Celebrating the eighth birthday of Spitalfields Life with a week of favourite posts from the past year

The Duke of Gloucester,

26 Seabright St, Bethnal Green, E2

(Opened prior to 1839 and now demolished)

Sometimes I find myself walking the streets looking for a pub. I am seeking an enclave of civility as a refuge from the barbarity of the city, a friendly bar where the publican lives upstairs and the residents of the street congregate. I am looking for a local.

Oftentimes, in accumulating disappointment, I stand and gaze at the fine buildings which once were pubs, now Closed down and converted into flats or shops, or restaurants. So you can imagine my emotion when I discovered this cherished inventory of pubs from the early twentieth century, mostly pictured in their shining moment of glory, when the signwriting was crisp, the mirrors were polished and the lamps gleamed – the beloved drinking palaces of yesteryear. You can almost hear the clink of glasses, the hubbub of voices and distant tinkle of barroom ivories.

In collaboration with Heritage Assets, who work in partnership with The National Brewery Heritage Trust, I am able to publish these historic photographs of the myriad pubs of the East End from Charrington’s archive. It is no exaggeration to say that every street corner was once a pub, thus the catalogue of our loss runs into hundreds and this first instalment of The Alphabet of Lost Pubs only covers A-C.

I wish we could have enjoyed a pint together in every one. Instead we must be thankful we can go there in spirit thanks to the alluring visions conjured by these entrancing photographs, which might have vanished forever if they had not been rescued from a skip twenty-five years ago by some far-sighted soul.

The Adam & Eve, 126 Abbey Rd, West Ham, E15 (Damaged by enemy action 1st July 1944, reopened 2nd April 1948, closed 1994)

The Albert Arms, 66 Bancroft Rd, Mile End, E1 (Destroyed by enemy action 1944)

The Albion, 423 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 (Opened prior to 1870, now known as Bar Valiente)

The Albion, 33 Albion Rd, Dalston, E8 (Opened prior to 1850, closed in 2002 and now residential)

The Albion, 211-212 High St (now The Highway), Shadwell, E1 (Opened prior to 1841, closed 1922 and now demolished)

The Albion, 2 Clissold Rd, Stoke Newington, N16 (Opened prior to 1855, converted to residential use in nineteen nineties)

The Alfred’s Head, 49 Gold St, Stepney, E1 (Opened prior to 1849, now demolished)

The Alma, 41 Spelman St, Spitalfields, E1 (Opened prior to 1870, closed 2001 and now offices)

The Angel & Crown, 170 Roman Rd, Bethnal Green, E2 (Opened prior to 1809, rebuilt in 1951 and still open)

The Astric Lodge, 60 Stepney Green, E1 (Opened prior to 1818 and closed in 1997)

The Barley Mow, 7 New Gravel Lane, Shadwell, E1 (Opened prior to 1778, now demolished)

The Bedford Hotel, 220 Victoria Park Rd, Hackney, E9 (Built 1870, converted to residential use 1999)

The Beehive, 36 Holly St, Dalston, E8 (Opened prior to 1848, closed 1964 now demolished)

The Bell, 116 George St (now The Highway), Shadwell, E1 (Named in 1839, closed 1922)

The Benyon Arms, 155 De Beavoir Rd, Hackney, N1 (Opened prior to 1852, closed 1984 and now residential)

The Black Bull, 192 Stoke Newington High St, N16 (Opened 1826, closed 1981 and now Kentucky Fried Chicken)

The Black Horse, 168 Mile End Rd, E1 (Opened prior to 1856, closed 2010 and currently vacant)

The Blade Bone, 185 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 (Opened in 1823, destroyed by enemy action in World War II and rebuilt, then closed in 1999 and became The Noodle King now a development site for flats)

The Brewery Tap, 17 Stean St, Shoreditch, E8 (Opened prior to 1881, closed 1921 and now demolished)

The British Queen, 31 White Horse Lane, E1 (Opened prior to 1843 and closed 1934, now demolished)

The Bull’s Head, 58 St Katharine’s Way, E1 (Opened 1838, closed 1952)

The Burford Arms, 11 Burford Way, Stratford, E15 (Opened prior to 1872, closed in 1990 and demolished in 1994)

The Camden’s Head, 456 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 (Opened prior to 1816 and still open)

The Carlton, 238 Bancroft Rd, Mile End, E1 (Opened 1836 and still open today)

The Carpenters’ Arms, 151 Cambridge Heath Rd, E1 (Opened prior to 1839, rebuilt in the nineteen-sixties and still open)

The Cat & Mutton, 76 Broadway Market, Hackney, E8 (Opened prior to 1732 and still open)

The City Arms, 2 Dock Rd, Canning Town, E16 (Opened prior to 1867 and closed in 1934)

The Clapton Park Tavern, 9 Chatsworth Rd, Hackney, E5 (Opened prior to 1872, closed and converted to a restaurant in 2001)

The Colet Arms, 94 White Horse Rd, Stepney, E1 (Opened prior to 1851, closed in 2003 and now residential)

The Commercial Tavern, 142 Commercial St, Spitalfields, E1 (Built in 1865 and still open today)

The Commercial Tap, 66 Ben Jonson Rd, Stepney, E1 (Opened 1881 and closed 1934, now demolished)

The Conqueror, Boundary St, Shoreditch, E2 (Opened prior to 1872 and closed in 2007, now residential)

The Crooked Billet, 93 Hoxton St, Hoxton, N1 (Opened prior to 1841, closed 1938 and now demolished)

The Crown & Anchor, 35 Temple St, Bethnal Green, E2 (Opened prior to 1831, closure unknown)

The Crown & Dolphin, 56 Cannon St Rd, Shadwell, E1 (Opened 1851, closed 2002 and now residential)

The Crown, St John St, Clerkenwell, EC1 (Opened in 1910, closed in 1953 and now a shop)

The Crown, 19 Mayfield Rd, Dalston, E8 (Opened 1866 and closed in 1954)

The Crown, 34 Redchurch St, Shoreditch, E2 (Established late seventeenth century and renamed The Owl & The Pussycat in 1990)

The Crown, 14 Goodman St, Whitechapel, E1 (Opened in 1823, closed in 1952 and now demolished)

The Cutlers’ Arms, 2 Cutler St, Houndsditch, E1 (Opened prior to 1839, closed in the nineteen-fifities and is now demolished)

Photographs courtesy Heritage Assets/The National Brewery Heritage Trust

You may also like to take a look at

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs D-G

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs H-L

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs M-P

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs Q-R

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs S-T

The Alphabet of Lost Pubs U-Z