Ed’s Central London Pub Directory

EC1 Clerkenwell

London Pubs, Bars & Taverns in Zone 1 from

PUBNETWORK.COM™ and the barstool of Ed Vidunas

Posted November 2004 Revised March 2005

 

The Pubs

            The coordinates [123 A1] locate the area in the older Geographer's AZ London Street Atlas, the small book.  That is page 123 and grid A1.

 

Angle

73 City Road EC1

 

Artillery Arms (Fullers) Clerkenwell [142 A4]

102 Bunhill Row EC1 opposite Bunhill Burial Grounds

Phone 020 7253-4683

Old Street Station

 

Barley Mow Clerkenell

50 Long Lane EC1

Farringdon or Barbican Stations

 

Barley Mow

Cloth Fair Court EC1 off Cloth Fair Street

 

Betsy Trotwood Clerkenwell-Finsbury [141 G3]

56 Farringdon Rd EC1R near but South of Roseberry Ave

Phone 020 7253-4285

Farringdon Station

            Opening times may start at noon. Probably open 7 days.

 

Bishops Finger (Shepherd Neame) Clerkenwell [141]

9 West Smithfield EC1

Phone 020 7248-2341

Farringdon or Barbican Station

 

Britanna Clerkenwell-Finsbury [141 M3]

94 Ironmonger Row EC1 off Old Street

Phone 020 7253-6441

Old Street Station

 

Butcher’s Hook & Cleaver (Fuller’s)

Britian St EC1 at Cloth Fair St [141 K6]

 

Castle

34 Cowcross St EC1

Phone 020 7253 2892

They are the only pub in England to hold a pawnbroker’s license. Note the three balls on the sign out front. They also have an original Wurlitzer juke box. Closed on the weekends.

 

Crosby Head Shoreditch Now called Nelson’s Retreat

Old St EC1 at Pitfield St

Old Street Station

 

Crown Tavern Clerkenwell

43 Clerkenwell Green EC1

Phone 020 7250-0575

Farringdon Station

 

Crown & Woolpack

St. John St EC1

Sorry but I don’t have better information to pin-point it.

 

Eagle Clerkenwell [141 H3]

159 Farringdon Rd EC1 at Bowling Green Lane (east of Farringdon St.

Between Rosebery Ave and Clerkenwell Rd

Baker’s Row [141 G4] on west side of Farringdon St

See What’s Brewing, September 2001

Phone 020 7837-1353

Farringdon Station

            Open every day. Sister pub of the Fox, Paul St EC2

 

Eagle

City Road EC1 at Shepherddess Walk

Old Street Station

 

Empress of Russia Finsbury Closed per 2000 tour

St John St EC1 south of City Road

Angel Station

 

Filthy McNasty’s Finsbury [141 G1]

68 Amwell St. EC1

Phone 020 7837-6067

Angel Station

A pub manufactured to look Irish.

 

Fox & Anchor (Nicholson's, now Mitchells & Butlers) The Barbican [141 K5]

115 Charterhouse St EC1 across from the Central Markets

Phone 020 7253-4838

Barbican Station

New owners as of summer 2003 and may not be doing early morning food.

Open 07.00 - 22.00 Monday through Fridays.  08.00 - 12.00 Sat.  At 07.00 you can get steak and real ale or porter for breakfast.  Yes, you can have a pint at 0700.  The menu looks like it came from an American diner, a great selection and large portions.  The cook does his work behind the bar and the place smells great.  A dining room is past the bar and smaller private rooms past that.  This is different from most pubs.

The bar has the traditional look most people expect a London pub to have.  The wall opposite the bar is usually reserved for drinking, either by standing or sitting.  Here they placed tables for eating since this pub has an emphasis for early breakfast and lunch for the working bloke.  At the end of the bar you will find the cook.  He may be hard to spot since he is hidden behind a gross of eggs set out for daily meals.  As a waitress leads you past all this you enter a small room for breakfast at 07.00.  This room is intimate in itself.  Wood on the walls and a nice fireplace get you ready for a comforting meal.  You will also see etched glass doors along a wall, which resemble a long closet.  These hide the other smaller private rooms, which are also available.  This sounds if the Fox and Anchor is a restaurant.  It is not, I assure you. 

 

George & Dragon (See the Peasant)

 

Griffin [141 G5]

Clerkenwell Rd EC1 just east of Theobalds Rd and Gray’s Inn Rd

Chancerly Lane Station

 

Hand in Shears (Inntrepreneur) Clerkenwell [141 L5]

1 Middle St EC1 at or near Cloth Fair

Phone 020 7600-0257

Barbican Station

 

Hope Smithfield Market [141 K5]

94 Cowcross Street EC1 at St. John Street

Farringdon Station

            The pub is on one end of Cowcross and Farrinfdon Tube is at the other end. Smithfield Market is very near and I was told that the pub opens at 0400 but some other publications give 0600. Either time is good for a pint. Several pubs near the Market open early and should be easy to spot. Watch out for the cows crossing.

 

Horseshoe (Inntrepreneur) Clerkenwell [141 H3]

24 Clerkenwell Close EC1

Phone 020 7253-6068

Farringdon Station

 

Jerusalem Tavern (St. Peter's Brewery) Clerkenwell [141 J4]

55 Britton St EC1 between Clerkenwell and Briset St

Farringdon Station

Phone 020 7490 4281

            Mark Slater is an English brewer who worked in Pittsburgh for Triangle Brewery. His beers are good in whatever country he brews.

