Spaniards Inn

Spaniards Inn on the right and tollhouse on the left

The Spaniards Inn is a historic pub on Spaniards Road between Hampstead and Highgate in London, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the edge of Hampstead Heath near Kenwood House.

Quoted by unknown authority it is said to have been built in 1585 on the Finchley boundary, the Spaniards Tavern formed 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 c1710. These boundaries are still relevant 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 to demolish the tollhouse opposite the Spaniards in 1966 was successfully resisted, partly on the grounds that it would lead to more and faster traffic.^[1]

The Inn remains a quaint, oak panelled and atmospheric pub with one of the best pub gardens in London, which were originally created as pleasure gardens, with an artificial mound from which one could see views over London and even as far as Windsor Castle.

Spaniards Inn in 1906

Dick Turpin is thought to have been a regular at the Inn; and his father is rumoured to have been a previous landlord. 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 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. A tree (now gone) at the end of the road was a famous site where highwaymen were hanged.

The pub also has a great literary heritage. Not only has it been mentioned in Dickens's The Pickwick Papers and Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it can count among its previous frequenters the artist Joshua Reynolds and the poets Byron and Keats. If you believe the Inn's spiel, Keats wrote his Ode to a Nightingale in the gardens, and Stoker borrowed one of their resident ghost stories to furnish the plot of Dracula.

Garden of the Spaniard's Inn on a sunny lunchtime

Food

In 2006/7 it won "Best Food Pub: London" in the Morning Advertiser Awards.

In 2007 The Spaniards Inn was listed in 4th place by The Guardian in an article detailing the "Top 10 UK pub roasts".^[2]

It was also listed by The Guardian as one of Britain's Best Pubs in 2009.^[3]

References

↑ "Spaniard's Inn Toll Gate". Hansard, Lords Sitting 272: 362. 2 February 1966. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/sep/21/travelfoodanddrink.uk
↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/interactive/2009/jun/15/guide-britains-best-pubs

External links

The Spaniards Inn official website
Spaniards Inn - article in BBC's H2G2 with more on history and atmosphere of the pub.
Spaniards Inn - article in pubs.com
Haunt is on for pub ghosts - owner of the Spaniards Inn claims the pub is haunted

Pubs in London

Barking and Dagenham	Eastbrook, Dagenham

Barnet	The Alexandra, New Barnet‎ Mitre Inn, Chipping Barnet The Old Bull and Bush The Red Lion, Chipping Barnet Rising Sun, Mill Hill Spaniards Inn

Bexley	Black Prince, Bexley

Brent	Windermere, South Kenton

Bromley	The Daylight Inn, Petts Wood

Camden	Assembly House, Kentish Town The Black Cap Black Lion, Kilburn Bull & Gate Camden Head Cittie of Yorke Devonshire Arms The Duke of York, Fitzrovia Dublin Castle, Camden The Flask, Hampstead The Flask, Highgate George and Dragon, Fitzrovia The Holly Bush, Hampstead The Magdala Museum Tavern Old Red Lion, Holborn Old White Bear Ye Olde Mitre The Pineapple, Kentish Town Princess Louise, Holborn The Punch Tavern Rising Sun, Fitzrovia Ship Tavern, Holborn The Tipperary Upper Flask Viaduct Tavern The Washington, Belsize Park The Washington, Hampstead Wells Tavern, Hampstead The Wheatsheaf, Fitzrovia The Winchester, Highgate The World's End, Camden The Yorkshire Grey former Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead

Ealing	The Drayton Court Duke of Kent, Ealing The Forester, Ealing The Fox Inn, Hanwell Kings Arms, Hanwell former Half-Way House, West Ealing

Greenwich	Cutty Sark, Greenwich Hare and Billet Kings Arms, Woolwich The Mitre, Greenwich Sun in the Sands

Hackney	Army and Navy, Stoke Newington George and Dragon, Shoreditch The Joiners Arms

Hammersmith and Fulham	Aragon House Black Lion, Hammersmith Blue Anchor, Hammersmith The Cock, Fulham The Dove, Hammersmith Duke of Cumberland, Fulham Eight Bells, Fulham The George, Hammersmith Golden Lion, Fulham The Hop Poles Hope and Anchor, Hammersmith The King's Head, Fulham Laurie Arms Queen's Head, Brook Green Salutation, Hammersmith The Swan, Hammersmith Temperance Billiard Hall, Fulham The White Horse, Fulham former The Favourite former Seven Stars, West Kensington

