Mitre Inn, Chipping Barnet | |
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The Mitre Inn | |
General information | |
Address | 58 High Street, Chipping Barnet |
Town or city | London |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°39′10.67″N0°12′5.1″W / 51.6529639°N 0.201417°W |
Construction started | 1636 |
Designations | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Mitre Inn Public House |
Designated | 7 April 1983 |
Reference no. | 1287050 |
The Mitre Inn is a public house at 58 High Street, Chipping Barnet, London. It was established by 1633 and is probably the oldest remaining of the town's once numerous coaching inns. It is a grade II listed building with Historic England and is currently styled "Ye Olde Mitre Inne".
The development of Chipping Barnet after the Middle Ages is attributable to the granting of a charter for a cattle and horse market by Queen Elizabeth I in 1588, [1] after which Barnet Fair came to dominate the meat trade in London, and the town's position on the Great North Road, of which its High Street forms a part. [2] The town became so famous for its coaching inns that it acquired the nickname of the "Town of Inns". [1]
In 1633, there were three inns adjacent to each other on the east side of the High Street: the Rose (kept by Robert Briscoe), the Crown, and a wine tavern known as the Man. In 1663, they joined to become the Man and Rose and Crown. In 1667, the inn became The Rose and Crown and Mitre, and simply the Mitre soon after. [3] The Mitre primarily catered for the large number of stage coaches that passed through Chipping Barnet each day and a War Office survey of 1756 reported that it could provide 12 beds and stabling for 26 horses. [3]
The name "Mitre" has traditionally been used to suggest affinity with the established church and the Mitre Inn is overlooked by Chipping Barnet's St John the Baptist Church (1560) in the diocese of Diocese of St Albans. Vestry accounts record that in 1720 ten shillings was spent at the Mitre entertaining the Archdeacon of St Albans plus sixpence for a new chamberpot. [3]
In 1774, Samuel Johnson called at the Mitre, accompanied by Mrs Thrale, when the innkeeper was James O'Connor. In 1785, the inn was described as "new built" with "stabling for upwards of one hundred horses", and in 1790 as having "roomy conveniences for carriages". [2] By 1817, 150 coaches a day were passing through Chipping Barnet, [4] but the meat trade had already shifted from Barnet to more central areas of London and after the coach trade declined too with the development of the railways in the mid nineteenth century, [1] the Mitre became a public house rather than the larger establishment typical of a coaching inn. [2]
Later licensees of the Mitre included Conner in the 1780s, F.W. Sedgewick a brewer from Watford before 1885, and A. Conquer in 1895. [3]
In February 1660, General Monck is supposed to have stayed at the Mitre Inn on his way to London to restore Charles II to the throne, after the Commonwealth. [1] [3]
According to the Mitre's own legend, a bet was placed at the Barnet horse fair that a horse could not be ridden backwards up Barnet Hill, at the top of which the pub is located, but the rider was not able to collect his money as he was dismounted from his horse and killed after colliding with the pub's sign. [3]
Today, the Mitre is styled "Ye Olde Mitre Inne". It occupies a much smaller plot than in its coaching heyday but is probably the oldest remaining of the town's once numerous coaching inns [5] and a grade II listed building with Historic England. It retains its timber frame but has been refronted and stuccoed. [6] Its etched windows were added in the twentieth century. The land at the rear, once used for stabling, has long since been turned to other uses. An archaeological investigation of that area was carried out in 2005. [2]
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 accommodation for horses.
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, and was used to differentiate private houses from those which were open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
The London Borough of Barnet is a suburban London borough in North West London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the second largest London borough by population with 389,344 inhabitants, also making it the 17th largest district in England. The borough covers an area of 86.74 square kilometres (33 sq mi), the fourth highest of the 32 London boroughs, and has a population density of 45.8 people per hectare, which ranks it 25th.
Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located 10+1⁄2 miles (17 km) north-northwest of Charing Cross, 3 miles (4.8 km) east from Borehamwood, 5.2 miles (8.4 km) west from Enfield and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south from Potters Bar. Its population, including its localities East Barnet, New Barnet, Hadley Wood, Monken Hadley, Cockfosters and Arkley, was 47,359 in 2011.
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Barnet was a local government district in south Hertfordshire from 1863 to 1965 around the town of Barnet.
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Ye Olde Starre Inne is a pub in the city centre of York, in England. The main block of the pub is a timber-framed structure, constructed in the mid-16th century, and a wing to its left was added in about 1600. By 1644, it was an inn named "The Starre", the buildings lying at the back of a coaching yard, off the north side of Stonegate. This makes it the pub in York which can demonstrate the earliest date for its licence. After the Battle of Marston Moor the inn was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers.
Barnet Common was an area of common land to the south of the town of Chipping Barnet in what is now north London. The Common was created after a wood was cleared in the 16th century and was mostly used by local people to graze their animals. It was the location of a Digger colony and of the Barnet Physic Well at which mineral water was consumed. Part of the Common was enclosed in 1729 and the rest in 1815, leading to development on the north and south sides, and later infilling.
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