Building    From 1706 

Turk's Head - Wapping

This entry discusses two pubs in Wapping, both called the Turk's Head.

The Turk's Head in Wapping High Street is said to be the pub where condemned men, on their way to Execution Dock, were given their last drink. Pubology gives this pub two addresses in Wapping High Street: 30 and 326 (perhaps the street got renumbered) and says it was demolished in 1940.  City of London has a photo of it there in 1930. In the book “Back to the Local” in the “Obituary” section, the author Maurice Gorham says “it is pleasant to recall one pub that went out in a blaze of glory: the Turk’s Head at Wapping, near Execution Stairs, where the final advent of closing time was the occasion of the noisiest broadcast the BBC ever put out”.

East London History used to say that the pub moved to the Green Bank site following WW2 bomb damage but, 2017, Colin Price contacted us via Facebook to say that's incorrect, and we can no longer find that on that website. So we hunted around and found this 1896 map which shows a pub on the Green Bank site. It would be good to know that the name was the Turks' Head but we have no evidence that it was not. So it seems likely that there were two Turk's Heads in Wapping for many years.

The Green Bank building closed as a pub in the 1970s. Now, 2013, a cafe.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Turk's Head - Wapping

Commemorated ati

Turk's Head - Wapping - 1

We'd guess that the first stone was created and erected in 1766 when the buil...

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Turk's Head - Wapping - 2

Welcome to the Turk's Head This former public house has a special history. D...

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Other Subjects

Sir John Morden

Sir John Morden

Born in London. He amassed a fortune in Turkey, and returning to Britain he joined the East India Company. The near loss of three of his ships prompted him to help merchants who were experiencing d...

Person, Commerce, Philanthropy, Turkey

1 memorial
One Tun pub - Saffron Hill

One Tun pub - Saffron Hill

The present day pub was rebuilt in 1875.

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Richard R. Wale

Richard R. Wale

Worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Was on the building committee for the Bostall Estate in 1900 and was Chairman of the building committee for the Abbey Wood branch in 1912.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Queen's Assurance

Queen's Assurance

Established sometime in the 1850s.

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
Peacock Inn, Islington

Peacock Inn, Islington

From Islington Council:"Four inns are known to have occupied this site, with the earliest dating from 1564. The Peacock has been immortalised both in print and on canvas. In 1823, James Pollard pai...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial