The City of London Tavern, also known as London Tavern, was a notable meeting place in London during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The London Tavern was richly decorated and upon opening was described as “the grandest tavern in all Europe.” Having multiple rooms it could host a number of simultaneous events and became a popular venue for organisations to meet and dine, especially for their inaugurations. Groups to which we have seen reference include: 1769: Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights; 1789: Revolution Society after the fall of the Bastille; 1804: formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society; 1818: formation of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society; 1824: founding meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; 1824: Marc Isambard Brunel held the first public fundraising meeting for the Thames Tunnel; 1839: meeting where the track gauge for the Great Western Railway was decided; 1850: A valedictory soiree for abolitionist MP George Thompson. Charles Dickens held and attended a number of meetings here. See our sources, below, for more.
The site is now known as . In the days of coach travel, before railways, this location was at one of the entry points to the City of London. A fire in 1765 had destroyed the White Lion Tavern on the site previously (the alley behind still bears that name). Then the City of London Tavern, designed by Richard Jupp, was built in 1768. Demolished in 1873, it was replaced with a typical Victorian ornate City building, 1 Bishopsgate, now (2025) occupied by HSBC and Apollo.
That this is the site of the London Tavern is confirmed by and by . However, the plaque which claims: "On this site, where formerly stood the City of London Tavern..." is inexplicably at 22 Bishopsgate, about 150m east of this site. People do seem confused; even the BBC has "The London Tavern has now gone, in its place is a sky-high office block."
Source: , (link failed 2026), , , .
This etching shows the Tavern in 1809, proudly named on the frieze between first and second floors. However there is also labelled as the London Tavern, which shows a different building. It's undated but from the costumes we'd say c.1840/50. The label is on the publication in which the image is found, so if it's incorrect, the source of the error is not the LPA. It's possible that both images show the Tavern, one being a rebuild about 100 years after its original construction, and 25 years before its demolition. However we have found no record of this rebuilding anywhere.
The LPA also has a number of images of the interior of the building - search there with "London Tavern".
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