The New Murrey and Blue blog

Reposted from A Medieval Potpourri@sparkypus.com 

The façade of Sir Paul Pindar’s house in Bishopgate.  Now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Photo Victoria and Albert Museum Collection

Sir Paul Pindar acquired the site in what was then known as Bishopsgate Street Without in 1597 and begun building the house, later known as Pindar’s House,  shortly afterward at the corner of Half Moon Street then known as Half Moon Alley (1).     Bishopsgate standing just outside the city walls meant the house managed  to survive the Great Fire of London as well as a further disastrous fire in 1765 when many of the other fine timber buildings were destroyed.     After Sir Paul’s death the house morphed into a tavern called ‘Pindar’s Head’.   Sadly it was unable to  survive awful neglect nor the march of progress I’m afraid to say.  In 1890 it was demolished to make room for an enlargement of Liverpool Street Station.    Over the centuries prior to the demolition the ground floor had been much altered but the upper two stories of  the façade remained much in their original state and it was this wonderful frontage which  was presented to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London where it remains today.  From this small surviver of what had once been a grand mansion we able to to catch a glimpse of how splendid the old  buildings of the well to do were in Old London.  On the first floor behind the projecting window lay a large reception  room with fine moulded plaster ceilings, an elaborate chimneypiece and oak panelling.

Strype’s map of Bishopsgate in 1720.  Sir Paul Pindar’s house is arrowed and stands on the corner of  Half Moon Street known as Half Moon Alley in Sir Paul’s time.  

Photo c.1890 showing the house when it was a tavern known as the Sir Paul Pindar. The entrance to Half Moon Street formerly Half Moon Allen can be seen to the right.

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