The Boar's Head Inn, London

The Boar's Head Inn was a legendary tavern in Eastcheap, the City of London, featured by William Shakespeare in his plays, particularly Henry IV, Part 1, as a favourite meeting place of Sir John Falstaff, Prince Hal and other characters.

While a Boar’s Head pub indeed stood here in the 16th century, there is no evidence of its existing in the early 15th century, when the play is set. It appears that Shakespeare must have been referring to a real inn present in his own day.

Established before 1537 but destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the tavern was soon rebuilt and continued operation until some time in the late 18th century, after which the building was used by retail outlets. It was finally demolished in 1831, but the boar's head sign remained and is now kept at the Shakespeare's Globe theatre. Another boar’s head (dating from 1868) pokes out from beneath one of the facade arches of the building standing on its site today.