and as the house stood hard by the Castle, one might reasonably accept the local tradition, and conclude that the Commons really met in the "low chamber" of this ancient dwelling-place.
(3) The Blue Boar Inn remained in existence, although not used as an Inn, until 1836. "The Blue Boar," wrote James Thompson in 1844, in his Handbook of Leicester, "was taken down a few years since by a speculating builder to erect some modern houses upon its site. Whilst its previous owner (Miss Simons, a lady of the old school) was alive, it was preserved from the hand of the destroyer; but on her death no one was found to rescue this relic of national interest from its destruction."
(4) This old house, in which John Bunyan lodged, according to local tradition, in the reign of Charles II, and which John Wesley occupied in the next century, was standing in St. Nicholas Street not many years ago, but has now disappeared.
(5) A house in the Swinesmarket, known as "Reynold's House," was purchased by the Earl of Huntingdon in 1569, and thenceforth, under the name of "Lord's Place," became the town-house of his family. Several royal visitors were there entertained, including Mary Queen of Scots and Charles I. The house itself, though perhaps not all the grounds, belonged at one time to the family of Reynolds, who provided Leicester with so many Mayors. It was bought in 1540 by Nicholas Reynold, who was Mayor in 1531 and 1539. On the East it was bounded by the George, on the West by a messuage belonging to the King, and it extended on the North as far as Soapers' Lane. The grounds of Lord Huntingdon's house seem to have been more extensive; and it is thought that an old house called "The Porter's Lodge," formerly standing at the corner of South and East Bond Streets, lay at the north-east entrance of his property. An old building, still to be seen at the junction of Free School Lane and West Bond Street, and known as "The Gardener's Cottage," may also have belonged to the Place. One of the lofty stone turrets of this mansion, concealed in 18th century brickwork, survived until the year 1902, when the premises to which it belonged were demolished.
209
