THE ROYAL OAK
THE ROYAL OAK - A LITERARY LONDON PUB
The Royal Oak is a Victorian corner pub run by the Sussex brewery Harvey’s. It is close to London Bridge so good for John our 'Kentish man' - or should that?have been our 'man from Kent'?
In 1877, Tabard Street was named after The Tabard. The?'gentile hostelrye' that was the first stop point for the pilgrims, in 1387, as they set out in?Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Tabard is still celebrated with a plaque in Talbot Yard,?Southwark.
Andrew, Bob, Carsten, Clive,?Henry (that’s me), Jacqueline, John, and?Tim & Emma?(who brought their greyhounds Scrubs?&?Montana) met here on Monday.
There are glazed bricks on the outside. Plenty of, wood inside including two bare-boarded bars with prints and photographs on the walls. We commandeered two wooden tables, sat on wooden chairs and drank various Sussex ales/ciders (I was on the Sisters table beer).
Terry Jones, the Python, opened the Royal Oak’s Chaucer Room and promoted his book?Who Murdered Chaucer? A Medieval Mystery?(2003). The Chaucer Room, on the first floor, has illustrations on the walls of characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The pub is listed in Roger Protz‘s The Canterbury Ales (2022) and mentioned in Leigh Hatts’s The Pilgrims’ Way (2022).
The Royal Oak has put on live events such as poetry nights. I bumped into Liz (an old friend) on Saturday in another literary London pub The Pineapple. She is performing at the Royal Oak tonight (Tuesday 23rd July 2024).
All Royal Oak pubs are named in honour of the restoration of the monarchy. Apparently, Charles II hid in an oak tree after the Battle of Worcester. Oak Apple Day (29 May) is the day to visit for the tradition of drinking a toast to King Charles II. There are lots of books that use the name the Royal Oak such as David Carlisle’s historical fiction The Royal Oak (2014).
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If you liked this article,?there are other London literary pubs listed here.
By coincidence, on my way to meet with you at the Royal Oak on Tabard St, I had lunch with friends over from Italy, and the last time I had seen them was in the theatre above another literary pub, the Tabard in Chiswick.