The Silver Cross Tavern is a

pub 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 was ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

in London, England. It was first opened as a licensed pub in 1674. The building had been an establishment at that location since the thirteenth century. It has been argued to be the only theoretically legal (albeit non-operating) brothel in the country, on the grounds that a 17th-century royal licence on the building was never revoked.

History

The Silver Cross Tavern was first licensed and opened as a pub in 1674 as "The Garter" after having been a licensed brothel beforehand. It was initially owned by William Waad, son of politician

Sir William Waad Sir William Wade (or Waad, or Wadd; 154621 October 1623) was an English statesman and diplomat, and Lieutenant of the Tower of London. Early life and education Wade was the eldest son of Armagil Wade, the traveller, who sailed with a party o ...

, who sold it to Joseph Craig in its first licensed year. Craig had also bought a number of buildings near the Silver Cross Tavern; however, the Silver Cross was not incorporated with the other buildings which became known as

Craig's Court Craig's Court is a courtyard off Whitehall in central London containing the grade II* listed Harrington House (c.1692), other listed buildings, and the British Telecom Whitehall telephone exchange of which Harrington House forms a part. It wa ...

. The pub was subsequently acquired by the

Earls of Harrington Earl of Harrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1742. History The earldom of Harrington was granted in 1742 to William Stanhope, 1st Baron Harrington, the former Secretary of State and then Lord President of ...

. In 1861, it was leased from the Earl of Harrington by the Earl of St Vincent, being referred to as The Silver Cross. In the twentieth century, the pub was owned by TJ Bernard, who sold it to

Taylor Walker Pubs 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 ...

. Because of its location near British government buildings and

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

, the pub is frequented by members of the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and tourists. In 1999, the BBC claimed that the Silver Cross Tavern was the only legal brothel in the United Kingdom, although not currently in operation as such, on the basis that a royal licence granted by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

was never revoked.

Building

A building on the site that was part of St Katherine's Hermitage was initially constructed in the thirteenth century with lead-lined walls. The tavern has undergone a number of rebuilds, with the last occurring in 1900. The pub has a

wagon vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed ceiling. Shortly after opening, the pub had a plaster ceiling installed in the bar area when King Charles I lived in Whitehall. In the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, the building had a new façade built. It was subsequently renumbered as 37 Whitehall and is the red tiled façade building at the far right or west end of the structures from Craig's Court. In the 1990s, the pub was expanded into numbers 3335 which themselves had been combined by previous occupiers, the last after the pizza restaurant next door was closed and the pub took over the premises.

References

{{Coord, 51, 30, 23, N, 0, 07, 37, W, display=title 1674 establishments in England Brothels in the United Kingdom Prostitution in England Grade II listed pubs in the City of Westminster