page_title: Coaching inn
section_title: Historic inns
hierarchical_section_title: Coaching inn / Historic inns
caption_attribution_description: English: The George Public House, Southwark, London, UK.
context_page_description: The coaching inn was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point for people and horses. The inn served the needs of travellers, for food, drink, and rest. The attached stables, staffed by hostlers, cared for the horses, including changing a tired team for a fresh one. Coaching inns were used by private travellers in their coaches, the public riding stagecoaches between one town and another, and the mail coach. Just as with roadhouses in other countries, although many survive, and some still offer overnight accommodation, in general coaching inns have lost their original function and now operate as ordinary pubs.
  Coaching inns stabled teams of horses for stagecoaches and mail coaches and replaced tired teams with fresh teams. In America, stage stations performed these functions. Traditionally English coaching inns were seven miles apart but this depended very much on the terrain. Some English towns had as many as ten such inns and rivalry between them was intense, not only for the income from the stagecoach operators but for the revenue for food and drink supplied to the passengers.
context_section_description: There were many coaching inns in what is now central London. The only remaining one with the galleries to the bedrooms above is The George Inn, Southwark, owned by the National Trust and still run as a pub. Many have been demolished and plaques mark their location. The Nomura building close to the Museum of London on London Wall commemorates the "Bull and Mouth" Inn; Golden Cross House, opposite St Martin's in the Fields recalls the Golden Cross, Charing Cross coaching inn.
  Historic inns in Oxford include The Bear Inn (originally established in 1242) and the Lamb & Flag.
  Those in Wales include the Black Boy Inn (built 1522) and the Groes Inn (1573). The Black Lion in Cardigan (established 1105) is probably the oldest Welsh coaching inn.
caption: The George Inn, Southwark is the only galleried coaching inn to survive in London[2]
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