The White Hart ("hart" is an archaic word for a mature stag) was the personal emblem and livery of Richard II, who derived it from the arms of his mother, Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent", heiress of Edmund of Woodstock. In the Wilton Diptych (National Gallery, London), which is the earliest authentic contemporary portrait of an English king, Richard II wears a gold and enamelled white hart jewel, and even the angels surrounding the Virgin Mary all wear white hart badges. In English Folklore, the White Hart is associated with Herne the Hunter.
There are still many inns and pubs in England that sport a sign of the White Hart, the fifth most popular name for a pub.[1]
Arthur C. Clarke wrote a collection of science fictional tall tales under the title of Tales from the White Hart, which used as a framing device the conceit that the tales were told during drinking sessions in a pub named the White Hart that existed somewhere between Fleet Street and the Embankment. This pub was fictional, but was based on a real pub named the White Horse where the science fiction community of London met in the 1940s and 1950s.
The White Hart in Brentwood is the oldest pub in the town, dating back to before 1480. It may have been so named after King Richard II passed through Brentwood in 1392, possibly staying at the inn. It became a coaching inn in the 18th century and survived long enough that in 1910 even offered repairs to motor vehicles.[2]
Crawley became an important coaching stop on the London to Brighton road after it became fully turnpiked in 1770.[3] By 1668, a mid-15th century open hall-house which was originally in residential use had been converted into an inn called The Whyte Harte, later standardised to The White Hart.[4] The great increase in coaching traffic in the late 18th century meant its capacity was often exceeded; so it was sold in 1753 and the proceeds were used to establish a new White Hart Inn nearby.[5] This was built around the core of an early 17th-century timber-framed building, and opened in 1770.[6] As of 2011, it continues to trade under the White Hart name, as a tied house owned by Harveys Brewery.[7]
The White Hart at Ringwood in the New Forest is said to have been the first pub so named, after King Henry VII caught such a beast nearby, had it leashed and led it back to the town in triumph, a legend with the flavour of political allegory.[8]
An inn at the sign of the "White Hart" was established in the medieval period on Borough High Street in Southwark. It is mentioned by William Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part 2 as the headquarters of the rebels in Jack Cade's 1450 Kentish rebellion. It became one of the many famous coaching inns in the days of Charles Dickens, and it was here that Sam Weller met Mr Pickwick in the famous scene from The Pickwick Papers, chapter 10.[9] The Inn was pulled down in the 19th century. It is next door to The George, Southwark and near the site of The Tabard.
The White Hart, 22 Great Suffolk Street built in 1882, has survived the large development of the surrounding area. Now the only Victorian public house to be left standing on that street.
The White Hart, the village pub in Witley, is mostly Elizabethan and is said to stand on the site of an Anglo-Saxon inn. It is reputed to have one of the oldest continuous licences of any pub in England.[10] Myles Birket Foster painted the picture-board for it in around 1875; this is now in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.[11]
In Edinburgh, "The White Hart" is an inn in the Grassmarket, established early in the 16th century. It stood a few hundred steps from the place where public hangings were held, and was popular among spectators. Robert Burns and William Wordsworth were among its notable visitors, and Burke and Hare found some of the victims of their murder-for-body-parts scheme there.
The White Hart in Havenstreet is close to the main centre of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and has a railway theme.
The White Hart in Llangybi was first built in the early 16th century and was to become the property of Henry VIII as part of Jane Seymour's wedding dowry, while a century later Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have used it as his headquarters in Monmouthshire during the English Civil War. The interior still retains no fewer than 11 fireplaces from the 17th century, a wealth of exposed beams, original Tudor period plasterwork and even a priest hole.
For years, students of English literature were mystified by a couple of lines in the poem 'Usk' written by T.S. Eliot.[12] In 2003, The Guardian reported that T. S. Eliot made cryptic reference to this pub in his poem "Usk", referring not to an animal but to The White Hart Village Inn. Touring Wales in 1935 the poet had visited the old hostelry which does indeed stand not far from the village well, once painted white and now in ruins.[13]
The "White Hart" in St Keverne, Cornwall was the birthplace, in 1764, of the singer and actor Charles Incledon.
The Great House at Sonning in Sonning, Berkshire, on the banks of the River Thames, was formerly known as the White Hart because Richard II's wife, Isabella of Valois was kept prisoner in the village after his death.
A six-centuries old "White Hart" inn is on Bailgate, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK. which even has haunted activity find out more about this spookey on goings find out more on the haunted activitys at White Hart Hotel, Lincoln
"Ye Olde White Hart" in Kingston upon Hull dates back to maybe the 14th century. In 1642, in an upstairs room known as the Plotting Parlour, Sir John Hotham resolved to bar King Charles I from Kingston upon Hull.[14] This act in turn triggered the English Civil War.
There is a string of White Hart pubs along what was one of the old main coaching inn roads from London to Salisbury. These are at: Hook (The White Hart and The Old White Hart), Basingstoke, Worting, Overton, Whitchurch, Andover, Stockbridge and Salisbury in east Wiltshire .
There is a small village pub in Hart called the White Hart. It has had several famous owners, for example Niall Quinn.
The White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Connecticut is named after one of the Hampshire taverns of the same name. It has operated as a post-road inn since 1867, though its physical structure dates back to 1806, when part of the current building was constructed as a private residence. It has a dining room, a pub, and numerous guest rooms and suites in the main building and in the adjoining Gideon Smith House. It was reported that the White Hart Inn in Salisbury has closed and is for sale as of November 2010.
There is a long-established pub called the White Hart on the high street in Sherborne specialising in French food and English favourites under French chef Franck Chauvin—see http://www.white-hart.co.[15]
The White Hart Inn in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, stands in the city centre on Worcester Street. It was built in the late 19th century and is now popular with homosexual customers, and is widely regarded as a gay bar. [1]
There is a pub called the White Hart on the High Street in Witham, Essex.
This village pub dates back to the early 18th century. A traditional village pub where all visitors are assured a warm welcome. A large selection of beers is always available, including three hand pulled real ales from local micro-breweries. For the whiskey connoisseur there is a very large selection to sample. And on a Sunday, you will not be disappointed by the traditional home cooked family lunches. http://www.whitehartnorthcave.co.uk/#
The White Hart in Thatcham is mentioned in Coaching days and coaching ways (1888) by W. Outram Tristram.