East London Pubs from Dereliction to Demolition
This East London pub section is now divided up into 4 pages. This page covers the closed down and derelict pubs that have since been demolished...No then and now pics here as who wants to see a load of pics of new build flats? This is not a comprehensive guide of every demolished boozer but a personal collection of photographs from the early 2000s to present.
Other pics of derelict East London pubs can be found on this website at:
Derelict East London Pubs - still vacant as at 2016/7
Derelict East London Pubs - From Dead Pubs to Conversion
Derelict East London Pubs Back From the Brink
ALDGATE EAST E1 - THE RED LION
Red Lion in Aldgate circa 2003
For a while his sign was all that remained of the pub demolished next to the tube station entrance. This area was once a mass burial site during the Plague. The Victorian rebuild of the Old Red Lion was closed in the 1970’s and was finally demolished in 2004 to make way for a new station entrance. The sign is long gone too....
Stella writes: "In the late 19th c. my great grandma & her brother, orphans, were living in the stables belonging to the pub which I think were just round the corner in Leman St. The older building on the site had an association with Dick Turpin."
Barry Thomas writes: "The tube station was on the corner and the pub wrapped around it with an entrance on either side. I was at college at Sir John Cass School of Art in 1979. My brother worked by St Pauls so we sometimes had lunch (ie a couple of pints and a pork pie) at this pub. They had very very dodgy strippers there. The large mirrors behind and above the stage gave a good all round view. One girl had a burn scar in the middle of the back which we could just make out in the mirrors before she turned round. Must have been the size of a rugby ball. Not in the first flush of youth."
Keith Woodhouse writes: "One story that I heard about the Red Lion in Aldgate was that it was where Dick Turpin killed an informer and started his infamous ride to York."
Stella writes: "In the late 19th c. my great grandma & her brother, orphans, were living in the stables belonging to the pub which I think were just round the corner in Leman St. The older building on the site had an association with Dick Turpin."
Barry Thomas writes: "The tube station was on the corner and the pub wrapped around it with an entrance on either side. I was at college at Sir John Cass School of Art in 1979. My brother worked by St Pauls so we sometimes had lunch (ie a couple of pints and a pork pie) at this pub. They had very very dodgy strippers there. The large mirrors behind and above the stage gave a good all round view. One girl had a burn scar in the middle of the back which we could just make out in the mirrors before she turned round. Must have been the size of a rugby ball. Not in the first flush of youth."
Keith Woodhouse writes: "One story that I heard about the Red Lion in Aldgate was that it was where Dick Turpin killed an informer and started his infamous ride to York."
White Horse in Poplar
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POPLAR E14 - THE WHITE HORSE
The Survey of London 1944 states: A tavern has existed here since at least 1690, rebuilt about 1868-70 and the last tavern was built about 1927 In 2002 the White Horse on Poplar High Street pub was demolished & been replaced with flats, but white horse pub sign still stands outside. I have a story to tell about the old pub and a lost river that now runs underground. This is covered on my Derelict London Guided Walking Tour of Limehouse & Poplar. Before the flats were built the Museum of London Archaeology Service did a survey stating: "The earliest documentary evidence for a tavern on the site dates from 1690,but the evidence for a sequence of earlier malting kilns suggests a connection to brewing and the ale trade dating back to the 14th century". Lisa writes: "a pub to be on Marathon day with old bands playing a long summer evenings which were fun" |
BARKING IG11 - THE WESTBURY ARMS
The Westbury Arms on Ripple Road closed in 2001 and various planning applications to convert it into flats failed and during the riots of Summer of 2011 the pub building was set alight destroying most of it leaving just a shell which was subsequently demolished. The boarded off site remains vacant overgrown with buddleia. Plans have been approved to build flats on the site and as a homage to the former watering hole the new building would have a “tower feature”.
Sally Harlow writes: "I used to work there as a part time barmaid in the mid 80s and have some fond memories of the place. There used to be a disco every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, Mark the DJ was a bus conductor on the number 15 route by day. The pub was run by an East End-made-good Mother and Daughter (Pat and Lynn) who I was frankly terrified of. We used to put roast potatoes and other seafood on the bar every Sunday lunchtime, an East End tradition that seems to be dying out."
