England, Literature, and the Pub: Famous Inns and Coffee Houses

Pictures used are believed to be in the public domain. The site will no doubt continue to be under construction for years to come. All contributions welcomed.

More likely to date from 1319 than the time of Noah. The first inn to be encountered over the bridge. Popular with Charles I and the Restoration wits. 'The maddest of all the land came to bait the Bear'. A favourite with Sir John Suckling, and also with Pepys who stayed there when he visited Southwark Fair. One of his diary entries refers to the death of its mistress. Demolished in 1761 when the bridge was enlarged. (Shelley, pp.14-21).

Beaufort Arms Chepstow. Historic?

Beetle and Wedge Moulsford (Thames Valley). Historic.

Bell Faringdon. Historic.

Bell Finedon. Dates back to 1042.

Bell Waltham St. Laurence. Historic.

Bell Tavern King Street, Westminster. Meeting place for the October Club, so-called because it drank October ale. Swift was a member. Anti-Whig.

Belle Sauvage Ludgate Hill, London: 'in the mid-1680s, the great coaching inn of the Belle Sauvage on Ludgate Hill was making £15 a day from a rhinoceros, a marvel indeed, for which the management charged 1s. for a look and 2s. for a ride.' (Earle, p.56) Earliest reference Matz (Pickwick) gives is the reign of Henry VI, 'when a certain John French in a deed (1453) made over to his mother for her life "all that tenement or inn, with its appurtenances, called Savage's Inn, otherwise called 'le Bell on the Hope' in the parish of Fleet Street, London"', and possibly 1380, when it belonged to William Savage of Fleet Street, when it was the Bell and Hoop. Origin of the later name is disputed. Close to Fleet Prison. Before Shakespeare's time plays were acted in the old inn yard.

Stayed at by Mr Weller, who mistakes it for his 'parish', in The Pickwick Papers, Chapter 10.

Beverley Arms Beverley, Yorkshire. Historic (C16 or earlier?).

Black Lion Weston near Sutton-on-the-Trent and Scarthing Moor, in Nottinghamshire (Kahrl), on the great northern road from York to London (the public house at the start of Smollett's Launcelot Greaves.

Black Lion Bishop Stortford. Historical, C16.

Blossom Laurence Lane, London. [Cheapside]. Coaching inn. (Earle) 'earlier known as Bosoms Inn' and mentioned in Farquhar's Stage-Coach (Kenny).

Blue Boar Holborn, London. Cromwell discovered a letter from Henrietta Maria to Charles I advising him to stall, thereby allowing time for the French to come. As a consequence, Cromwell broke off all communications. (Burke, p.95)

Blue Boar Leicester. Richard III lay here before the Battle of Bosworth (August 1485).

Blue-Eyed Maid Southwark. 'Readers of 'Little Dorrit' will remember that it was at this inn that Arthur Clennam alighted one dismal Sunday evening after journeying from Marseilles to Dover, from which town he took the Blue-Eyed Maid coach to Southwark.' (Popham, p.43)

Blue Last Curtain Road, Shoreditch, London. Reputedly the first place where porter was sold. (Bickerdyke, p.365).

Boar's Head Eastcheap. Also 'Bore's Head'. Hal and Falstaff's haunt, and one of the oldest inns in London. One of the earliest mentions is a lease dated 1537. Destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, and a new Boar's Head built 1668 (sign held in Guildhall Museum?). Pulled down in 1831. (Shelley, pp.33-4).

Boar's Head Southwark (High Street), London. Once owned by Sir Falstolfe. (Not Hal and Falstaff's haunt, which was in Eastcheap, although it is a curious coincidence [?] nevertheless). Earliest reference is 1459. Completely gone by 1830. (Shelley, pp.21-2).

Bore's Head Old Fish Street, London. (Mentioned in Newes)

Bull Dartford. Mid-C14. 'Probably it was at this inn that the Canterbury pilgrims spent their first night. They would naturally prefer a house with religious associations; and the landlord, Urban Baldock, according to Mr. Harper, was a personal friend of Chaucer, and, like mine host of the Tabard, a member of Parliament.' (Maskell, p.25). / 'Richard Trevithick, the famous engineer, by many accounted the inventor of the steam locomotive engine, died at the Bull in 1833 at the age of sixty-two. The entry reads like an ominous foreshadowing of the doom which fell upon coaching inns.' (Maskell, p.27).

Bull 2 Devonshire Street, City, London. Headquarters of the Cambridge carriers.
'"It was at this house" (says Mr. Harold Griffiths) "that Shakespeare's friend, Burbage, and his fellows, obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth for erecting a permanent building for theatrical entertainment." Tarlton, the comedian, often played here. / In 1649 five Puritan troopers were here sentenced to death for a mutiny at "The Bull". / Tobias Hobson (of 'Hobson's Choice' proverb) - 'the celebrated Cambridge carrier, was in the habit of putting up at the original "Bull."' (Popham, p.68).
Milton offered up a humorous epitaph for the man:

Bull Long Melford. Dates back to 1580 - although Maskell notes that 'the great manorial hall of the fourteenth century remains intack, albeit divided by modern lath and plaster partitions.' (Maskell, p.24).

Bull Rochester. Historic. In Pickwick Papers.

Bull Sudbury. Historic.

Bull and Bladder Brierley Hill, West Midlands. This gets a mention because it was my old local, serving the mighty Bathams beer. A quotation from Shakespeare, 'Blessing of your heart, you brew good Ale' adorns the frontage (Two Gentlemen of Verona Act iii, Scene 1), and may be responsible for all this research. Structural alterations have removed some (much) of its charm.

Bull and Bush North London. As in - 'Down at the old....' /
- '...celebrated in rhyme and song, letters to the editor, booklets, and records of all descriptions. Originally a farmhouse, built about 1645, it so charmed Hogarth that he made it his home. It was frequently visited by Garrick, Reynolds, Colley Cibber, Sterne, Leigh Hunt, Keats, Shelley, Charles Lamb and Dickens.' (Popham, p.30).

Bull and Gate Holborn, London. In Sir Launcelot Greaves, (p.161), and note to it - ‘...one of the most famous of the inns in the Holborn area where the stages for London ended up. In Tom Jones (xiii, 2) Tom and Partridge retire to the Bull and Gate inn...'

Bull and Mouth A common name for London taverns, dating from the reign of Henry VIII, celebrating his capture of Boulogne Habour, 'Boulogne Mouth'.

Bull and Mouth London. Coaching inn. (Landlord - Sherman, 1820s and?) / High Holborn? - 31 Hart Street, a place, like the Olde White Hart, where the condemned were allowed a last drink on their way to Tyburn (Popham, p.22).

Bull Inn Whitechapel. No. 25 Aldgate. A coaching inn, serving Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Demolished 1868. The starting place for Tony Weller's coach to Ipswich in Pickwick Papers. Chapter 22.

Burford Bridge Inn Keats wrote much of Endymion here.

