Remains of the Collegiate Church of St Martin Le Grand, N.E.

Remains of the Collegiate Church of St Martin Le Grand - 6 small engravings of masonry and a cellar. "ST. MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND, which is situated within the limits of the city of London, is a portion of the liberties of Westminster. Anciently it was a site of a college, consisting of a dean and priests; and Henry VII. conveyed to the abbot of the abbey church of Westminster, the advowson of the deanery, &c., of St. Martin's-le-Grand. In the thirty-second year of Henry VIII., that monarch granted it to the new see of Westminster, and two years afterwards to the dean and chapter. When Edward VI. dissolved the bishopric of Westminster, he conveyed St. Martin's-le-Grand, with the jurisdiction, to the bishop of London; but an act of parliament restored it to the dean and chapter, as the abbot and convent had enjoyed it, who are now in full possession of it. The church was taken down soon after the year 1548, and the place covered with buildings. Some curious remains of vaults belonging to the ancient college or monastery, were discovered in the progress of the excavations made for the building of the new post-office. The inhabitant-householders, strange as it may seem, have the right of voting for the members of Westminster; and the attempt to deprive them, at the recent general election, of this privilege, under the authority of acts of parliament, for building the new post-office, was over-ruled." - New Picture of London, Printed for Samuel Leigh, 18, Strand, by W. Clowes, Northumberland Court, 1819.