The Greene Man is a

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 ...

in London's Euston Road. It was formerly known as the Green Man (and Porters Bar) and before that, the Farthing Pie House or Pye House as mutton pies could be bought there for a

farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) * Farthing (English ...

. When it was established in the 18th century, the area was rural and so the surroundings were farm fields and

pleasure garden A pleasure garden is a park or garden that is open to the public for recreation and entertainment. Pleasure gardens differ from other public gardens by serving as venues for entertainment, variously featuring such attractions as concert halls ...

s. The place was then frequented by notable artists and writers including

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and Richard Wilson.

Farthing Pie House

There has been a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

in this location for centuries. It was founded in 1708 as the Farthing Pie House or Pye House. This was a common name for a place where a mutton pie could be bought for a

. It was mentioned by Henry Carey in his prelude to his popular song, "Sally in our Alley", which was written around 1716. Carey explained the song's inspiration – a shoemaker's apprentice taking his sweetheart on a tour of London's sights which finished with "proceeding to the Farthing Pye-house, he gave her a Collation of Buns, Cheesecakes, Gammon of Bacon, Stuff’d-beef, and Bottled-ale;"

Defoe Defoe may refer to: People *Defoe (surname), most notably English author Daniel Defoe Places *Defoe, Webster County, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Other uses *Defoe (comics), a zombie story *Defoe Shipbuilding Company, a former ship ...

's 1722 novel ''

Colonel Jack ''Colonel Jack'' is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. The considerably longer title under which it was originally published is ''The History and Remarkable Life of the truly Honourable Col. Jacque, commonly call'd Col. Jack, who ...

'' also alludes to the tavern, when young Jack crosses London into a large field named after it. The most famous landlord in this period was Mr Price, who was known for his skill in making music by beating a salt-box with a

rolling pin Rolling is a type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an axially symmetric object) and translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the other moves), such that, if ideal conditions exist, the two are in contact ...

, accompanying musicians such as

Carl Friedrich Abel Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. Life Abel was born in Köthen, ...

, who played the

violoncello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

. The tavern appears on Rocque's map of 1746 on the corner of the Green Lane with the East-West track which was later to become the New Road. The place then had a

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate ...

. Bilson's Farm is shown on the other side of the junction – a farm of 133 acres which later became part of

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. There are no other buildings nearby as the area was not yet developed, the surroundings were still open fields, ponds and tracks. The area was described in the recollections of John Thomas Smith:

Green Man

The radical MP

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...

campaigned there for election to the Middlesex constituency as the suffrage was limited to wealthy freeholders who could be found there. At the end of the 18th century, it was frequented by

as a young man. In 1809, it was renamed the

Green Man The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every Spring (season), spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of ...

. The Welsh painter Richard Wilson played skittles there. The pub is now owned by

Greene King Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019. H ...

who changed the spelling of the sign to match their name, when they took over the

Spirit Pub Company Spirit Pub Company plc (Spirit) was a pub and restaurant company in the United Kingdom based in Burton upon Trent and originally formed by Punch Taverns. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Greene King in June 2 ...

in 2015 and retired the Taylor Walker brewery brand. In 2019, the cheapest pie on the menu is Woodland Mushroom & Ale which costs £10.99. As there were 960 farthings in a

pound sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...

, the

nominal price In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...

of a pie has risen by a factor of over 10,000. File:Farthing Pye House 1746.png, The Farthing Pye House next to Bilson's Farm on

John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 can refer to two different maps. The better known of these has the full name ''A plan of the cities of London and Westminster, and borough of Southwark'': it is a map of Georgian London to a scale of 26 inches t ...

. File:Farthing Pie House 1780.png, The Farthing Pie House in 1780, painted in watercolour by Thomas H. Shepherd around 1850 from an old drawing File:Farthing Pie House.png, The Farthing Pie House in 1820, as shown in Walford's ''Old and New London'' File:Green Man 1830.png, Painted in 1830 by J. Breun, after it had been renamed the Green Man and the New Road had become built-up File:Greene Man.jpg, The Greene Man in 2019. Notice the green man sign for pedestrians in the traffic light.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Man Pubs in the London Borough of Camden