The City of London Pubs Walking Tour

Join Open City for a walking tour exploring the fascinating architectural history of some of the City of London's most iconic public houses
Inspired by Open City's book Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro, public historian Sheldon K. Goodman draws on his own experiences a former City worker and will take you through Fleet Street, Ludgate, Blackfriars and Newgate to explore two thousand years of pub history.

From Roman taverns, opulent Victorian boozers and reborn superpubs of the 21st century, see how architecture and social history overlap! Pubs are far more than just a place to grab a drink after work. From the influence of journalism, law-making and drinking culture, highlights on this tour will include the legendary Cheshire Cheese, one of the oldest post-fire buildings in the City (and amn interesting example of domestic turned leisure usage), the neo-Jacobean Punch Tavern to the long gone Inn-cum-theatre where animals from Africa were first exhibited to the bemused merchants and traders of the Square Mile.

Tracing the development of the pub as an enduring institution through societal upheavals and ending in a spectacularly beautiful pub, the tour will connect changes in pubs with wider social and political movements, as well as the challenges many of the surviving City watering holes face today.

Providing a fun way for enthusiastic urbanists to explore the City, you'll also get the chance to explore the surrounding streets and go inside the pubs themselves.