Westferry Arms in Barking 2005
DAGENHAM RM8 - ROBIN HOOD
The Robin Hood pub on Longbridge Road closed in 2005. Now demolished and a Lidl supermarket built on the site.
Phill says "it used to have some great stag nights, (the stripper and comedians and a fish n chip supper type of stag nights) I saw Mike Read, Jimmy Jones AND Jim Davidson (doing his first stag) all on the same bill and the price? 30 bob!!!! including the fish n chip supper! it was later (in the late 70's) a venue for grab-a-granny nights or singles as the management called it, huge place quite 'posh' for Dagenham"
Peter Knight writes to this website: "The Robin Hood is indeed now a Lidl (still quite posh for Dagenham)....the only strippers you'll find are paint strippers, but you can still grab a granny if you do a big shop on a Monday afternoon!"
The Robin Hood in Dagenham 2005
ILFORD IG1 - THE PLOUGH
From the local press: "In a sad, but fitting coincidence, a former publican has died as the former century-old pub he ran is readied for demolition. Ron Payne grew up in The Plough, Ilford Lane, Ilford, and was the joint licensee with his mother Florence Payne from the late 1950s until 1970.
He died on August 30 2007, three weeks short of his 90th birthday, in Queen's Hospital, Romford.
Mr Payne's youngest daughter Vera Noble, 47 of Romford, said in its day The Plough was the heart of the community. "A lot of Ford workers were living in the area. There were regular wedding receptions held, Rotary club meetings were held there. There was a jazz club, so lots of local society meetings and occasions were held on the premises. It was a focal point for the community," she said.
The Plough first opened its doors in 1899. Florence Payne moved in in 1924 when Mr Payne was six years old. In 1970, Mr Payne and his wife Nan ended their association with The Plough, moving to the Victoria, Barking. Mrs Noble said: "It seems a little bit poignant with The Plough being demolished. The place was such a big part in my father's history and his affections, that as The Plough goes, he goes." She said: "He was Victorian in a lot of ways, very old-fashioned, never approved of swearing in front of ladies."
The Plough in Ilford on Ilford Lane has now been demolished and a NHS polyclinic has been built on the site
The Plough in Ilford 2005
MILE END E3 - THE ALBION
The Albion on St Paul's Way was a good family pub close to the canal it was friendly place to pop into on Sunday having good typical East London bar nibbles. The pub's popularity declined when a severely injured person was discovered in the backyard under the railway viaduct.
Now demolished and the site remains vacant as at late 2016.
John writes to Derelict London: "I was the person they tried to murder however, I survived the incident along with a number of seriousness injuries that have left me disabled. There was no reason for what these people did to me, I was told by the police that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I actually died 3 Times once in the ambulance and twice in hospital however I'm here to tell the story if you want it."
When I find out more I shall let you all know.
The boarded up Albion pub before demolition. Pic by Paul Talling 2003
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Site of the Albion on St Paul's Way. 2014
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The Frampton Arms in Hackney circa 2004
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The Tenterden Arms in Bromley-by-Bow 2007
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Moulders Arms in Bromley-by-Bow
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Brunswick Arms in Poplar (2008)
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Railway Arms in Shadwell (circa 2005)
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SHADWELL E1 - THE RAILWAY ARMS
The Railway Arms on Sutton Street was renowned as a pub where you could get a late beer but it never opened again after a fatal stabbing back in 1997. John Kennedy, brother of Jade Jones from boy band Damage, was stabbed to death in the pub at 5:50am in front of 60 people but amidst a wall of silence nobody was ever convicted of the murder despite a £30k reward being offered. The pub was later converted and briefly was a barbers, cafe and pool room but without obtaining planning permission and an application for retrospective planning permission was rejected and was subsequently demolished. A block of flats called Nida House now occupy the site.    |
PLAISTOW E13 - EARL OF BEACONSFIELD
The Earl Of Beaconsfield on Grange Road closed in 2002 and demolished in 2007 and is replaced by...a block of flats.