Bush Tavern Bristol. Used in Pickwick Papers. 'The "Bush" was, in its time, the chief coaching inn of the city, and one of the head-quarters of Moses Pickwick's coaching business. It stood until 1864, near the Guildhall...' (Matz, Pickwick, p.178).

Carr's The Strand, London. 'Wagner tells us that it was indisputably the favourite dinner resort of Charles Dickens, when he occupied the editorial chair of All the Year Round. It was a picturesque hostelry with a coaching yard, and wooden galleries on three sides, and had always borne the sign of "Ye Olde Kynge's Head," but in early Victorian days the great popularity of its host gave rise to the substitution of the sing word "Carr's." In 1903 the old hostelry was demolished, but special pains were taken to preserve intact the Dickens room, which was cleverly done by the builders and the architects.' (Popham, pp.49-50)

Castle Inn Bath Road (later, Marlborough College). An inn from around 1750 to 1842, and a very popular stopping-off place. (Burke, p.99)

Cat and Salutation Associated with Lamb and Coleridge. (Taylor, p.94).

Chapel House Inn Cold Norton, Oxfordshire (later, a private house). 'It was round a fire of The Chapel House Inn, when they were on their way to Lichfield, that Johnson delivered to Boswell those sentiments about inns that are known to all who have ever relished an inn.' (Dr Johnson's comments)

Chapter House Paternoster Row, corner of Paul's Alley, London. A tavern, but more famous in its previous existence as a coffee-house up until 1854.

Checquers Slapestones in Hambleton Hills, North Yorkshire. A peat fire kept going there for at least two-hundred years.

Chesire Cheese See Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Chick[en] Lane Smithfield (London suburb) - 'the whole district had a most evil reputation', Sugden in Mullholland, ed., The Roaring Girl. See the Red Lion Inn.

Cock Fleet Street, London. The Cock Tavern. Also Cock and Bottle and Cock Alehouse. Notable in C17. Stood virtually opposite the Devil. Frequented by the Templars. / Pepys. (Bickerdyke, p.209) Pepys, Thackeray and Dickens frequented it, the latter often with Edmund Yates. Changed 1887; premises of Bnak of England's Law Courts Branch. (Popham, pp.51-2).

Cock Hildenborough. Historic.

Cock and Pymat Whittington, Derbyshire (later, a private house). 'At this inn gathered the Earl of Devonshire, the Earl of Danby, and Mr. Thomas D'Arcy, to formulate and pass a Resolution, calling upon James to restore the freedom of Parliament, and if not. . . . James ignored both the request and the threat; hence the presnecne of William and Orange at the Bear [Hungerford]'. (Burke, p.106).

Cock Tavern Associated with Tennyson (Taylor, p.94).

Compleat Angler Marlow (Thames Valley). Historic. Extant.

Cooper's Arms '...at the junction of Silver Street and Monkwell Street, occupies the site of the residence of the Mountjoy family, with whom Shakespeare lived for some time. From this house he was wont to sally forth to "The Mermaid," the celebrated tavern which stood in the neighbouring Cheapside.' (Popham, p.61).

Cornhill Area, London. Noted by Lydgate for its taverns, where 'wine one pint for a pennie, and bread to drink it was given free at every tavern' (Bickerdyke, p.203). Site of the Mermaid.

Crane Colnbrook (later known as The Ostrich). Tale set around this inn in Thomas Deloney's Thomas of Reading (Burke, p.108). / Founded by Milo Crispin in 1130 (Maskell, p.34).

Crooked Billet Tower Hill, London. Historic.

Crooked House (Glynne Arms), Kingswinford, West Midlands. It is very crooked, thanks to colliery workings underneath.

Cross Keys Wood Street, London. Coaching inn. (Earle)

Crown Benson. (Thames Valley). Historic.

Crown According to H. E. Popham in The Guide to London Taverns: 'Dickens definitely places "The Crown," the haunt of Newman Noggs, where he told Nicholas that he could always be found or heard of, at the corner of Silver Street and James Street, Golden Square. The existing "Crown" in Brewer Street claims to be the "Dickens'house." Knowing the great novelist's fondness for transferring names, what conclusion can we come to? Shall we say that if Mr. Noggs were alive to-day he certainly would, in his wisdom, use regularly "The Crown" in Brewer Street, and leave it at that?' (Popham, p.10). Defunct.

Crown Chiddingford. Dates back to 1383.

Crown Fakenham. Historic - Royal Manor House.

Crown Hempstead. Birthplace of Dick Turpin (Burke, p.86).

Crown Oxford. Sir William Davenant's father was its host, and Shakespeare used to stay here on his journeys between Stratford and London.

Crown Phoenix Alley, Long Acre, London. John Taylor's alehouse, (the Water Poet). It is said that on the death of Charles I he changed the sign to the Mourning Bush, but was compelled to take it down. He then changed it to the Poet's Head, with his own portrait and the inscription ‘There is many a head hangs for a sign; / Then, gentle reader, why not mine?' (Bickerdyke, p.211).

Crown Rochester. Historic (medieval origins). 'Here Henry VIII first met Anne of Cleves, and was unable to restrain his disgust at the pockmarked features of the "Flemish Mare." Queen Elizabeth stayed four days in the house and later on it was visited by Hogarth and his four merry companions. The yard of this inn must have been the scene of the flea-bitten carriers, who tried to borrow a lantern, in King Henry IV, Part II.' - Referred to as 'Wrights' in Pickwick Papers (Maskell, p.13).

Crown Sarre, Kent. Historic (some of its structure possibly dating back to 1500). Famous for its cherry brandy. Also known as the Plough (1696); Hare and Hounds; Turkey; Half-way House (1785). (Maskell, pp.98-9).

Crown and Anchor Dartford. Wat Taylor's home at one time? (Maskell, p.120).

Crown and Anchor Strand, London. ‘A tragic story is related of how one Thomas Simpkin, the first landlord after the rebuilding of the house in 1790, on the occasion of an inaugural dinner, in leaning over a balcony to look into the street, broke the balustrade and, falling to the ground, was killed on the spot. Here were held the famous Westminster political meetings, and here the birthday of Fox was celebrated in 1794, when two thousand persons sat down to dinner.' (Bickerdyke, p.211).

Crown Tavern Threadneedle Street, London. Meeting place for the Fellows of the Royal Society (Earle)

Devil Tavern See St Dunstan's.

Dick Whittington Middle Street, Cloth Fair, London. According to Popham, the oldest pub in London until 1916 (p.60), the boast then passing to The Raglan, Aldersgate Street.

Dog Mention in Herrick's ‘Ode to Him'.

Dowie's Tavern Libberton's Wynd, Edinburgh. Burns' favourite haunt [? - what about the pub in Dumfries?]. Landlord - Johnny Dowie.

Eagle

Everlasting Club '...instituted during the Parliamentary wars; it was so called because it sat night and day, one set of members relieving another.' (Bickerdyke, p.214).

