Just noticed this, being that I don't often come down to the basement.
The area around The Bleeding Heart is really brilliant to study, and I know it quite well.
The pub and the area around was once owned by the Bishop of Ely, Queen Elizabeth I wanted to give it to her friend Sir Christopher Hatton, the Bishop objected so the Queen sent him a memorable note, which read,...."Proud Prelate, remember what thou werst before we made thee. Comply, or by God we shall defrock thee". It seems though that the Bishop got revenge, it is said, one night the devil came and took Hatton's wife, leaving her heart in the courtyard of this establishment, with a dagger through it.
Nearby is Saffron Hill, up until the18th century, this named spice garden was used to disguise the taste of rancid meat. By the 19th century, this road was infamous for criminal activity, it is said, someone would steal your handkerchief at one end of this street, and you could buy it back at the other end. When Dickens wrote Oliver Twist he referred to this street, calling it Field Court.
Around the corner from here is Ely Place, is where the most perfectly preserved set of Georgian houses that can be found anywhere. Hidden away is St Etheldreda's Church, the crypt is amazing, they say it's the oldest church in London, though, I believe second only to St Bartholomew the Great, in Smithfield.
One other interesting fact about Ely Place, up until the 1930's, any criminal who manage to enter this street could NOT be arrested by the Metropolitan Police, being that it was still an area under the authority of Ely. There is a gate house, still occupied today, though in earlier days was placed a beagle to prevent such a person from entering the street.
I shall have to come down to the basement more often, still don't know how to make a good shepherd's pie.
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My first thought was of the plant too Carrie. I thought we were going to read that Who2 had a pot of Bleeding Heart on his kitchen windowsill or planted in a widow box outside.
Experience is not what happens to you;