Earl Of Beaconsfield in Plaistow (2003)
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BETHNAL GREEN E2 - THE CAVALIER
This pub on Dunbridge Street was originally the Lord Hood and renamed the Cavalier around 1991 and closed in 2001, initially becoming offices, then a squat for a while then was demolished after a fire and replaced by a block of flats.
John writes: "I used to drink there in the 90's. It was more usually known as Charlie's Place, after the owner, who often oversaw lock-ins. The most bizarre decor, I seem to remember there being a red phone box in the corner and stuffed animals and other weird bits and pieces. And a very mixed clientele too. Good fun. Closed down about 2000 (don't know why) and has been a squat for ages."
In the 1980s Vincent Hayes ran the Lord Hood with the late Alan Roberts, MP for Bootle, and re-established music hall in the East End in the pub's function room. They sold the pub in 1991 and eventually a music hall was set up in a derelict building which used to be part of Truman's Brewery in Brick Lane. After moving on due to increased rent the Brick Lane Music Hall is now located in Silvertown near City Airport in the redundant St Mark's Church. We pass this on the Derelict London guided walking tour of Silvertown.
The Cavalier in Bethnal Green (2006)
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BOW E3 - ANCIENT BRITON
The Ancient Briton in Glaucus St closed in 2005 and demolished in 2007, with flats being built on the site.
Janice writes to Derelict London: "the Ancient was run by Flo & Charlie Clark - they were always well dressed behind the bar , him in his dress shirt & bow tie, her with her blonde beehive. This was the 50s to late 60s . They had a collie dog called Lassie, followed by Kimber. Lots of memories of it - the Reads had it in 70s & their son was my friend."
The Ancient Briton in Bow ( 2006)
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BETHNAL GREEN E2 -THE PANTHER
The Panther on Turin St survived the Blitz after all the neighbouring buildings were destroyed but the pub was closed down and finally demolished in 2005 and flats built on the site.
Lisa writes: "a pub run by my uncle for years until he moved into another pub around the corner called Ye Old Hope, now demolished and turned into flats, The Panther was a pub for local people which held a good atmosphere for locals to come in have a good time and enjoy that Community spirit something long gone."
The Panther in Bethnal Green (2003)
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SHOREDITCH E2 - THE FLYING SCUD
The Flying Scud on Hackney Rd was known for its strippers & live metal bands prior to closure in 1994 after police seige involving an armed gang. Named after a racehorse apparently (not a missile!).Though there was also a clipper ship of this name. In the eighties it had a sign outside depicting a ship. They used to have heavy metal night on Friday and Saturday and the strippers only appeared when the pub was close to closing down for good, when it was being frequented by certain gangs.
When someone says that they are "going to see a man about a dog" they really mean that they are unwilling to reveal the true nature of their business. The expression comes from the long forgotten 1866 play 'Flying Scud' in which one of the characters uses the words as an excuse to get away from a tricky situation. This is the only thing that seems to have survived from the play.
David Jester writes to Derelict London:"My wife used to work as a barmaid here in the 80s. She says it was bizarre watching all the heavy metal fans frantically playing air guitar to "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi while all the old boys looked on from the other end of the bar. But she says they were very generous with their tips and free drinks- she used to make £20 a night sometimes. And she certainly wasn't a rock chick - she wore wool suits with big 80s shoulder pads"
Justin Quirk writes: "A cab driver a couple of years told me that despite the pub's heavily scorched appearance, it was never burnt down/firebombed. Apparently a film crew were shooting something round Hackney Road that was meant to be in Belfast,and deliberately burned the pub to give it authenticity."
My mate Keith Woodhouse writes : "I grew up in the street that The Flying Scud and Marquis Of Lansdowne were in and my uncle once told me that he stabbed a bloke in the Scud in a fight just after the war"
The pub was demolished in 2009 and the boarded up site remains vacant.
