Yorkshire Stingo

The Yorkshire Stingo

The Yorkshire Stingo was a public house in Marylebone, London which was a significant landmark outside central London in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Located on the south side of the Marylebone Road, it was a rural location when first built. An admittance charge was made, redeemable with the waiters, as a method of preventing those with no money from enjoying the facilities. Its name comes from a fashionable slang word of the 18th century for strong or old ale. The name possibly comes from the sharp, or "stinging" flavour of a well-matured beer.

In 1786, the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor used it as one of the centres for distributing alms. A bowling green and tea gardens were added in the 18th century.

Thomas Paine's cast iron bridge

Nothing in the world is as fine as my bridge except a woman. - Thomas Paine

During 1790 the Yorkshire Stingo was the temporary home of the second cast iron bridge ever built. This was designed by Thomas Paine who had endeavoured to interest the authorities in Philadelphia and Paris in his design. He had gained a patent for this in 1788 and Walkers, who had an ironworks in Sheffield, Yorkshire agreed to construct it. The original design of 250 feet (76.2 m) - to span the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia, had been scaled down to 90 feet (27.4 m). Paine discussed the bridge in correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, Sir Joseph Banks, George Washington and Sir George Staunton and entertained hopes that it might be the model for an iron bridge across the Thames as well as the Seine. Paine had supervised the work at the Walker factory, and supervised the erection in the grounds of the Yorkshire Stingo. It weighed 3 tons and could bear a weight of 6. Peter Whiteside, a Philadelphian merchant was backing the project, but found himself in financial difficulties and asked Paine to return the money he had lent, and in the end the project had to be abandoned. Parts of the bridge were then used in an iron bridge over the River Wear in Sunderland. William Yates, who acted as Paine's foreman also worked on this bridge and the subsequent Southwark Bridge built by John Rennie. Paine later quipped that "the French revolution, and Mr Burke's attacks upon it, drew me off any pontifical works".

In 1829, it became one of the first termini for London buses. In 1836, a hall for vaudeville and burlesque, called the Apollo Saloon, was added but by 1848 the gardens were closed. The public house was finally closed in 1964.The site has since been used for the County Court and a public Baths.