The Fitzroy Tavern: Where Fitzrovia Was Born in Beer and Ink

Why is it significant?

Stand outside the ornate Victorian corner facade of The Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street and Windmill Street.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand outside the ornate Victorian corner facade of The Fitzroy Tavern on Charlotte Street and Windmill Street. Push through the etched glass doors into the polished mahogany interior, complete with traditional brass fixtures and timber snob screens that once allowed gentlemen to drink undisturbed by the bar staff. It was right here at these wooden tables that the name Fitzrovia was coined.

In the nineteen twenties and thirties, under the charismatic host Kleinfeld and his daughter Annie, the pub's basement became the epicenter of London's avant-garde art world. Flamboyant portrait painter Augustus John, occultist Aleister Crowley, and wild Welsh poet Dylan Thomas made this their primary office, writing poetry on beer mats and exchanging sketches for pints of bitter.

During the Second World War, George Orwell dropped in regularly while working for the British Broadcasting Corporation, drawing inspiration from the eccentric patrons, foreign spies, and impoverished philosophers who argued passionately over pints until closing time.

Raise a glass of classic ale in this legendary sanctuary, toasting the enduring spirit of artistic freedom and unconventional rebellion in the heart of London.