Top 5

East London pubs with grisly histories

Mike Pollitt | Tuesday 26 October, 2010 10:11

Snipe has rather enjoyed both series of Whitechapel, ITV1’s absolutely ludicrous pantomime reworking of real life London murders. In honour of last night’s farcical Kray-based finale (the detective having a boxing match with the chief suspect? Not sure what the IPCC are going to make of that), here are five East London pubs which have grim, violent and utterly compelling histories.

The Blind Beggar, Whitechapel
Read the oft-told Kray history at the link above. Snipe needs this space for this lengthy, tangentially connected Alan Partridge quote. “Cockney, Sonja, is an area of London where criminals live. The police don’t arrest them because – and they are strict about this – they only slaughter their own, and they have funerals with horses and floral tributes that say things like: ‘mum’ and ‘stab’”. More Partridge here.

The Ten Bells, Spitalfields
Now, this is actually a great venue for a date because there’s some great Ripper history to chat about, the ambient lighting is superb and there are lots of cool bars nearby you can shimmy to later. Only problem, but a significant one, is the difficulty of getting a seat.

Top O’ The Morning, Bow
Cool location at the artier, Hackney Wick end of Victoria Park. And the murder? Well, when you hear that the killer stole his victim’s hat, altered it a little, and that in the resulting notoriety of the trial it became a fashionable garment popular with such notable peeps as Winston Churchill…can you truly say you are not intrigued? Said hat, named after the killer, is still available to buy to this day from this source. Murder, fashion, pubs, trains, a key witness called Death – this case had it all.

Crown and Dolphin, Wapping
This is an ex-pub, but it marks a notable spot in one of the most famous London murders of them all. The body of the executed Radcliff(e) Highway murderer (suspected) was dragged to the crossroads where this pub later stood, and a stake was driven through his heart. The man’s skull was later exhumed and exhibited in the pub for much of the 20th century. PD James co-wrote a cracking book about the whole case and its important social consequences, which is about to be reprinted and which Snipe ghoulishly recommends.

The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping
Any pub with a replica gallows out back must be worth a visit. This is one of London’s most fascinating pubs, whose varied history taking in Dickens, hanging judges and fuschia plants, is whipped through here. According to that link, Pepys and Doré both drank there in their day, which allows a guilt free link to this historical Top 5 from last week. Everything is connected.

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