POPLAR E14 - SIR JOHN FRANKLIN
Located at the traffic intersection of the A13 East India Dock Rd and the underpass into the southbound Blackwall tunnel this 1960s boozer limped on until around 2007. The Sir John Franklin was demolished around 2012 and the boarded up site remains vacant.
Bill Martland writes: "I was working for London Docklands Development Corporation in the mid 1980s and given the London traffic when I found out the Sir John Franklin had strippers on early in the evening I used to stop there on the way home most nights. The girls were mainly good, the landlord was a man called Barry who fancied himself as a stand up comic but as a pub operator was useless. Hardly ever was there draft beer, crisps, and change available simultaneously and the bar was always sticky ! Despite his uselessness the place stayed reasonably busy but then a subsiquent landlord dropped strippers and later though they were brought back it never really took off again. Horrible 50s or 60s building, I don't know what Franklin { a polar explorer} had done to deserve having a dump like that named after him !"
Bill Martland writes: "I was working for London Docklands Development Corporation in the mid 1980s and given the London traffic when I found out the Sir John Franklin had strippers on early in the evening I used to stop there on the way home most nights. The girls were mainly good, the landlord was a man called Barry who fancied himself as a stand up comic but as a pub operator was useless. Hardly ever was there draft beer, crisps, and change available simultaneously and the bar was always sticky ! Despite his uselessness the place stayed reasonably busy but then a subsiquent landlord dropped strippers and later though they were brought back it never really took off again. Horrible 50s or 60s building, I don't know what Franklin { a polar explorer} had done to deserve having a dump like that named after him !"
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Sir John Franklin (2007)
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MARYLAND, ALBERT SQUARE E15 - THE QUEEN VIC
Originally The Albert House and later renamed Queen Vic due to the success of BBC TV soap Eastenders which is of course set on the fictitious Albert Square with a corner pub called the Queen Vic. The pub has now been demolished and replaced by flats but the last time that I looked the pub sign remained.
Rob Syers ex bus driver writes "Not the fake one in that nasty soap but the proper one (Adam Woodyatt, the slimy toad known as Ian Beale from aforementioned soap even hosted some tv event there) was closed in the late 90's, again when the area changed, drove past it many times to and from work and at work (route 308)"
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Queen Vic, Albert Square in Maryland (2003)
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CUSTOM HOUSE E16 - THE BARGE (previously The Freemasons Tavern and the Kilkenny Castle)
The Barge closed in 2002 and the building was then used for a few years as a hostel for homeless immigrants according to local sources. This old pub was demolished to accomodate a new station at Custom House provided to serve the Royal Docks area and provide an interchange between Crossrail and the DLR. The new station consists of a new high-level concourse and ticket office attached to an extended public walkway linking with the existing walkway between the ExCeL exhibition and conference centre and Victoria Dock Rd. The steps/lift area on Victoria Dock Rd to the walkway occupy the exact site of the former pub.
The Barge in Custom House
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ROYAL VICTORIA DOCK E16 - THE TIDAL BASIN TAVERN
Tidal Basin Tavern (2004)
One of this website's most popular pubs! This large former public house, built around 1862, and once known as ‘The Dug Out’, was bombed during the Blitz, but was restored after the Second World War and remained open until towards the end of the century, doing a good lunchtime trade with those working on the regeneration of the adjacent docks. Severe structural problems ultimately brought about its demise, with large cracks opening up on its external walls. It closed in 1990 and was sadly demolished in Spring 2014 and the site redeveloped and two 20 odd storey tower blocks of luxury apartments now stand on the site.
The Tidal Basin Tavern was also a venue for punk gigs which, in 1977, included Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was around that time that someone stuck a shotgun through the door and shot dead a man at the bar.
