Trafalgar Tavern

Pub in Greenwich, London

Trafalgar Tavern

Trafalgar Tavern (1912)

Trafalgar Tavern

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Trafalgar Tavern

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General information
Address| Park Row, Greenwich
Town or city| London SE10
Country| England
Coordinates| 51°29′04″N 0°00′15″W﻿ / ﻿51.4845°N 0.0043°W﻿ / 51.4845; -0.0043
Opened| 1837
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Joseph Kay
Designations|

Listed Building – Grade II

Official name| Trafalgar Tavern
Designated| 7 June 1973
Reference no.| 1078950

The Trafalgar Tavern is a Grade II listed public house at Park Row, Greenwich, London, situated on the south bank of the River Thames, east of and adjacent to the Old Royal Naval College.

## History[edit]

The Trafalgar Tavern, designed by architect Joseph Kay,[1][2] opened in 1837, and was built on the site of 'The Old George Tavern'. This catered for local fishermen, but the owner wanted to enlarge the premises to serve the growing numbers of visitors to Greenwich. In 1830 he applied for planning permission to extend the premises, employing Kay, who sabotaged the owner's application and took over the lucrative site himself.[3]

The pub was visited by writers including Wilkie Collins, William Thackeray, and Charles Dickens, who drank here with the illustrator of many of his novels, George Cruikshank.[4] Dickens set the wedding breakfast in Our Mutual Friend in the Trafalgar Tavern's Hawke Room.[1][4] It also became well known as the venue for political whitebait dinners for the Liberal party in Victorian times,[1] the last being held in 1885 when the outgoing Cabinet of William Gladstone dined together.[4]

In 1915, the Tavern closed, and served as a home for aged seamen, the Royal Alfred Aged Merchant Seamen's Institution,[a] during World War I, later becoming a working men's club (1920s), a centre for the unemployed (1933), and briefly, a fire station. After World War II it was used as a home for retired sailors, and serving naval officers.[3] It reopened as a pub in 1965, and was restored to its Victorian grandeur in 1968.[3]

Statue of Horatio Nelson in Greenwich near Trafalgar Tavern

The Tavern was designated a Grade II listed building on 7 June 1973.[6] The listing noted its interior had been "lavishly restored in the style of 1780, after war damage". It forms a group with the former Curlew Rowing Club building in Crane Street.[6]

In 2008, a statue of Horatio Nelson, by local artist Lesley Pover, was unveiled outside the Tavern, commissioned by the pub's owner, Frank Dowling.[7] Pover was provided with a studio behind the Tavern and took two years to complete the work. She had access to Nelson's life mask and original archives in the nearby National Maritime Museum.[7]

The Trafalgar Tavern (2007)

In 2013, the pub, then one of several venues run by Dowling's Greenwich Inc Trading Ltd,[8] was fined nearly £20,000 for serious breaches of food hygiene regulations.[9] Also in 2013, Dowling was arrested in relation to a £6m fraud case,[10] but the prosecution was dropped in 2017.[11][12] By 2017, Greenwich Inc Trading had collapsed into liquidation,[13] but Dowling retained his involvement with the Tavern and other Greenwich venues through other companies.

In 2019, a wall in the middle of the listed building was removed without the pub's owners asking for planning permission. The creation of an open plan space was condemned by conservation experts.[14] In 2021, local residents voiced concerns about plans to open a night club at the Trafalgar.[15]

The interior of the Trafalgar Tavern features numerous works of art and historic artefacts amassed by Dowling.[16]

## See also[edit]

* List of pubs in London

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ The institution was established in 1857 to create a society to care for "worn-out and disabled merchant seamen". It established a home at Belvedere House in Erith in 1865. Three years later, Prince Alfred becomes the hospital's first Patron and the society became the Royal Alfred Aged Merchant Seamen’s Institution, a name it retained for 82 years. Today it is the Royal Alfred Seafarers' Society.[5]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Greenwich Town Centre". Maritime Greenwich. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
2. ^ "Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich, c. 1850". Ideal Homes: A history of south east London suburbs. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
3. ^ a b c "History of the Trafalgar Tavern Pub in Greenwich London". Wandle News. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
4. ^ a b c "William Lionel Wyllie, R.A., R.I., (1851-1931) The Thames at Greenwich". Christies. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
5. ^ "History - Timeline". Royal Alfred Seafarers' Society. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
6. ^ a b Historic England. "Trafalgar Tavern public house (1078950)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
7. ^ a b Prockter, Adrian. "Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich". Know Your London. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
8. ^ Chomka, Stefan (3 May 2010). "Business profile: Frank Dowling of Inc Group". RestaurantOnline. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
9. ^ Trotter, Sarah (4 March 2013). "Greenwich Trafalgar Tavern £20,000 fine after sewage found in sinks". News Shopper. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
10. ^ "Mon 23rd Dec 2013 - Breaking News - Frank Dowling of Inc Group arrested". Propel Info. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
11. ^ Dempsey, Joe (3 May 2017). "£6 million tax fraud charges against millionaire owner of O2 arena restaurants dropped". News Shopper. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
12. ^ "O2 restaurant boss held over 'tax fraud'". The Standard. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
13. ^ Chamberlain, Darryl (21 August 2017). "Greenwich Inc bar chain collapse leaves council out of pocket". Greenwich Wire. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
14. ^ Twomey, James (13 March 2019). "Pub removed wall without permission". South London Press. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
15. ^ Evans, Kiro (2 November 2021). "Historic Greenwich pub faces backlash as locals fear it's becoming a nightclub". My London. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
16. ^ Horsfall Turner, Olivia (22 February 2023). "Pub culture – maritime masterpieces at the Trafalgar Tavern". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich.

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