East London Life

The Prospect of Whitby may very well be the most famous pub in London, or anywhere, for that matter. Originally built in 1543, and quickly became so famous as a hangout for smugglers and other assorted villains that it was christened the ‘Devil’s Tavern‘. Rebuilt in the eighteenth century after a fire on the premises, it was renamed to the Prospect of Whitby, after a ship that was moored nearby.

The main bar has a 400 year old flagstone floor, a long bar counter built on barrels with a rare pewter top. There’s a wealth of timber beams and the upright pillars appear to be sections of a ship’s mast.

Venture up the creaking stairs and find the Pepys Room restaurant, named for Samuel Pepys who was, no doubt, in the pub trying to meet women (his diary is littered with his many infidelities)! It is also held that Charles dickens frequently dined in the room.
Outside on the patio you can sit and listen to the lapping waves and gaze upon the hangman’s noose, in honor of ‘hanging’ Judge George Jeffreys, who was infamous for sentencing people to the gallows; he lived nearby and was a regular at the Prospect of Whitby until anti-royalists toppled the Crown and sent him running for his life. He was captured in the nearby Town of Ramsgate pub and given a taste of his own medicine.

57 Wapping Wall
Wapping, E1W 3SJ

Wapping