King's Head Inn Yard, Southwark, ca.1881

From: Henry Dixon & Son

RA Collection: Art

"As there is but little to be said of the history of the "King's Head," we may give here a specimen of Taylor, the Water Poet's, Carriers' Cosmographie, writen in 1637, and probably the earliest attempt at a Conveyance Directory: "The carriers from Chittington, Westrum, Penborough, Slenge, Wrotham, and other parts of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, do lodge at the King's Head in Southwark. They do come on Thursdays, and they go on Fridays." The old inn was burnt in the fire of 1676."

The above description, by Alfred Marks, was taken from the letterpress which accompanies the photographs.