The Tabard

The Tabard was a historic inn that stood on the east side of Borough High Street in Southwark. The hostelry, which was first established in 1307, stood on the ancient thoroughfare that led south from London Bridge to Canterbury and Dover. It was built originally for the Abbot of Hyde who purchased the land to construct a place to stay for himself and his ecclesiastic brethren when on business in London.

The Tabard was also famous for accommodating the numerous pilgrims taking the annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. It is mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th Century work The Canterbury Tales. The inn, which was clustered around a yard, was entered through a gateway off the high street.

The inn was located on Borough High Street in Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames, just north of where the two Roman roads of Stane Street and Watling Street merged. It stood near the Manor of Southwark, controlled by the Bishops of Winchester. Also known as the Liberty of Winchester, the manor lay outside the jurisdiction of the City of London. Activities that were forbidden within the City of London and the county of Surrey, including prostitution and animal baiting, were permitted within Southwark, which thus became medieval London's entertainment district. In these times, the Tabard would have been filled with pilgrims, drunks, travellers, criminals, and prostitutes (colloquially known as the "Winchester Geese").

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