London pub signs

London Pub Signs – The King’s Head, Mayfair…

by exploringlondon
Ignore the rather large no entry sign and look closely to see King George II on the sign to the left of the picture and King Charles II on the sign to the right. PICTURE: Google Maps

It’s a pub dedicated to a king – but which one?

Located at 10 Stafford Street (within walking distance of current royal residences at Buckingham and St James’s Palace), this pub dates back to at least 1710 and has gone through several name changes including, apparently, Shelley’s Hotel and The King John’s Head, but has now returned to its original name of the King’s Head.

While some believe the name refers to King Charles II, there’s another school of thought that says the pub was named for King George II.

With the dispute still apparently live, the owners have cleverly opted to depict the heads of both kings on the pub’s signs.

The pub, which features a cellar bar, is one of a number named The King’s Head in London (we’ll take a look at some others in upcoming posts).

Now part of the Nicholson’s chain. For more, see https://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/thekingsheadmayfairlondon.

London Pub Signs – The Spanish Galleon…

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PICTURE: Ewan Munro (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

This early 19th century pub was built in the Regency style as part of a redevelopment of central Greenwich.

The redevelopment was undertaken by architect Joseph Kay in the 1830s while he served as clerk of works to what was then Greenwich Hospital (now known as the Old Royal Naval College).

Its name, one of a number of nautical names for pubs in the area, purportedly comes from the pictures of British naval victories at the hospital.

The pub received minor damage during the Blitz.

Located at 1 College Approach, the pub has been Grade II-listed since 1973. In 2012, the pub underwent a refurbishment.

Part of the Shepherd Neame chain. For more, see www.spanishgalleon.co.uk.

London pub signs – Aragon House…

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Aragon House in 2019. PICTURE: Courtesy of Google Maps

This brown brick pub (and boutique hotel) in Parson’s Green, west London, was built just after the start of the 19th century. But its name comes from a much earlier historic connection.

The site where the four storey pub now stands was once a dower house which belonged to Queen Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII.

It’s believed that the property was given to Catherine by King Henry VII, father of her first husband, Prince Arthur – who died in April, 1502 – and her second husband and his younger brother, King Henry VIII, whom she married in 1509.

The site was later part of a parcel of land upon which was located the home of novelist Samuel Richardson. Richardson, famed for his works Pamela and Clarissa, lived there from 1756 until his death in 1761. The property was subsequently known as ‘Richardson’s Villa’.

The Grade II-listed pub is located at 247 New King’s Road. For more, see www.aragonhousesw6.com.

London Pub Signs – The Tally Ho, North Finchley

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PICTURE: Google Maps

The name of this pub in London’s north comes from its location at the corner of Ballards Lane and the High Road, a location known as Tally Ho Corner.

While the pub only dates from 1927, the name of the corner goes back further. The story goes that it originated with the Tally Ho Coach Company, which ran coaches from London to Birmingham and which kept 16 horses in a stable on the site since the 1830s.

But there has been some doubt cast on that claim – it’s been suggested the site was too close to London to warrant a change of horses and there’s apparently little evidence of such a company.

The pub replaced the Park Road Hotel which was built the site in the 1860s. It changed hands only a few years ago and is now run by the Stonegate Pub Company.

The phrase ‘Tally Ho’ was traditionally used as a hunting call who cried it out when they sighted their quarry. It apparently became used to describe a fast coach.

For more, see www.greatukpubs.co.uk/tallyholondon.

London Pub Signs – The Admiralty…

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PICTURE: Ewan Munro (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

With a claim to be the most central pub in London, this Trafalgar Square pub takes its name from its proximity to…well, all things naval.

This includes Trafalgar Square itself, of course, and its centrepiece of Nelson’s Column (commemorating the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson) as well as the the location of Admiralty Arch behind the building and the Old Admiralty Building just down Whitehall.

The Grade II-listed Italianate building, which was designed by FW Porter and dates from 1871, has only been a pub since 2014 when it was acquired by Fullers.

It was originally constructed for the Union Bank and later became a branch of the National Westminster Bank. In 2005, the building became home to Scottish restaurant Albannach before becoming a pub almost 10 years later.

Fittingly, the pub – officially located at 66 Trafalgar Square – features an interior inspired by HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar.

It was opened on 23rd October, 2014, just two days after Trafalgar Day by former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West of Spithead and Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny. A magnum of beer was reportedly ceremonially smashed on the pub’s exterior in keeping with naval tradition.

For more, see www.admiraltytrafalgar.co.uk.