Falcon Inn Bankside, London. '...the place of meeting of the mighty poets and wits of the Elizabethan age - of Shakspere, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, Massinger, Ford, Beaumont, Fletcher, Drayton, Herrick, and a host of lesser names. An assemblage, indeed, unique in any country or in any age! Here took place those "wit combats," of which Fuller speaks...' (Bickerdyke, p.205). Defunct.

Falcon Inn Chester. Half-timbered.

Fighting Cocks St Albans. Dates back to 795 - the oldest hostelry in England? / 'anciently the boat-house of the Abbey' (Maskell, p.129).

Fountain Canterbury. Dated back to (at least) 1029. A German ambassador staying here in 1129 recorded in the visitor's book: 'The inns in England are the best in Europe, those of Canterbury are the best in England, and the Fountain, wherein I am now lodged as handsomely as I were in the King's Palace, the best in Canterbury.' / Traditionally the place where the the plot to murder Thomas a Beckett's was arranged (Maskell, p.9). It 'has the longest continuous record of existence of any inn in England.' (Maskell, p.98).

Fountain Chichester. '...on the line of the ancient Stone Street' (Maskell, p.98).

Fountain Huntingdon. Historic.

Fox Under the Hill Bottom of Ivy Lane, the Adelphi. '...casually referred to by Mr. Roker as the spot where Tom Martin "whopped the coach-heaver,"' (Matz, Pickwick, p.181). Alluded to in David Copperfield (Dickens would have known it from his days in the blacking factory at Hungerford Stairs). Possibly the tavern where the younger Martin Chuzzlewit puts up when he arrives in London and where he is visited by Mark Tapley (Matz, Pickwick, p.182).

French Horn Sonning. (Thames Valley). Historic.

George Borough (High Street), Southwark, London. The only remaining galleried inn in London, it dates back to 1554 (Maskell has the current edifice as built in 1672). Unfortunately it only retains one side of the courtyard, but a visit is still well-rewarded.
Matz discounts the idea that it is the basis of The White Hart in Pickwick Papers (the name of a nearby inn). Dickens only mentions it by name in Little Dorrit. (Matz, Pickwick, chapter 18). Partly burned in 1670 and 'totally consumed in the great fire of Southwark' in 1676.

George Buckden, on the Great North Road. Half-way house between London and York, and renowned in the coaching period 'on account of its vast size and elaborate arrangements' (Maskell, p.39).

George Hayes, Kent. Sign painted by Millais.

George Huntingdon. Historic. Contains the remains of a Church.

George Norton St. Philip. Dates back to 1397. 'At the fourteenth-century George, at Norton St. Philip, you may have that room at whose window Monmouth, while watching an engagement of his men, narrowly escaped honourable death by bullet.' (Burke, p.11) / '...another panelled room is said to have been occupied by Oliver Cromwell.' (Maskell, p.38).

George Portsmouth. Historic. 'At the George, Portsmouth, you may have the room in which Nelson slept his last night on land before boarding the Victory for Trafalgar.' (Burke, p.11)

George Salisbury. Dates back to 1320.

George Winchcome. Dates back to 1583.

George and Dragon Speldhurst. Dates back to 1270.

George and Vulture George and Vulture Hotel, George Yard, Lombard Street (also St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill - both addresses are 'correct'). HQ for Pickwick and friends. Previously known as 'Thomas's Chop House'. Dates back to C12. 'Originally it was the London lodging of Earl Ferrers, and in 1175 a brother of his was slain there in the night. It was then called simply the "George," and described by Stow, the great historian of London, as "a common hostelry for travellers." (Matz, p.142 - who did not discover why 'Vulture' was added). John Skelton wrote: 'Intent on signs, the prying eye, / The George & Vulture will descry. / Let none the outward Vulture fear, / No Vulture host inhabits here. / If too well used you deem ye then / Take your revenge and come agen.'
Used by Addison, Steele, Swift, Defoe, Wilkes and 'The Hell Fire Club'. Destroyed in the fire of 1666, rebuilt after. Extant.

George Inn Glastonbury. An inn dating back to 1475, used by pilgrims. Extant.

Globe Inn Dumfries. Burns's 'nightly seat'. (Taylor, p.36).

Globe Tavern Fleet Street, London. Knocked down early C19. ‘...the favourite resort of Oliver Goldsmith, who took great delight in hearing a certain "tun of a man," who frequented the house, sing the song entitled Nottingham Ale, in which Bacchus himself is said to have sprung from a barrel of that famous liquor...'(Bickerdyke, p.210.)

Glynne Arms Kingswinford, West Midlands. See The Crooked House.

Golden Cross Charing Cross, London. Coaching inn. Landlord is Horne, 1820s (mentioned in Burke's The Winsome Wench, p.25). David Copperfield puts up there, 'then a mouldy sort of establishment in a close neighbourhood', chapter 19, p.269. Note 2: ‘the Golden Cross was a famous coaching inn, facing the back of King Charles's statue, which was erected on its present site in 1675 (the site of the old Charing Cross, demolished in 1647).'

Also mentioned in Pickwick, and in Sketches by Boz in ‘Early Coaches'. It served Brighton, Exeter, Salisbury, Blandford, Dorchester and Bridport; Hastings and Tunbridge Wells; Cambridge, Cheltenham, Dover, Norwich and Portsmouth. It was from here that the historic "Comet" and "Regent" to Brighton and the "Tally Ho" for Birmingham set out on their journeys...' Matz, Pickwick, p.25.

Grapes 76 Narrow Street, Limehouse, London. Basis for The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters in Our Mutual Friend. [But, according to Popham, this is The Prospect of Whitby].

Great White Horse Ipswich. Four hundred years old (also known as White Horse Tavern). 'George II is said to have staayed there some three hundred years ago, and so, report has it, did Nelson and Lady Hamilton; but these are small matters compared to the larger ones connected with MR. Pickwick, and merit but passing record.' (Matz, Pickwick, p.134.)

Green Man Erdington. Dates back to 1306.

Grove House Tavern Camberwell, London. Over four hundred years old (?). 'In his Sketches by Boz Dickens describes a ball given in the gardens which adjoined the house. In 1802 was published an engraving of the march of the supporters of Citizen Tierney, who was a great friend of Charles Fox. Underneath the picture were the lines:

Harp Tavern Russell Street. Famous resort for actors in Covent Garden, especially Edmund Kean. 'Here also met a Club of a very old foundation called the "City of Lushington." Whoever joined selected his word out of the four - Lunacy, Suicide, Poverty and Juniper, painted on the four walls of the room. Sheridan and the Prince Regent were both members of it.' (Maskell, pp.146-7).

Hawk and Buckle Denbigh. National monument? (Famous for cock-pit?)

Heneky's Holborn. 'Heneky's dates from 1695, and its extensive cellars stretch beneath the chambers of Gray's Inn. Readersof Barnaby Rudge will remember that these vaults were used as a place of refuge during the Gordon Riots.' (Popham, p.24).

