Hand and Shears Tavern

Erected in the 16th century, the Hand and Shears Tavern originally hosted a Piepowder Court, where merchants from the Cloth Fair could settle their disputes. The tavern supposedly earned its name from the Lord Mayorʼs opening of the Bartholomew Fair in nearby Smithfield by cutting a piece of cloth (Weinreb, Hibbert, Keay, and Keay 380).