Derelict London reader Helen Pearce writes: "The Tidal Basin Tavern featured in the last section of the cult film 'The Leather Boys'. This early 60s film combined a 'realistic picture of working class life' with rockers on bikes doing a ton and dodging around the famous north London ACE cafe, with a gay not-very-sub text. The scenes in the Tidal Basin Tavern feature the main character's dilemma whether to run away to sea with his gay mate or stay (perhaps go back to his wife). He reluctantly decides to stay possibly prompted by bitchy comments from some stereotypical 'queens' in the bar there,somewhat offensive in my opinion." The cast included Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton and Rita Tushingham
Rob Syers writes: "I had been a friend of the landlady maybe a year before it closed, it had a reputation as a bikers pub and it was but they were some of the friendliest people you could meet. I believe it was shut due to severe structural problems, cracks an inch or two wide were in most of the external walls, I believe it was subsidence. They served Fullers Ales and they were always in excellent condition."
Mark Gillman writes: "I drank in the Tidal Basin Tavern. It would have been in 1978. I went with a mate of mine to see a group called Wayne County and the Electic Chairs. Wayne had a sex change operation and renamed the group Jayne County etc. Even then it was a bit primitive, about a month later someone stuck a shot gun through the door and shot dead a guy in the boozer. Even when I was there you could tell the place had a bit of form. Na Wot I Meen. I now live in Australia the pubs are more civillised but give me a traditional English Pub any day."
Trevor Gordon writes: "It’s not music that evokes my memories, but sexual terror! I arrived in London (well, Ilford) aged 18 in 1978 to escape my (then) homophobic hometown of Northampton. As a naïve and un-streetwise teenager, the local Brook Street Bureau got me a job at an ancient steel company in Canning Town (right on Silvertown Way – now demolished). “Canning Town – is it nice?” I asked the bureau girl. Whilst bopping my nights away in the various gay establishments of North/East London (and gigging – I was a weekend punk) I remained totally closeted with the serious geezers with whom I worked. A couple of times a week, I would be dragged to the Tidal Basin at lunchtime (“Topless Go-Go Girls” it said on the frosted glass window. Talk about understatement!), where I would have to feign interest in the various girls utilising Guiness bottles in various ingenious methods. They obviously sussed me, as it was always I they picked on when moving amongst the audience, and my beer that was molested in some way. Talk about a trauma!"
Mark Pope writes: "my dad Pat Pope use to manage the tidal basin tavern,it must have been the late 1970s,I was about 15 or 16,I would ask if I could clear the glasses and tidy up,but it was to watch the strippers,when they started I was told to go out the back,but i would always have a butchers at what they were doing,what they would do with an empty bottle was unreal especially for a 16 year old ! my dad never knew i think,the pub was always full of dockers and lorry drivers as I remember but only when the girls were doing there bit. Happy days, its such a shame its now in such a state of disrepair."
Gill Davies writes: "I Met my husband to be in the Tidal Basin, after frank sold it (I only new him by that name ) a guy called Mark Davies and his friend Ryland ( who went on to buy it later )took over the lease.I think it was around 1982, it was a bit of a dive, but I loved it. R&B was the music of the time, we even had Greg Edwards and David Rodigan do sets there. Well here I am 5 kids later, and living in Cumbria, how things change. It was a tough place, but boy do I have some memories."
Ray Balkwell writes: "My Parents Pat & Les managed the pub from early 60’s to early 70’s when it was a busy dockers pub by day and almost no custom in the evening due to its location.My parents took over from a former West Ham United Footballer called Peter who was a friend of my dad unfortunately I don’t recall his name but his father also owned the Steps pub at the time.
It was a Truman’s pub then and in the beginning as a teenager I used to help my dad bottle up and clean the pumps etc. The docks changed the shift pattern and caused the demise of the pub as a dockers pub and it started to loose money so my parents left about 1973. The pub was sold as we were leaving and we were told that the pub was going to be a club and owned by a relative of the owner of Wheatley taverns who run the Circus tavern which lots of stars of the time performed at. We were told to take any mementos as the pub was going to have a the walls knocked through to enlarge it so we did and I still have some memorabilia from the pub including a clock and paintings and prints that hung up in the bar. Rumour has it that the local heavy mob did the shooting because the new owner would not pay for protection. After that I was told that it become a lunchtime striptease pub. I hope that this info adds to the history you already have."
