The Half Moon is a Grade II* listed public house at 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London. It is one of only 270 pubs on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, was frequented by the poet and writer Dylan Thomas, and was a noteworthy live music venue for nearly 50 years, hosting three gigs by U2 in 1980.
- Venue
- Half Moon, Herne Hill
- Address
- 10 Half Moon Lane, London, SE24 9HU
- Town
- London, GB
The Half Moon is a Grade II* listed public house at 10 Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London. It is one of only 270 pubs on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, was frequented by the poet and writer Dylan Thomas, and was a noteworthy live music venue for nearly 50 years, hosting three gigs by U2 in 1980. In 2015, The Half Moon Public House was listed by Southwark Council as an Asset of Community Value, and is described by Nikolaus Pevsner as, "a cheerful corner pub of 1896". An inn has stood on the site at the west end of Half Moon Lane, nearest Herne Hill, since the middle of the 17th century, but the first public house "known by the Sign of the Half Moon" was built by Joseph Miller in 1760. A letter to the Editor of the Monthly Magazine in March 1808, records the death of a boy chimney sweep at the Half Moon on 12 February of that same year, having been taken in suffering from fatigue and cold on "Dulwich Lane", after a great quantity of snow fell. In 1844, Edward Alleyn's original tombstone, removed many years before from the College of God's Gift Chapel, was 're-discovered' in the skittle ground of the Half Moon, where it was believed to be serving as a cover or break-water for a parish sewer. It is said that the tombstone had "doubtless proved advantageous to the landlord in drawing visitors to his house." One contemporary source states that "Mr. Webb, of the Half Moon Inn, Dulwich, presented the college with the original gravestone of Edward Alleyn, which for many years had been preserved by himself and father in the tea gardens at the rear of the inn." John Webb is shown to be the tenant of the Half Moon Public House, stable and paddock for 22 years from 1824. John Webb of the Half Moon Public House, Dulwich is also shown in Old Bailey records from 1833, providing a reference of good character for a prisoner named William Patten, aged 22, who was found guilty of stealing 2 live pigs and sentenced to be "Transported for Seven