Coffee in England

Coffee was introduced to England largely by the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. The first coffee house in England was opened in about 1651 in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill. It was a relatively slow start, but they gradually increased in numbers and became 'talking shops'. Indeed they became known as "penny universities" - a penny being the price of a cup of coffee.

 One of the most successful was Edward Lloyd's coffee house, frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents. In time, this became Lloyd's of London, the famous world renowned insurance company, Even so there were only about a dozen coffee houses in London by 1815 but, within 20 years, the number grew to over 1700!

That is a lot of coffee!




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