The Tidal Basin Tavern was also a venue for punk gigs which, in 1977, included Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was around that time that someone stuck a shotgun through the door and shot dead a man at the bar.
Derelict London reader Helen Pearce writes: "The Tidal Basin Tavern featured in the last section of the cult film 'The Leather Boys'. This early 60s film combined a 'realistic picture of working class life' with rockers on bikes doing a ton and dodging around the famous north London ACE cafe, with a gay not-very-sub text. The scenes in the Tidal Basin Tavern feature the main character's dilemma whether to run away to sea with his gay mate or stay (perhaps go back to his wife). He reluctantly decides to stay possibly prompted by bitchy comments from some stereotypical 'queens' in the bar there,somewhat offensive in my opinion." The cast included Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton and Rita Tushingham
Rob Syers writes: "I had been a friend of the landlady maybe a year before it closed, it had a reputation as a bikers pub and it was but they were some of the friendliest people you could meet. I believe it was shut due to severe structural problems, cracks an inch or two wide were in most of the external walls, I believe it was subsidence. They served Fullers Ales and they were always in excellent condition."
Mark Gillman writes: "I drank in the Tidal Basin Tavern. It would have been in 1978. I went with a mate of mine to see a group called Wayne County and the Electic Chairs. Wayne had a sex change operation and renamed the group Jayne County etc. Even then it was a bit primitive, about a month later someone stuck a shot gun through the door and shot dead a guy in the boozer. Even when I was there you could tell the place had a bit of form. Na Wot I Meen. I now live in Australia the pubs are more civillised but give me a traditional English Pub any day."
Trevor Gordon writes: "It’s not music that evokes my memories, but sexual terror! I arrived in London (well, Ilford) aged 18 in 1978 to escape my (then) homophobic hometown of Northampton. As a naïve and un-streetwise teenager, the local Brook Street Bureau got me a job at an ancient steel company in Canning Town (right on Silvertown Way – now demolished). “Canning Town – is it nice?” I asked the bureau girl. Whilst bopping my nights away in the various gay establishments of North/East London (and gigging – I was a weekend punk) I remained totally closeted with the serious geezers with whom I worked. A couple of times a week, I would be dragged to the Tidal Basin at lunchtime (“Topless Go-Go Girls” it said on the frosted glass window. Talk about understatement!), where I would have to feign interest in the various girls utilising Guiness bottles in various ingenious methods. They obviously sussed me, as it was always I they picked on when moving amongst the audience, and my beer that was molested in some way. Talk about a trauma!"
Mark Pope writes: "my dad Pat Pope use to manage the tidal basin tavern,it must have been the late 1970s,I was about 15 or 16,I would ask if I could clear the glasses and tidy up,but it was to watch the strippers,when they started I was told to go out the back,but i would always have a butchers at what they were doing,what they would do with an empty bottle was unreal especially for a 16 year old ! my dad never knew i think,the pub was always full of dockers and lorry drivers as I remember but only when the girls were doing there bit. Happy days, its such a shame its now in such a state of disrepair."
Gill Davies writes: "I Met my husband to be in the Tidal Basin, after frank sold it (I only new him by that name ) a guy called Mark Davies and his friend Ryland ( who went on to buy it later )took over the lease.I think it was around 1982, it was a bit of a dive, but I loved it. R&B was the music of the time, we even had Greg Edwards and David Rodigan do sets there. Well here I am 5 kids later, and living in Cumbria, how things change. It was a tough place, but boy do I have some memories."
Ray Balkwell writes: "My Parents Pat & Les managed the pub from early 60’s to early 70’s when it was a busy dockers pub by day and almost no custom in the evening due to its location.My parents took over from a former West Ham United Footballer called Peter who was a friend of my dad unfortunately I don’t recall his name but his father also owned the Steps pub at the time.
