The Adam and Eve Tavern, situated near the west end of old Saint Pancras Church, was in existence at least as early as 1730[128], and is mentioned in 1754[129] as a resort of the London “cit.” In 1778 it could boast of a long room adorned with gilt-framed oval pier-glasses;[130] and in 1786 the landlord, Charles Eaton, advertised[131] the attractions of his gardens and pleasure grounds.
About the beginning of the present century it could still be described as an agreeable retreat “with enchanting prospects,” and the gardens were well laid out with arbours, flowers and shrubs. Cows were kept for making syllabubs, and on summer afternoons a regular company met to play bowls and trap-ball in an adjacent field. One proprietor fitted out a mimic squadron of frigates in the garden, and the long room was a good deal used for bean-feasts, and tea-drinking parties.[132]
In 1803, about three and a half acres of the Adam and Eve tea-gardens were taken to form the St. Giles-in-the-Fields Cemetery (adjoining the old St. Pancras Churchyard), though the tavern still lingered on. In later years (circ. 1865–1874) the Adam and Eve was an ordinary public-house. It still retained (1874) a portion of its old grounds, which were used by its frequenters for bowl-playing. This ground, however, was enclosed by a high wall, and was overlooked by the mean houses that formed Eve Place. The building has since been taken down.
[F. Miller’s St. Pancras, pp. 45 and 49; Palmer’s St. Pancras, pp. 244, 245; Roffe’s St. Pancras, p. 3; Picture of London, ed. 1802, p. 370; Wheatley’s London, III., 20, 22, 23; see also notes.]
VIEWS.
The Adam and Eve is shown in the 1730 view of Pancras Wells, and in the views of old St. Pancras Church, e.g., in the “South view of the Church of St. Pancras,” printed for Bowles and Carver (W. Coll.).
THE ASSEMBLY HOUSE, KENTISH TOWN
The Assembly House was in existence in 1725[133] or earlier, and consisted of a large inn, partly built of wood, with a Long Room on the south, entered from outside by a covered staircase. This room for many years continued to be used for dancing by the élite of the neighbourhood.
By about 1776 the village of Kentish Town had become a somewhat populous place, and in the summer-time was much resorted to by Londoners, who took lodgings there, or made brief excursions thither. In 1788 the Assembly House was taken by a Mr. Thomas Wood, who specially advertised his trap-ball and skittle-ground, pleasant summer-house, and extensive garden.
The house was pulled down in 1853, and its site and that of the garden covered by houses. The Assembly House tavern (No. 298 Kentish Town Road) and a police station have been built on the baiting ground and yard that were formerly in front of the old house.