The Old King’s Head is believed to be where William Shakespeare stayed in 1597 whilst he wrote “The Merry Wives of Windsor”. This is remembered by a plaque on the front of the building. Many of the characters in the play are thought to have been based on local people of the time. The pub is now a restaurant and next to the plaque is a copy of the “Death Warrant of King Charles I” (1684). It contains the signatures of 59 leading Parliamentarians of the time, most of who were sought out and punished, by the dead king’s son Charles II, after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1690.
At the time of this photo the restaurant was named Falstaffs, after one of the characters in the play, but has changed hands at least twice since.
I always thought it ironic that a pub named The Old King’s Head was a place to display a warrant to cut off a King’s Head.
This is also on the route of the London Green Belt Way.
SU9676 : The Old King’s Head at Windsor
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