PUBS
See Also: BREWING;
BUSES Destinations; CLASS Physical Expression,
A Class Divide; COFFEEHOUSES The Jamaica Coffee House;
FRUSTRATION's FRUIT; INNS & TAVERNS; INNS & TAVERNS The George Inn;
GEORGE ORWELL The Moon Under Water; PERIOD PROPERTIES City of London
Hostelries; PLACES OF EXECUTION Tyburn, The Journey To Tyburn; PUB GAMES &
CUE SPORTS; SOHO The Coach &
Horses; STREET FURNITURE Signs; UNDERGROUND STATIONS Sloane Square; WEST END PUBS
Websites:
www.innsignsociety.com www.pubhistorysociety.co.uk
The Blackfriar
The
Blackfriar (1875) stands upon the site of what was a Dominican
monastery. It is London's only Art
Nouveau pub. Its character may derive
from Herbert Fuller-Clark (1869-1934) not only being an experienced pub
architect but also one who had created a number of music halls
Location:
174 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EG (orange, red)
Website:
www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon
The Board of Green Cloth
The Board of
Green Cloth issued alcohol and gaming licences for establishments that operated
within royal palaces. The body could
also grant them within areas that were within a set distance of any of the
royal establishments. It was abolished
by the Licensing Act of 2003. The Board
had been the last surviving Court of the Royal Prerogative.
See Also:
PALACES; THE TOWER OF LONDON Torture, The Star Chamber
Lodged In
The Loo
The solicitor
David Lavender served as the Clerk of the Board from 1984 to 2000. He was appointed to the position because he
had developed an expertise in securing liquor and entertainment licences for
West End pubs and restaurants. He had
been in frequent conflict with Westminster City Council, which had often
opposed many of his clients wishes.
Upon one occasion, a licence application had had to be submitted to a
court by a particular date. When Mr
Lavender had arrived at the appropriate building on the day he had discovered
that the establishment had been closed.
He had walked around to the back of its premises. There, he had seen that a window of its Gents
had been left open. He had thrown the
application through the aperture. The
following day, upon his arrival at the court, he had directed its one of its
clerks to collect the document. Thereby
he had been able to validate his assertion that paper had been lodged duly with
the body within the required time.
The Castle
In 1751
publicans were banned from taking pledges.
In the early
19thC the Prince Regent liked to attend cockfights and to bet upon
the result of individual clashes. Upon
one occasion he went to an event that was staged at The Castle, a pub in
Farringdon. He had a bad losing
streak. This meant that he ran out of
money to wage upon the encounters outcomes.
The establishment's landlord lent him some cash to cover his
embarrassment. The following day the
prince sent a messenger with a sum that paid back the loan. Accompanying it was a royal license that
allowed the publican to act as a pawnbroker.
This enabled the man to legally take possession of items of value as
security for the repayment of money that he lent out to gamblers who found
themselves to be temporarily discommoded.
Location:
34-35 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6DB (blue, yellow)
See Also:
ANIMALS The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Website:
www.thecastlefarringdon.co.uk
The Castles of Camden Town
The
Castles of Camden Town were The Dublin Castle, The Edinburgh
Castle, The Pembroke Castle, and The Windsor Castle. According to local lore, these were used by
navvies from each of the four home countries.
The
Windsor Castle was - in an instance of cultural vandalism - renamed The
NW1 Bar.
Location:
The Dublin Castle, 94 Parkway, NW1 7AN (blue, orange)
The
Edinburgh Castle, 57 Mornington Terrace, NW1 7RU (purple, pink)
The
Pembroke Castle, 150 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JA (blue, brown)
The
Windsor Castle, 32 Parkway, NW1 7AH (orange, brown)
See Also:
BIRDS The Extinct, The Great Auk, Eggs Is Eggs
Website:
https://thedublincastle.com www.edinborocastlepub.co.uk
Commemoration Feasts
Sometimes
money would be bequeathed for an individual to be commemorated by an annual
feast. This would be held in an
inn. In the late 18thC the
artist John Nixon came across one that was being held at The Falcon
between Wandsworth and Battersea. The
person who was being remembered was a former and the people present fellow
practitioners of his trade. The inn s
proprietor was one R. Death. Nixon
produced a picture of The Merry Undertakers Feasting At Death's Door
(1789).