 

Leopard [141]

33 Seward St EC1

Phone 020 7253-3587

Open: Monday through Friday

Old, Farringdon or Barbican Stations

 

London Spa (Young's) [141 H3] Closed as a pub

70 Exmouth Market EC1

Closed in 2003 and reopened as a tapas bar. It was reported that they have retained a drinks-only license. This was reported in What’s Brewing, February 2003, page 4.

 

Lord Nelson Shordetich [142 B2]

262 Old St EC1 at Singer

Old Street Station

This was a gem of a pub when I was here in the late ‘90’s.

 

Masque Haunt (Wetherspoons)

168 Old Street EC1

Phone 020 7251-4195

Old Street Station

 

Melton Mowbray (Fuller’s) Holborn [141 G6]

18 Holborn EC1 at Furnival St (east of Staple Inn and Gray’s Inn Rd)

Phone 020 7405-7077

Chancery Lane Station

 

Mulligan’s (formerly O’Hanlon’s) Finsbury

8 Tysoe St EC1 at Rosebery Ave

The name was changed in October 2003. Founded by Mr. O’Hanlon, he moved the brewery operations to Devon in 2000 and sold the pub. The pub retained the name but never had a direct tie to the brewery after the move. The brewery’s web-site www.ohanlons.co.uk makes no mention of the pub.

 

New Red Lion Clerkenwell [141 J2]

St. John St EC1 at Spencer St near City University

Angel Station

            The Penguin Map Guide has this listed as the Old Red Lion, which it probably was. It is now listed at the New Red Lion Theater Pub per Jan 2003 and before.

 

New Market Smithfield Market, City of London

26 Smithfield EC1A 9LB

Phone 020 7248 2464, Fax 020 7236 4748, Web www.thenewmarket.info

Barbacan Station

They open at 0630 to 1130 then close until noon to 1500 for lunch. They stay open long after this but I did not get a closing time.

They have a traditional pub sign out front but the inside looks more like a café bar. This was a Bass pub during my August 2003. It was most enjoyable to sit here long before noon and get ready for the Great British Beer Festival.

 

O'Hanlons Finsbury

8 Tysoe St EC1 at Rosebery Ave

Phone 020 7278-7630 (020 7837-4112 is old)

Angle or Farringdon Stations (Both are a walk)

Six beer engines

May 2003 issue of All About Beer (page 8) indicated that O’Hanlon;s Brewery in Devon will make Thomas Hardy Ale as of August 2003. The pub was one of a few that served Dublin Guinness when the rest of London got theirs from Park Royal. The O’Hanlon ales are worth the walk here but I have resorted to taking the bus.

 

Old Red Lion Islington Phone

418 St. John St EC1

Phone 020 7837-7816

Angle Station

 

Peasant (Formerly the George & Dragon)

240 St. John Street EC1

Phone 020 7336-7726

Angle Station

 

Pheasant & Firkin (Free House) Pentonville [62 B2]

166 Goswell Rd EC1

Angel Station

May have changed to the Pheasant but now the Old Ivy (may have been the original name) as of summer 2003.

 

The Printworks (JD Wetherspoon)

113/117 Farringdon Road EC1R 3AP between Rosebery & Clerkenwell ST

Phone 0207 713 2000

Farringdon Station

 

Rising Sun (Samuel Smith) [141]

38 Cloth Fair EC1 at Rising Sun Court

Phone 020 7726-6671

St. Paul's Station

Hand & Shears is just up Cloth Fair

 

Sekforde Arms (Young's) Farringdon [141 J4]

34 Sekforde St EC1

Phone 020 7253-3251

Farringdon Station

 

Shakespeare Barbican

101 Crescent House EC1, Golden Land Estate

May be near Goswell Rd (I need to pin-point this pub)

Barbican Station

 

Sir Christopher Hatton Clerkenwell-Holborn

4 Leather Lane EC1 (Runs parallel to Hatton Garden)

Phone 020 7831-3241

Chancery Lane Station

 

Sir John Oldcastle (JD Wetherspoon)

29-35 Farringdon Road EC1M 3JF

Phone 0207 242 1013

 

Three Kings of Clernenwell

7 Clerkenwell Close (North of Clerkenwell Green

Phone 020 7253-0483

Farringdon Station

 

Viaduct Tavern (Fullers)The City[141 K7]

126 Newgate St EC1 at Giltspur

Phone 020 7606-8476

St. Paul's Station

Fuller’s bought the pub from Mitchells & Butlers, as reported by John Reynolds in What’s Brewing, February 2005.

 

Wilmington Arms (Green King)

Rosebery Ave EC1 (not far from O’Hanlon’s)

 

White Hart

Glitspur St EC1 opposite St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

 

Wicked Wolf

105 Charterhouse EC1M 6HR

Phone 020 7253-5153

Near the Fox and Anchor

 

Ye Olde Mitre (Free House built in 1546) Holborn [141 H6]

Ely Court EC1N 6SJ between Hatton Garden and Ely Place

Phone 020 7405-4751

Chancery Lane or Farringdon Station

            The alley in which this pub sits may be hard to find but well worth looking for. A small public bar in up front and a larger saloon bar is in the rear of this gentlemanly pub. One will find a cherry tree in the corner of the pub (inside). It marks the boundary of the Diocese of Ely, which is a part of (technically) Cambridgeshire and not London. At one time the pub hours were set by Cambridge law. I would expect it to be closed on weekends and bank holidays.

 

Ye Olde Red Cow (Shep Neame)

Long Lane EC1 at Hayne Street [141 K5]