YE OLDE COCK TAVERN

YE OLDE COCK TAVERN - A LITERARY LONDON PUB

On Wednesday, I dropped into this pub, before an event at The Society of Authors, where I had a nice chat with Joanne Harris.

Ye Olde Cock Tavern was originally established in 1549 on the north side of Fleet Street, located at number 190. It was demolished in 1887 and rebuilt at number 22, on the south side of Fleet Street.

Ye Olde Cock Tavern is Grade II listed and said to have the narrowest frontage of any London pub. The exterior is in creamy stonework, with mullioned windows and ornate lamps. Inside, lighting is low, the walls are exposed brick and the fittings are leatherette banquettes. Upstairs there is a mezzanine area with a shuffleboard (￡15/hour) then there is a Gin Bar for private functions.

This pub, run by?Greene King, has plenty of literary connections:

A diary entry from April 23 1668 tells how Samuel Pepys with the actress Mrs Knepp, arrived at Ye Olde Cock Tavern by boat where he: ‘drank, ate a lobster, and sang, and mighty merry.’

Alfred, Lord Tennyson often dined here with William Makepeace Thackeray. Tennyson was so influenced, by a visit, he wrote about the tavern in Will Waterproof’s Lyrical Monologue: 'O plump head-waiter at The Cock, To which I must resort, How goes the time? ’Tis five o’clock. Go fetch a pint of port.'

Samuel Johnson and ?Oliver Goldsmith were both visitors in the 18th century and their friendship was said to have grown here, over an ale or two. Spooky Isles suggests Oliver Goldsmith liked the pub so much he never left and his ghost now haunts the pub.

Charles Dickens was a patron. G. K. Chesterton drunk here. T.S. Eliot was a regular in the 1920’s.

The pub is mentioned in chapter 2 of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando?(1928): 'He could remember he said, a night at the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street when Kit Marlowe was there and some others.'

Dorothy L. Sayers mentions the tavern in Murder Must Advertise the protagonist eats a beef steak but realises the white powder he is carrying needs analysis!

Due to the pubs close proximity to The High Court, Ivana Trump and Pete Doherty have visited.

Opposite the pub is Temple Church which features in Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code. Tom Hanks used the pub for refreshments when working on the film.

Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1AA

Wikipedia: Ye Olde Cock Tavern

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