Blossom's Inn was atavern which stood inLawrence Lane in theCity of London from the 14th century until 1855.[1] It became a substantialcoaching inn and was used as a staging post by carriers of goods. In the 19th century, the lease was bought and it became the parcel depot of theGreat Eastern Railway. Its name was used for a major property development at the end of the 20th century and the site is now part of the large complex of30 Gresham Street.
It was named after itsinn sign which showedSaint Lawrence and was bordered with thehawthorn blossoms, which were a traditional adornment for such signs.[2][3] The name was spelt in various other ways such asBosom's Inn. These names were either a corruption of "blossom" or, perhaps, a fanciful alternative meaning asDeloney'sThomas of Reading says "Our jolly clothiers kept up their courage and went to Bosom's Inn, so called from a greasy old fellow who always went nudging with his head in his bosom..."[4]Ben Jonson used this spelling inChristmas, His Masque with the lines, "But now comes Tom of Bosom's Inn, and he presentethMisrule".[4]
When theHoly Roman Emperor, Charles V, visitedHenry VIII in 1522, the inn was recorded as having twenty beds and stabling for sixty horses.[4] The inn became a staging post for carriers in the sixteenth century and was, until 1756, the London departure point for James Pickford, of thePickfords family business.[1]Thomas Nashe'sHave with You to Saffron-Walden alludes to this, saying "Yet have I naturally cherisht and hugt it in my bosome, even as a carrier at Bosome's Inn doth a cheese under his arms".[4]
In 1835, an agedporter at the inn, John Neat, had hanged himself for the third time. He was taken toBarts where he seemed to be quite dead. His treatment included ablister,brandy, a draught ofammonia withcamphor, friction over the heart, heating of the feet,letting of fourpounds of blood and aturpentineenema. After a day of this, he was said to be "much better" but "still somewhat maniacal".[5]
The site became a parcels depot for theGreat Eastern Railway in the nineteenth century before being renamed Blossom's Inn again in the twentieth century.[7] Today, the site of Blossom's Inn is entirely covered by an office building of 386,000 square feet (35,900 m2)[8] known as 30 Gresham Street that was developed byLand Securities in 2002–03 and was described at the time as "the biggest speculative office development in the capital".[9]
51°30′52″N0°05′34″W / 51.5145°N 0.0928°W /51.5145; -0.0928
