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The Alphabet Of Lost Pubs H-L

November 6, 2016
by the gentle author

You will be in need of refreshment once you have contemplated H-L in the third part of my series of The Alphabet of Lost Pubs, but let us not arrange to meet in the King’s Arms or the Lord Nelson unless we have agreed which one. This time-travelling pub crawl is presented in collaboration with Heritage Assets who work in partnership with The National Brewery Heritage Trust, publishing these historic photographs of the myriad pubs of the East End from Charrington’s archive for the first time.

The Hallsville Tavern, 57 Hallsville Rd, Canning Tow, E16 (Opened before 1862 and closed in 2012 to become a restaurant)

The Hare & Hounds, 278 Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton, E10 (Opened before 1862 and open today)

The Harrow, 84 High St, Stratford, E15 (Opened before 1823 and now demolished)

The Hat & Tun, 15 Hatton Wall, Hatton Garden, EC1 (Opened in the eighteenth century, renamed ‘Deux Beers’ in 2000 and open today)

The Hatchet, 28 Garlick Hill, St Michael Queenhithe, City of London, EC4 (Opened before 1773 and open today)

The Heathcote Arms, Grove Green Rd, Leytonstone, E11 (Opened before 1905 and open today)

The Hemsworth, 69 Hemsworth St, Canning Town, E16 (Opened before 1891 then badly damaged by enemy action on 19th July 1944 and demolished in October 1944)

The Hoop & Grapes, 67 Aldgate High St, EC3 (Opened 1593 and open today)

The Horse & Groom, 28 Curtain Rd, EC2 (Opened before 1803 and open today)

The Horse & Groom, 255 Mare St, Hackney, E8 (Opened before 1593, closed in 2013 and now a restaurant)

The Huntingdon Arms, 66 Burke St, Canning Town, E16 (Opened before 1881, closed in 1986, became a laundrette and now empty)

The Katherine Wheel, 50 1/2 St Peter’s Rd, Mile End, E1 (Opened before 1854, closed in 2000 and now flats)

The Kenton Arms, 38 Kenton Rd, Hackney, E9 (Opened in 1858 and still open)

The King Edward VII, 47 The Broadway, Stratford, E15 (Opened before 1765 as ‘The King of Prussia,’ but changed to current name in 1914 and open today)

The King Harold, 116 High Rd, Leyton, E15 (Opened 1887, changed name to ‘The Leyton Star’ in 2016 and open today)

The King’s Arms, 18 Kingsland High St, E8 (Opened before 1636 and demolished in 2009 for construction of East London Line)

The King’s Arms, 514 Commercial Rd, Stepney, E1 (Opened before 1851, renamed ‘Mariners’ in 2002 and now a coffee shop)

The King’s Arms, 27 Wormwood St, Bishopsgate Churchyard, E1 (Opened before 1762, rebuilt as part of a tower block in 1972 and open today)

The King’s Arms, Rawstorne St, Clerkenwell, EC1 (Opened before 1839 and now demolished)

The King’s Arms, 141 Houndsditch, EC3 (Opened before 1792, closed 1938 and now demolished)

The King’s Head, 128 Commercial Rd, E1 (Opened 1820, closed 2000 and now demolished)

The King’s Head & Lamb, 49 Upper Thames St, St Michael Queenhithe, EC4 (Opened before 1809, damaged by enemy action on the 16th April 1941 but reopened on the 3rd November 1941, then closed and demolished in the seventies)

The King’s Head, 11 Church St, West Ham, E15 (Opened before 1826 and recently became a guest house)

The Lamb & Flag, 69 Homerton High St, E9 (Opened before 1826, closed in 1944 and now demolished)

The Lamb, 36 Wilmot St, Bethnal Green, E2 (Opened before 1824, closed in 1993 and is now residential)

The Langton Arms, 22 Norman’s Buildings, St Lukes, EC1 (Opened before 1842, closed around 1989 and now in residential use)

The Libra Arms, 53 Stratford Rd, Plaistow, E13 (Opened before 1871, closed 2006 and is now a Costcutter)

The Lion, 72 Angel Lane, Stratford, E15 (Opened before 1871 and now demolished)

The Lion & Key, 475 High Rd, Leyton, E10 (Opened before 1300, closed 2009 and now a hotel)

The Little Driver, 125 Bow Rd, E3 (Opened before 1820 and open today)

The Little Driver, 125 Bow Rd, E3 (Opened before 1820 and open today)

The Liverpool Arms, Liverpool Terrace, 14 Barking Rd, Canning Town, E16 (Opened before 1870, rebuilt 1930-32, damaged by enemy action and closed on 20th September 1940, reopened on the 6th January 1941, damaged again by enemy action on 10th May 1941 and closed, reopened again on 13th June 1941, shut in 1966 and demolished)

The London Tavern, 92 Rendlesham Rd, Clapton, E5 (Opened before 1866 and open today)

The London Tavern, 393 Manchester Rd, Milwall, E14 (Opened 1860 and demolished in 1954)

