Drink to old London at these historic pubs
London’s pubs aren’t just a great place to get a pint. Many make an ideal spot to soak up the city’s history too.
The George Inn dates back to medieval times. It was rebuilt in 1677 after a fire destroyed most of the Southwark neighborhood. It’s the only surviving “galleried” pub in London, meaning it has outside balconies where guests of the inn watched plays performed in the courtyard.
Next to the main bar is the table where Charles Dickens drank his pints. One thing that hasn’t changed over time is the popularity of The George, 75-77 Borough High St., where it’s often a standingroom-only crowd.
Another one of my favorites, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, was a preferred watering hole for such literary giants as Arthur Conan Doyle. Rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666, the pub is a kooky combination of odd-shaped rooms connected by twisting, narrow stairways that can be dizzying.
Just down the road is another landmark pub, The Old Bell Tavern. Architect Christopher Wren, who oversaw the rebuilding of 52 churches and St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire, constructed the tavern in the 1670s to house masons working on neighboring St. Bride’s Church. There have been a few minor changes over the years, but one can still stand at the curved, dark wood bar and hoist a drink like those early masons did.
Many London pubs claim to be among the oldest, when they’re really newer buildings located on the site of demolished classics. That’s not true of the above mentioned.
Does the beer taste better when you’re leaning on a pub rail that dates to when Charles II sat on the throne? I think it does, and I’ll drink to that. Eric Vohr is a freelancer.