For my planned ‘culture’ day out this week I was delighted to be accompanied by 3 old boys that I used to work with in my last role at Barclays……I say ‘old boys’ – they are actually all younger than me 
So, myself, Tony Gowers, Andy Bayes and David Wright set out to discover some of the pubs and a couple of other buildings, that were around at the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666, and survived the devastating destruction caused – and, what an interesting and enjoyable day out it turned out to be.
Having had to deal with the Great Plague in 1665, Londoner’s were about to face another disaster a year later when a fire broke out on the 2nd September in the Kings Bakery in Pudding Lane, nr London Bridge, which then spread rapidly and uncontrollably throughout the timber built private and business dwellings.
Because of the design of buildings and material used, fires were not uncommon in those days, but because the weather had been extremely hot and dry, with no rain for quite a few weeks, this fire took hold with an extreme ferocity and spread rapidly through the surrounding streets and beyond.
The situation soon turned into a major catastrophe as the fire, aided by strong winds, spread across the entire City.
Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist of the time, retreated to safety at The Anchor pub on the other side of the River, in Southwark – and noted what he saw as he watched the disaster unfold.
Following 3 days of uncontrollable devastation and carnage, the fire began to die down and finally burned itself out just short of Aldgate in the east – but in its path it left only one-fifth of London’s buildings standing and destroyed over 13,000 private dwellings.
However, some buildings did actually survive the Great Fire of 1666, but only a handful can still be seen today – and some of those buildings were/are pubs – and it is these following establishments that we set out to track down and check out :-
>The Anchor – Park Street-Southwark
>The George Inn – Borough High Street
>Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet Street
>The Cittee of York – High Holborn
>Ye Olde Mitre – Ely Place
>The Seven Stars – Carey Street
>The Hoop & Grapes – Aldgate
Other buildings we visited on this excursion that survived the fire and are still going strong today are:-
>41/42 Cloth Fair – off Farringdon Street
>The Staple Inn – Chancery Lane
>Prince Henry’s Room – Fleet Street
The following couple of pubs have absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Great Fire – but were paid a visit, simply because they were a bit quirky and unusual – and it seemed like a good idea at the time:-
>The Black Friar – Blackfriars
>The Champion – Wells Street (off Oxford St)
I have added a little bit of history about each location visited, to the photos taken on-route – which you may find interesting.
I should point out that we did not partake in a ‘cheeky one’ at every pub visited – because had we done so, then knowing my passion for necking down a ‘quick one’, we probably wouldn’t have got any further than the first boozer on the list
All in all a very enjoyable and interesting day out, shared with some excellent company :-)
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- The ‘Pubs that survived the Great Fire of London’ – team photo 🙂 right by Smithfield Market
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- Diagram showing the scale of devastation the Great Fire of London in 1666, caused to the City.
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- Entrance to George Inn Yard – off Borough High St
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- The actual site of the George Inn is located in George Inn Yard, just off of Borough High St – and has a long standing history going back to medieval times when it was a stop-off point for travellers entering the City. In later years the Old Bar was the waiting room, for coachmen and passengers – and the Middle Bar was once a coffee room , which Charles Dickens used to visit. In fact, the pub is featured in his Little Dorritt novel, and Dickens’ life insurance policy is framed and on display upon of its walls. It was also one of William Shakespeare’s local’s whenever he was in town. It escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666, but was victim to another major fire in 1676, and was re-built in its present form in 1676 – and is now a Grade II building that belongs to the National Trust.
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- Another shot of The George Inn – Borough High St
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- The Anchor – Southwark
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- The Anchor in Sothwark was the pub where the famous diarist Samuel Pepys sought refuge from the Great Fire of London – and sat and watched the devastation evolving the other side of the River. The pub was originally built in the 1500’s – but was then ruined by a localised fire in 1676 and re-built to its current form. Back in the day it was also another of William Shakespeare’s ‘locals’ when he was in town.
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- Another view of The Anchor – Southwark
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- Some extra’s from The Last Of The Summer Wine – outside The Anchor in Southwark 🙂
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- The Hoop & Grapes site which was built in the late 1500’s, goes down in history because the Great Fire of London burned itself out within 50 yards away from the building. At the time it was a private house and later became a wine shop. After the great fire, the construction of wooden buildings in the City was forbidden – therefore, the pub is the only surviving 17th-century timber-framed building in the City of London. The front leans at an angle and would have fallen over had it not had extensive structural support carried out in the 1980’s. The buildings either side of the ‘Hoops’ are also survivors of the 1600’s.
