Greenwich Historic Pubs
In Greenwich, the most well known pub is the Trafalgar Tavern. Built in 1837 it is named in honour of Admiral Nelson whose body lay in state at the Painted Hall in nearby Greenwich Hospital following its return from Cape Trafalgar.
Many famous writers and politicians, including Dickens and Thackeray, have been associated with it, especially in Victorian days. Cabinet ministers at the end of the parliament session, travelled from Westminster to enjoy a Greenwich specialty here - a whitebait supper, still available today. To eat whitebait at its best it was caught in the river outside the Trafalgar, cooked and served within the hour. Charles Dickens’s son said ‘there is no such hangover as the one that followers a whitebait supper at the Trafalgar’. Supper was served with Champagne!
The Trafalgar stands on the site of an old Waterman’s pub called The George. It is from this time that the ghost that haunts the main bar is said to come. He is seen in Georgian dress sitting at the bar or the piano drinking beer. When he has finished his drink he gets up and walks through the wall where the fireplace is. This is where in the old pub the door was. Ghosts are said to stay in their own time.
The Spanish Galleon, designed by architect Joseph Kay who also designed the Trafalgar Tavern, is a traditional English pub run by Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewery. There is meant to be a ghost of a naval gentleman in its cellar. It was a story told by the last landlord. The new one had not heard the story – or the ghost - when I last spoke to him.
Built in 1795, the Gipsy Moth changed its name from the Wheatsheaf to Gipsy Moth in 1975. This was to mark the arrival in Greenwich of Gipsy Moth IV, the boat in which Francis Chichester completed the first single handed round the world voyage in 1967. Francis Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on the steps in front of the Old Royal Naval College. The Queen used the same sword that was used to knight Sir Frances Drake on board his ship the Golden Hinde at Deptford in the presence of Queen Elizabeth I. Gipsy Moth IV now nestles in the dry dock next to the Cutty Sark.
The Plume of Feathers, a quaint old English pub just outside Greenwich Park, dates back to 1691 and, given its location, has a plethora of naval and maritime artefacts. It's also bang on the Meridian Line (a metal line on the pavement outside the pub marks it) and you can work out pub opening times in the rest of the world as you sup your pints.
It does, of course, have a ghost. On leaving the pub after a pleasant nights drinking you might see seated by the window an old gentleman raising his glass. On closer inspection he disappears!
The road outside the Plume of Feathers was once the main road passing through Greenwich. It divided the park from the Tudor Palace which stood by the river. Along the road stood Tudor buildings connected with the Palace. It is said that it was in one of these building that Edward VI, Henry VIII son, died at the young age of 16 having been ill for many years.
And finally, the Cutty Sark Tavern – an 1805 Grade II listed building - was the Union Tavern until it was renamed in 1954 when the Cutty Sark arrived at Greenwich permanently. The pub is designed to resemble the inside of an 18th century ship: low-beamed ceilings, creaky wooden floors, dark panelling and beams like a ship’s timbers.
Trafalgar Tavern
Park Row
T: 020 8858 2437
Gastropub food & fish
Lunch served Mon - Sat (12– 3pm) and Sun (12– 4pm)
Dinner served Mon – Wed (5– 9pm) and Thurs – Sat (5– 10pm)
Spanish Galleon
48 Greenwich Church Street
T: 020 8858 3664
Traditional home-made pub food or snacks
Served daily from 12pm to 9pm.
Plume of Feathers
19 Park Vista
T: 020 8858 0819
Traditional pub food
Lebanese Night on Thursdays and Fridays
Served Tues – Sat (12– 3pm & 7- 9.45pm) and Sun (12–5pm)
Cutty Sark Tavern Ballast Quay
Lassell St
T: 020 8858 3146
Traditional pub food
Served daily from 12pm to 9pm
