you
might cross the Thames to Southwark. Turning west, past St. Saviour's
and the palace of the Bishop of Winchester, you were soon on the
Bankside, a locality long given over to houses of ill fame and rings for
the baiting of bulls and bears. The theaters, forbidden in the city
proper, were built either in the fields to the north of the walls, or
across the river close by the kennels and rings. Here, as Shakespeare
waited for a boatman to ferry him across to Blackfriars, the whole city
was spread before his eyes, in the foreground the panorama of the
beautiful river, beyond it the crowded houses, the spires of many
churches, and the great tower of old St. Paul's.

[Page Heading: Tudor London]

It was a city of narrow streets, open sewers, wooden houses, without an
adequate water supply or sanitation, in constant danger from fire and
plague. But dirt and disease were no more prevalent than they had been
for centuries; in spite of them, there was no lack of life in the
crowded lanes. The great palaces were outside the city proper, and there
were few notable buildings within its precincts except the churches. The
dismantled monasteries still occupied large areas, but were being made
over to strange uses, the theaters eventually finding a place in
Blackfriars and Whitefriars. The Strand was an ill-paved street running
behind the river palaces, past the village of Charing Cross, on to the
royal palace of Whitehall and to the Abbey and Hall at Westminster. The
walls and surrounding moat had ceased to be of use for defense, and
building constantly spread into the fields without. These fields were
favorite places for recreation and served the purpose of city parks. The
Elizabethans were fond of outdoor sports and spent little daytime
indoors. The shops were open to the street, and the clear spaces at
Cheapside and St. Paul's Church-yard seem to have been always crowded.
St. Paul's, although still used for religious services, had become a
sort of city club or general meeting place. Mules and horses were no
longer to be found there as in the reign of Mary, but the nave was in
constant use as a place for gossip and business. The churchyard was the
usual place for holding lotteries, and here were the shops of a majority
of the London booksellers. In its northeast corner was Paul's Cross, the
famous pulpit whence the wishes of the government were announced and
popularized by the Sunday preachers. And here the variety of London lif