Highbury Barn Highgate. Favoured by Goldsmith. A huge establishment - '"The Barn" could accommodate two thousand persons, and as many as eight hundred have been seen dining together, with seventy geese roasting for them at one fire.' (Popham, p.34).

Highgate Popular drinking area in Jonson's day (Richardson, p.103). Taverns in this had an ancient tradition of making visitors 'swear on the horns'. The oath declared that the visitor was 1. 'never to kiss the maid when he could kiss the mistress', 2. 'never to eat brown bread when he could get white, 3. 'never to drink small beer when he could get strong - unless he preferred it.' (Popham, p.33).

Holland Arms Kensington. See White Horse, Kensington.

Horn Tavern City/Doctors' Commons, 'to which a messenger was despatched from theFleet Prison for "a bottle or two of very good wine" to celebrate Mr. Winkle's visit to his old friend, was a well-known and frequented place of call at the time. It was situated actually in Carter Lane...' (Matz, p.184, who lists it as a coffee-house).

Huggins' Brewery Tap Popham, in his Guide to London Taverns, moves from 'The Intrepid Fox' in Wardour Street (Soho) to this pub and says: 'We are now well in Nickleby land, the land of the sordid Ralph, our old friend Newman Noggs, the sneaking Arthur Gride and Mrs. Slikerskew. And here "in a bygone, faded, tuble-down street lived the Kenwigses, in a house which was perhaps a thought dirtier than any of its neighbours, which exhibited more bell-handles, children, and porter pots, and caught, in all its freshness, the first gust of the thick black smoke that poured forth, night and day, from a large brewery hard by." / There is no doubt that "the master" was referring to the famous brewery of Messrs. Huggins, and it is more than likely that he sampled the excellent beer in the adjacent brewery tap.' See also the entry for The Crown, the next pub on Popham's West End tour. (Popham, p.10).

Hummums Corner of Russell Street, in Covent Garden, on the old site of Button's Coffee House. Mentioned in Boswell's Life of Johnson. (Popham, p.21).

Islington Popular drinking area in Jonson's day (Richardson, p.103)

Jolly Farmer Farnham. '...where the stout William Cobbett was born before it was an inn.' (Burke, p.86).

Kentish Town Popular drinking area in Jonson's day (Richardson, p.103)

King's Head Aylesbury. Dates back to 1445. 'At the King's Head at Aylesbury you may sit beneath a perfect specimen of a fifteenth-century window, where the farmers and drovers of 1460 sat...' (Burke, p.11)

King's Head Fenchurch Street, London. Site later occupied by the London Tavern. 'This is the tavern for which a notable historic association is claimed. The tradition has it that when the Princess Elizabeth, the "Good Queen Bess" of after days, was released from the Tower of London on May 19th, 1554, she went first to a neighbouring church to offer thanks for her deliverance, and then proceeded to the King's Head to enjoy a somewhat plebeian dinner of boiled pork and pease-pudding.' (Shelley, pp.42-3).

King's Head New Fish Street, London. (Mentioned in Newes - 'where Roysters do range').

King's Head Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row, London. See Queen's Head.

King's Head Tavern Fulwood's Rents, next to Gray's Inn, London. Run by Ned Ward some time after 1699, according to Theophilus Cibber in The Lives of the Poets (1753), but no evidence for it (Troyer, p.4).

Lamb and Flag Soho. Extant - and worth a visit. Dickens was a regular when working in Catherine Street. The sign is that of the Middle Temple. (Popham, p.18).

Leather Bottle Cobham, Kent. A favourite haunt of Dickens, and used in Pickwick Papers.

Light Heart The name of the inn in Jonson's The New Inn (1629). The sign would have been two rebuses, a feather and a heart.

Lion Buckden. Dates back to 1477.

Lion Dunchurch (later, a farmhouse). Meeting-place of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators.

Lion Hampton-on-Thames. 'An earlier inn under that name afforded lodging to the men engaged in the building of Hampton Court, and in later days the rebuilt house was frequented by Dryden, Pope, Swift, Colley Cibber, and Addison.' (Burke, p.99)

Lion Shrewsbury. 'The Lion marked the jumping-off place from which the seventeen-year-old De Quincey was to make his foolish plunge into London and misery.' (Burke, p.102)

Lion Upton-on-Severn. Inn in Tom Jones.

Lygon Arms Broadway. Historic.

Lockett's See The Rummer.

Lord Raglan See Raglan.

Luttrell Arms Dunster. Historic (Tudor?).

Maid's Head Norwich. Dates back to 1287.

Mermaid Bread Street, London [Queen Victoria Street. Milton born in Bread Street in 1608. Smith, Dictionary]. Frequented by 'Shakspere, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Donne'. Jonson's great lines, inviting a friend there, promises 'A cup of pure Canary wine, / Which is the Mermaid's now, but shall be mine.' / ‘Sir Walter Raleigh established a literary club at this house in the year, 1603.' / Beaumont: ‘...What things have we seen / Done at the Mermaid!' (Bickerdyke, pp.206-7, although (I think) it has not been proven whether Shakespeare went there). Founded by Raleigh, (French, p.151). See also The Cooper's Arms.

Miller of Mansfield Goring (Thames Valley). Historic.

Mitre Mitre Court, 39 Fleet Street, London. '...where Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith, Boswell, and other lesser lights used to meet'. / ‘The great name of Shakspere is also connected by tradition with this house.' (Bickerdyke, p.210). Defunct - became Hoare's.

Mitre Fenchurch Street, London. C17. Famous for its staunch Royalist host Dan Rawlinson. Known to Pepys, who commended its excellent 'venison-pasty'. Destroyed by the Great Fire and rebuilt on a bigger scale. Isaac Fuller was commissioned to paint it, and with his well-known fondness for drink, this must have been a pleasant job. The panels are described by Walpole: 'The figures were as large as life: a Venus, Satyr, and sleeping Cupid; a boy riding a goat and another fallen down, over the chimney: this was the best part of the performance, says Vertue: Saturn devouring a Child, Mercury, Minerva, Diana, Apollo; and Bacchus, Venus, and Ceres embracing; a young Silenus fallen down, and holding a goblet, into which a boy was pouring wine; the Scarons, between the windows, and on the ceiling two angels supporting a mitre, in a large circle." (Shelley, pp.44-6).

New Inn Gloucester. Dates back to 1430. According to Maskell (p.33), it was built to accommodate the numerous pilgrims trekking to Edward II's tomb there.

October Club Met at the Bell Tavern, King Street, Westminster. Swift was a member. Anti-whig.

Old Cheshire Cheese (see 'Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese')

Old Royal Hotel Birmingham. Dickens normally stayed here when he visited Birmingham. 'Attached to it were large assembly and concert rooms, erected in 1772 by Tontine. It was known as the Hotel, the distinctive appellation of 'Royal' being prefixed in consequence of a member of the royal family who took up his residence there for a time.' (Matz, Pickwick, p.206).

