Places to Drink
"When you have lost your Inns,
drown your empty selves,
for you will have lost the last of England."
-Hilaire Belloc
To accommodate the rise in population, social mobility, and employment in eighteenth century England a number of taverns, pubs, inns, and alehouses arose to provide a haven from the everyday humdrum of work and family. Especially in the larger towns that stood out in terms of overcrowding and the number of unskilled, poor, workers public houses were popular. This rise of urbanization and industrialization gave way to many new pressures and in order to provide a refuge to the proletariats that needed an escape from the factories and city alienation, urban drinking places grew in number and became popular meeting places. Not only were they places of comfort for the poor to come and spend their hard earned wages, but important meeting areas for radicals that were encouraged by the French Revolution. As a result of this many London strikes were launched from taverns (11) Later in the eighteenth century public houses began to cater more to the upper classes, and the pubs changed throughout time to meet the different needs of the different people who went there.
The inn is traditionally recognized as a "large establishment offering food, drink be it wine, ale or beer) and accommodation for wealthier travelers" while the tavern sold wine to the more prosperous and did not have the extensive accommodation of the inn" (12) The alehouses differ in that they were usually "small establishments serving ale or beer (and later, spirits) to the lower orders, as well as rather basic food and accommodation" (13) Of course all of the drink houses had their differences but they all had the similarity of needing to be "identified and located" (14)