Sir John Falstaff 

The Sir John Falstaff was built in the middle of the 17th Century (the earliest record is 1670) with some evidence to suggest that the doctor's surgery next door was the original hostelry, it is located on the old London to Dover Road (Gad's Hill, Higham) about halfway between Gravesend and Rochester.

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The pub is named after a fictional character created by William Shakespeare that appears in three plays. Although primarily a comic figure he is portrayed as a fat, vain, and boastful knight, who spends most of his time drinking at the Boar's Head Inn. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2, published in 1600 and again in 1623, Sir John Falstaff is confronted by the Lord Chief Justice for his participation in the “Gad's Hill robbery”. In summary, Sir John Falstaff loved a drink, loved his Inn and committed a robbery on Gad's Hill. Because of this, it's easy to see why a few decades after Shakespeare created Sir John Falstaff, this public house was built here and named after him. It has been called: 'The Falstaff Inn', 'Sir John Falstaff Hotel' and 'The Sir John Falstaff” in its long history.
 

Charles Dickens would have first seen the Sir John Falstaff when he was “not more than half as old as nine” with his father, John Dickens. Then when he was nine years old, in 1821, he would come on his own to see Gad's Hill Place.

To start with, the relationship between Dickens and the landlord of the Sir John Falstaff was very strained. Some say this was due to the number of parties and loud music from Gad's Hill Place, not the pub as you would think. By 1861, the new landlord, William Trood, had built a good relationship with Dickens; so much so, that he would provide accommodation for Dickens' guests when there was not enough room at Gad's Hill Place. Not only this, but he would provide refreshments for their lavish parties and allocated Dickens a private room, given that he was arguably the most famous man in Britain at the time. Their relationship was so strong, that it has been suggested that he was the inspiration behind the eponymous hero in the novel Dickens was working on when he died, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'.

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Dickens also referred to the Sir John Falstaff in 'The Uncommercial Traveller' (published in 1860) as:

“…a little hostelry which no man possessed of a penny was ever known to pass in warm weather…”

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Charles Dickens’ patronage to the Falstaff ended on the morning of the day before he died, when he came into the Falstaff to cash a cheque with the landlord, for £22; around £2350 in today’s money.   

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Today, the Sir John Falstaff has a close relationship with Gad's, as it did back then; Sir John now provides refreshments and hospitality to the visitors and guests of Gad's Hill Place.