Old White Hart According to Popham, this pub claims to have had 'the oldest licence of any inn in London, viz., 1216. At this house were wont to pull up the execution carts on their way to Tyburn, for the prisoners to have a final drink. It is on ecord that Jack Sheppard had his last glass at "The White Hart."' (Popham, p.23)

Ostrich Colnbrook. Dates back to 1106. See The Crane.

Paul Pindar Tavern Cornhill, London. Sir Paul Pindar's mansion became a tavern (C18?) until 1890 when it was demolished to make way for a railway, 'But the beautifully carved front is still preserved in the South Kensington Musuem.' (Shelley, pp.50-1).

Peacock 11 High Street, Islington. Mentioned in Nicholas Nickleby and in the Christmas story 'The Holly Tree'. Also mentioned in Tom Brown's Schooldays. A stopping-off point for those journeying on the Great North Road.

Pope's Head Cornhill, London. Described in detail by Stow, who 'favours the opinion that it was at one time the palace of King John.' Pepys knew it before it was destroyed in the Great Fire, and when it was rebuilt. His first 'dish of tea' was in the former and mentions eating there with Sir W. Penn and Mrs Pepys. Also the place where two actors fought a duel. William Bowen forced James Quin to fight. Bowen was fatally wounded but before dying confessed he was the aggressor and so Quin was freed of blame. (Shelley, pp.52-3).

Prospect of Whitby Wapping Wall, London. 'Most students of Dickens are agreed that the novelist had in mind the "Prospect of Whitby" when describing the "Six Jolly Fellowship Porters" in "Our Mutual Friend"' (Popham, p.84). But see The Grapes.

Queen's Arms Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row, London. '...noted as the headquarters of the City Club, which Doctor Johnson formed. Garrick used the house in order to become acquainted with the business men of the locality; to receive their advice on theatrical affairs, and to gauge City taste.' (Popham, p.54).

Queen's Arms Known as Simpson's at the time Popham was writing (1920s) and then a restaurant and tavern 'famous for its one o'clock fish ordinary.' - 'King Edward VII, Dickens, and G. R. Sims were among the frequenters of Simpson's, which was established in 1723 by one James Gillson Simpson in Billingsgate, upon his being challenged by the fishmongers to cook the fish for them if they supplied it.'

Queen's Head Islington, London. Either this, or the Pied Bull nearby, is the setting for the scene where the smoking Raleigh was doused by his servant who believed him to be on fire. Defunct, 1830.

Raglan Aldersgate Street, London. Claiming to be the oldest pub in London at the time of Popham's writing. 'Writing in the Morning Post on April 12, 1923, Mr. E. V. Lucas says: "It has been continuously an inn longer than any other hostelry in the metropolis. It was often visited by Shakespeare and his friends, and may safely be visited by the pious pilgrim as a genuine haunt of the Swan of Avon. The cellars are as they were in Shakespeare's day."' (Popham, p.60). Originally called 'The Bush', changing to 'The Morning Bush', and then in 1855 to 'The Lord Raglan' after the Crimean War hero, just after its rebuilding. (Popham, p.61).

Red Cow Wapping High Street (later known as Town of Ramsgate). Judge Jeffreys was caught here, disguised as a seaman and waiting for a passage to Hamburg. Despite shaving off his eyebrows and griming himself, he was spotted by an attorney he had once bullied. (Burke, p.143).

Red Horse Stratford. Associated with Washington Irving.

Red Lion Bourne End (Thames Valley). Historic.

Red Lion Brentford. '...used as a Church by the notorious Horne Tooke when he was vicar of Brentford.' (Maskell, p.84).

Red Lion Colchester. Dates back to 1470.

Red Lion Strand, London. (Mentioned in Newes).

Red Lion Chick[en] Lane, Smithfield (London suburb). Sugden (p.115) notes that the notorious Red Lion Inn was 'an infamous haunt of thieves and ruffians' (Mulholland, The Roaring Girl).

Rose and Crown Halifax. Defoe wrote part of Robinson Crusoe here.

Rose and Crown Saffron Walden - 'which holds a tale of the greatest literary interest. The tale is the result of the researches of Mr. Edmund Dring, and it concerns nothing less than the identity of Shakespeare's Mr. W. H.[.] Shakespeare is known to have visited Saffron Walden, with his company of players, and Mr. Dring, who acquired possession of a manuscript book belonging to William Holgate, son of the then landlord of the Rose and Crown, and himself a minor poet, is satisfied, on the evidence of this book, that the W. H. of the sonnets was this son of an innkeeper.' (Burke, p.102).

Rose Tavern Russell Street/Drury Lane, Covent Garden, 'adjoining the Drury Lane theatre, a favourite haunt of theatrical performers and audiences, was mentioned by Farquhar in several of his plays (Love and a Bottle, The Constant Couple, The Recruiting Officer).' Kenny, note to The Stage Coach.

Rummyng Elynour Rumming, the alewife in Skelton's 'The Tunning of Elynour Rumming' (c. 1517), possibly based on a real alewife, Alianora Romyng, as identified by John Harvey, TLS 26/20/1946, who was fined 2d for selling ale 'at excessive price by small measures'. See 'Two Pots' and 'Running Horse'.

Running Horse Alianora Romyng's alehouse.

St Dunstan Tavern 2 Fleet Street. Also known as The Devil Tavern or Old Devil Tavern. Its sign was the Devil's nose being tweaked by pincers. It held the Apollo Club meetings of Jonson et al. 'Here over the entrance of the Apollo Chamber were inscribed the well-known lines beginning / Welcome all who lead or follow / To the oracle of Apollo. / Sim Wadlow, whom Jonson dubbed "the king of skinkers," was one of the famous landlords of this house.' / In C18 'Addison and Dr. Garth often dined here; and Dr. Johnson here once presided at a supper that lasted till dawn peeped in at the windows. The inn was pulled down in the year 1788.' (Bickerdyke, pp.207-9) It 'stood between Temple Bar and Middle Temple Gate, just opposite St Dunstan's Church.' Mentioned in Farquhar's The Stage Coach as The Devil's Tavern. (Kenny) The Mermaid Club and (or is it the same?) the Friday Street Club met there. (Adams). Defunct - 1788, becoming Child's Bank (Popham)

Saint Kathern's 'The dockside district in the east end of London, extending from the Tower to Ratcliffe; it was notorious for its brewhouses and taverns' (Hoy); cf. the ballad, 'John Jarret' (1630), in H. Rollins (ed.), A Pepysian Garland (Cambridge, 1922), p. 228: 'They say, at the Talbot you runne on the score, / Beside, at S. Katherines you keep a braue whore, / Where you on a night spent an Angell and more: / If you vse such dealings, twill make you full poore.' Sugden (p. 290) cites Jonson, the Devil is an Ass, I.i.59-62: ‘We will suruay the Suburbs, and make forth our sallyes, / Downe Petticoate-lane, and vp the Smock-allies, / To Shoreditch, Whitechappel, and so to Saint Kathernes, / to drinke with the Dutch there, and take fort theirpatternes.'' (Mulholland, ed., The Roaring Girl, note to 4.1).

