Wapping Pubs
The Prospect of Whitby is London's oldest and one of the most famous riverside taverns, which started life in 1520 as The Devil's Tavern due to the villainy of its 
customers. A list on the wall outside the pub details all the monarchs who've reigned during the pub's existence. Today's name comes from a collier bringing coal from the Tyne which used to tie up alongside.
The fine views, much appreciated by today's visitors, were sketched in earlier times by Turner and Whistler, and both Samuel Pepys (no doubt to see how many smugglers he could spot - this being one of their favourite hangouts) and Charles Dickens were regular visitors.
A noose hanging outside the pub's window is presumably in honour of 'hanging' Judge George Jeffreys, who was infamous for sentencing people to the gallows; he lived nearby and was a regular at the Prospect until anti-royalists toppled the Crown and sent him scarpering for his life. He was captured in the nearby Town of Ramsgate pub and given a taste of his own medicine: he was hanged!
The Town of Ramsgate, originates from the Wars of The Roses in the 15th century. By 1750, the pub was just one of 36 along the High Street alone, serving the thirsty needs of the shipyards and wharves that made Wapping one of the busiest parts of London. 18th Century press-gangs used to work in the pub, imprisoning drunks in the pub's wine cellars and pressing them into the King's service as sailors on Naval vessels.
The pub has been known through the years as The Red Cow, on account of the barmaid's red hair, and then The Prince of Denmark, to encourage Danish sailors into the pub. In the 19th Century, it came to be called the Town of Ramsgate after the fishermen who landed their catches at Wapping Old Stairs.
Those Old Stairs are still next door, and you can still see the post to which the bodies of hanged pirates were chained and then left for three tides to wash over them.
The Captain Kidd pub was named after a Scottish colonial ship-
owner who became a privateer (to hunt and capture pirates) and later turned to piracy himself; he was arrested, convicted and hanged at Wapping on May 23 1701. During his execution the rope broke; he was hanged on the second attempt. His body remained on the gallows until it had been washed by three tides; it was then tarred (for preservation) and placed in gibbets for public display at Tilbury Point in Essex to discourage other pirates. The 17th Century building was originally a warehouse used by tradesmen making boats, repairing sails and working on the river.
Town of Ramsgate
62 Wapping High Street, E1W 2PN
T: 020 7481 8000
Traditional pub food
Served Tues - Sat (12pm - 3pm) and Sun (12pm - 4pm)
The Prospect of Whitby
57 Wapping Wall, E1W 3SJ
T: 020 7481 1095
Traditional pub food and seafood
Served Mon – Sat (11.30am – 9.30pm) and Sun (12pm – 8.30pm)
The Captain Kidd
108 Wapping High Street, E1W 2NE
T: 020 7480 5759
Traditional pub food
Served Mon – Sun (12pm - 2.30pm & 6.30pm - 9.30pm)
