Kentish Gazette, Tuesday 26 February 1850.

Gravesend.

The "Old Lobster Tavern," on the bank side, about half a mile below Gravesend—a rural and favourite retreat of those who love green lanes and a pure air, tempered with a sea breeze—was on Saturday se’nnight totally destroyed by fire. It had "bided the pelting of the pitiless storm" for nearly a century, and was venerable in its antiquity. The fire was first perceived issuing from the western angle of the building, and in a short time spread with a rapidity vhich wrapped the pile at all points in a sheet of flame of intense power, but short duration. Like most of the snug old taverns of former times, the "Lobster" was composed principally of wood, and hence its rapid reduction to ashes by the action of the fire. The flames extended to and communicated with some cattle sheds, which were rapidly reduced to ruins. An extensive coal shed, also composed of wood, caught fire, but was saved from destruction by the timely arrival of the town and Custom-house engines.