London’s Lost Pubs is a brand new book that fondly remembers the many establishments that have disappeared in the capital.
Here, author Sam Cullen looks at some that we’ve lost in Clerkenwell and the surrounding areas.
London’s pubs have been an integral part of the city’s culture for centuries and have particularly fascinated me ever since I moved here. Of course they’re great places to socialise but I think there’s more to it than that because they can tell us so much about our cultural history and fabric of the capital.
The same rings true about the pubs that have closed and that’s why I decided to write London’s Lost Pubs, covering all of Greater London, as I didn’t want to see the memories of these places disappear over time.
Thankfully, Clerkenwell and its surrounding areas have by and large fared fairly well in terms of hanging onto its pubs. Some have sadly closed and so below is a small collection of those in the local area, to give you a flavour of what you’ll find in the book.
Hat and Feathers, 2 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5PQ
A Grade II listed building dating back to the 1860s, the pub initially closed its doors during the eighties only to be revived after a long absence in 2006. It featured in Time Out’s 2007 pub guide which was gushing about the restoration job done on the interior, noting the etched windows and wood panelling as well as atmospheric gas lighting and gold leaf on the cornicing.
With a review like this you’d want to go and see it for yourself but sadly its re-emergence didn’t last long and it closed again in 2011. The neighbouring building has been redeveloped into a hotel and it looks like the pub will end up being its restaurant area, hopefully with the architecture features intact.
The Cartoonist, 76 Shoe Lane, EC4A 3JB
Straying into the city but a personal favourite of mine from the book, this opened in the early 1970s and was located at the foot of the Richard Seifert (he of Centre Point fame) office building – the International Press Centre. This served as the meeting point of the Cartoon Club of Great Britain and when they hosted their cartoonist of the year exhibition, famous politicians like Ken Livingstone and Margaret Thatcher (before she was PM) dropped by. The pub closed in 2013 when the office block was demolished.
Old Parr’s Head, 66 Cross Street, N1 2BA
The present building dates from the early 19th century but an earlier iteration of the pub played host to a key performance. In the 18th century there were theatrical shows put on at the Parr and it was here that John Henderson recited Thomas Garrick’s ‘Ode to Shakespeare’, showing the long history of pubs and theatre in Angel which continues to this day with the Old Red Lion.
The pub closed in 2006 and was converted into a branch of the Jigsaw clothes shop and is now a branch of Monsoon. The pub’s distinctive orange tiled frontage has been retained and gives me a bit of the Leslie Green tube station vibes whenever I see it on Upper Street.
London’s Lost Pubs by Sam Cullen is available through Pen and Sword here.
Read our previous article about Sam’s other book ‘What’s In a Pub Name’ here.
