This London institution, located at 16 Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia, is famous for its association with Bohemians and intellectuals including artists Augustus John and Jacob Epstein, and writers Dylan Thomas and George Orwell, all of whom frequented the pub.

The name of the pub, which is from where Fitzrovia gets its name, comes from the Fitzroy family, the Dukes of Grafton, who owned much of the land in the area.

More specifically it was Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton and the great-grandson of the first duke (Henry Fitzroy, an illegitimate son of King Charles II), who first developed the northern part of the area, building Fitzroy Square (Fitzroy Street also carries the family name as does Grafton Way).

The pub apparently started life as a coffee house in the early 1880s but had been converted into an establishment where stronger drinks were served in 1897. It was originally known as The Hundred Marks but rebranded The Fitzroy Tavern in 1919.

Other luminaries associated with the pub have included Nina Hamnett, the so-called ‘Queen of Bohemia’, her friend American poet Ezra Pound, MPs Michael Foot and Barbara Castle, and, the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley.

Thanks to the man responsible for converting the establishment into a pub, proprietor Judah ‘Pop’ Kleinfeld, the establishment was also the birthplace of a charity called Pennies from Heaven which raised money for underprivileged children.

The story goes that having witnessed the loser of a darts match throw his dart into the ceiling in exasperation, Kleinfeld came up with the idea of providing customers with darts which had little paper bags attached for people to put small change in before throwing them at the ceiling (and the money then collected for the charity).

Now part of the Samuel Smith chain, the pub which sits on the corner with Windmill Street, has undergone an award-winning refurbishment in recent years with its original Victorian-era look restored including polish mahogany partitions with etched glass.

PICTURES: Courtesy of Google Maps.