Location:
2 St John's Hill, SW11 1RU
Website:
www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/thefalconclaphamjunctionlondon
Community-Owned Pubs
The Ivy
House
The Ivy
House pub in Nunhead was London's first community-owned pub. It was purchased under the Localism Act of
2011.
Location:
40 Stuart Road, Nunhead, SE15 3BE
Website:
www.ivyhousenunhead.com
Drunkenness
Under the
Licensing Act of 1872, it is illegal to be drunk in a pub.
Food
See Also:
FOOD; SOUTH ASIAN FOOD South Asian Pub Grub; WEST END PUBS The Crown Inn
Gastro-Pubs
The Eagle
in Clerkenwell was the first of London's gastro-pubs.
Location:
159 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3AL (red, pink)
Website:
https://theeaglefarringdon.co.uk
Veganism
In 2018 The
Spread Eagle in Homerton became London's first vegan pub.
Location:
224 Homerton High Street, E9 6AS
See Also:
VEGETARIANISM & VEGANISM
Website:
www.thespreadeaglelondon.co.uk
The French House
In 1914
Victor Berlemont, a Belgian, bought The Wine House. He renamed the business Maison Berlemont
and subsequently The York Minster.
The pub's clientele has included General de Gaulle. Following m. Berlemont's death in the
1950s his son Gaston succeeded him as the establishment's landlord. Both p re et fils sported fine
handlebar moustaches.
The French
was unusual for a pub in that it stocked and sold absinthe, arrack, and
pastis. The reason why the establishment
only sells beer in half pint glasses is because there is so little room behind
the bar.
Berlemont fils
retired in 1989 - on 14 July.
In 2020, in
the wake of the Covid pandemic, The French House sold beer in pint
glasses in order to minimise contact between serving staff and customers.
Location:
49 Dean Street, W1D 5BG (turquoise, pink)
See Also:
SOHO Peoples & Cultures, The French
Gin Palaces
During the
1820s it came to be appreciated that the new technology of gas lighting could
be used to make pubs more attractive places to be in at night. The first gin palaces are reputed to have
been Thompson & Fearon's in Holborn and Weller's on Old
Street.
Location:
The Punch Tavern, 99 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1DE (purple, red)
See Also:
GIN; LIGHTING Gas Lighting; MAGAZINES, CLOSED & NON-EXISTENT Punch;
WEST END PUBS Gin Palaces
Website:
www.punchtavern.com www.redlionmayfair.co.uk www.pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory2.asp www.princesslouisepub.co.uk
The
Bride of Denmark
The
Architectural Press published The Architects Journal and the Architectural
Review. The basement of the
enterprise's Queen Anne's Gate building contained The Bride of Denmark,
a pastiche Victorian pub that Hubert de Cronin Hastings (1902-1986), the firm s
proprietor, had built himself (in part).1 He intended that The Bride should be
an inspiration for contemporary architects who were designing pubs in the then
prevalent Festival of Britain style. It
proved to be popular with those members of the profession who relished a drink,
notably Cedric Price (1934-2003) and Big Jim Stirling (1926-1992). Sir Osbert Lancaster (1908-1986), who was
associated with the Press, coined the term gin palace to describe ornate
Victorian pubs.
Location:
9-13 Queen Anne's Gate, SW1H 9DP (red, turquoise)
See Also:
ARCHITECTURE
Website:
www.architecturalpress.com
1. Ideas
that originated from Hastings and his associates included townscape. This sought to look at the whole composition
of a town rather than just the design of individual buildings.
The Italian Job
Location:
130 Cadogan Terrace, Hackney Wick, E9 5HP
13 Devonshire
Road, Chiswick, W4 2EU
42 Newington
Causeway, SE1 6DR
Website:
https://theitalianjobpub.co.uk
Licensing
In 1839 the
first Sunday closing law was passed.
The First
World War's Defence of The Realm Act (Dora) limited opening hours.
The Marquises of Granby
Some of the Marquises
of Granby have proven to be inconstant and have changed their names. The Paxton's Head in Knightsbridge
used to be one.1 Nearby
Rutland Gate was built on the site of what had been Rutland House, the family s
London townhouse.
