White Hart

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.

UK Inns called the White Hart

Brentwood

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] Now operating as a nightclub and restaurant called Sugar Hut. The building can be seen on reality TV programme,'The Only Way Is Essex'.

Brigg

The White Hart in Brigg, North Lincolnshire is located just over the bridge to the west of the town's centre

Buxted

The White Hart in Buxted, East Sussex is currently being refurbished and will re-open as a country pub and dining rooms in Summer 2013.

Cheadle, Cheshire

The White Hart in Cheadle, Cheshire is located in the centre of the village.

Crawley

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 Wealden open hall-house which was originally a dwelling 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]

Dartington, Totnes

The White Hart is the name of the bar and restaurant within the estate of Dartington Hall, near Totnes in Devon. The medieval Dartington Hall was built for John Holand, Earl of Huntingdon and half-brother to Richard II of England. The Dartington Morris Men side was formed at Dartington Hall in 1968 and was given permission to use the crest of the white hart on a red rose as its emblem.

Edinburgh

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.^{[citation needed]}

Hampshire

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 .

Hart Village, Hartlepool

There is a small village pub in Hart called the White Hart. It has had several famous owners, for example Niall Quinn.

Hull

"The Olde White Harte" in Silver Street, Kingston upon Hull, was built c.1660, and remodelled in 1881 as a romantic re-imagining of a 17th-century inn. The exterior is in the Artisan Mannerist style, the interior has extensive wood panelling, including 17th century work; the building is Grade II* listed. Local legend, thought to originate in the 19th century and now considered unlikely to be correct, links the building with Sir John Hotham, and the English Civil War;^[8] the wood panelled first floor room known as the "Oak Room" or "Plotting Parlour" is the supposed location where Sir John Hotham and others took the decision to refuse King Charles I entry to the town, precipitating the First Siege of Hull.^[9]

"The White Hart" is in Alfred Gelder Street, Kingston upon Hull. It was built in 1904 and frequented by the poet Philip Larkin, who gave a talk to the Jazz Record Society entitled ‘My Life and Death as a Record Reviewer’ here in 1977.^[10]

Isle of Wight

The White Hart in Havenstreet is close to the main centre of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and has a railway theme.

Lincoln

A six-centuries old "White Hart" inn is on Bailgate, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK.

Llangybi

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.^[11] 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 near the village well, once painted white and now in ruins.^[12]

Oxford

The White Hart in Old Headington, Oxford, is famous for it's Olde Worlde setting, tucked away just out side of central Headington. Bar staff Josh and Alex Mzuhali were recently featured in an article of The Oxford Drinker. Josh is quoted as saying, "I do what I want", emphasising the ethos of the pub.

North Cave, East Riding of Yorkshire

This village pub dates back to the early 18th century.

Preston, Lancashire

There is a White Hart Pub in the Fulwood area of Preston. The name chosen due to the "White" colour of Preston North End football team less than a mile away.

Ringwood

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.^[13]

Sherborne, Dorset

There is a long-established pub called the White Hart on the high street in Sherborne.

Sonning-on-Thames

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.^{[citation needed]}

Southwark, London

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.^[14] The Inn was pulled down in the 19th century. It was next door to The George Inn and near the site of The Tabard.

Also in Southwark, but approximately 0.5km to the west, the White Hart at 22 Great Suffolk Street was built in 1882. It survived redevelopment of the surrounding area and is now the only Victorian public house on that street.

St Keverne

The "White Hart" in St Keverne, Cornwall was the birthplace, in 1764, of the singer and actor Charles Incledon.^{[citation needed]}

Thatcham, Berkshire, England

The White Hart in Thatcham is mentioned in Coaching days and coaching ways (1888) by W. Outram Tristram.

Witham, Essex, England

There is a pub called the White Hart on the High Street in Witham, Essex.

Witley

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.^[15] Myles Birket Foster painted the picture-board for it in around 1875; this is now in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.^[16]

Wolverhampton, England

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.

Rowen, Conwy

White Hart Road is the name given to a section of hill land road enclosed from common land in the parish of Caerhun high above the village of Rowen, in the Conwy Valley. It was planned as a new part of the royal mail coaching road from LLanbedr y Cennin to Abergwyngregyn before the A55 coast road was built linking London/Chester to Holyhead around Penmaenmawr. The enclosure award still shows the name White Hart, which is very unusual for a road name rather than inns.

US Inns called the White Hart

Salisbury, Connecticut USA

The White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Connecticut is named after one of the Hampshire taverns of the same name.^{[citation needed]} 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.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Gwynne, Peter (1990). A History of Crawley (1st ed.). Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-718-6. 
• Hygate, Nâdine (1994). 49, High Street, Crawley. Horsham: Performance Publications. 

External links

• The White Hart and other royal badges on a roll of Edward IV