At the dawn of the Stuart dynasty that ruled both Scotland and England for over a century, a tavern was built on London's busy Fleet Street, at number 39. Believed to have first opened in 1603, William Shakespeare is reputed to have been one of its early customers, with the poet Richard Jackson later alluding to 'Shakespeare's Rime which he made at ye Myter in Flete Street'. 

In 1639 the tavern was the scene of a duel between Charles Cotton and Sir John Hunt. Cotton, visibly drunk, convinced a gentlewoman in Hunt's company to go with him to the Mitre, 'upon which grew a quarrel'. Hunt was hurt in the abdomen and Cotton ran away. Hunt later recovered from his injuries and the men reconciled. 

But it wasn't just Shakespeare who was a high profile patron of The Mitre. Eighteenth century writers Dr Johnson and James Boswell met there to discuss work, with Boswell writing in 1763 that Johnson's 'place of frequent resort was the Mitre tavern in Fleet Street, where he loved to sit up late'. Samuel Pepys was at the tavern in 1660 at the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II. He visited on 18 February with Captain Holland and the clerk Mr Southorne. They drank at the Half Moon Tavern first and then went to The Mitre, hearing music in another room being played 'very plainly through the ceiling'. They left there and went to Mr Wotton's and then to an alehouse to discuss the city's plays before tying up some business relating to the Navy.

Pepys may well have left the tavern through the back entrance, which opened out onto Ram Alley, an adjacent street. In 1640 a meeting was recorded between Dr Percival Willoughby of Derby and 'old Will Poole the astrologer', who lived in the alley. 

Kenneth Rogers has highlighted some of the characters that lived and worked in and near the tavern. In his 1928 work on The Mitre and Mermaid Taverns of Old London, he tells the story of Margaret Denham who seems to have positioned herself as a competitor of The Mitre. In 1644 she was summoned to the courts 'for selling ale and bere without lycence, and for keeping a disorderly house haveing a resort of both men and women of light behaviour late in the night'. Her lodging was recorded as The Adam and Eve in Ram Alley, seemingly a spontaneously opened premises without approval from the authorities. The comings and goings of her patrons was enough to worry the neighbours, who clearly informed the council. 

A case of 1648-9 dealt with a Widow Baly who dwelled in The Mitre Tavern itself, and was accused of 'having Company in her house at unlawful times'. She continued the business after the death of her husband, John, who was named as landlord in 1647. Widow Baly looks like she had her work cut out for her, and there were attempts to keep the area clean and reputable. In 1649 the residents of Ram Alley behind the tavern were cautioned, as those who 'continually bring forth and lay their sea cole ashes and other noysom filth and soyle in the high street before the Alley Gate'. In 1652 pigs around the tavern snuffled freely, 'to the great Annoyance of neighbours and divers inhabitants dwelling in Fleet Street'. Another tavern, called The Cat and Fiddle, was also nearby. This earlier establishment dated to the mid-sixteenth century.

A Mrs Sutton was keeper of the Mitre in 1629, and in 1639 a Matthew Alsop is recorded as landlord. In that year he refused delivery of a batch of Spanish wines and was ordered to take them 'as other vintners do', or have his tavern closed down. A family named Webb is also recorded as keepers of The Mitre in the early 1600s. At the time of Pepys' visit, the landlord of the Mitre was Hugh Stedman.

The Mitre provided for drinks and socialising - and even a bit of business - but it also laid on entertainments. In 1733 Topham, a strong man, rolled up a large pewter dish with his hands, to the delight of the customers. It continued its association with creatives, scientists and thinkers, and the artist Hogarth drank and socialised at there. The Royal Society - a group of scientists and philosophers granted a royal charter for their work - also met here for dinner. In 1729 The Society of Antiquaries met at The Mitre, recorded in a line in a poem that they 'last winter on a Thursday night were Met in full senate at the Mitre'. 

The Mitre closed as a tavern in the late 1700s, and was temporarily used as an auction house. In 1829 it was completely demolished to make way for a grand new banking building belongding to Hoare's. It was also around this time that another Mitre Tavern, or coffee house, was opened in Mitre Court in Fleet Street, in a separate location from where the old tavern stood. It was called The Mitre and Chop House in 1815. 

Like this? You might also like Tudor Tourists: Sightseeing in Elizabethan London, Richard and Elizabeth Cholmeley, Power Couple of the Tower of London and The Hamlin's Coffee House Fore of 1759 in Cornhill.

I've also written a number of books focusing on forgotten and overlooked characters of history. See one you like? Find out more about them here.

    

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Bibliography

Bell, Walter G. Fleet Street in Seven Centuries. London, 1912.

 https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1660/02/18/

Rogers, Kenneth. The Mermaid and Mitre Taverns in Old London. London, 1928. 

Aldworth is one of my favourite churches, and I remember so vividly walking up towards it as the sunset began to glow a warm orange in the sky behind it. Very atmospheric! 

Around the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the manor was owned by Theodoric, a goldsmith. In the thirteenth century it was owned by the de Clares and then the de Musgros family, before being passed by marriage, to the Ferrars. The de la Beche family were also active in the parish, and owned other manors in the village. Eventually, the church was governed by a nunnery near Windsor, that of Bromhale, which was closed during the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

The church appears at the top of a slight hill, and behind are fields, giving it a beautifully rural and romantic appearance. The yew tree in the churchyard is said to be almost 1,000 years old but looked very withered when we visited. A visitor in the early twentieth century noted that it was about four feet high and measured 28 feet wide, adding that 'its vitality seems to be at rather a low ebb, but it will probably last for many generations yet to come'. 

It's believed that a church existed on the site since the early medieval period. Later, works on the west tower and nave date to the 1200s, while the building of the chancel dates to 1315. The south chapel was built to house the de la Beche effigies, which are known locally as The Aldworth Giants. Like so many churches in and around Berkshire, it was rebuilt in many places in the Victorian period, in 1871, but lots of medieval and historical features still survive, thankfully. The pulpit is also believed to have been brought from St Laurence's church in Reading after the town centre church took delivery of a more modern one in the 1700s. 

The ancient Yew tree at Aldworth

Although it is well out of the way, the church is said to have entertained two very famous figures. A long-standing tradition states that Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester visited. Legend is that Dudley plucked a genealogy of the de la Beches off the wall of the church to show the queen, and it promptly disappeared, having been taken or misplaced. I explored the relationship between Elizabeth and Dudley in my book Power Couples of the Tudor Era, arguing for their efforts in changing the realm and later generations together. After all my research I felt like I got to know them a little bit better and so it was lovely to wonder whether they stood where I stood inside the building some 500 years ago. 

Effigy of Joan de la Beche

The church is probably most famous for the effigies of the de la Beche family, who were medieval lords of manors here. They are represented in different poses and are in various states of disrepair, although some damage is attributed to Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers who ransacked the church in the mid-1600s. You can find out all about the effigies and who they represent in another post, where I explore them in more detail. 

A really atmospheric and beautiful church, and a must for fellow effigy hunters like myself. 

Interested in women's history? Check out my first book, Forgotten Women of the Wars of the Roses published by Pen and Sword Books. It discusses many woman of the fifteenth century conflict that played parts we don't often hear about today. You can Order your copy here.

If you like Tudor history, check out my second book, Power Couples of the Tudor Era, also published by Pen and Sword Books, which explores the contributions couples made to their own times as well as how they influenced our own. Order your copy here. 

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Source: The Berkshire Archaeological Journal, 1915, via archive.org.

I'm back from an amazing event in London celebrating the Wolf Hall trilogy of novels written by Hilary Mantel. This year's gathering, held at All Hallows by the Tower, was the second Wolf Hall Weekend - the first was held in Devon and boasted a variety of high-profile speakers and history enthusiasts. 

The 5am start and swaying in an almost-empty tube carriage along the tracks with other bleary-eyed tube commuters was all worth it when I walked out of Tower Bridge station and saw the iconic walls of the historic fortress. Nodding to Emperor Trajan as I walked down the steps, it was a short walk from there to All Hallows, an ancient church that Thomas Cromwell would have known. 

Day one started off with an introduction by the group's organiser, the lovely David Holland. We were then treated to a talk by Tracy Borman, who told the story of Thomas Cromwell alongside the rise of Anne Boleyn.  Both self-starters, they were aligned when Henry VIII chose to make Anne his queen, with Cromwell figuring out how the king could annul his existing marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Their interests became more divided however, during the religious reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was said that Anne wanted the revenue to go towards the community and the poor rather than purely enriching the Crown. Tracy then stayed behind to sign copies of her book, House of Boleyn. 

Next, we stopped for lunch, provided by the light and airy Byward Kitchen and Bar right next door to the church. The food was lovely, and I'd recommend it if you're visiting. They looked after us well over the busy weekend. The lunch was a great opportunity to chat with fellow history fans, and I met some great people who I hope will stay in touch. I found everyone really friendly, sharing the same passion of photographing effigies and old doorways! We were also treated during lunch to a private tour of the church's ancient crypt, and were shown Roman mosaic flooring, a Saxon cross and a tantalising link to the legendary Knights Templar. What a place! 

Day two began at around 11am, when we met outside the church again for a guided walk around some of  the Thomas Cromwell-related sights of London. We visited the site of his old home, Austin Friars, and saw the place he was executed, a brutal site in a now deceptively pretty public garden. There were medieval walls, churches and streets and the walk was led by Matt Brown of The Londonist, Elizabeth Norton and Dr Miranda Mallins, who all provided their insight and knowledge. We went back to the Byward Kitchen for an Afternoon Tea and were then treated to a talk about Kat Ashley by Rosemary Griggs. She was with her husband who performed some Tudor singing, both dressed in contemporary Elizabethan costume, which Rosemary makes herself. Rosemary has also just published a book on Kat called Queen Elizabeth's Governess. Matt Brown then spoke about the creation of his brilliant literary-inspired London maps and David Holland concluded the event with thanks and a teaser about what might occur at a future event. 

What I loved about Wolf Hall Weekend was that the event was a gathering of historians, history fans and readers of literature and we all got together through our shared interest. It was full of history of course, but I learned a lot too about Hilary Mantel and her writing. I can now appreciate so much more about the story and of course her depiction of Thomas Cromwell. 

You might also like Interview with David Holland, Founder of Wolf Hall Weekend, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall Novels and 'Serious' History and Jane Seymour's Jewels and What She Did With Them.

Interested in Tudor history? You might also like my second book, Power Couples of the Tudor Era, published by Pen and Sword Books, which explores the contributions couples made to their own times as well as how they influenced our own. Edward and Anne Seymour, Henry and Gertrude Courtenay and Margaret Douglas and Lord Thomas Howard are all featured in depth. 

Order your copy here. 

The Tudors are famous for creative expression, art and the theatre during their reigns. But the English Renaissance started a lot earlier than 1485. Find out more in my book Power Couples of the Renaissance. It features relationship dynamics that went against accepted norms of the period and power-hungry couples who ruled, fought and spread the patronage of art, science and culture across the globe during one of the most tumultuous periods of history. Find it on the Pen and Sword Books website. 

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