Location:
153 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7PA. No longer
one. (blue, brown)
41 Romney
Street, SW1P 3RF (blue, turquoise)
See Also:
THE ARMY The Royal Hospital Chelsea; WEST END PUBS The Marquises of Granby
Website:
www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/themarquisofgranbyrathbonestreetlondon
1. Sir Joseph Paxton was the
designer of the Crystal Palace, which was erected in Hyde Park to house the
Great Exhibition of 1851.
Monday Clubs
When pubs
closed in the afternoon, Monday Clubs were all-day drinking sessions in which
there would often be entertainment.
Those participating were people who had worked over the weekend or who
did not feel like going into work.
The Morpeth Arms
The Bill that
was to establish the Millbank Penitentiary included provision that would have
barred there being any licensed establishments near the prison so that there
was no possibility of the warders being drunk on duty. In the Commons Lord Morpeth opposed the
measure. That is why there is a The
Morpeth Arms near The Tate.
Location:
58 Millbank, SW1P 4RW (orange, purple)
See Also:
PRISONS, DISAPPEARED Millbank Penitentiary, The Morpeth Arms
Website:
www.morpetharms.com
Names
Nautical
The pubs
names of Rotherhithe were intended to resonate with maritime workers: The
Cape of Good Hope, The Providence Island, and The Jamaica Inn.
Nicknames
Pubs are
often known to locals by a nickname. The
Country House by Earlsfield Railway Station is known as The Fog. This because it used to be enveloped by steam
from trains that had pulled into the station.
The conductor Thomas Beecham called The George The Glue Pot
because the musicians from The Queen's Hall would go there during the interval
and need fetching back.
Location:
2 Groton Road, Earlsfield, SW18 4EP
55 Great
Portland Street W1W 7LQ (red, pink)
Website:
www.thecountryhouseearlsfield.co.uk https://thegeorge.london
Fleet
Street Nicknames
For most of
the later 20thC the newspaper industry had a hard drinking
culture. The Observer's local on
Fleet Street was known as Auntie's.
The White Hart by the Mirror Building was known as The Stab In
The Back because it was where Mirror managers would take journalists
for a drink when they were going to tell them they were sacked. The White Swan was known as The
Mucky Duck.
In 1974 The
Times newspaper moved from Printing House Square to the Gray's Inn
Road. The journalists who had worked in
the former became known within the paper as the Black Friars . This commemorated The Black Friar,
where they had drunk.
Location:
The Blackfriar, 174 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EG (orange, red)
The White
Hart, 3 New Fetter Lane, EC4A 3BN (red, turquoise)
The White
Swan, 108 Fetter Lane, EC4A 1ES (blue, yellow)
Website:
www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon
Pub Names
See Also:
INNS & TAVERNS District Names; LONDON Street Names and Place Names; ROADS
Turnpikes; SOHO Peoples & Cultures, Poland Street
Ball's
Pond Road
In the late 17thC
John Ball was the landlord of The Mitre & Staff. The pond was an attraction in the pub's
grounds.
Location:
Ball's Pond Road, N1 4AP
The
Black Lion
A number of
districts in London derive their names from inns or pubs. The process sometimes worked in reverse. Queensway, above the north-western section of
Kensington Gardens is a road that received its moniker from Queen
Victoria. She had been raised nearby in
Kensington Palace. Following her
accession to the throne she made it known that she thought that the name
Queen's Road was more appropriate than Black Lion Lane (The Black Lion
being a pub on the eastern side of the lane's junction with the Bayswater
Road).
Location:
123 Bayswater Road, W2 3JH (purple, blue)
Queensway, W2
3RR (purple, yellow)
See Also:
MUSEUMS The Victoria & Albert Museum
Renaming
The
Cardinal
In 2011 it
was reported that Samuel Smith's wished to change the name of The Cardinal
in Westminster to The Windsor Castle, which was its original name. The Archbishop of Westminster opposed this
development.
Location:
23 Francis Street, SW1P 1DN (purple, yellow)
The
Spiller's Head
James Spiller
(d.1729) was a painter who became an actor.
