Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The George and Vulture.
Cross to Threadneedle Street and the Bank of England looms on your left. Built in 1788
by Sir John Soane, only the great outer wall remains of his design: the interior was rebuilt
in the twentieth century.
Turn left into Bartholomew Lane to the entrance to the Bank's museum. There is plenty
for the Georgian and Regency enthusiast to enjoy, from coins and banknotes to cartoons.
Continue your walk by crossing Threadneedle Street, through Royal Exchange Buildings
to Cornhill. Cross Cornhill and turn left to the narrow entrance of Ball Court.
Modern Fish Street Hill.
Here Simpson's Tavern occupies two dwelling houses of the seventeenth century that
were converted into a chop house in 1757. Continue past Simpson's to Castle Court. To the
left is the George and Vulture, built in 1748. It was here that Sir Francis Dashwood founded
the Order of the Knights of St Francis of Wycombe, popularly known as the Hell Fire Club.
It was notorious for heavy drinking and sexual debauchery and also for radical politics -
Benjamin Franklin visited Dashwood in 1774, although whether he partook of the Order's
activities is not recorded.