Salutation Billingsgate. (Mentioned in Newes).

Salutation and Cat Lamb's haunt in early days, and sadly missed in his letters to Coleridge.

Saracen's Head Newark. Dates back to 1341.

Saracen's Head Salisbury. Richard III's headquarters in 1484, and Buckingham executed in its courtyard (Burke, p.93).

Saracen's Head Snow Hill, London. Coaching inn. Nicholas Nickleby. Also mentioned in Farquhar's Stage-Coach, described by Kenny as 'a tavern and coach stop on the north side of Snow Hill outside Newgate'.

Saracen's Head Southwell, London. Historic. 'At the Saracen's Head, at Southwell, you may sleep in the room where Charles I slept before surrendering to the Scots.' (Burke, p.11).

Shakespeare's Head Great Russell Street, Covent Garden, London. Site of the Beefsteak Society.

Shakespeare Hotel Stratford-on-Avon. '...a Tudor house of nine timbered gables - a favourite place of the late C. E. Montague. It is part of the great house of Sir Hugh Clopton, built from the trees of the "Forest of Arden"; and on part of its grounds was built New Place, bought in 1597 by Shakespeare. Its eighteenth-century sign, showing two portraits of Shakespeare, is preserved on one of the landings, and its king-post and cornices bear still the markings that the Tudor carpenters made to indicate their position. It is an inn of long, low rooms, raftered with oak; lovingly fitted, and beautiful to look upon.' (Burke, pp.88-9)

Shillingsford Bridge Shillingsford Bridge (Thames Valley). Historic.

Ship and Turtle Leadenhall Street, London. Historic, with a claim to date back to 1377. (Shelley, p.46).

Ship Exchange London. (Mentioned in Newes).

Ship Restaurant See The Rummer.

Simpson's Cheapside, London. See The Queen's Arms.

Sir John Falstaff Opposite Drury Lane Theatre.

Skindle's Maidenhead (Thames Valley). Historic.

Spaniards Hampstead. Extant. Dates back to c.1630. Associated with Dick Turpin, who hid there. Some of the Gordon Riots action took place around this well-known hostelry. The landlord invited them in as they made their way to Lord Mansfield's house, and whilst they were making free with the cellar, he called in the soldiers (Matz, Pickwick, pp.191-2). Used in Pickwick Papers. Extant.

Spread Eagle Midhurst. Dates back to 1430.

Spread Eagle Thame. One of the inns run by John Fothergill. Georgian. Extant.

Star Alfriston. Historic.

Sun Tavern Mentioned in Farquhar's Love and a Bottle and The Stage-Coach. At the Royal Exchange (Kenny). [Also, mention of a Sun in Herrick's 'An Ode for him', i.e., Ben Jonson]

Swan Grasmere, Lake District. Wordsworth's local, even though he was a water drinker. In Benjamin the Waggoner he describes it:

Swan Dowgate, London. (Mentioned in Newes).

Swan Old Fish Street, London. (Mentioned in Newes).

Swan Charing Cross, London. '...where Jonson was always most sure of getting the best draught of his favourite liquor.' (Bickerdyke, p.207). His favourite liquor was canary.

Swan Streatly (Thames Valley). Historic.

Swan with Two Necks Ludgate Hill, London. Coaching inn.

Tabard Southwark, London. Famous for being the starting place for the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Earliest mention is in a register of the Abbey of Hyde, near Winchester, in 1306/7. A tabard was a sleeveless coat. Its host in Chaucer's work, Harry Bayley, was a real person, and represented the borough of Southwark in 1376 and 1378. Later known as 'The Talbot' when it was rebuilt after fire in the Southwark fire of 1676. Aubrey commented: 'that ignorant landlord, or tenant, instead of the ancient sign of the Tabard put up the Talbot or doge'. (Popham, p.43). / '...built by the Bishop of Winchester in 1307, partly as a guest-house for clerics who came to visit him and partly as a semi-commercial, semi-holy hotel for the accommodation of the Canterbury pilgrims.' (The Pub and the People, p.80). / Pulled down in 1875 despite protests. However, Maskell notes that 'there is in existence a record dated 1634 which speaks of the Tabard as having been built of brick six years previously upon the old foundation.' (Shelley, London, p.13). Picture (39K)

Talbot Oundle. Historic.

Three Cranes Upper Thames Street, (Vintree) London. 'Another famous tavern was The Three Cranes in Thames Street, renowned in the reign of James I. Here foregathered the wits contemporary with Ben Jonson, who records his contempt for these usurpers in "Bartholomew Fair," "A pox o' these pretenders to wit, your Three Cranes, Mitre and Mermaid men, not a corn of true thought, not a grain of right mustard amongst them all."' (Richardson, p.155)

The 'cranes' were those used to lift up the wines from the river. Previously known as 'The Crane' (up until at least 1554) when there was only one on Vintry Wharf. In The Devil is an Ass we get: "Nay, boy, I will bring thee to the bawds and roysters / At Billingsgate, feasting with claret-wine and oysters; / From thence shoot the Bridge, child, to the Cranes in the Vintry, / And see there the gimblets how they make their entry.' - Pepys's entry: 'By invitation to my uncle Fenner's, where I found his new wife, a pitiful, old, ugly, ill-bred woman, in a hatt, a midwife. Here were many of his, and as many of her relatives, sorry, mean people; and after choosing our gloves, we all went over to the Three Cranes taverne, and (although the best room of the house0 in such a narrow dogg-hole we were crammed, (and I believe we were near forty) that it made me loath my company and victuals; and a sorry, poor dinner it was.' (Shelley, pp.39-41).

Three Cranes St Martin's in the Sentree, London.

Three Nuns Aldgate, London. 'This, as one would expect from its commanding position, was once a well-known coaching-inn, true to type, with galleried yard, etc.; now a huge modern tavern, doing obviously a very big trade at a very busy spot. During the plague of London, in 1665, a huge pit was dug near this spot, in which well over a thousand bodies were buried between September 6th and 20th. Defoe has a brief reference to "The Three Nuns" in his book A Journal of the Plague Year (Shelley).' (Popham, p.77; Shelley is p.42).

Three Pigeons Alehouse Brentford. A famous hostelry throughout literary history, 'departed' 1916. It is the inn used in She Stoops to Conquer.

'Thou'rt admirably suited for the Three Pigeons at Brentford.' (Middleton and Dekker, The Roaring Girl, circa 1611).

