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The Falcon is a Grade II listed
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
at 2 St John's Hill, Battersea, London. The current Falcon inn was built in the late 19th century as a purpose-built hotel, with a pub on the ground floor, and is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. It has entered the
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for having the longest bar counter in a public house. The history of The Falcon can be traced back to 1733 and it is likely that an inn stood at the site before that time.


History

The Manor of Battersea was owned from about 1613 to 1763 by the St John baronets, of Lydiard Tregoze, who latterly became the Bolingbroke Viscounts. The supporters of the
armorial bearings A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...
of the St John family were ''a falcon wings displayed Or'', or, more plainly, a pair of golden falcons displaying their wings. The Falcon inn is thought to have taken its name from this display of heraldry. The
Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
points to the earliest record of The Falcon dating to 1733, but speculates that an inn of that name had by that time long existed. An 1882 publication about Battersea makes the claim that a portion of the Falcon Tavern dates back 275 years. The Falcon site was, from 1717, on the Southwark to Kingston
turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
, at a ford over the Hydeburn brook (itself later renamed the Falcon brook) and at the foot of St Johns Hill and
Lavender Hill The A3036 is an A road in London, England, running from Waterloo to Wandsworth. Route It starts at the southern tip of the County Hall roundabout where the A302 Westminster Bridge, York Road and A23 Westminster Bridge Road all interse ...
. Its idyllic position is captured in a circa 1801 caricature by John Nixon, bearing comic verse from 1785 by Edward Trapp Pilgrim; both playing on the name of the then landlord, Robert Death. The inn was extended some time after 1835 and refronted in brick by the then landlord John Alder. In the 1870s and 1880s the area around The Falcon was developed into the terraced-house streetscape which remains to current times. Alfred Heaver, one of the key property developers, with the assistance of the Wandsworth District Board of Works, established St Johns Road as a straight wide road from what had been little more than a farm-track. The Falcon now found itself occupying a key location at the crossroads of St Johns Road and St Johns Hill as both were developed into streets of shops. The then landlord, John Tavener, entered into what appears to have been a land-for-reconstruction swap with another developer, George Nathaniel Street, so that The Falcon was in 1882-3 relocated to the curved crossroads corner of its site and rebuilt in its current form by builders R. & H. Pickersgill. J.F.B., writing in the 1 December 1883 edition of ''
Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inne ...
'', mourned the passing of the old Falcon Inn, and of quaint old inns not only in London and the suburbs, but in the country: :"Its appearance was very picturesque, standing in the hollow at the corner of St John's HIll and Falcon Road. Being the last stage into London on the high road from Portsmouth, many travellers must know it. The old wych-elm, with a cupboard made of its hollow trunk, and a door hanging on old fashioned rusty hinges, was a striking feature; but the landlord would not 'spare that tree' and it has been grubbed up by the roots. The builder has choked up the well and poured concrete on the sward ... a modern gin-palace will take the place of a low-pitched old tavern with a cross-beamed taproom and a quaint doorway before which a maypole might have been reared..." Reopened as The Falcon Hotel, the building is described by the Survey of London as a "robust piece of London pub architecture in the Franco-Italianate taste", in brick with cement dressings, and having an ornamental turret above the corner gable. The interior of the pub was remodelled in 1896 by the builders Turtle & Appleton, who created an open-plan space by the use of cast-iron columns to support the upper floor, and the introduction of elaborate oak-work and glass-panel illustrations of the ancient inn's life. A billiard room was added to the rear of the Hotel in 1901 by Tavener's widow. Tavener's venture appears to have been a great success, in large part thanks to its location; in 1911 the hotel was employing about 20 people. In 1921, Tavener's son, also John, sold the business for £70,000 to the Wenlock Brewery.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Battersea Pubs in the London Borough of Wandsworth Grade II listed pubs in London National Inventory Pubs Buildings and structures in Battersea 19th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Wandsworth