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Spaniards Inn | |
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General information | |
Address | Hampstead Heath near Kenwood House |
Town or city | London |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°34′12″N0°10′26″W / 51.57°N 0.174°W |
Designations | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Spaniards Inn |
Designated | 18 October 1949 |
Reference no. | 1064863 |
The Spaniards Inn is a historic pub on Spaniards Road between Hampstead and Highgate in London, England. It lies on the edge of Hampstead Heath near Kenwood House. It is a Grade II listed building, dating back to the 16th century. [1]
The pub is believed to have been built in 1585 on the Finchley boundary, with the tavern forming the entrance to the Bishop of London's estate—an original boundary stone from 1755 can still be seen in the front garden. Opposite it there is a toll house built in around 1710. Today, the pub is in Barnet and the tollhouse is in Camden, both are now listed buildings and traffic is reduced to one lane between the two. A suggestion in 1966 to demolish the tollhouse was successfully resisted, partly on the grounds that it would lead to more and faster traffic. [2]
Dick Turpin is thought to have been a regular at the Inn, as his father had been its landlord. [3] What is certain is that highwaymen frequented this area and likely used the Inn to watch the road; at that time the Inn was around two hours from London by coach[ citation needed ] and the area had its fair share of wealthy travellers. Records from the Old Bailey show that on 16 October 1751 Samuel Bacon was indicted for robbery on the King's Highway and was caught 200 yards from the Spaniards.
In 1780 rioters involved in the Gordon Riots, opposed to the relaxation of laws in England that restricted Catholicism, marched on Hampstead intent on attacking Kenwood House, the home of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. The landlord of the Spaniards at the time is reported to have given them free drinks, keeping the rioters occupied, until the local militia arrived, thus saving the house. [4] In 1822 John Constable produced a landscape painting Road to the Spaniards, Hampstead .
The pub is mentioned in Dickens's The Pickwick Papers and Bram Stoker's Dracula , [5] and was frequented by the artist Joshua Reynolds and the poets Byron and Keats. According to the pub, Keats wrote his Ode to a Nightingale in the gardens, [6] and Stoker borrowed one of their resident ghost stories to furnish the plot of Dracula.[ dubious – discuss ]
The Inn features in The Man of Property, the first of The Forsyte Saga novels by John Galsworthy. Soames Forsyte take the architect Philip Bosinny to dine at the Spaniards Inn to discuss the building of his house at Robin Hill. [7]
In 2007, The Spaniards Inn was listed in 4th place by The Guardian in an article detailing the "Top 10 UK pub roasts". [8] It was also listed by The Guardian as one of Britain's Best Pubs in 2009. [9]
A pub is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
John Galsworthy was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called The Forsyte Saga, and two later trilogies, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Forsyte Saga, first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vicissitudes of the leading members of a large upper-middle-class English family that is similar to Galsworthy's. Only a few generations removed from their farmer ancestors, its members are keenly aware of their status as "new money". The main character, the solicitor and connoisseur Soames Forsyte, sees himself as a "man of property" by virtue of his ability to accumulate material possessions, but that does not succeed in bringing him pleasure.
Hampstead is an area in London, England, which lies four miles northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough of Camden, a borough in Inner London which for the purposes of the London Plan is designated as part of Central London.
Highgate is a suburban area of London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, 4+1⁄2 miles north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning 320 hectares. This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law.
The Angel, Islington, is a historic landmark and a series of buildings that have stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road in Islington, London, England. The land originally belonged to the Clerkenwell Priory and has had various properties built on it since the 16th century. An inn on the site was called the "Angel Inn" by 1614, and the crossing became generally known as "the Angel". The site was bisected by the New Road, which opened in 1756, and properties on the site have been rebuilt several times up to the 20th century. The corner site gave its name to Angel tube station, opened in 1901, and the surrounding Angel area of London.
The year 1906 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Bayswater Road is the main road running along the northern edge of Hyde Park in London. Originally part of the A40 road, it is now designated part of the A402 road.
Finchley Road is a designated 4.5-mile (7-kilometre) arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels often frequented by lorries and long-distance coaches as it connects central London, via the A41 Hendon Way, to the M1 motorway at Brent Cross and other roads at that interchange.
Kenwood House is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The present house, built in the late 17th century, was remodelled in the 18th century for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield by Scottish architect Robert Adam, serving as a residence for the Earls of Mansfield until the 20th century.
Rotten Row is a broad track running 1,384 metres (4,541 ft) along the south side of Hyde Park in London. It leads from Hyde Park Corner to Serpentine Road. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Rotten Row was a fashionable place for upper-class Londoners to be seen horse riding. Today it is maintained as a place to ride horses in the centre of London, but it is little used as such.
Keats House is a writer's house museum in what was once the home of the Romantic poet John Keats. It is in Keats Grove, Hampstead, toward the edge of inner north London. Maps before about 1915 show the road with one of its earlier names, John Street; the road has also been known as Albion Grove. The building was originally a pair of semi-detached houses known as "Wentworth Place". John Keats lodged in one of them with his friend Charles Brown from December 1818 to May 1820, and then in the other half of the house with the Brawne family from August to September 1820. These were perhaps Keats's most productive years. According to Brown, "Ode to a Nightingale" was written under a plum tree in the garden.
The George Tavern is a Grade II listed public house and music venue located on Commercial Road in Stepney, London. It is owned and operated by artist Pauline Forster.
The Falcon is a Grade II listed public house at 2 St John's Hill, Battersea, London.
Jack Straw's Castle is a Grade II listed building and former public house on North End Way, Hampstead, north-west London, England close to the junction with Heath Street and Spaniards Road.
Admiral's House is a Grade II listed house in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. The house's name is a misnomer, as no admirals have ever lived there. The house is featured in multiple paintings by John Constable.
Ada Nemesis Galsworthy was an English editor, translator, writer and composer. She was married to Nobel Laureate for Literature John Galsworthy.
Spaniards Road is a street in Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It runs northwards from the junction of Heath Street and North End Way, close to the Hampstead War Memorial and Jack Straw's Castle, cutting through Hampstead Heath before becoming Hampstead Lane which then turns eastwards towards Highgate. It is designated part of the B519 Road.