Can you think of somewhere in the City that was not destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666? One such survivor that is worth visiting is ‘the oldest small pub’, The Bell, tucked down Bush Lane by Cannon Street.
The clientele regularly spills into the road, hardly surprising as when you do go over the threshold, you step straight into the one small room that is the pub (though there is also a small dining room upstairs). The Bell, now Grade II listed, dates from around 1600, although it was substantially rebuilt early in Queen Victoria’s reign in the mid 1800s.
On the wall is a list of all the landlords since 1673. One Betty Jeskey retired in 2004, aged 86 after 40 years of service. And another board explains that, as well as fire, the pub’s history is linked with water as, long ago, when the Thames was much wider than today, The Bell was a waterside pub!
There are various tales of how Bush Lane, famous at one time for making needles, got its name – one is from a rich family called Busche, who lived here in the early 14th century. A hundred years later in 1445 there was a Bush tavern here, which presumably gave the street its name. The history of Bush Lane, like most of the City, goes much further back, however; beneath the feet of the outside drinkers were found Roman walls and tessellated pavements. So next time you hear the Great Fire mentioned by a tour guide, you will know where to go to raise a glass to somewhere that lived to tell the tale!
The Bell,
29 Bush Lane, EC4R 0AN
