The Astolat, 9 Old Palace Road, Guildford
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Astolat, 9 Old Palace Road, Guildford by P L Chadwick as part of the Geograph project.
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The Astolat, 9 Old Palace Road, Guildford
Image: © P L Chadwick Taken: 24 Aug 2009
Typical estate pub but with an unusual name. Astolat comes from the "Arthurian" legends about King Arthur & the Round Table. Astolat is supposed to be a city or area, from which came Elaine, the "fair lady of Astolat". The 15th century author, Sir Thomas Malory, who really got the whole Arthurian industry going, with his book "Le Morte d'Arthur" (the death of Arthur), identified Guildford as Astolat. There are competing claims. What can probably safely be said is that (a) there is no other pub in the world with this name, and (b) few of the pub's patrons will have a clue who or what Astolat is/was. A fact confirmed by a long standing well-read Guildfordian who confirmed he didn't have a clue either. The pub's unusual sign can be seen here:- Image
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Image Location
Latitude
51.23663
Longitude
-0.589603