Mermaid Tavern

The Mermaid Tavern once occupied the space between Bread Street and Friday Street, serving as a prestigious social anchor for London intellectuals during the early seventeenth century. While you stand near the site of its former entrances, remember that this was no quiet library. It gained a reputation for its rowdy atmosphere, famously hosting the Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen, a club where luminaries like Ben Jonson and John Donne engaged in legendary bouts of wit over cups of canary wine. Though the building itself vanished during the Great Fire of London in 1666, the location remains a touchstone for the city's literary history.