The Coach and Horses at 29

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

on the corner with Romilly Street in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

, London, is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. In the 20th century the pub became notable for its association with the columnist

Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...

, the staff of ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' magazine, other

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s and as a haunt for Soho personalities. Through their writings its former landlord, Norman Balon, became known as "London's rudest landlord".''You're Barred, You Bastards!', The Memoirs of a Soho Publican'', Norman Balon with Spencer Bright, Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1991

Early history

There has been a pub on the site since the 18th century. The current building dates from the early 19th century and is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

20th century

In the 20th century, the

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

for over 60 years was Norman Balon, who developed a persona as "London's rudest landlord". He began to work at the pub in 1943, when he left an engineering course to serve at the bar, after his father became the landlord there. The pub became a favourite drinking spot for the journalists of the satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' and the location of their fortnightly lunches, at which it was hoped a plentiful supply of cheap wine would prompt an indiscretion from one of the guests, such as member of parliament John Hemming's admission that he had got his mistress

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

. It also featured regularly in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

s "Low Life" column by Jeffrey Bernard, who was a regular at the pub until his death in 1997.Time called at Bernard's watering hole.
Mark Honigsbaum, ''The Guardian'', 2 July 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2019. In 1989, the interior of the pub was recreated on stage for the biographical play about Bernard, ''

Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell ''Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell'' is a play by Keith Waterhouse about real-life journalist Jeffrey Bernard. Bernard was still alive at the time the play was first performed in the West End in 1989. Background Bernard wrote the "Low Life" column in ...

''. The play was successful, and Balon's memoirs followed in 1991, titled ''You're Barred, You Bastards: The Memoirs of a Soho Publican''.Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Norman Balon, the rudest Soho landlord.
Jonathan Sale, ''The Independent'', 21 September 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2019. Clive Jennings says of regular clientele such as Bernard that "the lethal triangle of The French, The Coach & Horses and The Colony were the staging points of the

Dean Street Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue. It crosses Old Compton Street and is linked to Frith Street by Bateman Street. Culture The Soho Theatre presents new plays and stand-u ...

shuffle, with occasional forays into other joints such as The Gargoyle or the Mandrake ...

The Groucho The Groucho Club is a private members' club founded in 1985 and located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mainly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club's facilities include three bars, two ...

or Blacks".

21st century

Norman Balon was succeeded as leaseholder in May 2006 by Alastair Choat, Greg Stewart, and Melanie Krudy.

Fuller, Smith & Turner Fuller, Smith & Turner is a public limited company based in London, England, whose origins lie in Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick, West London. In 2019, it sold its brewing division, leaving it as a pub operator. The company's registered office is ...

, then still a combined London brewery and pub group, bought the pub in a well-publicised acquisition, though continued to lease it to the existing tenants. In 2019, Fullers ended the lease and transferred the pub into its managed estate. As of January 2024, there are two other pubs in the Soho district of London also using the name "Coach and Horses".

Notable patrons

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

Danny Kirwan Daniel David Kirwan (né Langran, 13 May 1950 – 8 June 2018) was a British musician and guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock, blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a solo artist from ...

Eddie Linden Edward Sean Linden (born John Edward Glackin; 5 May 1935 – 19 November 2023) was a Scottish-Irish poet, literary magazine editor, and political activist. From 1969 to 2002, he published and edited the poetry magazine ''Aquarius'', which '' Th ...

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse Order of British Empire, CBE (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. He was also a noted arbiter of newspaper style and journalisti ...

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

Richard Ingrams Richard Reid Ingrams (born 19 August 1937) is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', and founding editor of ''The Oldie'' magazine. He left the latter job at the end of May 2014.B ...

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, comedian actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 at 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coach And Horses, Soho 19th-century establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century Grade II listed pubs in the City of Westminster Pubs in Soho Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Greek Street