Prince Henry’s Room

One of the few homes to survive the Great Fire of London in 1666, Prince Henry’s Room on Fleet Street can be traced back to the 12th century when it formed part of the property granted to the Knights Templar. Around 1610, the property became a tavern named The Prince’s Arms, and has been believed to hold a connection to Prince Henry, the son of James I. Inside the building, the main feature of interest is the large room on the first floor with one of the best remaining ‘Jacobian’ enriched plaster ceilings in London. In the centre of the ceiling’s design are the Prince of Wales feathers, and the letters PH in a star-shaped border. It was believed that the house was originally built for the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall, and that the room on the first floor was used by Prince Henry after he became Prince of Wales in 1610. Records clearly show, however, that the house was built for use as a tavern and that the tavern’s name, The Prince’s Arms, was in use two years before Prince Henry was even born. The tavern was later renamed the Fountain, and from 1795 to 1816, the front part of the tavern was occupied by a well-known exhibition called Mrs. Salmon’s Waxworks. A young Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor, and he even sent his fictional David Copperfield ‘to see some perspiring wax works in Fleet Street’.