The Old White Horse Cellar also known as Hatchetts White Horse Cellar at No. 155 Piccadilly, was one of the best known coaching inns in England during the 18th and 19th centuries. The first mention of the White Horse Cellar is in 1720. It was originally located on the corner of Arlington Street, where the Ritz Hotel is now located. The first landlord, a man named Williams, named it in honor of the newly established

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house or ...

, whose heraldic emblem featured a white horse. The White Horse rose to prominence under Abraham Hatchett who later moved it to the opposite side of the road on the corner of

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he recei ...

, where it was known as "Hatchett’s Hotel and White Horse Cellar". The precise date of the move is not known, but was precipitated by the construction of the Bath Hotel, which was located on the corner of Piccadilly and Arlington as early as 1798. It was torn down in 1884 to make room for the Albemarle. In its heyday, the White Horse Cellar was the starting terminus for all western-bound mail coaches from London. Mail bound for Bath and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

left the White Horse each night. It had a "travellers' room", a sort of waiting room for travellers to rest and wait for another coach. The room had a fireplace, partitioned sleeping cubbyholes, a clock, a mirror and a waiter who would serve food from the kitchen. But the real draw was the cellar, where people gathered to gossip, discuss the news and share a drink. Hatchett apparently moved out before the building was demolished, as in 1848 "Hatchett's Hotel and New White Horse Cellar" was operating at 67 & 68 Piccadilly. Mention was made by Edward Mogg in 1838 that both the Old White Horse Cellar and the New White Horse Cellar remained standing nearly opposite each other on Piccadilly. In the 1920s Hatchett published a history of the establishment, ''Old coaching days and the White Horse Cellar Piccadilly established A D 1720''.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures on Piccadilly Coaching inns Former pubs in London Pubs in the City of Westminster 18th century in London 19th century in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1884 Demolished buildings and structures in London