London pub signs – The Bear & Staff…

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The Bear & Staff sign. PICTURE: Google Maps

This storied central London pub, located close to Leicester Square, dates back to 1714 although the current building dates from 1878.

The name comes from the crest of the Neville family, who were Earls of Warwick (most famous among them was Richard Neville, the “King-Maker”). It depicts a rampant bear chained to a ragged staff. (There is apparently an alternative explanation for the name with some believing the pub is named after a glazier named Augustus Beare who worked in the area in the late 17th century).

Among the stories associated with the pub, which is located on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Bear Street, is that of one 19th century landlord, William Heartwell, who lost his licence in 1858 after being found trading on a Sunday and (perhaps more significantly) robbery. The pub is also believed to have been frequented by early 20th century actor Charlie Chaplin – its restaurant is named in his honour.

For more, see www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/thebearandstaffleicestersquarelondon.

London Pub Signs – The Churchill Arms, Kensington…

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The Churchill Arms decorated for Christmas in 2015. PICTURE: Loco Steve (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

It’s Christmas in London and for such a festive occasion, one pub immediately springs to mind – The Churchill Arms.

The name is certainly not a mystery and doesn’t really have anything to do with the Christmas theme. It stems from, of course, wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill – or rather, his grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, John and Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, who were patrons here and which, in honour of Churchill and them, saw the pub so-named after World War II.

Churchill remains a theme in the interior where a good deal of related memorabilia can be found – including wartime posters, pictures of the man himself and a (fake) plaque commemorating Churchill’s use of the pub for his wartime broadcasts (there’s even a celebratory night held each year around Churchill’s birthday).

The pub, which is located at 119 Kensington Church Street, dates from 1750.

But in recent times, it’s become famous for its stunning Christmas light displays which this year reportedly feature some 80 Christmas trees and 22,000 lights. The pub is also known for its extraordinarily profuse flower displays which cost thousands of pounds each year and which have even won at none other than the Chelsea Flower Show.

It also holds the claim to fame of being the first London pub to serve Thai food when it did so as far back as 1988.

A Fullers pub, for more head to www.churchillarmskensington.co.uk.

London Pub Signs – The Artillery Arms, Bunhill Row…

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The Artillery Arms. PICTURES: Edwardx (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

This City of London pub is located opposite the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, final resting place of the likes of Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan and William Blake, and dates from the 1850s.

Originally known as The Blue Anchor, it – under the landlord ship of Jemmy Shaw – was once notorious for the “sport” of rat-baiting which usually involved betting how long a dog would take to kill a rat and which apparently became popular after the 1835 Cruelty to Animals Act banned bull baiting, cock fighting and dog fighting.

The name of this premises at 102 Bunhill Row comes from the nearby location (just ton the south on the other side of the road) of the Honourable Artillery Company, which was incorporated by a Royal Charter issued by King Henry VIII in 1537 located here since the mid-17th century. The company’s coat-of-arms are on the pub’s sign.

Now part of the Fullers chain. For more, see www.artillery-arms.co.uk.

London pub signs – The Temperance, Fulham…

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The Temperance, Fulham, in 2020. PICTURE: Google Maps

This pub’s name seems somewhat at odds with its purpose for the Temperance, as the name suggests, was once actually a Temperance Billards Hall, built as part of a movement to reduce or prohibit the drinking of alcoholic beverages.

The property, now Grade II-listed, was built in 1910 for Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd and designed by the company architect, Norman Evans. It was one of five such halls the company built in London, along with another 12 in Manchester.

The halls were located in areas where numerous news pubs had been established and, as its Historic England listing notes, such buildings “often used the same decorative materials as pubs, such as tiled facades and stained glass windows, to create the congenial atmosphere of a public house without the pitfalls of available alcohol”.

The building, at 90 Fulham High Street not far from Putney Bridge, was subsequently converted into a pub. It was apparently briefly previously known as The Pharaoh & Firkin and then became part of the O’Neills chain before taking on the current name in a nod to the history’s building.

It’s now one of a group of pubs operated by the Stonegate Pub Company. For more, see www.craft-pubs.co.uk/thetemperancefulham.

London Pub Signs – The Compton Arms…

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The Compton Arms. PICTURE: Google Maps

While there’s said to have been a pub on this site since the 16th century, The Compton Arms is most famous for its association with George Orwell, being one of three Canonbury pubs the writer is said to have patronised.

The Compton Arms sign.

In fact, Orwell was so enamoured of the pub that it’s said to be one of the places he had in mind when writing a famous 1946 essay, The Moon Under Water, in which he describes his perfect pub.

Orwell is memorialised in the pub’s coat-of-arms which features an image of a moon over water.

