The Shakespeare's Head - then & now

1 Spring Street

The Shakespeare's Head was built in the 1830s as part of the development of Spring Street which had started in the late 1820s. It was sited on the southern corner of Hampton Street on the back plot to 157 Western Road which later became part of Boots the Chemists. Boots originally occupied 157 to 162 Western Road to the west of Spring Street. The photo shows the Shakespeare's Head in 1935 after most of the north side of Western Road between Hampton Place had been demolished for the Mitre House development. By then Boots had moved to purpose-built premises between Spring Street and Dean Street taking some of the street numbers with them.

The Shakespeare's Head was rebuilt in typical 1930s style retaining the corner entrance to the public bar and flourished for over 3 decades under landlord Sidney Berger. It closed about 10 years ago and two side entrances to other bars were replaced with windows. It now serves as the breakfast room of the Britannia Study Hotel in Mitre House.

In 2020

Today the only remaining hint to its history is in the coloured plaque of Shakespeare's head surmounting  the corner doorway.

See also - Spring Street - then & now
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