Taverns Of Long Forgotten London
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White Hart Tavern, Bishopsgate
Leafing through the fat volumes of Walter Thornbury’s London Old & New is the least energetic form of pub crawl I know and yet I found I was intoxicated merely by studying these tottering old taverns, lurching at strange angles like inebriated old men sat by the wayside. Published in the eighteen-seventies, these publications looked back to London and its rural outskirts in the early nineteenth century, evoking a city encircled by coaching inns where pigs roamed loose in Edgware Rd and shepherds drove sheep to market down Highgate Hill.
Bell Tavern, Edmonton
Jack Straw’s Castle, Hampstead
Spaniards’ Hotel, Highgate
Old Crown Inn, Highgate
Gate House Tavern, Highgate
The Brill Tavern, Somers Town
The Castle Tavern, Kentish Town
Old Mother Red Cap Tavern, Camden
Queen’s Head & Artichoke, Edgware Rd
Bell Inn, Kilburn
Halfway House, Kensington
Black Lion Tavern, Chelsea
World’s End Tavern, Chelsea
Gun Tavern, Pimlico
Rose & Crown, Kensington
Tattersall’s, Knightsbridge
Three Cranes Tavern, Upper Thames St, City of London
The Old Queen’s Head, Islington
Old Red Lion, Upon the banks of the Fleet – prior to demolition
Saracen’s Head, Snow Hill – prior to demolition
Old Tabard Tavern, Southwark – prior to demolition
White Hart Tavern, Borough
Inns of the Borough
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
You may like to take a look at other engravings from London Old & New
and more pubs
Such interesting pictures, so full of detail. Are any of the buildings still standing?
Thank you for sharing these old pubs l have had a drink in a few of them . In particular The Spaniards and Jack Straws Castle . I remember when Jack Straws closed as a pub and they turned it into millionaire apartments .
When you see how they once stood in these now posh areas of London ,it makes you laugh to think of the bawdy goings on that once took place there . What does a historic pub and landmark matter when you can make millions ?
JOHN GILPIN was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he
Of famous London town.
John Gilpin’s spouse said to her dear,
‘Though wedded we have been
These twice ten tedious years, yet we
No holiday have seen.
‘To-morrow is our wedding-day,
And we will then repair
Unto the Bell at Edmonton,
All in a chaise and pair.’
These illustrations are brilliant, thank you for finding and sharing them. I, started tracing our family history to Spitalfields and the East End – thank you for your blog it brings everything to life -superb
Wendy, several of these establishments survive but bear little resemblance to the originals.
I’d make at least one exception to that, Slingsby – The Spaniard’s Inn is still pretty recognisable from that picture, complete with the still-extant toll house over the road.