The coat-of-arms also features references to local sporting legend Denis Compton after whom it’s named. Pictured are cannons representing football club Arsenal and swords from the Middlesex County Cricket Club crest – both clubs for whom Compton played.

The last item on the coat-of-arms are juniper berries – apparently a reference to the US hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg’s song, Gin and Juice (juniper berries being a key ingredient of gin). Snoop Dogg’s life story was featured in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton.

In 2019, the pub’s former publican, Malcolm Mant, released a book, 30 Years Behind Bars: My Life and Times Running the British Pub, which covered his time running pubs including the seven years he spent at The Compton Arms.

The pub at 4 Compton Avenue is a Free House. For more, see www.comptonarms.co.uk.

London Pub Signs – Dirty Dicks…

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This City of London pub, located close to Liverpool Street Station, was originally known as The Old Jerusalem and dates back to the mid-18th century.

Dirty Dicks. PICTURE: Courtesy of Google Maps.

But the pub’s name was changed in the 19th century, inspired by the tragic history of a local businessman by the name of Nathaniel (there are some that suggest his name was Richard) Bentley.

The story goes that Bentley, who owned a hardware shop and warehouse, had been something of a dandy in his youth, earning the nickname, the “Beau of Leadenhall Street”.

But when his fiance died on the eve of their wedding day, he broke down and subsequently refused to clean anything, including himself (there was also speculation that he’d closed the dining room where the wedding breakfast was to be held with the spread still on the table). His home, shop and warehouse in Leadenhall Street became filthy and so famous that letters were apparently addressed to ‘The Dirty Warehouse, London’. He died in 1809 and the warehouse was later demolished.

William Barker, the owner of The Old Jerusalem, subsequently changed the name of his pub to Dirty Dick’s and it apparently became known for its own lack of cleanliness in sympathy with the man after whom it was named.

Charles Dickens is said to have been a patron of this establishment and it’s said that Bentley’s story inspired Dickens to create the character of Miss Havisham for this book, Great Expectations.

In keeping with its name, the cellar bar was for years cluttered with cobwebs and all sorts of items including a mummified cat but more recent years have seen the clutter removed (although some has been preserved and relocated to a glass display case).

The pub, at 202 Bishopsgate, is now owned by Young’s. For more, see www.dirtydicks.co.uk.

London Pub Signs – The Pilot…

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PICTURE: Matt Brown (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

The former sign of this Greenwich pub made the origins of its name pretty obvious – it depicted the orange boat of the Thames pilot, one of the navigators who helped ships make their way down London’s great river (the current sign is a bit more subtle, depicting a gull flying over the river).

But there is an alternate theory for the pub’s name. William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801 and then again from 1804 to 1806, is said to have once owned the land on which the pub was built. His nickname? The “Pilot”.

The timing for the latter fits, given that the pub dates from 1801 when it opened under the name ‘The Pilot Inn and Ferry’ (and is thus believed by many to be the oldest surviving building on the Greenwich Peninsula).

The front of the pub bears a plaque which features the names Ceylon Place and New East Greenwich and the date 1801 – Ceylon Place refers the row of terraced houses to which the pub is joined and New East Greenwich which was the name given to this development overall when it was built (in the apparently unrealised hopes that it would be at the heart of a much larger estate).

This atmospheric pub, which features exposed beams and a rear terrace, can be found at 68 River Way, a short walk from the O2 Arena. Acquired by the Fuller’s chain in 2006, it offers accomodation as well as meals. For more, see www.pilotgreenwich.co.uk.

London Pub Signs – The Edgar Wallace…

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The Edgar Wallace pub in 2018. PICTURE: Jim Linwood (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Formerly named The Essex Head, this West End pub was established as far back as 1777.

Perhaps its greatest claim to fame (in its earliest incarnation, at least) was that it was the location where, in 1783, lexicographer Samuel Johnson and his friend and physician Richard Brocklesby established the Essex Head Club.

James Boswell was a member and the club apparently met at the pub three times a week as a favour to the landlord, Sam Greaves, a former servant of the Thrale family, friends of Johnson (who also lived with them for some years). It apparently lived on for some time even after Johnson’s death in 1784

The original name of the pub, located at the corner of Essex Street and Devereux Court in the Temple district, referred to Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, whose London home, Essex House, was previously located nearby (the house was largely demolished in the 1670s).

The pub, meanwhile, took on its current name in 1975. It was done to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of celebrated crime writer Edgar Wallace.

