London's iconic pubs

London's iconic pubs are far more than just places to drink — they are living monuments to the city's social and cultural history. With over 3,000 pubs scattered across the capital, some have attained truly iconic status thanks to their colourful history and heritage, the famous characters who frequented them, and perhaps even a ghost or two who can't be persuaded to leave at closing time. The Prospect of Whitby in Wapping, for instance, has a strong claim to being the oldest pub on the River Thames, dating from around 1520, with a flagstone floor that may be original and a past colourful enough to earn it the nickname "the Devil's Tavern," once frequented by smugglers, pirates, and the diarist Samuel Pepys. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street tells a similarly rich story — there has been a pub on that site since at least the reign of Henry VIII, with the present building erected in 1667 after the Great Fire of London, its cellars possibly dating back to a 13th-century monastery. Other gems include the Spaniards Inn on the edge of Hampstead Heath, a Grade II-listed 16th-century pub that appears in Dickens' The Pickwick Papers and once played host to Gordon Riots rioters, whose landlord cleverly plied them with free drinks until soldiers arrived.