The Tabard was an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

established in 1307, which stood on the east side of

Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues sout ...

, at the road's intersection with the ancient thoroughfare to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. It was built for the Abbot of Hyde in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, who purchased the land to construct a place for himself and his ecclesiastical brethren to stay when on business in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The Tabard was famous for accommodating people who made the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

to the Shrine of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

, and it is mentioned in the 14th-century literary work ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'' by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

Early history

The inn was located on the south bank of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

, just north of where the two

Roman roads Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

of Stane Street and

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

merged. It stood near the Manor of Southwark, controlled by the

Bishops of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

. Also known as the Liberty of Winchester, the manor lay outside the jurisdiction of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. Activities that were forbidden within the City of London and the

county of Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking. The cou ...

, including

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

and animal baiting, were permitted within Southwark, which thus became medieval London's entertainment district. In those times, the Tabard would have been filled with pilgrims, drunks, travellers, criminals, and prostitutes (colloquially known as the "Winchester Geese"). Chaucer wrote that the Tabard was the location where the pilgrims first met on their journey to Canterbury in the 1380s. The inn's proprietor was a man named Harry Bailey:

Bifel that in that season on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,
At nyght was come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye
Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle
In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde;
The chambres and the stables weren wyde,
And well we weren esed atte beste;

The

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of History of England, English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe C ...

wrote in his ''Survey'' that by the 16th century it was among several inns at this location in Southwark: "many fair inns, for receipt of travellers, by these signs: the Spurre, Christopher, Bull, Queen's Head, Tabard, George, Hart, King's Head" &c. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century, "the Tabard of the Monastery of Hyde, and the Abbot's Place, with the stable and gardens thereunto belonging" were sold to John and Thomas Master. The goldsmith

John Mabbe John Mabbe or Mab was the name of two English goldsmiths working in Tudor London. The senior John Mabbe (who died in 1582 and was buried at St Matthew Friday Street) was a son of John Mabbe of Clayton and his wife Joan Goble of Sussex. John Mabbe, ...

(died 1578) acquired the inn. His son Robert Mabbe pledged a share of the inn to the goldsmith Affabel Partridge for a loan. The layout of the Tabard Inn was described in a lease in 1540, and in a legal dispute, Partridge ''v''. Mabbe, in 1601. Named rooms in 1601 included a parlour, the dark parlour, a hall, the chamber called the "flower de luce", a kitchen, the cook's lofts, and oven house.Hubert Hall
''Society in the Elizabethan Age'' (London, 1887), pp. 82, 162
/ref>

Destruction and replacement

On 26 May 1676, ten years after the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

, a great blaze started in Southwark. The Tabard was among many buildings that were either burned down or pulled down to create fire breaks. The blaze, which took 17 hours to contain, destroyed most of medieval Southwark. King Charles II and his brother the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

were both involved in the firefighting effort. Although the medieval building was destroyed, the site was immediately rebuilt and renamed The Talbot.

Closure

In the early 18th century, the new inn was profiting from the growth in

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

traffic between London and the channel ports because of the growth in turnpikes. By the early 19th century, the Talbot remained a well-renowned

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

. However, with the advent of the

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

, it eventually closed. The building was then converted into stores. It was demolished in 1873.

Notes

External links

The Tabard Inn in Southwark
another nineteenth-century engraving {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabard, The 1873 disestablishments in England Coaching inns Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark 1307 establishments in England Former pubs in London History of the London Borough of Southwark Pubs in the London Borough of Southwark Buildings and structures demolished in 1873 Demolished buildings and structures in London

Early history

Destruction and replacement

Closure

See also

Notes

External links