New Cross House, now the Goldsmiths' Tavern, was an 18th century inn that gave its name to the district. It was adjacent to the original site of the New Cross Turnpike, which moved to the junction of New Cross Road and Queens Road in 1813.

The pub straddled the boundary of Kent and Surrey, a boundary made redundant by the formation of the London County Council in 1889. There is still a boundary stone in the field behind the nearby Goldsmiths' College.

The original pub was rebuilt c.1870.