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Nell Gwynne manager Robert Collins, with staff James Kerslake and Monica Tablares |
Last orders at the cherished old Nell?
Historic pub under threat from development
ONE of London’s oldest pubs is threatened with closure following plans to develop its site.
The Nell Gwynne in Covent Garden was the favourite watering hole of Samuel Pepys, the pub where William Hogarth made his famous sketches and where actress Nell Gwynne famously courted King Charles II.
But now the historic pub, which counts Sienna Miller and Jude Law as regulars, could be demolished and turned into a fire escape for a sky-rise office block.
Family Leisure Ltd is stalling over renewing the owners’ 15-year lease, which ran out on July 1.
The property firm, which owns the Vauderville Theatre and adjoining property on the Strand, is planning a massive development of the site – including bulldozing the Grade II-listed pub in Bull Inn Court.
The plans have enraged customers, who have launched a mass campaign to “Save The Nell”.
They have printed T-shirts, badges and have set up an online petition on the Downing Street site signed by more than 500.
Licensee Trish Murphy said it had been a pub since the Middle Ages.
She said: “It used to be called the Bull Inn and Nell Gwynne used to use it. She was very popular and after her death it was named in her honour.”
Manager Robert Collins said: “There is so much history to the place. Did you know this is where the black slaves used to come and hide out in the 19th century?
“There is a great chapter of black history here and that’s not to mention Hogarth, Nell Gwynne and Samuel Pepys.
“It is one of the last traditional boozers left in central London.
“It is individual and unique. In 10 years’ time there won’t be an independent business left in the West End.”
Mr Collins, a stand-up comic who started his career standing on a soap box inside the tiny pub, said: “It is a breeding ground for culture and you just wouldn’t get that in a gastro pub.”
• To Save the Nell
sign the Downing Street petition at www.petitions. pm. gov.uk/savethenell
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