Esoteric London

Berwick Street, London, W1. Photo © Roger Dean 2011

Quarterly Review, Vol.129, No.257, 1870:

A horse patrol was established by the Government in 1805, with the object of checking the increase of highway and footpad robberies in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. It was divided into mounted and dismounted. The former patrolled by night all the great roads round London to within a distance of about twenty miles; while the latter was principally stationed in the  immediate environs of London, within a distance of four or five miles, patrolling those roads not watched by the mounted men. This force consisted for the most part of old soldiers, steady and well disciplined, the mounted being recruited from the dismounted; and dressed as they were in blue coats and red waistcoats, they were commonly known as the ‘robin red breasts.’

[ The whole article from which the above extract is taken can be read on http://www.victorianlondon.org by clicking here. R.D.]