THE FLASK

THE FLASK - A LITERARY LONDON PUB

The Flask, a Grade II listed?Fuller's pub, sits at the top of Highgate Hill. The stable block dates back to 1663 and features two 17th-century horseboxes and shutter window bar. The pub may have been named after the flasks of Hampstead mineral water bought in the 18th Century.

Currently, there is: A stuffed badger with a walking stick in one of the leaded windows. Lots of attractive dark wood furnishings inside.

Louisa and I were in The Flask after walking from Finsbury Park to Highgate. For refreshment, I ordered a half of Mild while Louisa was after a ‘girlie’ half of lager and lime. The barman said he was careful never to assume, when he served people, who was drinking what by gender. Louisa and I sat out the front, with about 20 others, in a courtyard area. To our left a barrel of water and a set of doggie bowls showed the pub is dog friendly.

This pub is a must-visit for romantic poet fans: Lord Byron, Mary &?Percy Shelley and John Keats all drunk here. For other poetry fans: T.S. Eliot and John Betjeman have visited.

For fans of the lyricist, George Michael, he came here too.

Plus, the pub has also been frequented by Karl Marx and William Hogarth. Marx wrote Das Kapital?and The Communist Manifesto?and is buried nearby in Highgate cemetery. Hogarth wrote the book The Analysis of Beauty?but is better known for satire and art.

The pub was originally known as the?Upper Flask, a tavern near the top of the hill, to distinguish it from the?Lower Flask. Both Flasks are mentioned in volume 5 of Samuel Richardson’s novel Clarissa?(1748): 'I have got the fellow down!—I have got old Grimes—hah, hah, hah, hah!—He is at the Lower Flask’ (Vol. 5, Letter 25) and ‘The coach carried us to Hampstead, to Highgate, to Muswell-hill; back to Hampstead to the Upper-Flask: there, in compliment to the nymphs, my beloved consented to alight, and take a little repast. Then home early by Kentish-town.’ (Vol. 5, Letter 1)

There is a ghost story related to the pub; the Spanish barmaid who hanged herself in the cellar, after being spurned by the publican, apparently haunts The Flask.

The Flask, 77 Highgate West Hill, Highgate, N6 6BU

Wikipedia: The Flask

If you liked this article,?there are other London literary pubs listed here.