top of page

Anchor Bankside Pub


The Anchor riverside pub in Southwark, London.
The Anchor Bankside Pub in Southwark

Although the history of this location dates back more than 800 years, the Anchor was first established in 1616.


Its literary importance is very pronounced: Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith were among the patrons.


Dr Samuel Johnson, the single and most quoted English writer after William Shakespeare, was a poet, playwright, essayist, critic, moralist, biographer, editor and lexicographer. He also wrote A dictionary of the English Language.


A copy of Dr Samuel Johnson’s dictionary is now on display in the Anchor Bankside Pub.


In May 1773, Joshua Reynolds (Artist), Oliver Goldsmith (Irish Poet), David Garrick (Author of Heart of oak are our ships), and Edmund Burke (Irish Stateman) dined at the Anchor.


The Anchor is also the place where diarist, Samuel Pepys, saw the Great Fire of London in 1666. He wrote that he took refuge in "a little alehouse on bankside ... and there watched the fire grow".


The original Globe Theater was a local landmark, and it was not far from the Anchor. One can assume without hesitation that William Shakespeare also enjoyed an ale or two at the Anchor.


📍34 Park St, London SE1 9EF


The nearest station is London Bridge Underground Station 🚆


if you want to find more hidden literary gems in London visit our Writer's Path Map https://www.writerspath.co.uk/map 👈⁠⁠ ⁠




Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page