Wallace, who was known for wearing a trilby and apparently driving a yellow Rolls Royce (and whose claims to fame include initially drafting the screenplay for the film King Kong – he died before it was completed), is credited as being the inventor of the modern thriller novel.

While he was born in Greenwich, Wallace had spent his childhood in the area where the pub now stands (there’s also a plaque to him in Fleet Street commemorating the time he spent working as a reporter before he found fame as an author – we’ll being telling more of his story in an upcoming ‘Famous Londoners’).

London pub signs – The Town of Ramsgate…

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This storied Thames-side pub in Wapping has a history dating back centuries although much of the current premises dates from renovation works carried out in the late 1930s.

PICTURE: Fin Fahey (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

According to the pub’s website, the first of its predecessors was probably established in the Wars of the Roses in the 1460s and was known as The Hostel.

In the 1530s, it was known as The Red Cow, and it wasn’t until 1766 it became known as Ramsgate Old Town, finally becoming The Town of Ramsgate by 1811.

The name apparently relates to its location on Wapping Old Stairs. It was there that the fisherman of the seaside town of Ramsgate would apparently land their catch to avoid the taxes they’d have to pay if they did so at Billingsgate.

The now Grade II-listed pub is famous for its connections to the notorious “Hanging Judge” George Jeffreys who presided over the ‘Bloody Assizes’ and sent hundreds to their death following the unsuccessful attempt by James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and illegitimate son of the late King Charles II, to overthrow King James II. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Jeffreys is said to have been captured outside the premises while attempting to escape, disguised as a sailor, on a collier bound for Hamburg. He subsequently died in the Tower of London.

There’s also said to be a close connection with piracy – at the base of Wapping Old Stairs is what some say was the site of Execution Dock where pirates were tied up to be drowned by the rising tide.

The front area of the pub – which features an etching on a mirror of Ramsgate Harbour – is the oldest part of the building. A depiction of Ramsgate Harbour can also be seen on the pub sign.

For more on the pub, see http://townoframsgate.pub.

Correction – We accidentally dropped an I off James II’s title. Our apology!

London Pub Signs – The Dove, Hammersmith…

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While many establishments have been temporarily forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, we publish this piece in the hope you’ll be able to visit soon…

The Dove, Hammersmith, seen from the Thames. PICTURE: Tarquin Binary (public domain)

This storied Thames-side pub in London’s west apparently has associations with everyone from King Charles II to Arts and Crafts designer William Morris and author Graham Greene and is known as a prime site to watch the annual Boat Race between Cambridge and Oxford universities.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is the-dove-hammersmith-3.jpg
The Dove, Hammersmith. PICTURE: Michael Gwyther-Jones (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

The establishment, now Grade II-listed, at 19 Upper Mall is said to have a history dating back to the late mid 18th century and was originally founded as a coffee house.

The rooms within are fittingly small given the building’s age; in fact, the bar was once listed by Guinness World Records as the smallest bar room in the world.

The pub’s name apparently comes from the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark in which a dove is sent out after the great flood to find dry land and returns with an olive leaf in its beak indicating the receding waters (it’s also interesting to note that the pub was known for almost 100 years as ‘The Doves’ for many years – it has been said this was due to a sign-writer’s error which was only corrected in the last 1940s).

King Charles II is said to have met his mistress Nell Gwyn at this riverside location prior to its current incarnation. Others who have come to be associated with the pub itself – Morris and Greene aside – include American author Ernest Hemingway, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and Scottish poet, playwright and lyricist James Thompson who is said to have written the words for his 1740 song, Rule, Britannia!, here.

Another association comes from Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, founder of the Doves Bindery and the Doves Press, both of which he named after this pub. It’s also mentioned in the pages of Sir Alan Herbert’s 1930 popular novel, The Water Gipsies.

Now part of the Fuller’s chain. For more information, see www.dovehammersmith.co.uk.

Exploring London’s 100 most popular posts of all time! – Numbers 14, 13, 12 and 11…

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And, just before we get to the top 10, here’s the next four in our countdown…

14. Treasures of London – The Cheapside Hoard

13. Lost London – The Devil Tavern…

12. 10 fictional character addresses in London – 1. 221b Baker Street…

11. London Pub Signs – The Hung, Drawn and Quartered…

London Pub Signs – The Hoop and Grapes, Farringdon…

by exploringlondon

This historic pub in Farringdon bears a common enough name (and it’s not to be confused with the Hoop and Grapes located in Aldgate which we’ll look at in an upcoming post).

PICTURE: Edwardx (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The hoop in the name refers to the metal bands binding together barrels staves and the grapes are obviously a reference to wine. But the ‘hoop’ could be a corruption of hops with the sign possibly once featuring a garland of hops and a bunch of grapes.

