Editing Covent Garden (section)

===Pubs and bars===
[[File:Freemasons Arms - Long Acre - WC2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Freemasons Arms in [[Long Acre (street)|Long Acre]]]]

The Covent Garden area has over 60 pubs and bars; several of them are listed buildings, with some also on [[Campaign for Real Ale|CAMRA]]'s [[National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors]];<ref name="CAMRA">{{cite web |url=http://www.camranorthlondon.org.uk/londonpubsgroup/crawls.html#017 |title=London Pubs Group Evening Crawl of The Strand and Covent Garden |publisher=CAMRA North London |access-date=7 May 2011 |date=23 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716031236/http://www.camranorthlondon.org.uk/londonpubsgroup/crawls.html#017 |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> some, such as [[The Harp]] in Chandos Place, have received consumer awards. The Harp's awards include [[SPBW London Pub of the Year|London Pub of the Year]] in 2008 by the [[Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood]], and [[National Pub of the Year]] by CAMRA in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.harpcoventgarden.com/reviews-awards/# |title=The Harp – Reviews and Awards |publisher=The Harp Bar, Covent Garden |access-date=16 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320124651/http://www.harpcoventgarden.com/reviews-awards/ |archive-date=20 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=advertiser>{{cite news |author=Michelle Perrett |url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Running-your-pub/Training/The-Harp-in-Covent-Garden-a-national-treasure |title=The Harp in Covent Garden: a national treasure |newspaper=Morning Advertiser |access-date=16 February 2011 |date=16 February 2011 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103175433/https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2011/02/16/The-Harp-in-Covent-Garden-a-national-treasure |url-status=live}}</ref> It was at one time owned by the [[Charrington Brewery]], when it was known as The Welsh Harp;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spbw.com/lpoty2008.html |title=Greater London Pub of the Year 2008 |publisher=The Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood |access-date=16 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716114133/http://www.spbw.com/lpoty2008.html |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> in 1995 the name was abbreviated to just The Harp,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://deadpubs.co.uk/LondonPubs/StMartins/WelshHarp.shtml |title=Welsh Harp, 47 Chandos Street, St Martins in Fields |publisher=Dead Pubs |access-date=16 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521025610/http://deadpubs.co.uk/LondonPubs/StMartins/WelshHarp.shtml |archive-date=21 May 2012}}</ref> before Charrington sold it to [[Punch Taverns]] in 1997. It was eventually purchased by the landlady Binnie Walsh around 2010 then subsequently sold by her to [[Fuller's Brewery]] in 2014.<ref name=advertiser/> It continues to win regular CAMRA pub awards under its new owners.

The [[Lamb and Flag, Covent Garden|Lamb and Flag]] in Rose Street is possibly the oldest pub in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pubs.com/main_site/pub_details.php?pub_id=136 |title=The Lamb and Flag |publisher=Pubs.com |access-date=30 July 2010 |archive-date=2 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602211752/http://www.pubs.com/main_site/pub_details.php?pub_id=136 |url-status=live}}</ref> The first mention of a pub on the site is 1772 (when it was called the Cooper's Arms – the name changing to Lamb & Flag in 1833); the 1958 brick exterior conceals what may be an early 18th-century frame of a house replacing the original one built in 1638.<ref name=Floral>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46110 |title=Survey of London: volume 36: Covent Garden |pages=182–184 |year=1970 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |author=F. H. W. Sheppard |access-date=30 July 2010 |archive-date=25 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525094344/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46110 |url-status=live}}</ref> The pub acquired a reputation for staging bare-knuckle prize fights during the early 19th century when it earned the nickname "Bucket of Blood".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Darwin Porter |author2=Danforth Prince |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v66bMh6yqfsC&pg=PA215 |title=Frommer's England 2008 |page=215 |publisher=Frommer's |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-470-13819-9 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729181427/https://books.google.com/books?id=v66bMh6yqfsC&pg=PA215 |url-status=live}}</ref> The alleyway beside the pub was the scene of an attack on [[John Dryden]] in 1679 by thugs hired by [[John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester]],<ref>{{cite book |author=John Richardson |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsoflondonye00rich |url-access=registration |title=The Annals of London |page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsoflondonye00rich/page/156 156] |publisher=University of California Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-520-22795-6}}</ref> with whom he had a long-standing conflict.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Rochester, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of |volume= 23 | pages = 427&ndash;428; see page 428, second para, 7 and 8 lines from end |quote=Rochester chose to pretend that this was Dryden's work, not Mulgrave's, and by his orders a band of roughs set on the poet in Rose Alley, Covent Garden}}</ref>

[[The Salisbury, Covent Garden|The Salisbury]] in St Martin's Lane was built as part of a six-storey block around 1899 on the site of an earlier pub that had been known under several names, including the Coach & Horses and Ben Caunt's Head; it is both Grade II listed, and on CAMRA's National Inventory, due to the quality of the etched and polished glass and the carved woodwork, summed up as "good [[fin de siècle]] ensemble".<ref name="CAMRA" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/historic-pub-interior-entry.asp?pubid=47 |title=St Martins Lane |work=Heritage Pubs |access-date=16 January 2015 |archive-date=8 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908150536/http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/historic-pub-interior-entry.asp?pubid=47 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Freemasons Arms on Long Acre is linked with the founding of [[the Football Association]] in 1863;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs/covent-garden/freemasons-arms |title=Welcome to The Freemasons Arms, Covent Garden |work=shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107120416/http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs/covent-garden/freemasons-arms |archive-date=7 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0l2T7tLSiEC&pg=PA25 |page=25 |title=Football/Soccer: History and Tactics |author=Jaime Orejan |publisher=McFarland |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-8566-6 |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729182004/https://books.google.com/books?id=H0l2T7tLSiEC&pg=PA25 |url-status=live}}</ref> however, the meetings took place at The [[Freemason's Tavern]] on Great Queen Street, which was replaced in 1909 by the Connaught Rooms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/history |title=The History of The FA |work=thefa.com |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125012322/http://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/history |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/freemasons-tavern |title=Freemasons' Tavern |work=londonremembers.com |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027120544/https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/freemasons-tavern |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other Grade II listed pubs include three 19th century rebuilds of 17th century/18th century houses, the Nell Gwynne Tavern in Bull Inn Court,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1066336|desc= The Nell Gwynne Tavern public house |access-date= 1 October 2014}}</ref> the Nag's Head on James Street,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1277358|desc= The Nag's Head |access-date= 1 October 2014}}</ref> and the White Swan on New Row;<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1224986|desc=White Swan public house |access-date= 1 October 2014}}</ref> a Victorian pub built by lessees of the Marquis of Exeter, the Old Bell on the corner of Exeter Street and Wellington Street;<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1211790|desc= The Old Bell public house |access-date= 1 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol36/pp226-229 |title=Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden |chapter=Southampton Street and Tavistock Street Area: Wellington Street |author=F. H. W. Sheppard |publisher=London County Council |date=1970 |pages=226–229 |location=London |via=British History Online |access-date=16 January 2015 |archive-date=16 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116135600/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol36/pp226-229 |url-status=live}}</ref> and a late 18th or early 19th century pub the Angel and Crown on St Martin's Lane.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1236047|desc= The Angel and Crown public house |access-date= 1 October 2014}}</ref>