'At a later period, when Puritanism had silenced the stage, it was kept by the celebrated actor, Lowin' (Dyce). It is mentioned by Jonson in The Alchemist, V.iv.89, and is the scene of one of George Peele's jests (Works, ed. A. H. Bullen (1888, repr. Port Washington, 1966), II, 395ff.).' (Mulholland, n. to 3.1, The Roaring Girl). Also referred to in Butler's Hudibras and mentioned in Our Mutual Friend. 'According to Halliwell, here Shakespeare made notes of local life for The Merry Wives of Windsor, and this writer considered it "The sole Elizabethan tavern existing in England, which, in the absence of direct evidence to the contrary, may fairly be presumed to have been occasionally visited by him.' (Maskell, p.145).

Three Swans Market Harborough, Leicestershire. One of John Fothergill's inns.
Burke sees fit to comment (p.130): 'In a churchyard of Market Harborough you will find a stone erected to one of a profession seldom, in England, given the honours that are its due. The stone reads:

SUSANNA WELLS
COOK OF THE Three Swans
IN MARKET HARBOROUGH
FOR 41 YEARS'

Three Tuns Durham. Historic.

Three Tuns Newgate Market, London. (Mentioned in Newes).

Tom Cribb's Saloon See The Union Arms.

Town of Ramsgate See Red Cow.

Trip to Jerusalem Nottingham. Famous old pub (700+ years old), carved into the castle rock. Extant.

Triple Tunne Mention in Herrick's 'An Ode to him'. Presumably the same as 'Three Tuns'?

Two Pots Leatherhead. Elynour Rumyng's alehouse. [Or is it the 'Running Horse', Kinsman?]

The Union Arms Panton Street, London (West End) - 'now a "Patmac" establishment, but formerly a famous resort of the "fancy,", and at one period in its history under the landlordship of the redoubtable Tom Cribb. This is the house that figures as "Tom Cribb's Saloon" in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Rodney Stone, and as "Tom Cribb's Parlour" as described by Pierce Egan in the Adventures of Tom and Jerry.' (Popham, p.11).

White Bear Piccadilly, London. Burke, The Winsome Wench, p.60.

The White Conduit House Tavern Originally a small inn, but turned into tea-gardens in the middle of C18 when they became fashionable. 'A long poem in praise of the house appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1760, written by William Woty, a Grub Street poet. A frequent visitor was Goldsmith, who mentions the tavern in letter 122 of the Citizen of the World. "Here," he says, "the inhabitants of London often assemble to celebrate a feast of hot rolls and butter; seeing such numbers, each with their little table before them, employed on this occasion, must no doubt be a very amusing sight to the looker-on, but still more so to those who perform in the solemnity."' Demolished 1828 with a new house erected the following year. (Popham, p.37).

White Hart Bishopsgate Street Within, London. C15? Popular with visitors from Eastern counties who would arrive through Bishops gate into the City. (Shelley, pp.47-8).

White Hart Borough, Southwark (High Street), London. One of the major coaching inns south of the river, and one of the oldest inns in the country (possible pre-1400). 'Travellers from the Continent and the southern and eastern counties of England to London made it their halting-place, whilst from a business standpoint it had scarcely a rival.' Many historical associations: Jack Cade's headquarters in 1450 [01 July, Shelley, p.25]. In Shakespeare's Henry VI Part II, Jack Cade says: 'Hath my sword therefore broke through London gates, that you should leave me at the 'White Hart' in Southwark?' Destroyed by fire in 1676 and rebuilt on the same site in the old style. Demolished in 1889. Pickwick first meets Sam Weller here. (Details from Matz, Pickwick, p.47). Its part successor was Whitehead's - '"Perhaps the oldest licensed house in the City of London..."' (Popham, p.67). Finally demolished July, 1889 (Shelley, p.29).

White Hart Scole, Norfolk. Famous for having 'the noblest signnepost in England', according to Sir Thomas Brown in 1663 (Bickerdyke, p.221).

White Hart Whitechurch. '...where Newman, having ten hours to wait for the Plymouth coach, began his Lyra Apostolica.' (Burke, p.102).

White Hart Hotel Bath. 'During its prosperous era, it was the resort of all the distinguished visitors who flocked to Bath during those gay and festive times.' - 'Although it was the most improtant coaching house in the city, it could not be spoken of as particularly attractive in appearance. It looked more like a barracks than an hotel, indeed, we believe it was used for such a purpose in its degenerate days before it was finally demolished in 1867.' (Matz, Pickwick, p.174). Pickwick et al arrive here. Sam has a slight problem with the owner's name, 'Moses Pickwick', and he is the man from whom Dickens originally got the name for his novel. According to Matz, the effigy of the white hart fronts 'an inn with the same name in the suburb of Widcombe, near by'.

Whitehead's See the White Hart.

White Horse Fetter Lane. Inn that served the Oxford coach.

White Horse Kensington. 'After his marriage to the Countess of Warwick Addison often escaped from the dull respectability of Holland House to the White Horse in Kensington, and here he wrote several issues of the Spectator. The inn was rebuilt about 1830 and renamed the Holland Arms.' (Maskell, p.55).

White Horse Cellars Piccadilly, London. A famous coaching inn that served the West of England. The Ritz currently stands on its original site, although in its time it was moved 'to the opposite side of Piccadilly, and in 1884, the new "White Horse" in turn was pulled down, upon whose site was erected the "Albermarle"' (Matz, Pickwick, p.166). Mentioned in Burke, The Winsome Wench, p.60.

White Horse Tavern See Great White Horse.

White Lion Cobham. Historic.

White Lion Farnborough. Historic.

White Lion Richmond. Kept by Cornelius Caton, mid C18.

Windmill Lothbury, London.

Winterslow Hut Where Hazlitt wrote the essays collected under the title Winterslow (Burke, p.102).

Woolpack Chilling Castle. Historic.

Woolpack Warehorne, 'overlooking Romney Marsh' . Historic.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Off Fleet Street. Goldsmith lived near by at No. 6 Wine Office Court. Johnson would no doubt have frequented this place, living close by in Gough Square and Bolt Court. the pub currently holds his chair, but this was actually taken from another tavern further up Fleet Street. Johnson's house is a few yards away in the court at the back. Extant, and a must.

Ye Olde Kyng's Head See Carr's.

Ye Olde Seven Stars Carey Street off Chancery Lane, London. Some suggest it is the original of The Magpie and Stump in Pickwick Papers. (Popham, p.48).

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem See Trip to Jerusalem.

Coffee-houses (back to top)

Coffee-houses were regarded as the meeting-places for those involved in politics. In the seventeenth century, when they first appeared, they lived up to their name. By the eighteenth century, however, they might be no more than a tavern, and the behaviour there might be similar to tavern behaviour. Tea-gardens partially took over the role of coffee-houses and I have included some of these.
This section is fairly rudimentary at the moment. Places are London, unless otherwise stated.

