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All the United Kingdom Scotland Anstruther Smuggler's Inn
Smuggler's Inn is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Smuggler's Inn

Stay in the one time home to one of Scotland's most notorious gentleman's sex clubs.

Anstruther, Scotland

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Annetta Black
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  Tony Perrottet
  Smuggler's Inn
Smuggler’s Inn today.   Map data ©2016 Google
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About

Inside this modest-looking traveler's inn gentlemen of a certain inclination once gathered for drinks, camaraderie, a little light porn reading and some truly odd group masturbation rituals.

The club was formed in Scotland in 1732, one of several such institutions in Great Britain, like the more famous Hellfire Club. These meetings of the "Beggar's Benison" club in the tumultuous 18th century promoted an unusually open-minded approach to sex and nudity, pornographic novellas and the appeal of young women posed just so.

Despite its obviously pleasurable pursuits, the intention of the club was a kind of political statement, rebelling against the forced modesty of the church and state of the time. Later libertines like Aleister Crowley freely adopted the slogans and trapping of many of the old-time sex clubs when looking to promote free-thought and paths away from established cultural norms.

The Beggar's Bennison met regularly at the Smuggler's Inn for their sessions of admiring nude posing girls and readings from banned books like Fanny Hill. The president of the club was fantastically adorned in a fancy wig said to have been made from the pubic hairs of King Charles II’s mistresses.

New members were inducted into the club through a very specific ritual involving masturbation into a shared bowl - a bowl which can now be found in the special collections at the Museum of the University of St Andrews, along with a blown glass penis-shaped dribble glass and the one-time wig stand of the infamous wig. The wig itself is, sadly, lost to time.

UPDATE: Anstruther's Smuggler's Inn is now permanently closed.

Related Tags

Beggar's Bennison Charles Ii Architectural Oddities Sex Scotland Pornography Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

Annetta Black

Edited By

Kevin OKeeffe, Molly McBride Jacobson, Mapgirl

  • Kevin OKeeffe
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Mapgirl

Published

February 25, 2012

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Sources
  • http://www.slate.com/articles/life/welltraveled/features/2009/hellfire_holidays/the_sexy_beasts_of_scotland.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar%27s_Benison
  • http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-first-scottish-sex-club-1-590558
Smuggler's Inn
Smuggler's Inn
High Street East
Anstruther, Scotland, KY10 3DH
United Kingdom
56.223166, -2.702149
Visit Website
Get Directions

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