 27). A few moderate-sized houses were erected on the south side of Durham Yard with gardens to the river, (fn. n23) but from the first there were wharves on the river front used for commercial purposes, and soon the greater part of the site was covered with courts of little houses occupied by small traders and artisans. (fn. n24) By the middle of the eighteenth century Durham Yard had become a slum, and by the time the Adam brothers took it over, practically all the buildings were in ruins. (fn. n25)

The New Exchange (The site of Nos. 54–64, Strand).

By a complicated series of transactions extending over the years 1603–10, the Earl of Salisbury obtained possession of a piece of ground about 208 feet in length by 60 feet in depth on the south side of the Strand between York House and the gatehouse of Durham Place. (fn. n26) There, on the site of the old stables which, according to Stow, (fn. 301) had become "but a low ruin … ready to fall, and very unsightly," Salisbury erected "a very goodly and beautiful building … after the fashion of the Royall Exchange in London, with Sellers underneath, a walke fairely paved above it, and Rowes of Shops above, as also one beneath answerable in manner to the other, and intended for the like trades and mysteries."

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295. P.R.O., C. 5/414/59 (1668).

n23. There is an entry in Pepys' diary concerning a "great fire" which broke out in Durham Yard on the night of 20th April, 1669, at "the house of one Lady Hungerford, who was to come to town to it this night; and so the house is burned, new furnished, by carelessness of the girl sent to take off a candle from a bunch of candles, which she did by burning it off, and left the rest, as is supposed, on fire. The King and Court were here, it seems, and stopped the fire by blowing up of the next house." This fire occurred at the house of Rachel Hungerford, widow, who lived in Durham Yard. Her neighbour, Anne Tiser, was awarded damages since her house had to be blown up to stop the spread of the fire.

n24. E.g., a lease dated 1739 shows that there were three houses on the site of Sir Robert Cotton's house, which itself was only a small building.

n25. The Land Tax Assessment for 1767 gives only "Thomas Paulin" and "Millisants Wharf" for Durham Yard and has the note "all the rest in ruins no houses." In October, 1677, the Earl of Pembroke had sold all the property to Sir Thomas Mompesson for £8,100. In 1716 Mompesson's representatives disposed of it to the trustees of the will of Sir John Werden, and by this means Durham Yard became the property of Charles, 2nd Duke of St. Albans, who married Werden's daughter, Lucy. It was by the trustees of the 3rd Duke of St. Albans, who was deeply in debt, that Durham Yard was in 1769 leased to the Adams. George, 3rd Duke of St. Albans, died without a male heir, and his title and property devolved upon George Beau clerk, the great-grandson of the 1st Duke of St. Albans. Beauclerk's aunt Charlotte, the daughter of Lord William Beauclerk and Charlotte, the other daughter of Sir John Werden, had married John Drummond, the son and successor of Andrew Drummond, the founder of Drummond's Bank. Her nephew devised the freehold of the Adelphi Estate to her, and it has remained in the hands of her descendants until the present day.

n26. Salisbury did not buy the ground directly from the Bishop of Durham, but from the Bishop's grantees. The indentures, most of which are preserved at Hatfield, do not contain any measurements, those given here being adduced from the measurements of the houses later erected on the site. In addition to the actual site of the Exchange the Earl obtained a grant of sufficient of the courtyard to make a lane behind the Exchange extending down to the river on the west side of Durham Place. In 1609 he granted to Thomas Wilson a lease of a piece of ground eight yards in depth and seven in breadth on which to build a house behind the Exchange and adjoining the wall of York House garden. This house Wilson afterwards sublet to Sir Robert Cotton, the antiquary. It is marked on the 1626 plan (p. 92).

301. Stow's Survey, 1618 edn.