He created the role of Mat of the Mint in The Beggar's Opera
(1728). He was incarcerated in debtors
prison on a number of occasions. During
one of these he so charmed one of the guards that when he was released the man
resigned from his job and became the landlord of The Bull & Butcher
pub in Clare Market so that he could continue to enjoy the thespian s
conversation. The actor became a regular
and others flocked to enjoy his company.
It was suggested that the establishment should have a less vulgar name
(its nickname was The Old Slaughterers).
The former turnkey renamed it The Spiller's Head.
Location:
Clare Market, WC2A 4AD (orange, purple)
The Prospect of Whitby
The pub that
became The Prospect of Whitby was extant in the 17thC. It took its present name in 1777 from a ship
called The Prospect that had come from Whitby. This had been moored upon the Thames nearby
long enough to have become a land mark.
Location:
57 Wapping Wall, E1W 3SH (red, purple)
See Also:
TIMELY EELS; VAMPIRES Dracula; THE WHITBY TRADE
Pub Signs
The Romans
used a wreath of vine leaves as a pub sign.
This turned into a shrub, which metamorphosed into names such as The
Yew Tree and The Bush.
In 1393 King
Richard II passed a law that required inns to identify themselves to the
official Ale Taster by having signs.
The Sloaney Pony
Sally
Cruickshank had a somewhat varied working life.
In 1981 she decided that she wanted to run a pub. She took over The White Horse on
Parson's Green. Prior to her doing so
she was warned that the establishment was a rough house. This was because two rival amateur soccer
teams both regarded the hostelry as being their local. The presence of undesirables did not
trouble her. As far as she was
concerned, by the time that she had turned the premises into what she intended
to no one would even notice them.
The bitters
that were being offered were switched from keg beers to real ales. She started serving good quality food early
in London's gastro-pub boom and ensured that The Horse had a varied,
affordable cellar of wines. The pub
began not only to attract far more customers than had been the case previously,
it also drew them in from a wider social spectrum. The high proportion of drinkers with R.P.
(received pronunciation) and marked R.P. accents led to it being nicknamed The
Sloaney Pony . The moniker blended a
measure affection with a degree of derision.
Mrs
Cruickshank retired as The Horse's landlady in 1995. At the time, members of Dauntless Athletic,
one of the two teams of undesirables , were still drinking in the pub.
Location:
1-3 Parson's Green, SW6 4UL
See Also: CLASS Sloane Rangers
Website:
www.whitehorsesw6.com
The Star Tavern
Paddy Kennedy
was a noted landlord of The Star.
He had a soft spot for the underworld hard man-cum-bit part actor
John Bindon (1943-1993). Kennedy allowed
Bindon to rent a small house in Chesham Mews that was attached to the pub. In the thespian-thug's later years, his alcoholic
older brother Michael would sometimes stay at the property. One winter night, while his younger sib was
elsewhere, Michael died of hypothermia.
Subsequently, John returned.
According to some of the thespian's associates, he slung his brother s
corpse over his shoulder. He then walked
into The Star with the body, lent it against the bar, and declared,
We re having a wake!
Location:
6 Belgrave Mews, SW1X 8HT (orange, yellow)
Website:
www.star-tavern-belgravia.co.uk
J.D. Wetherspoon
Tim Martin
studied law at university, intending to become a barrister. However, he had a profound fear of public
speaking. He was unable to find a pub
that quite met what he wanted. He used
his legal expertise to examine the licensing laws. He appreciated that he did not to acquire a
pub and remould it. Rather, he was free
to take over premises that had never been licensed before and that magistrates
were at liberty to grant a licence for the space. Martin's Free House opened in Muswell Hill in
1979. He created the J.D.
Wetherspoon. The initials came from the
character J.D. Hogg in the American television show The Dukes of Hazard. The surname was that of a teacher he had once
had whom he had held in extremely low regard.
In order to
secure licences Martin had to appear before magistrates to plead his case and
answer any questions they might have.
Doing this repeatedly cured him of his aversion to public speaking.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Ye Olde
Cheshire Cleese is a pub that was rebuilt after the Great Fire of
1666. It was one of Dr Samuel Johnson s
(d.1784) favourite haunts.
Location:
Wine Office Court, 145 Fleet Street, EC4A 2BU (red, grey)
See Also:
BIRDS Parrots, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Website:
https://ye-olde-cheshire-cheese.co.uk
David
Backhouse 2024