The Lord Clyde, 10 Lee St, Haggerston, E8 (Opened before 1881 and destroyed by enemy action 7th April 1941)

https://iconicphotographs.co.uk/Charringtons/Image/View/joxw13lscw

The Lord Henniker, 119 The Grove, Stratford, E15 (Opened before 1862, closed in 2003 and converted to residential)

The Lord Nelson, 37 Cranbrook St, Bethnal Green, E2 (Opened before 1861 and now demolished)

The Lord Nelson, 230 Commercial Rd, E1 (Opened 1865, rebuilt 1892, closed 2005 and now a restaurant)

The Lord Nelson, 1 Manchester Rd, Millwall, E14 (Opened before 1855 and open today)

The Lord Rodney’s Head, 285 Whitechapel Rd, E1 (Opened before 1806, closed in 2004 and now a clothing shop)

Photographs courtesy Heritage Assets/The National Brewery Heritage Trust

You may also like to take a look at

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs A-C

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs D-G

The Pubs of Old London

At the Pub with John Claridge

At the Pub with Tony Hall

Alex Pink’s East End Pubs, Then & Now

Anthony Cairns’ East End Pubs

11 Responses leave one →
  1. Rosemary hoffman permalink
    November 6, 2016

    Also the Kings Stores Widegate Street Originally called The Hog and Donkey Still open and I lived there in the late 50s

  2. Jon Raper permalink
    November 6, 2016

    A good number of these pubs have two floors above them. This seems to me to be excessive space for just the publican’s family. Was the intention of the brewery to offer B & B accommodation or did they intend for the first floor to be hired rooms for society meetings and community events?
    It seems unlikely that they were intended as two floors of separated living accommodation as there is often no separate access; only access through the ground-floor of the pub itself.
    Or was it that publicans were likely to have much bigger families when the majority of these pubs were built?

  3. November 6, 2016

    Amazing how many of these pubs were on corner sites,,,,must have been useful fronting on two streets…also very visible. Some of them are majestic structures and I’m glad to see several are still open. I LOVE my daily read of Spitalfields Review….very very interesting….even though I live in Shropshire!

  4. Peter Holford permalink
    November 6, 2016

    I think I can answer Jon’s query. My family were in the pub trade and a big pub often had several live-in members of staff. My uncle had a big pub next to the old Merton Park studios and even in the 1960s he was recruiting young members of staff direct from Ireland. At any one time there were five live-in employees. In 1973 I stood in as a manager of one of my uncle’s pubs in Wandsworth where there were two barmen living on the top floor with their own bathroom and toilet – the family quarters were on the 1st floor. The ghost lived in the attic!

  5. Sue permalink
    November 6, 2016

    I love the big sign “Alight Here for the Troxy”!
    Most people today would say “Yer what?”

  6. gkbowood permalink
    November 6, 2016

    It was fun to GOOGLE the sites and see how the pubs have changed. But it was a very sad to view the derelict Huntingdon Arms on Burke street. I can see how these old pubs might get demolished once they become so neglected…

  7. Malcolm permalink
    November 7, 2016

    The Lord Nelson in Millwall was the pub used by many of my family back in the distant past. My Dad and his brother Tom were in the darts team for years. They played on a 5-10 board, not the usual 1-20 board. Uncle Tom was allowed to pull his own pints of Guinness – of which he imbibed copious amounts. Never saw him drunk though. He was stick-thin and 6ft 2ins tall. All the men used to go every Christmas day for a family drink before dinner, usually rolling home after 3pm to Aunt Dolly’s place in Cahir Street to be told in no uncertain terms by various aunts and my Mum that dinner was in the dustbin! The East End pub isn’t what it used to be now. There are very few – if any – that are still catering for the same communities that existed back in the days before the developers got their hands on the streets of my London and destroyed it.

  8. Jon Raper permalink
    November 7, 2016

    Thanks Peter. That gives an interesting insight into a workforce of single men and women who owned no home, at least not close by, and came to London from the counties or abroad to seek work and betterment. Not unlike the current situation in other industries.

  9. frank hadley permalink
    November 7, 2016

    wonderful photos of the old london pubs,
    they all had their own character and were a great place to be at the weekend.
    my favourite area for pubs was roman road bow, known locally as the roman,
    in the 60s every other pub had live music, we were spoilt for choice.
    many thanks for posting.

  10. April 21, 2017

    Love to see these old photos! However, just to note that the photo labelled the King’s Arms, Rawstorne Street is in fact the King’s Arms at 11a Northington Street WC1N 2JF (which was open by 1748, rebuilt 1898, and is still open as the Lady Ottoline, to which it was renamed in 2011). Also, as far as I know, the King’s Arms on Rawstorne Street is still there as offices (it’s still on Google streetview as of mid-2016).

  11. Jeff Maynard permalink
    April 26, 2017

    My Great-Grandfather, David Bloom, was the tenant of the Kings Head, 128 Commercial Road, which is pictured above, from about 1899 to his death in 1925. He lived over the pub with his wife, five children, his mother and several of his late sister’s children.

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