Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Is that the River Fleet, I hear?

One of my favourite pubs, in the City of London, is Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. I first discovered it a number of years back, when I ducked into an alleyway to avoid some freezing rain, on a cold January day. Seeing the light of the pub I wandered in.

On entering I found it to be quite dark, with wood panelling and little in the way of natural light. Spread across a number of floors, with various bars, it has a feeling of being lost in time.

Once my eyes adjusted to the diffused light, the building almost came alive with its history.

Buying a pint of bitter I took a seat in one of the near empty spaces and savoured the atmosphere of this historic place.

Brief History

History shows that there has been a pub, on this site, since at least 1538. However, as with many of the pubs, in the area, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese succumbed to the Great Fire, but was rebuilt the following year.

Some of the wood panels, of the interior, date from the nineteenth century, while others are thought to be original. The cellar are thought to have been in place since the thirteenth century, when a monastery stood on the site.

Rumour has it that if you sit quietly in the cellar, while sipping your beer, you can hear the River Fleet flowing beneath the stone floor. I have yet to hear it.