Boar's Head Inn, Southwark

The Boar's Head Inn in Southwark occupies a unique place in history because of its connection to the real life of a fifteenth century military commander named Sir John Fastolf. Fastolf served as a prominent general during the Hundred Years War and later bequeathed this inn to Magdalen College, Oxford. While literature often conflates this site with the famous tavern in Eastcheap featured in the plays of William Shakespeare, the Southwark inn holds its own distinction as part of the benefactor's actual estate. The connection to the name Falstaff arises from this historical figure, as Sir John Fastolf provided the inspiration for the name of the famous Shakespearean character. By the early eighteenth century, the building had been subdivided into multiple tenements, leaving behind only the name and the legacy of its original owner to mark its place in the neighborhood.