This crawl went past some of the oldest
remaining post-Fire buildings in the City and provided the chance
to sup ale on the same sites that folk have supped for over three
hundred years. Those who remembered Wren's remark "If you
seek my monument, look around you", did just that - I wonder
how many Wren churches they noticed.
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#1 |
6.00pm - 7.50pm |
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Samuel Pepys
Stew Lane,
High Timber Street
EC4.
- Stew Lane is one of the many passageways down which Londoners
in Shakespeare's day would have made their way to the river to
catch a boat to enjoy pleasures available to them on the opposite
bank, the "stews" being notorious brothels - which
flourished on land owned by the Bishop of Winchester! The pub,
which has no connection with the diarist, offers spectacular
views across the Thames to the Globe theatre and Tate Modern.
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#2
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8.00pm - 8.55pm.
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Ye Olde Watling
cnr of Watling Street (no relation to
the Roman road of the same name) and Bow Lane
EC4.
- This tavern is post-Fire.
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#3
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9.00pm - 9.50pm.
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Williamson's Tavern
Groveland Court,
Bow Lane,
EC4
- Situated in the centre of the old Roman square mile, Williamson's
Tavern came into existence after the Great Fire of 1666 and was
occupied by successive Lord Mayors until 1753 (when they started
using the fine building opposite the Bank of England). The premises
probably holds the oldest excise licence in the City of London.
For the architecturally inclined, you may be interested to know
that the wrought iron gateway was presented by William and Mary,
and that the tiles used in the construction of the fireplace
are of Roman origin, having been found ten feet below the present
ground level.
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#4
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10.00pm - 10.50pm.
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Viaduct Tavern
cnr of Newgate Street and Giltspur Street,
opposite the "Old Bailey",
EC1.
- This pub, built in 1869 and named after the Holborn Viaduct
which was opened that year, still retains many of its original
decorations. It is built on the site of Newgate prison and its
cellars are the former prison cells.
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#5
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11.00pm - 1.00am.
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The Living Room
3-5 West Smithfield
EC1.
- This is a new venue, 21st century
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