Discover
the extraordinary
architecture
and history of
London’s most
unique pubs
Join Open City for a walking tour exploring the fascinating architectural history of some of the City of London's most iconic public houses
Inspired by Open City's book Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro, public historian Sheldon K. Goodman draws on his own experiences a former City worker and will take you through Fleet Street, Ludgate, Blackfriars and Newgate to explore two thousand years of pub history.
From Roman taverns, opulent Victorian boozers and reborn superpubs of the 21st century, see how architecture and social history overlap! Pubs are far more than just a place to grab a drink after work. From the influence of journalism, law-making and drinking culture, highlights on this tour will include the legendary Cheshire Cheese, one of the oldest post-fire buildings in the City (and amn interesting example of domestic turned leisure usage), the neo-Jacobean Punch Tavern to the long gone Inn-cum-theatre where animals from Africa were first exhibited to the bemused merchants and traders of the Square Mile.
Tracing the development of the pub as an enduring institution through societal upheavals and ending in a spectacularly beautiful pub, the tour will connect changes in pubs with wider social and political movements, as well as the challenges many of the surviving City watering holes face today.
Providing a fun way for enthusiastic urbanists to explore the City, you'll also get the chance to explore the surrounding streets and go inside the pubs themselves.
Meet: Outside The Blackfriar 174 Queen Victoria St EC4V 4EG
End: at The Holy Tavern 55 Britton St EC1M 5UQ
Duration: 2 hrs approx
Meet: Outside The Blackfriar 174 Queen Victoria St, Greater EC4V 4EG
Ends: The Holy Tavern 55 Britton St EC1M 5UQ
Duration: 2 hrs approx
Distance: 5 km approx
Access: route includes occasional use of steps
Cost: £19.50 / £14.50 / £9.50
Tickets are non refundable and go ahead rain or shine. Get in touch with Adrianna at tours@open-city.org.uk with any queries.
This tour is published as a Pocket London. You can purchase the printed guide from the Open City Shop as part of the Public House and Pocket London bundle
Meet the tour guide…
Sheldon K Goodman is a public historian, tour guide, heritage professional and founder of Cemetery Club, which seeks to show cemeteries as Museums of People full of rich social history rather than as morbid, mournful spaces to be avoided.
As a heritage communicator, he runs various walking tours and events in museums and other heritage spaces, including co-developing the first queer history cemetery tour in the UK entitled ‘Queerly Departed’ for the Royal Parks with a successful sequels for Arnos Vale and Birmingham Jewellery Quarters Cemeteries Trust, as well as working with the Brunel Museum in delivering a women’s history tour, creating visual content for Schools Out UK and speaking at the National Archives and at the BBC. Sheldon is also a qualified City of Westminster guide.
He joined the Open City tours team in May 2022.
Open City's year-round tours programme is supported by Bloomberg Connects, a free app a free guide to the best art exhibitions and museums.