The original pub here was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, but it didn’t take long for a successor to rise from the ashes (priorities, people!).ġ45 Fleet St, near Blackfriars station, EC4A 2BU 8. We’ll take our pint with a side of murder and intrigue, please. Gloomy, and with almost no natural light, it’s more suited to imagining yourself as the lead in a Victorian crime thriller. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet StreetĮasily winning the prize for best-named pub on this list, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is not the place to go if you want to sit by a window and watch the world go by. It’s not even the only pub he’s rumoured to have built, as nearby Ye Olde Watling (run by the same chain) also has a place in his portfolio.ĩ5 Fleet Street, near Blackfriars station, EC4Y 1DH 7. No other pub on this list can boast as impressive an architect as The Old Bell, which was built by Sir Christopher Wren for his masons, who were rebuilding St Bride’s Church after that pesky Great Fire. Having said that, the lower prices make up for it, and the Taddy lager is a crowdpleaser.Ģ2 High Holborn, near Chancery Lane station, WC1V 6BN 6. The Samuel Smith Brewery owns and operates this place, so you won’t get as much variety here. Okay, so the current building is a replica built in 1920, but a pub has been standing here for almost six hundred years, so it’s still one of the oldest pubs in London.
![gay bar london bridge gay bar london bridge](https://media.timeout.com/images/103782462/750/562/image.jpg)
Mercifully, things have quietened down since then.ģ3 Rose St, near Leicester Square station, WC2E 9EB. The poet John Dryden was nearly murdered on this spot (albeit a hundred years before it was built in 1772), and in the nineteenth-century, regular bare-knuckle fights in the alley earned it an alternative name: ‘The Bucket of Blood’. One of the smaller venues on this list, the Lamb & Flag can also claim one of the bloodier histories. Here’s hoping your pint is heavenly!Ĥ7 Aldgate High St, near Aldgate East station, EC3N 1AL. Reportedly, the flames stopped only fifty yards from the door, which we think may have been a little divine intervention. Not to be confused with an identically named, slightly younger pub in Farringdon, this establishment is one of the few timber buildings to have survived the Great Fire of 1666. Spaniards Road, Hampstead, near Golders Green station, NW3 7JJ 3.
![gay bar london bridge gay bar london bridge](https://miro.medium.com/max/1392/0*_p9ZQPD4gEEvH4z5.jpg)
![gay bar london bridge gay bar london bridge](https://d2kf1nqjka06i0.cloudfront.net/images/headers/city/25.2.jpg)
Their seasonal menus are a winner, and the pub’s Tap Takeover is worth checking out too, as they rotate a selection of excellent craft beers throughout the year. It also achieved notoriety as the supposed birthplace and favoured haunt of highwayman Dick Turpin. The Spaniards Inn, Hampsteadĭrink here and you’ll be following in the footsteps of literary luminaries such as Keats, Byron, and Dickens (we did warn you he got around!). They’ll set you back a fair bit though, so maybe save the sirloin for next time?ģ0 Bruton Place, Mayfair, near Green Park station, W1J 6NL 2. In more recent times, it’s become famous for the steaks served at The Guinea Grill. Whilst the building itself only dates back to 1720, there has been an inn standing on this site since 1423, which warrants The Guinea a spot on this list. We’re of the opinion that it doesn’t much matter, as long as they’ve got an interesting story to tell! Here are thirteen you should sink a pint at, all you need to choose is your tipple of choice. There’s no definitive answer to the question of which one is actually the oldest – the only thing anyone can agree on is that Charles Dickens patronised pretty much all of them. SEE ALSO: 15 Of The Oldest Pubs In The UK And The Fascinating Tales Behind Them So why not add a bit of history by drinking at one of the oldest pubs in London?
![gay bar london bridge gay bar london bridge](https://media.timeout.com/images/103782485/750/562/image.jpg)
Regardless of the season, weather, or situation, it’s the perfect time to prop up the bar with a pint and a packet of pork scratchings. Aside from queueing, there are few things the British have perfected more so than the humble pub.