It was a Truman’s pub then and in the beginning as a teenager I used to help my dad bottle up and clean the pumps etc. The docks changed the shift pattern and caused the demise of the pub as a dockers pub and it started to loose money so my parents left about 1973. The pub was sold as we were leaving and we were told that the pub was going to be a club and owned by a relative of the owner of Wheatley taverns who run the Circus tavern which lots of stars of the time performed at. We were told to take any mementos as the pub was going to have a the walls knocked through to enlarge it so we did and I still have some memorabilia from the pub including a clock and paintings and prints that hung up in the bar. Rumour has it that the local heavy mob did the shooting because the new owner would not pay for protection. After that I was told that it become a lunchtime striptease pub. I hope that this info adds to the history you already have."
BARKING IG11 - THE WHITE HORSE
Another dead pub. The White Horse in Barking ,formerly known as the Pickled Newt, closed down in 2013. A guy was shot dead in the pub in 2002 just after singing a karaoke song . The BBC in 2002 reported: "Two men who walked brazenly into their local pub and blasted another drinker to death before strolling out have been jailed for life."
To balance things up a bit, perhaps someone can right in with some happy memories of this place?
The pub was demolished in 2016. At the time the local council said: “A planning application is expected towards the end of the year and any application would need to address the loss of the pub by reproviding a similar facility in line with our planning policies.”
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The White Horse in Barking
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ISLE OF DOGS E14 - CITY PRIDE
The City Pride 2011. Before demolition
The City Pride was in Tower Hamlets not The City but the pub (then called The City Arms) was adjacent to the western lock of the City Canal which was built by The City of London Corporation (more about this canal is in my London's Lost Rivers book & my guided walks around the Isle of Dogs). The canal was closed and changed its use into a dock.
The City Arms pub was rebuilt in 1936 on this same site and later renamed The City Pride. The pub was seen on TV every year as the BBC broadcasted part of its London Marathon coverage from outside of this pub. Remaining popular with the local workforce, who these days consist of office workers, the pub was considered a rare alternative to the faceless chrome & glass franchised bar establishments in the vicinity.
The pub was bought by a development company for £32 million (officially the most expensive pub in the UK) and plans were to demolish the pub and build a 62 storey tower block in its place. However. the firm's development plans were scrapped when the group went into administration in 2011. The site was bought by someone else in March 2012 who swiftly closed the pub and demolished it and work is underway for construction of Landmark Pinnacle - a 75 floor skyscraper. It will be the tallest residential building in the EU.
CANNING TOWN E16 - THE ORDNANCE ARMS
The original pub on this site dates back to 1870 but was bombed during the War and part of the old shell was used as a base for this new building in 1963, The pub briefly changed its name to "The Orange Kipper" during the 1990s before reverting back to the Ordnance Arms.
I remember going in here 10 years ago. One of those places that was daunting when you walked in through the door but really not that bad at all. Stories on the net include a regular with his pet snake sipping spillage on the counter, suspension of the license due to crime and disorder in 2011 and the landlord being attacked after being refused a customer his 31st drink. The customer was jailed for 16 months.
The pub closed down early in 2012 and was turned into a charity shop with the pub signs still in situ. The building was demolished in July 2015 and a retail unit and flats are well underway.
I remember going in here 10 years ago. One of those places that was daunting when you walked in through the door but really not that bad at all. Stories on the net include a regular with his pet snake sipping spillage on the counter, suspension of the license due to crime and disorder in 2011 and the landlord being attacked after being refused a customer his 31st drink. The customer was jailed for 16 months.
The pub closed down early in 2012 and was turned into a charity shop with the pub signs still in situ. The building was demolished in July 2015 and a retail unit and flats are well underway.
Ordnance Arms in Canning Town (2012)
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HAGGERSTON E2- OLD KING JOHNS HEAD
This post war building replaced a Victorian pub of the same name. The Old King Johns Head on Whiston Rd closed in 2012 and demolished and replaced by 15 flats
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Old King John's Head in Haggerston (2013)
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SILVERTOWN E16 - ROYAL ALBERT
The Victorian pub was rebuilt in 1919 and closed in around 2003 and and the upper floors extended and converted to flats.