The pub, the current sign of which depicts grapes wrapped around a hoop (pictured below), is located in a four storey building first constructed for a vintner in about 1720 as a terraced house and converted to a pub more than a century later in the early 1830s.

Located on ground which one formed part of the St Bride’s Burial Ground, the brick vaults underneath are said to pre-date the rest of the building, having been built as warehouse vaults in the 17th century.

Its location on 80 Farringdon Street means it stood near the Fleet River (now covered) and close by to the former Fleet Prison (largely used as a debtor’s prison before its demolition in 1864).

As a result, it has been claimed that it was one of a number of pubs which hosted so-called ‘Fleet Marriages’, secret ceremonies performed by dodgy clergymen – for a fee – and without an official marriage license. But, as has been pointed out to us, the timing of the passing of the Marriage Act in 1753 outlawing such activities – and this only becoming a pub, according to its Historic England listing, much later – does make this seem unlikely (we’d welcome any further information on this claim).

The location also meant it was popular with printers who worked in nearby Fleet Street (in fact, it was apparently given a special licence to serve such customers at night or in the early morning).

The pub was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s but saved with a Grade II-listing in 1991.

A rare survivor from an earlier time among the street’s more modern buildings, it is now part of the Shepherd Neame chain and it’s during renovations held after this purchase that burials were uncovered (the remains were moved into the British Museum). This has apparently led to rumours that the pub is haunted.

For more, see www.hoopandgrapes.co.uk.

Sorry for the confusion – We’ve corrected references to grapes in the second paragraph (and amended our comments on the current sign). And we’ve also clarified comments that the pub was used for Fleet Marriages given the timing discrepancy.

London Pub Signs – The Princess of Prussia…

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This Whitechapel establishment, located a stone’s throw from Tower Bridge, is a remarkable survivor with roots going back to the Victorian age.

The pub originally dates from around 1880 but the current building was constructed in 1913.

The pub was named in in honour of Princess Victoria (aka “Vicky” to her family), daughter of Queen Victoria, who married Fredrick William, Crown Prince of Prussia, in 1858, and who, following their marriage, went on to have eight children including  Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Once an outlet for Truman’s Brewery in East London (and later for Scotland & Newcastle), the pub is now part of the Shepherd Neame chain.

The property at 15 Prescot Street has only recently undergone a renovation (one of several over its lifetime) which saw signboards removed and earlier Truman, Hanbury Buxton & Co signs revealed. It has a dark timbered Victorian interior and a rear garden.

For more, head to www.princessofprussia.co.uk.

PICTURES: Top – Google Maps; Right – R4vi (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

London Pub Signs – The Sir John Oldcastle…

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This Farringdon pub is named after a previous tavern which stood in what had been the grounds of Sir John Oldcastle’s nearby mansion and dated back at least to the mid 17th century. 

Sir John, thought to have been the model for the Shakespearean character Sir John Falstaff, was a leader of the Lollards in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

A trusted friend of Henry, Prince of Wales (later King Henry V), he accompanied the Prince on a military expedition to France 1411 but on returning to England was accused of heresy for his Lollard beliefs and eventually prosecuted.

Imprisoned in the Tower of London, Oldcastle escaped and launched a rebellion against the King but after the rebellion was put down was forced to live in hiding until he was eventually, in 1417, captured and subsequently executed in London.

Housed in a modern building, the pub at 29-35 Farringdon Road, which has a wealth of historical information about the area adorning its walls, is part of the Wetherspoons chain. For more, see www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/london/the-sir-john-oldcastle-farringdon.

London Pub Signs – The Bluecoats, Tottenham…

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Formerly housing the The Pride of Tottenham, this revamped pub’s name now reflects the building’s previous use as The Blue Coats School for Girls.

Located at 614 Tottenham High Road, the current “chapel-shaped” building – which represents a “Jacobean” style – dates from 1835 but the Blue Coats School which inhabited it, originally opened in 1735.

It was one of numerous such charity schools built around England between the 16th and 18th centuries. The name comes from the blue uniforms students wore, a colour typically associated with charity.

The school, which apparently taught up to 120 students at its peak, moved across to All Hallows School in 1930.

The building then underwent several different guises, including a nightclub, before it became The Pride of Tottenham, a known haunt of Hotspurs fans and among buildings affected by the 2011 riots.

The new Bluecoats pub, which spans two floors, was opened last year following a restoration of the building.

For more, see https://thebluecoatspub.com/

PICTURE: Alan Stanton (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/image cropped)