The Borough, according to a State Paper of 1619, "consists chiefly of inn-keepers." John Stow, in his Survey (1598), says, "from thence (the Marshalsea) towards London Bridge on the same side, be many fair inns for the receipt of travellers; by these signs: the Spurre, Christopher, Bull, Queen's Head, Tabard, George, Hart, King's Head," etc. Of older date (about 1542) is a map of Southwark, to be found among the Duchy of Lancaster Records in the Record Office, which shows almost all the more important Southwark inns. They were grouped together chiefly on the east side of what is now called the Borough High Street, the most distant not being more than a quarter of a mile apart. These inns had a gateway from the street, which was closed at night. Passing through this gateway one entered a yard, round which ran the galleries where the guests were housed. Beyond this again there was a larger yard, which contained the stabling, and where there were often various tenements. This was approached by a passage from the outer yard, and generally there was also access to it from behind. The White Hart was perhaps the largest Southwark inn, and appears to have dated from the latter part of the 14th century, the sign being the badge of Richard II., derived from his mother, Joan of Kent. In the summer of 1450 it was Jack Cade's headquarters whilst he was striving to gain possession of London. Hall, in his Chronicle, thus speaks of him:—"The capitayn being advertized of the kynge's absence came first into Southwarke, and there lodged at the White Hart, prohibiting to all men Murder, Rape, or Robbery; by which colour he allured to him the hartes of the common people." It must have been by his orders, if not in his presence, that "at the Whyt harte in Southwarke, one Hawaydyne of sent Martyns was beheaded," as we are told in the Chronicle of the Grey Friars. Here, too, Sir John Fastolfe's servant, Payne, was despoiled and threatened with death. Cade's success was of short duration: his followers wavered; he said, or might have said, in the words of Shakespeare (2 Henry VI., act iv., sc. 8), "Hath my sword therefore broke through London gates that you should leave me at the White Hart in Southwark?" The outbreak collapsed, and our inn is not heard of again for many years. In 1529 a message was sent to Thomas Cromwell, the notorious minister of Henry VIII., by some one asking for an interview at the White Hart. In 1669 the back of the inn was burnt down; and on May 26, 1676, a most destructive fire occurred in Southwark, when according to the best authorities, no fewer than 500 houses were either burnt or blown up. The White Hart was quite destroyed, but was rebuilt shortly afterwards on the old foundations, at a cost of £2,400. In 1720 Strype describes it as "very large and of a considerable trade, being esteemed one of the best inns in Southwark," and it so continued until the early years of the 19th century.