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- Inside the Hoop & grapes – Aldgate
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- Inside the Hoop & grapes – Aldgate
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- Inside the Hoop & grapes – Aldgate
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- Necking down the first ‘cheeky one’ of the day – in The Hoop & Grapes – Aldgate
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- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in Fleet Street was originally built in 1538, and was a victim of the Great Fire of London. It was re-built in 1667, during the year following the fire. It is full of many nooks and crannies and a very deep basement area – and throughout the centuries it has been the favoured watering hole of many literary punters such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alfred Tennyson, PG Woodhouse, Charles Dickens – and Samuel Johnson, of whom there are a few of his artefacts on display.
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- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet Street
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- An interesting sign outside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet Street
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- Inside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet St
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- A resident parrot – inside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet St 🙂
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- Down in the basement of Ye Old Cheshire Cheese – Fleet St
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- Slipping in another ‘cheeky one’ down in the basement of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – Fleet St
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- Cittie of Yorke, High Holborn – the pub site dates back to 1430, although the present building was renovated in the 1920s. It is Grade-II listed building.
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- Cittie of Yorke, High Holborn – the pub site dates back to 1430, although the present building was renovated in the 1920s. It is Grade-II listed building.
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- The Seven Stars pub – in Carey Street, just off Chancery Lane Built in 1602 – and was just beyond the far western limit of the Great Fire of London, and so escaped any major damage. Although there have been a lot of changes to the place over the past 400 years, it still has a sense of charm like stuffed animals and animal skeletons in the main window.
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- Ye Olde Mitre – Ely Place
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- Ye Olde Mitre – Ely Place
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- Records show that the site of the current ‘Ye Olde Mitre’ in Holborn has been a pub/inn since 1546. The current pub was constructed in 1773, but re-modelled in the 1930’s. Because it was situated just outside the boundary of the original City, it was a well-known hiding place for criminals trying to escape capture by the City of London Police Force. Also, because the land it is built on was owned by the Bishop of Ely, there is a school of thought that says it is technically a part of Cambridgeshire.
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- Ye Olde Mitre – signage
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- Signage outside Ye Olde Mitre
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- A few blurred drinkers – inside Ye Olde Mitre – Ely Place
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- Andy ‘No Mates’ Bayes – in the Ye Olde Closet – inside the Ye Olde Mitre pub
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- The Staple Inn buildings in Chancery Lane were built in 1585 – and escaped the wrath of the Great Fire of London by only a few yards – It was badly damaged by an air raid during WW2 but restored to its original designs – It is now a listed building.
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- 41/42 Cloth Fair, just off of Faringdon Street, was built in 1597 and is famous for being the only house in the City of London to have survived the Great Fire of London. The reason it escaped the full force of the fire is believed to it being enclosed within a large set of priory walls, and the fact that the wind suddenly changed direction just as the fire reached its perimeters
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- The ‘Prince Henry Rooms’ – Fleet St
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- The ‘Black Friar’ pub in Queen Victoria Street has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Great Fire of London – but because it is a really unusual, quirky and interesting building, I feel it deserved a visit. From the 1500’s a priory used to be situated on the site. The pub itself was built in 1875, and then re-designed in 1905 by architect Herbert Fuller-Clark – the ‘monk related’ interior decorations were designed and constructed by famous sculptures Frederick Callott and Henry Poole.
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- Outside the ‘Black Friar’ – Queen Victoria St
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- Inside the Black Friar – Queen Victoria St
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- Inside the ‘Black Friar’ – Queen Victoria St
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- Inside the ‘Black Friar’ – Queen Victoria St
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- The ‘W.G. Grace’ stained glass window at ‘The Champion’ pub – Wells Street
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- Another blurred group of explorers inside The Champion pub – Wells St
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- Four ‘old boyz’ hanging around London Bridge 🙂
Ƭhat is a very good blog – particularly to those new to the blogosphere. It’s brief but very accurate info… Thanks for sharing this one…..A must read article!
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Hi Geoff. Just read about the ‘Surviving the Great Fire of London pubs.
I must say mention of “The Champion” in Wells Street brought back many memories. Across the road on the opposite corner was Barclays Eastcastle Street branch, where I worked at about the same time you were working at the Wardour Street branch. We practically lived it that pub. In the summer all the windows were left open and most of the bank staff had lunch in the first floor bar. If we needed the keys, we would go up to our Mech Room on the first floor and just shout across the road to the pub. Thanks for triggering the memory.