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Public houses, better known as pubs, have been a way of life in London and throughout the United Kingdom for centuries — the city has hundreds of them. Not all these pubs are old, of course, and not all have the kind of character that accumulates over centuries of drinking, talking, and eating. But many pubs date back anywhere from a century to more than 400 years. Here are a few to consider.
Coal Hole
Opened in the early 19th century, the Coal Hole (91 The Strand) got its name from the coal haulers who unloaded their cargo on the Thames nearby. One of Central London's larger pubs, the Coal Hole has many theatrical connections because of its West End location. Famous mid-19th-century Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean used to hire rowdies, get them drunk here, and then send them off to heckle his rivals in other theaters.
George Inn
You can find one of the city's most historically important pubs in the George Inn (in George Inn Yard off Borough High Street). It's the last remaining example in London of an old-style coaching inn, with balconies (called galleries) around the inner court. The George was doing business during the reign of Henry VIII, and some claim it actually dates back to Chaucer's era.
King's Head and Eight Bells
Chelsea's intimate, clublike King's Head and Eight Bells (50 Cheyne Walk) opened more than 400 years ago, around 1580. Back then, of course, the area was rural; Henry VIII's country house stood nearby. Later, celebrated artists and writers, such as Thomas Carlyle, Oscar Wilde, and Laurence Olivier, made their homes in Chelsea, one of the prettiest (and now one of the most expensive) parts of London. The neighborhood's still filled with cultural luminaries, so keep your eyes open here.
Lamb and Flag
The Lamb and Flag (33 Rose St.) was once known by the grisly name "Bucket of Blood" because prizefighters battered one another into bloody pulps during matches held for betting customers. The pub, a rare survivor of the Great Fire of 1666, has a couple of literary associations to offset its unsavory past. In the 19th century, this place was one of Charles Dickens's favorite taverns. A couple centuries earlier, poet John Dryden was attacked and beaten just outside, probably because of a lampoon that he directed at the Earl of Rochester. Every year on December 16, the pub commemorates the anniversary of the attack with a Dryden Night.
Red Lion Public House
Civil servants and members of Parliament (MPs) frequent the Red Lion Public House (48 Parliament St.). So many MPs stop in here that the pub rings a special bell before a vote is taken, allowing the lawmakers to get back in time.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (Wine Office Court, 145 Fleet St.) was established in 1667, but a tavern stood on this site as early as 1590. The earlier tavern burned down in the Great Fire of 1666 and was quickly rebuilt — in fact, Ye Old Cheshire Cheese was the first pub to reopen after the fire. Downstairs, you can see charred wooden beams bearing witness to the massive fire that destroyed a large portion of London. This pub was one of Charles Dickens's favorite hangouts, and he usually sat at a table to the right of the fireplace on the first floor.
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