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Green Man, Blackheath

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Venue Type & Location

Tavern

Overview

  • Address: Blackheath Hill, Blackheath, Lewisham. For a current map, Click Here.

  • Alternate Names: Green Man Hotel

  • Audience Composition: Edward Walford notes that the inn was “well known to holiday-makers” (reproduced at British History Online). Other than this small detail, no information about audiences at the Green Man has yet been located.

  • Performance Space Description: Contemporary images suggest that the Green Man was a rather simple, rectangular edifice that stretched three storeys high (at its tallest point). The front of the building was adorned by bay windows, and by a small overhang jutting out from the central entranceway. Details about the performance space within the venue are still being sought.

  • Typical Fare: The ‘Ideal Homes’ site indicates that the Green Man was both “an important staging post in the Dover Road” and “a meeting place for many official and unofficial bodies”. The building was also theatrically licensed (according to Diana Howard) between 1850 and 1902. For a listing of blackface/minstrelsy-related events that took place in this performance space (with attached bibliographic references), follow the links at right.

    • Performance History

  • The Green Man seems to have been erected during the 17th Century. It flourished for sometime thereafter; in fact, Walford calls it the area’s “principal inn” in 1878 (reproduced at British History Online).

  • Some uncertainty surrounds the building’s ultimate fate. While the ‘Ideal Homes’ site claims that the inn was renovated in the 1860s and then demolished a decade later, Howard suggests that it was still licensed until 1902. Likewise, in his ‘website book’ The Blackheath Connection, Dan Byrnes notes that the Green Man was not taken down until 1970. Please see the 'Bibliographic Sources' link at right for a complete listing of materials (both primary and secondary) from which the above information was compiled.

    Beth Marquis

    • Troupes at Green Man, Blackheath

    Film Affiliated people Film Type # of event(s)
    Beyadere and Female Serenaders Bono, Minstrel Definite Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Beyadere and Female Serenaders Jonia, Minstrel Definite Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Beyadere and Female Serenaders Orinthia, Minstrel Definite Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Beyadere and Female Serenaders Cleopatra, Minstrel Definite Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Beyadere and Female Serenaders Alethea, Minstrel Definite Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) Dumbolton, James A. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) Pell, Gilbert W. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) Stanwood, Moody Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) White, W. Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) Harrington, George Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)
    Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48) Germon, Francis Minstrel Definite Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)

    Events at Green Man, Blackheath

    Event Date Venue Location Film
    Minstrel Show - London, London (city-county) Beyadere and Female Serenaders
    Minstrel Show - London, London (city-county) Ethiopian Serenaders (1846-48)

    Bibliographic Sources

    View a list of abbreviations.

    • Observer (London) June 7, 1846: 1 (3rd relevant ad).
      Info in Record:
      • description/décor/performance environment (suggested in ticket info)
    • London: The Library Association, 1970
    • Chapter 17.
    • (Under Entertainment - Drinking & Drugs - Public House - Inns of Old London)