A trip through time across South London’s lost pubs

By Sam Cullen, author of London’s Lost Pubs

London’s pubs have been an intrinsic part of the city’s culture for centuries. 

In recent years we’ve been losing these beloved institutions at an alarming rate.

I didn’t want to see the memories of these former boozers disappear over time, which is why I’ve written London’s Lost Pubs, which serves as a celebration of the many fine pubs we’ve lost over the past 25 years or so.  

As you might imagine, South London is well represented within London’s Lost Pubs, with more than 30 pubs featured across the South London Press’s patch. Below are a small sample of my favourite entries south of the river.

George and Dragon, Lambeth

On first glance, this looked like a fairly typical London pub, built in a brick style similar to its neighbouring interwar housing blocks.

However, in 1983 it shot to fame when the new landlady, Julie Lettern, opened a small swimming pool in the pub’s back garden, partly built by the locals.

You can still see footage of the Thames News item on the pool on YouTube. The reporter stated this was only the start with Julie hoping for a sauna, gym and jacuzzi, too.

None of these materialised and the pool was gone by the end of the 1980s. The pub survived until 2006, with the sign still boasting it was the ‘only pub with a pool’. It’s now been converted into flats.

Charlie Chaplin, Elephant and Castle

Opened at the same time as the 1960s shopping centre next door. Chaplin himself even visited here in 1972 during a trip to London. The pub even popped up in the South London Press in 1983, when its then landlord, the 16-stone Mick Evers, challenged Catweazle (a British wrestler at the time) to a bout to raise money for Guy’s Hospital.

The Chaplin closed at the start of 2018, ahead of the demolition of the shopping centre, itself part of the huge redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle area.

Speaking in the local media at the time, the final manager of the pub, Craig Morrison, wondered where his regulars would go as he didn’t feel there were any other local pubs left in the area.

Thomas a Beckett, Old Kent Road

The most famous of the Old Kent Road’s former pubs, the present building dates from 1898 but it has been suggested an inn with this name has been on the site since the 14th century. 

During the 1960s the first floor was used as boxing gym by Henry Cooper and the pub was visited by a heavyweight roster of stars including Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. 

By the 1990s the Beckett flitted between closure and a range of different managements. It had its final spell as a pub in the early 2010s before becoming the Rock Island Bar and Grill in 2017, the owners even got Frank Bruno in for the opening. 

This didn’t last long either and was replaced by the Vietnamese restaurant Viet Quan, which is still trading today.

Montague Arms, New Cross

In 2008 this New Cross institution found itself number one in The Rough Pub Guide, a book written by Paul Moody and Robin Turner. The authors very much meant this as a term of endearment to this New Cross institution, which had been built up over the years by landlord Peter Hoyle.

The authors marvelled at an interior which included a real human skeleton perched on the bar through to an embalmed zebra peering out from a horse drawn carriage, plenty more taxidermy and an old deep sea diver outfit.

The NME used the pub in 1989 for a roundtable interview between Nick Cave, Mark E Smith and Shane McGowan, further cementing its legitimacy as a cult venue.

In 2018 the pub was revamped all the trinkets cleared out, but this incarnation barely lasted a year before closing. Plans for the demolition of the pub were withdrawn following a local backlash and presently the building lies derelict and intact, potentially waiting for the next Peter Hoyle.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though, as many excellent community-based pubs across South London continue to go from strength to strength, from The Pelton Arms in Greenwich, The Lord Herbert in Plumstead, The Dog and Bell in Deptford and The Blyth Hill Tavern in Catford, to name just a few.

Plus we’ve seen old favourites reopen like the Old Justice in Bermondsey. Here’s to their ongoing health over 2025!

London’s Lost Pubs by Sam Cullen is being published by Pen and Sword and is available from their website – https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Londons-Lost-Pubs-Hardback/p/51878  – and other retailers.

Pictured top: Thomas a Beckett, formerly in the Old Kent Road (Picture: Ewan Munro)