"The Fountain" at 17, The Minories - when did it disappear? COMPLETED

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi, Everyone,
I was wondering whether there are any experts out there on long-gone London Pubs.  "The Fountain" always appeared next to 16, The Minories in the London Directories in the early part of the 19thC, so presumably was at number 17.  There seems to be no mention of it when I Google.
Does anybody know anything about the history of the pub, or when it might have disappeared as a drinking place.
I'm always surprised (maybe I shouldn't be!) by how often my ancestors in London lived very next door to a pub...
Very best wishes,
keith

[PrueM]

Hi Keith 

According to this document I downloaded:
http://www.lightage.demon.co.uk/DRINKH-L.pdf
someone with the name LEWIS was publican at The Fountain, Minories, in 1877.  Not sure if the same Fountain, though...

Cheers
Prue

[liverpool annie]

Hi Keith !

I wonder if an email to Kevan ( who comes and visits here now and again !!  ) would be worth a shot !!

http://pubsinlondon.net/

Annie 

[meles]

The Minories is now a series of very modern office blocks, developed, I would guess, in the late 60's early 70's: not a shred of history left.

meles

[Keith Sherwood]

Thanks very much for those helpful responses, Prue, Annie and Meles,
There's certainly very little - if anything - left in this end of The Minories today that pre-dates the late 19thC.  I think something very drastic happened here after the 1881 Census as businesses, homes and watering holes all seemed to suddenly disappear.  I think I'll have to get back to The Guildhall Library next month to try and discover what exactly transpired...
keith

[J.J.]

You were right about this building but check out the date? ...Scroll to bottom...J.J.
http://www.ashrare.com/portsoken_prints.html

excerpt: "A charming antique print of the old inn taken down in 1793 - an engraved caption below the image gives a historical note. The inn used to stand on the east side of the Minories a little to the north of St. Clare Street, more or less opposite the top of India Street. "

( is it supposed to say 1893, or was it replaced with the next one?)
also an index to a photo? but likely only available on c.d.
http://www.ashrare.com/portsoken_prints.html

[J.J.]

I wonder if they just still called the address "the fountain?" The area seems to have a "fountain court, minories"...maybe there was actually a fountain, then, in the centre of the area which also a landmark. J.J.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=9294&str
"When the "Old Fountain" Inn was pulled down in 1793, Fountain Court seems to Have been rebuilt and enlarged, so that it also covered the site of "London Prentice Yard."

and this...amazing
 On or adjacent to the site of "The Old Fountain" Inn, taken down in 1793, of which there is an engraving in Smith's Antiquities of London, Plate LXV. Over the fireplace of the dining-room of this old inn was a date within a year of 1480.

From: 'Fountain Court', A Dictionary of London (1918). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=9294&str. Date accessed: 01 March 2007.

http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/db/hri3/gis_20050804.jsp?mode=bailey&map=rocque&map_item_id=1870

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, J.J.
What a remarkable find that picture of "The Fountain" is - in fact all those rare prints give a really fascinating clue to the area the CARTER's lived in from the 18thC thru' to the 1880's.  I believe they were possibly in the clothes trade in Rosemary Lane/Petticoat Lane  before moving up in the world with their furniture and upholstery business in The Minories.
And it does indeed look as though that lovely old building was taken down in 1793, probably to be replaced with something not nearly as interesting.
I still believe something drastic must have happened to the low numbers in The Minories after 1881, as the numbers up to the mid-forties in the 1891 Census appear to be unoccupied.
Perhaps major redevelopment, or a catastrophic fire - still looking for evidence...
Many thanks, might get along to that SW17 emporium and see whether any of those scenes of London are worth getting hold of.
keith

[J.J.]

These are even better as they are online to view!   another etching of the old fountain inn...and lots more!!!
http://www.motco.com/series70/default2.asp

Did you catch the old bailey map etc. url I added to the last posting? Interesting stuff! J.J.