The Prince Albert pub on Albert Rd was known locally as 'Stempsies' after the name of the licencee John Stemp who ran the pub for 23 years in the early part of the 20th Century.
The building was demolished in 2015 and plans have been approved to redevelop the site to create a 31 bed hotel.
Royal Albert Silvertown (2012)
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Site of Royal Albert in Silvertown (2015)
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WOODFORD IG1 - THE WOODMAN
The Woodman on Snakes Lane East closed around 2006 and was demolished soon afterwards to leave a vacant site for a few years before a block of flats called Woodman Court was constructed.
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The Woodman in Woodford (2006)
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The Rose of Denmark in Canning Town (2003)
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CANNING TOWN E16- ROSE OF DENMARK
This derelict pub was where I was photographed for my first ever press interview for Derelict London - by the Newham Recorder in 2003. By the time of this photograph in 2003 the two upper floors had already disappeared and the remainder of the ground floor shell was demolished soon afterwards. The Rose of Denmark on Shirley Street was popular with dockers and used to open early in the morning for those workers having completed a night shift. In 1890 the Rose of Denmark was the base for the Amalgamated Iron Shipbuilders & Boilermakers Protective Society of London & Districts.In the early 1970s the landlord was a local boxer called Terence Murphy before taking over the nearby Bridge House. Terry made the Bridge House into a legendary live music venue hosting Depeche Mode, U2, Chas & Dave, Iron Maiden, Cockney Rejects to name but a few. A car wash now occupies the site (for the moment at least) surrounded by blocks of high rise flats. |
The Phoenix in Poplar (2013)
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Two Brewers in Stratford (2003)
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Fishing Smack in Barking (2004)
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Lea Tavern in Hackney Wick (2008)
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Prince Of Wales in Stepney (2010)
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Paget Arms in Dalston
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DALSTON,E8 - PAGET ARMS
The Paget Arms was situated at 197 Middleton Road. This pub was present by 1872 and was tied to the Courage Brewery. It was rebuilt in the Post-War years and in 1996 became a free house, taking the name Carey’s 3. The pub closed in 2004, was demolished by February 2009 and subsequently replaced by the flats. (pic by Diane Ridley 2004) |
Prince Regent in Stepney
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STEPNEY E1 - PRINCE REGENTThe Victorian pub on Globe Road was rebuilt in the 1960s and closed in 2005. In 2012 the building was demolished and replaced by a block of with flats. (pic by Diane Ridley 2005) |
The Britannia in Bethnal Green
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Havelock Arms in London Fields
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LONDON FIELDS, E9 - THE HAVELOCK ARMS
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The Overdraught in Haggerston
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Lee Arms in Dalston
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Oxford Arms in Stepney
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Norfolk Village in Shoreditch
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SHOREDITCH, E1 - NORFOLK VILLAGEThis pub on Shoreditch High Street was first called The Norfolk, the Norfolk Arms, the Norfolk Ale Stores the Norfolk Hotel and by 1977 simply as the Norfolk & renamed Norfolk Village by 1983.It was one of a handful of well known strip pubs in the area. The pub closed in 1996 and some of the lettering later came off the derelict building just to read 'Folk Village'.It was demolished by 2004 to make way for a railway bridge for the new London Overground line. (pic by Diane Ridley 2003) |
The Star in Manor Park
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This East London pub section is now divided up into 4 pages. This page covers the closed dowm and derelict pubs that have since been demolished...No then and now pics here as who wants to see a load of pics of new build flats? This is not a comprehensive guide of every demolished boozer but a personal collection of photographs from the early 2000s to present.
Other pics of derelict East London pubs can be found at:
Derelict East London Pubs - still vacant as at 2016/7
Derelict East London Pubs - From Dead Pubs to Conversion
Derelict East London Pubs Back From the Brink
Other pics of derelict East London pubs can be found at:
Derelict East London Pubs - still vacant as at 2016/7
Derelict East London Pubs - From Dead Pubs to Conversion
Derelict East London Pubs Back From the Brink