Haringey	Great Northern Railway, Hornsey Queens, Crouch End The Salisbury

Harrow	The Castle, Harrow Queen's Head, Pinner Seven Balls

Hillingdon	Black Horse, Eastcote Case is Altered, Eastcote Crown and Treaty The Crown, Cowley Queen's Head, Uxbridge Red Lion, Hillingdon The Shovel, Cowley Three Tuns, Uxbridge

Hounslow	Bull's Head, Strand-on-the-Green Coach and Horses, Isleworth George and Devonshire London Apprentice, Isleworth Mawson Arms Old Packhorse Rose and Crown, Isleworth The Tabard, Chiswick Three Horseshoes, Southall

Islington	The Angel, Islington Flying Scotsman, Kings Cross The Hope and Anchor, Islington The Island Queen The Old Queens Head The Wenlock Arms

Kensington and Chelsea	Chelsea Potter Coleherne, Earls Court Crocker's Folly The Cross Keys, Chelsea Drayton Arms, Earls Court Elgin, Ladbroke Grove Fitzroy Tavern Fox and Pheasant The Goat, Kensington The Grenadier The Hansom Cab Hollywood Arms, Chelsea The King's Head and Eight Bells The Marquis of Clanricarde The Marquis of Granby Newman Arms The Old Shades The Phene The Punch Bowl, Mayfair Scarsdale Tavern Swan & Edgar, Marylebone Zetland Arms

Kingston upon Thames	Druid's Head, Kingston upon Thames

Newham	Boleyn Tavern Earl of Essex, Manor Park King Edward VII, Stratford Spotted Dog, Forest Gate

Richmond upon Thames	Britannia, Richmond The Bull's Head, Barnes Hare and Hounds, Sheen Old Ship, Richmond Sun Inn, Barnes White Cross, Richmond The White Swan, Twickenham former Dysart Arms

Southwark	Anchor Bankside Dog and Duck, St George's Fields The George Inn, Southwark Half Moon, Herne Hill Herne Tavern The Roebuck The Shipwrights Arms The Tabard The Wheatsheaf

Tower Hamlets	The Blind Beggar Charlie Brown's, Limehouse George Tavern Golden Heart, Spitalfields The Grapes The Pride of Spitalfields Prospect of Whitby The Royal Oak, Bethnal Green Ten Bells Town of Ramsgate The Widow's Son, London former The Joiners Arms

Wandsworth	Bricklayer's Arms, Putney The Duke's Head, Putney The Grapes, Wandsworth Green Man, Putney The Half Moon, Putney King's Head, Roehampton King's Head, Tooting Montague Arms Spread Eagle, Wandsworth The White Lion, Putney former The Alchemist, Battersea‎

City of Westminster	The Admiral Duncan The Albert Argyll Arms Candy Bar Carlton Tavern, Kilburn Coach and Horses, Soho Coal Hole, Strand The Colony Room Comptons of Soho De Hems The French House, Soho George and Vulture The Harp Nell Gwynne Tavern The Only Running Footman Paxtons Head Pillars of Hercules, Soho Prince Alfred, Maida Vale Sun and 13 Cantons PS Tattershall Castle The Tottenham Two Chairmen The Warrington, Maida Vale Warwick Castle, Maida Vale The Sherlock Holmes White Lion, Covent Garden The Wilton Arms former Lord High Admiral, Pimlico former The Scots Hoose former The Star, St John’s Wood former Yorkshire Stingo

City of London	The Black Friar, Blackfriars East India Arms Hand and Shears Hoop and Grapes, Aldgate Jamaica Wine House Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Ye Olde Cock Tavern Swan Inn former Bell Savage Inn former The Fortune of War Public House former White Hart, Bishopsgate

Miscellaneous	Boar's Head Inn

See also	List of award-winning pubs in London

Category

Coordinates: 51°34′12″N 0°10′26″W / 51.57°N 0.174°W / 51.57; -0.174

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