Tabard Inn and Geoffrey Chaucer Plaque

The Tabard Inn was established in thirteen hundred and seven, originally serving as a private retreat for the Abbot of Hyde. The Abbot needed a reliable place to stay while traveling from Winchester to London on ecclesiastical business. Because the inn sat directly on the main Roman thoroughfare between London and Canterbury, it became a natural stopping point for pilgrims heading to the shrine of Thomas Becket. This constant influx of travelers from every walk of life made it the perfect, bustling setting for the meeting of characters in Geoffrey Chaucer's fourteenth century masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales.