| The Prospect of Whitby |
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Address: 57 Wapping Wall, London E1
The "Prospect of Whitby" was established in 1520 in the reign of King Henry VIII, and in claiming to be the oldest surviving river-side tavern, has a list on the wall outside which details all the monarchs who have reigned during the pubs existence. Nicknamed "Beanies" by the locals, the pub was originally called "The Devils Tavern", due to its mixed clientele of smugglers, murderers and whores. The pub was frequented in his day by the infamous Judge Jeffries, whose victims were chained up in the river at low tide and left there while several tides washed over them. Later Jeffries was caught by the London mob after hiding in "The Town of Ramsgate" nearby and beaten, ending his days in the Tower of London nearby. (Judge Jeffries presided over the "Bloody Assizes" in which 300 men involved in Monmouth's rebellion were sent to the gallows). The pub was gutted by fire in the 17th Century and when rebuilt was renamed after the Whitby collier that moored up alongside when delivering to London. Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys are also known to have drunk here, with the upstairs 'Pepys Room' a very popular restaurant. As further testament to its somewhat dubious contributions to the arts, numerous views from the pub were sketched by both Turner and Whistler.
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