INNS & TAVERNS

Coaching Inns

From the 17^thC to the early 19^thC London's coaching inns played an important role in the social and economic life of the city and its environs. They acted as a mixture of hotel and embarkation point for travellers to other parts of Britain. Often the inns had a strong association with a particular part of the country. By departing from the inn businessmen and gentry who came to London knew that they had a good chance of travelling with people whom they knew or knew of. While, people who originated from a region, but who, through work or official service, had to live in London, would often spend some of their leisure time frequenting the public rooms of their local inn to hear news from home and/or to eat regional delicacies.

Location: St Martin-le-Grand, EC2V 7BX. The first mail coaches set out from The Bull & Mouth Inn. (red, turquoise)

The Crown & Anchor

The Anacreontic Club met at The Crown & Anchor Tavern on the Strand. The tune of the club song, To Anacreon In Heaven, was later to be used for The Star-Spangled Banner.

Location: Strand, WC2R 3LL (blue, grey)

District Names

A number of districts in London acquired their names from inns or pubs: The Angel in Islington derives its name from The Angel Inn, New Cross from The New Cross Inn, and Swiss Cottage from The Swiss Cottage pub.

Location: 1 Islington High Street, N1 9LQ (red, blue)

Ye Olde Swiss Cottage, 98 Finchley Road, NW3 5EL

Website: www.theangelcityroad.co.uk

Street Names

The Dark House Tavern was in Thomas Street. By the 14^thC the street was being referred to as Dark Lane.

Location: EC4R 3UE. Near All Hallows Lane.

The George Inn

The George Inn is the best surviving (if incomplete) example of a coaching inn in London. Southwark's inns became doomed with the opening of London Bridge Station (1837). Yet, it has survived as a pub.

Location: 77 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH

See Also: GEOFFREY CHAUCER

Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/george-inn www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/george-southwark

Pontack's

In the 1660s wine producers in the Bordeaux region started producing fuller bodied wines. Their sweetness came to be regarded as being complementing spicy food. They came to be associated with desserts. One of the ways in which English cooks led European cuisine was in finding uses for sugar. English puddings acquired an iconic status.

One of the leaders of the new style of wine was Arnaud de Pontac, who ran the Haut-Brion vineyard. Haut-Brion had a higher alcohol content than other wines of the region. By the mid-1660s Ho Bryan was selling in London for two or three times the price of other wines. This state of affairs was aided by the fact that Pontac's son ran a noted tavern. John Locke was very partial Haut-Brion and while travelling in France made a visit to the vineyard. Pontac's success, encouraged his neighbours to copy his practices. Lafite, Latour, and Margaux were created.

Until 1746 Pontack's was the venue for the Royal Society's annual dinners.

Location: Abchurch Lane, EC4N 7BW (red, yellow)

The Star & Garter

No. 100 Pall Mall is on what was the site of The Star & Garter tavern. In the 18^thC was one of the inns where gentlemen and aristocrats from the same region or county as one another could, if they so chose, meet on a given day of the week while they were in London.

Location: 100 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5NQ (orange, purple)

The Wicked Lord Byron

The Nottinghamshire Club would meet at the tavern. It was while attending one of the body's gathering that was being held there in 1765 that the 5^th Baron Byron¹ fell into an argument with his cousin William Chaworth over game on their estates. The disagreement escalated into a duel in which his lordship mortally wounded his kinsman.

The baron was tried by his peers in the House of Lords and found guilty of manslaughter. However, he was discharged under the statute of privilege as a peer.

¹. The 5^th Baron was a great-uncle of the poet Byron.

The White Horse

The White Horse stood on the site now occupied by The Ritz hotel. It moved to the corner of Albemarle Street. It was demolished in 1884 and The Albemarle was built upon the site.

The Guildford-London coach service's London end was The White Horse on Piccadilly.

(It is a phenomenon that about 10% of horses turn white by the time that they are six-years-old. In 2008 it was reported that scientists at Uppsala University, Sweden, had discovered that all horses that turned white shared a common gene. This meant that they had a common ancestor. It was probable that prehistoric men had chosen to foster the characteristic.)

Location: 150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR (orange, blue)

White Horse Street, W1J 7LD (purple, brown)

See Also: COACHES Coaching Inns

David Backhouse 2024