Ed’s Central London Pub Directory

EC4 Fleet Street & St. Paul’s

London Pubs, Bars & Taverns in Zone 1 from

PUBNETWORK.COM™ and the barstool of Ed Vidunas

 

Posted November 2004 Revised March 2005

 

 

The Districts of Fleet Street & St. Paul's

This is the real city of London that burned in 1666.  Everyplace to the west is the City of Westminster.  A walk around here could take days even without stopping to see the pubs.  Starting from the west is the Temple and Dr. Johnson's house.  Moving east is the Old Bailey and St. Paul's.  In between are hundreds of shops and sites that will keep both husband and wife occupied for hours.

 

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.

 

Banker (Fuller’s) [148 A1]

Cousin Lane EC4 (West of Cannon St Rail Station)

Phone 020 7283-5206

Cannon St Station

 

Bell Book & Candle (Eerie Pub Co.) The City

42 Ludgate Hill EC4

Phone 020 7248 1852, Web www.eeriepubco.com 

Blackfriars or St. Paul’s Stations

 

Blue Anchor Holborn [141 G7]

Rolls Passage EC4 off Chancery Lane

Chancery Lane Station

            Sister pub to the Ship, Gate St WC2

 

Canon

Canon Street EC4

Opposite Canon Street Station

 

 

Golden Fleece (Green King) [141 M8]

Queen St EC4 at Pancras Lane

Mansion House Station

 

Harrow (Fuller’s) (not in my listings)

22 Whitefriar’s EC4 down from Fleet St (on the left)

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

 

 

King and Keys (formerly Scruffy Murphy’s, per Jan 2003 tour)

Fleet Street EC4 next to the Cheshire Cheese

Blackfriars Station

            This is a big improvement over the Scruffy mess.

 

London Stone (Eerie Pub Co.) Bank

109 Cannon Street EC4 opposite of St. Swithin’s or Salter’s Hall Court

Phone 020 7626 8241, Web www.eeriepubco.com 

Opposite Cannon Street Station

Bank or Canon Street Stations

 

Master Gunner Demolished per Jan 2000 tour

            This pub was near St. Paul’s and pulled down after my January 99 tour.

 

Mitre The City, Demolished in the 19th century [141 H8]

Mitre Court EC4 at Fleet Street, opposite Fetter Lane

Temple Station

This was one of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s haunts. A City Corporation Blue Plaque marks the spot where the pub once was. Boswell denotes in his book The Life of Samuel Johnson that he and Johnson ate at the Mitre Tavern often. The book states on page 146 that the “Mitre was a favorite lunch place” for the two of them. Prior to becoming a tavern, it was the Mitre Coffee House. The location of the pub is confirmed in the book, Discovering London Street Names, by John Wittich. Johnson lived for a while in nearby Gough Square and Johnson’s Court but Mr. Wittich notes that Johnson’s Court was named after Johnson, the Elizabethan.

Dr. Johnson lived in Bolt Court off Fleet Street when he dies in 1784.

 

Old Bank of England (Fuller's) [141 G8]

194 Fleet St. EC4 at Bell Yard

Phone 020 7430-2255

Blackfriars Station

As the name says, this was the old Bank of England.  The building is large but the island bar takes up a bit of room.  All Fuller's Pubs are great but this is the best looking.  Additional seating is in the rear and out of the way dining is up the stairs.

 

Old Bell Tavern (Six Continents Leisure)

95 Fleet St EC4

Phone 020 7583-0070

Blackfriars Station

 

Punch

99 Fleet Street EC4 near New Bridge

Phone 020 7353-6658

Blackfriars Station

            The magazine, Punch, was founded here in 1841. However, in his book, Discovering London Street Names, John Wittich notes that the magazine Punch was first projected (no date given) in the Crown Tavern in Crown Court WC2

 

Scruffy Murphy's (now King and Keys, per Jan 2003 tour)

Fleet Street EC4

Next to Cheshire Cheese

Blackfriars Station

 

Shaw’s Booksellers

31 St. Andrew’s Hill EC4

Phone 020 7489-7999

Blackfriars Station

            The bookshop scenes in the movie Wings of the Dove were filmed here and the pub kept the name. They couldn’t have found a real bookshop for the movie? The movie came out in 1997.

 

Tipperary (Green King in 2003) City of London [141 H8]

Fleet St EC4 at Whitefriars

Blackfriars Station

            This was called the Boar’s Hear but changed to the Tipperary after the First World War in reference to the song “It’s a long way to Tippperary”. It is also the first pub outside of Ireland to serve Guinness, but I can’t pin down the date of that.

 

Toad in the Hole Holborn [141 H7]

St. Andrew St EC4 (In Athene House) at Shoe Lane

Chancery Lane Station

 

Vintry [141 M9]

30 Queen St EC4

Mansion House Station

 

Williamson's The City

Watling St EC4 west of King St

Mansion House Station

It may be hard to spot but look for the pub sign out front.

 

Witness Box (Scottish-Courage) Embankment/Temple [141 H9]

36 Tudor St EC4

Phone 020 7353-6427

Temple or Blackfriars Stations

 

Ye Olde Cock Tavern Temple

22 Fleet St EC4 just east of Chancery Lane

Temple or Blackfriars Stations

 

Ye Olde Watling (Bass) The City

29 Walting St EC4 at Bow west of King St

Mansion House Station

            This is a nice little pub with a game and TV room in the rear.  A sign in the pub, carve in wood, states that the Society for the Preservation of Beer from the Wood meets here.  If anyone from the society is reading this I say to you "never give up, never give up".

            This pub has not changed much since 1666 when it was built for the workers of St. Paul’s Church.  Closed early on Saturday and all day Sunday. The rear room is used for pool and darts.

 

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (Samuel Smith) The City [141 H8]

145 Fleet St EC4 at Wine Office Court (Enter through Wine Office Court)

Phone 020 7353-6170

Blackfriar Station

Closed Sat. & Sun. Open to 21.00. Near Dr. Johnson’s House. It has a bar (the pub, not the house) on each of the three floors. A classic English pub.

This is one of the nicest looking pubs and I should write more about it.  In the winter the fireplace is doing fine and can make the small bar cozy. The ground floor bar is so small that most of the people may be too close to the fire. Anyone who thinks English food is bad has never had a fine meal here.

This pub is very near Dr. Johnson's house.  He is noted for his many quotes and this is my favorite. “There are two reasons to drink.  One is when you are thirsty, to cure it. The other is when you are not, to prevent it.” He never did say how one gets thirsty?

Not to be confused with the Ye Old Cheshire Cheese at 5 Little Essex St. WC2.

 

Ye Olde London The City

Ludgate Hill EC4 near Old Bailey

St Paul's or Blackfriars Stations