The Angel ? 'In 1650 was opened at Oxford the first coffee-house by Jacobs, a Jew, at the Angel, in the parish of St. Peter in the East; and there it was, by some who delighted in novelty, drunk. Hence the antiquary Oldys is incorrect in stating that the use of coffee in England was first known in 1657.' (French, p.215). Maskell gives the name as 'Isaac Jobson' from Anthony Wood.

Bedford Coffee House Covent Garden. Home of the Beefsteak Club and used by Roote, Garrick, Hogarth, and Goldsmith. (Popham, p.18). Comedians Quin and Murphy also used it.

Buttons Coffee House Russell Street, Covent Garden. Later the site of Hummums. Associated with Addison.

Chapter House Paternoster Row, corner of Paul's Alley, London. A coffee-house up until 1854 when it later became a tavern. 'Always the resort of the publishing and book-selling trade, it grew from a small beginning to be a recognised resort of wits, critics and leading men of letters.
Chatterton was well known here, as also was Goldsmith.
"It was at the Chapter Coffee-house that Charlottee and Emily Bronte, with their father, stayed in 1842, on their way to Brussels' and Charlotte and Anne in 1848, when on their visit to their publishers, Smith Elder & Co., in cornhill, to prove their identity." (Muirhead)' (Popham, pp.54-5).

Child's St. Paul's Churchyard.

Dick's Fleet Street. Famous coffee house.

Dives, The Upper Mall, Hammersmith. James Thomson composed 'Winter' here, and it was later popular with Leigh Hunt, S. T. Coleridge and Captain Marryat. (Maskell, p.186).

Garraway's Coffee House Exchange Alley. Seventeenth century. Demolished c.1870s. Meeting place for city men, and known to Defoe, Swift and Steele, 'and during its affluent days it was never excelled by other taverns in the city for good fare and comfort. It was there that the "South Sea Bubblers" frequently met.' (Matz, Pickwick, pp.161-3). Mentioned in Pickwick Papers -'Garraway's, twelve o'clock. "Dear Mrs. B., Chops and Tomato Sauce, Yours, Pickwick"' - and other works. The place where tea was first served.

Grecian 'Those who wished to find a gentleman commonly asked, not whether he lived in Fleet Street or Chancery Lance, but whether he frequented the Grecian or the Rainbow' (Macaulay, quoted in Earle, p.54). Frequented by Isaac Newton, Addison, Steele and Goldsmith. It became The Devereux Tavern.

Groom's Coffee House Fleet Street. Next door to The Rainbow coffee-house. Extant at time of Popham's writing (1920s).

Horn Coffee House Doctors' Commons, 'to which a messenger was despatched from theFleet Prison for "a bottle or two of very good wine" to celebrate Mr. Winkle's visit to his old friend, was a well-known and frequented place of call at the time. It was situated actually in Carter Lane...' (Matz, Pickwick, p.184).

Hummums Corner of Russell Street, in Covent Garden, on the old site of Button's Coffee House. Mentioned in Boswell's Life of Johnson. (Popham, p.21).

Jerusalem City of London, famous for its news room.

Lloyds Kept by Edward Lloyd, the first Lloyds coffee-house was in Tower Street and moved to Lombard Street in 1692. It became the giant insurance company.

Nando's Fleet Street. Famous coffee-house.

Old Burton Coffee-House City, London. Famous coffee-house.

Old Coffee House Inn Hertford. Dates back to 1660.

Peele's Corner of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane. Later became a tavern called Peele's?

Rainbow 15 Fleet Street. Second oldest coffee-house in London. Opened by James Farr in 1657.
"We present James Farr, barber, for making and selling a drink called coffee, whereby, in making the same, he annoyeth his neighboors by the evill smells, and for keeping of fire the most part night and day, whereby his chimney and chamber has been set on fire, to the great danger and affreightment of his neighboors.' (French, pp. 216-7).

Rosee's Head Seventeenth century.

Sarjeants' Inn Coffee House Off Fleet Street. 'When Sarjeants' Inn was rebuilt in 1838 the coffee house referred to ended its existence' (Matz, Pickwick, p.183).

Slaughter's Associated with Hogarth.

Smyrna Seventeenth century.

Tom's 'a coffee-house famous in the 18th century, named from its landlord Thomas West'. Note in Farquhar, The Beaux Stratagem. Frequented by Pope and Akenside. 'Curiously enough it was here that Mr. Thomas Twining commenced to sell the rival beverage of tea, and Twining's Bank subsequently occupied the site.' (Maskell, p.182).

Whites 'A chocolate-house in St James's Street, London, started in 1697 by Francis White.' Note in Farquhar, The Beaux Stratagem.

Wills 'A coffee-house at No.1 Bow Street, at the corner of Russell Street, frequented in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by authors, notably Congreve, Dryden, Wycherley, Addison and Pope.' Note in Farquhar, The Beaux Stratagem.

The Yorkshire Stingo Tea Garden. 138 Marylebone Road, London. Starting point for London's first omnibus, 1829. (Popham, p.26).

References (back to top)

Adams = Robert M. Adams, The Land and Literature of England, NY, Norton, 1983, cited in 'Taverns of Stuart London' website

Bickerydyke = John Bickerdyke, The Curiosities of Ale and Beer: An Entertaining History, London, Swan Sonnenschein, 1889.

Burke, The Winsome Wench (a novel) = Thomas Burke, The Winsome Wench. The Story of a London Inn 1825-1900, London, Routledge, 1938.

Burke = Thomas Burke, The English Inn, London, Longmans, 1931.

Earle = Peter Earle, The Making of the English Middle Class. Business, Society and Family Life in London, 1660-1730, London, Methuen, 1989.

French = R. V. French, Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England: A History, Second Edition - Enlarged and Revised, London, National Temperance Publication Depot. No date. [1st edition is 1884].

Kenny (Farquhar) = Shirley Strum Kenny, ed., The Works of George Farquhar, 2 volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988.

Kinsman = Robert S. Kinsman, John Skelton. Poems, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969.

Maskell = Henry Parr Maskell, The Taverns of Old England, London, Philip Allan, 1927.

Matz, Pickwick = B. W. Matz, The Inns and Taverns of 'Pickwick' with Some Observations on their Other Associations, London, Cecil Palmer, 1921.

Newes from Bartholomew Fayre, early C17 black-letter sheet. Bickerdyke, p.203.

Popham = H. E. Popham, The Taverns of London Topographically Arranged, London, Cecil Palmer, 1928, 2nd edition.

The Pub and the People = Mass Observation, The Pub and the People. A Worktown Study by Mass Observation, London, Victor Gollancz, 1943.

Richardson

Shelley = Henry C. Shelley, Inns and Taverns of Old London, London, Pitman, 1909.

Smith, Dictionary of London Street Names

Taylor = Anya Taylor, Bacchus in Romantic England. Writers and Drink, 1780-1830, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1999.

Troyer = Howard William Troyer, Ned Ward of Grubstreet: A Study of Sub-Literary London in the Eighteenth Century, Cambridge, Massacheusetts, Harvard University Press, 1946.