Cheapside, Poultry and Bucklersbury

The fine mansion to the right of the picture, with the name "Tegg", was originally built by Sir Christopher Wren for the then Lord Mayor, but in Regency times was "pretty well known as a mart for literature throughout the reading world". The scene in this engraving was meant to depict Cheapside as the epitome of the wealth and splendour of London. The street diverging to the right is Bucklersbury, corrupted from Bucklesbury, which was named after one Buckle, lord of the manor, who resided and kept his court in a spacious stone building, called the Old Barge, from such a sign being in front of it. In the early nineteenth century the site of his mansion was occupied by Barge Yard to which place, according to tradition, boats and barges made their way from the Thames up the Walbrook when it was still navigable.