What did London blue plaque The Devil Tavern do at 1 Fleet Street?

The Story

# The Devil Tavern, 1 Fleet Street Standing at this corner of Fleet Street, you're standing where one of London's most celebrated literary taverns once drew the capital's wittiest minds through its doors from the 1590s until its demolition in 1787. Here, at The Devil Tavern, Ben Jonson presided over his circle of poets, playwrights, and scholars in a room so legendary it became known as the "Apollo Room," where members competed in witty verse competitions and literary debates that shaped English drama and poetry for generations. This specific address became the unofficial headquarters of the Jacobean literary scene—a place where playwrights tested new ideas, where friendships forged over ale became collaborations that would grace the London stage, and where reputations were made and unmade by the quality of one's couplets. When the building came down two centuries ago, London lost not just a tavern, but a living monument to the era when this street was the beating heart of English letters, and the Devil's particular genius lay in being the exact spot where commerce, creativity, and conversation collided most productively.