The Devil's Tavern in London, now known as The Prospect of Whitby, was built in 1543. The interior theme is shipping, appropriate because its rooftop terrace overlooks the Thames. Shipping relics include lanterns, ropes and wheels. It uses ships' masts for pillars and has a flagstone floor. The Devil's Tavern is famous for its notoriously unsavory clientele of the past. In the 1950s the tavern opened a restaurant upstairs.
The Anchor is famous for its clientele from the days of Elizabeth I. This London tavern is near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and has been modernized with a large bar and a hotel at the rear. Some of the famous people connected to The Anchor include Samuel Pepys, an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, and Samuel Johnson, an English author. The tavern survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 only to be damaged by another fire in 1676 and was rebuilt. Much has been added to the tavern over the years. It has a Shakespeare Room that is reserved for functions. Its dining room overlooks the city and the Thames River.
Playwrights including Ben Jonson and Francis Beaumont met monthly at the Mermaid Tavern. The tavern existed in 1354, according to the National Gazetteer, and was the location where a "most dreadful riot broke out between the scholars and the townspeople." The riot lasted three days and some students were wounded or killed. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Mermaid Tavern is where the Friday Street Club met in the 1600s. Members included Sir Walter Raleigh, Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Selden and John Donne, all well-known playwrights, poets or writers.
The City Barge claims to have existed since 1484, according to "Chiswick History" author Gillian Clegg. At that time, it was called The Navigator's Arms. Its license in 1787 calls it the City Navigation Barge named in honor of the city of London Navigation Committee's state barge. The original building was mostly destroyed 1940, but the old bar remains. During Queen Elizabeth's reign, the tavern was given a royal charter for 500 years.
