LONDON (AP) — On a charming cobblestone street tucked away in London’s East End, a pub proudly hangs out a sign that reads “Oldest riverside pub in London.” Across the Thames River, a pub with a different name makes the same bold claim.
The unofficial title of the oldest riverside pub in the city has long been disputed, with both the Mayflower and the Prospect of Whitby laying claim to the title.
The two contenders can be found along a quiet stretch of the Thames, far from the city’s crowded souvenir shops and tourist sites, serving up traditional British dishes — from steak and ale pie to sticky toffee pudding — with a side of history.
The Mayflower is named after the Pilgrim Mayflower ship, which set sail from the site in 1620 to begin its journey to America. Though it only got its name in 1957, it is said to have some of the ship’s original timbers incorporated into its structure.
Today, pubgoers who can prove direct descent from one of the Mayflower passengers can sign its “Descendants Book.”
Escaping the skyscrapers
Every night, tourists step out of black cabs at the doors of the two pubs, trading the capital’s modern skyscrapers for the storied streets of London’s East End, lined with quaint terraced houses and red brick warehouses.
In both pubs they enter spaces where old paintings hanging on dark paneled walls and other mementos of their histories seem to leave the contemporary world behind.
“There really is a feeling that you might have stepped back in time and could be drinking beer with sailors or pirates or anybody from any Dickens novels really," said Emily Godwin, a Londoner who has been to both. She spoke while sipping a pint of lager with friends at the Prospect on a recent summer evening.
The Prospect boasts a pewter bar – the longest of its kind in Britain — where the infamous “Hanging Judge Jeffreys” is said to have watched the many hangings that took place at the nearby “Execution Dock.” Early on, the pub was known as the Devil’s Tavern due to its association with thieves and smugglers. A hanging noose outside serves as a reminder of the pub’s grisly history.
It “feels like such a pocket of history in London,” Godwin said. “So much of London’s East End feels very new and trendy, and the Prospect feels like it’s barely changed.”
Challenging times for the pub industry
British pubs have always been at the center of social life, with locals coming together over a pint, even in times of war and economic hardship. But the last five years have been challenging for the industry as pubs contended with the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs.
This year an estimated 378 venues are set to shutter across England, Wales, and Scotland, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.
“When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul and hurts the local economy,” said Emma McClarkin, head of the BBPA.
Pubs across the country have been forced to find new ways to attract customers.
History is a big draw for pubgoers, with a trip to a traditional British pub coming in high on tourists’ London bucket lists, raising the stakes of the Prospect and the Mayflower’s competition.
A “loving rivalry”
The Prospect claims it was established in 1520, with its original flagstone surviving an arson attack in 1666 — the same year as the Great Fire of London. The pub was outside of the city limits at that time and was not affected by the conflagration that gutted the medieval city.
Justin Billington, assistant manager at the Prospect, said some people date the pub to its full reconstruction in 1774 after the 1666 fire. But he doesn't see it that way, noting that it operated continuously. The day after the fire, the workers rolled out a barrel of beer that had survived the flames and locals showed up with their tankards, drinking vessels, and enjoyed a drink on the spot.
There were several reconstructions in the pub's subsequent history, but none withstood the salt water and shifting foundations of the Thames, Billington explained. Not, that is, until 1774 when the retired captain of a merchant ship called “The Prospect” rebuilt it using the ship.
“This rebuild held and continues to hold on for dear life," he said.
If the pub was actually established in 1774, that would make the Mayflower — established in the 16th century — older.
But there are no hard feelings between the pubs as Billington described their competition as a “loving rivalry.”
“We compete against each other to be the oldest, and to serve the best food and drink,” he said.
The search for the oldest pub in London
But the question remains: How can either pub definitively claim the title?
Unlike the title of the “Oldest pub in England,” held by the Porch House in southern England, which is said to date to the 10th century, there is no official certification for the oldest pub in London.
Guinness World Records said it has not formally awarded the title because of the complexities created by numerous name changes, relocations and reconstructions.
“There are lots of very old pubs that might make a claim to being oldest, but it could be contested because it could be argued they weren’t always in ‘London,’” English historian and author Jacob Field said. “Many pubs have changed name over time, making it hard to claim they are the oldest."
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