New Page 2

SOUTHWARK TALES 3

ELEPHANT AND CASTLE: fork handles and a mad house

In about 1760, the smithy at an important road junction was converted to a pub. The smith had had connections with the Worshipful Company of Cutlers whose Arms incorporated an elephant with howdah, a reference to the use of ivory in the best cutlery. The pub lifted the name and sign from the smithy.

Another notorious tavern was the more traditionally named Dog and Duck at St George's Fields. By 1815, the pub had been replaced by a grand edifice built to house the Bethlehem Hospital or Bedlam.

Bethlehem ("house of bread") had been founded in 1247 to provide lodging for the ailing poor and was on land now occupied by Liverpool Street Station. In the late 17th century it moved to Finsbury Circus. Over the years its purpose had shifted towards the accommodation of lunatics. Despite early good intentions, the asylum slipped into bad management and inmates became subject to various abuses. In the 18th century, the idle classes would pay one penny to visit for amusement (as many as 100,000 visits a year).

As part of long overdue reforms, new premises were commissioned on the edge of town. The buildings have been occupied by the Imperial War Museum since 1930.

BACK TO SOUTHWARK TALES INDEX

Imperial War Museum, formerly Bedlam.