Fountain (The Strand)

8 Annotations

First Reading

Clement  •  Link

This tudor tavern survived the great fire and still stands near Strand/Fleet street.
It is likely The Fountain of Sam's reference. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Co…
Not coincidentally it's also where the Samuel Pepys Club was formed in 1903.

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

Fountain Court, in the Strand, was so called from "the Fountain Tavern," at the corner...
---London, Past and Present. H.B. Wheatley, 1891.

Seeker  •  Link

It is unlikely that the Fountain Tavern visited by Pepys was the one in the Strand. It was more likely the older one in the Temple. The one in the Strand was new at that time (if it yet existed). It was where the Whig grandees (Churchill, Russell et al) plotted the Glorious Revolution (1688/9) that dethroned Charles II's brother, James II, and installed William III (of Orange) and their sister, Mary II, in his place.

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Prince Henry's Room is located on the first floor at the front of No. 17 Fleet Street in London. The iconic house is one of the few surviving buildings in London dating from before the Great Fire of London in 1666. A plaque used to state that it was ‘once the home or palace of Henry VIII.’

The room, on the first floor, contains one of the best-preserved Jacobian-enriched plaster ceilings in London. The main feature is the fine and rare highly decorated Jacobian-enriched plaster ceiling, with the Prince of Wale’s feathers and the initials "PH" in the centre.

There is one wall of original Jacobean wood panelling left; the other panelling is Georgian. There are also fine leaded lights with coats of arms and badges, best seen from within the room.

The unexceptional fireplace has a wood surround and panelling above, with an inscription recording the connection with the diarist and great naval administrator, Samuel Pepys.

The site was once owned by the Templars, but after the dissolution of the Order of St John, the building was rebuilt in 1610 and became a tavern called Prince's Arms. This coincided with the investiture of Prince Henry, son of James I, as Prince of Wales.

During the 17th century, the building was known as the Fountain Inn and was visited by Samuel Pepys on 14 October, 1661. He wrote "In the afternoon Captain Ferrers and I walked abroad to several places; among others, to Mr. Pim's my Lord's tailors and there he went out with us to the Fountain tavern and did give us store of wine."

On 28 November 1661, Pepys wrote "to the Fountain tavern and there stayed till 12 at night, drinking and singing, Mr. Symons and one Mr. Agar singing very well. Then Mr. Gauden, being almost drunk, had the wit to be gone; and so I took leave too."

A plaque used to state it was once the home or palace of Henry VIII; also Cardinal Wolsey lived there.

Once the Management of the Duchy of Cornwall held their sittings here in the time of King Charles, on or about 1619 (see Mrs. Green's "Calendar of State Papers").

From 1975, the room was a museum which hosted a Samuel Pepys exhibition — Pepys was born in Fleet Street in 1633.

The building now houses the offices of the Delegation of the Catalonian Regional Government to the UK, and Prince Henry's Room is only viewable when special events are held there: it was opened to the public for one day for the September 2023 London Open House Festival. The City of London Corporation has recently completed a consultation with interested parties regarding the room's usage. [NO DETAILS GIVEN - SDS]

Excerpted from https://www.exploringgb.co.uk/blo…
This site has wonderful photos of Prince Henry's Room.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1661