Ye Olde Cock Tavern

At the top of Fleet Street, at the very edge of the western boundary of the city and almost opposite Temple Bar you will find Ye Olde Cock Tavern. Originally dates from around 1550 and was located on the opposite side of the street, the tavern was moved in the mid 1880s when a branch of the Bank of England was erected. One room of the old tavern reconstructed on the fist floor of the new building. Known then as the 'Cock and Bottle' if would have been one door eastward, No. 201 Fleet Street.

Timbs, writing of it about 1870, says : "It is, perhaps, the most primitive place of its kind in the metropolis : it still possesses a fragment of decoration of the time of James I., and the writer remembers the tavern half a century ago, with considerably more of its original panelling."

But what of the Cock now, well, a recent refurb has set the scene for a more traditional look. Although the bar area is small, there is plenty of seating to the back and upstairs. The beer was reasonable and the food was typical pub grub. It's a pitty that such history more couldn't be done with such a pub, but if it's good enough for British Fantasy Society to have their open nights then it's worth visiting.

Venue : Ye Olde Cock Tavern, 22 Fleet Street, City of London, EC4Y 1AA
Reviewed : February 2008	Telephone : 020 7353 3454
Brewery : ~	Pub Website :
Facilities : Beer and Food
At the top of Fleet Street, at the very edge of the western boundary of the city and almost opposite Temple Bar you will find Ye Olde Cock Tavern. Originally dates from around 1550 and was located on the opposite side of the street, the tavern was moved in the mid 1880s when a branch of the Bank of England was erected. One room of the old tavern reconstructed on the fist floor of the new building. Known then as the 'Cock and Bottle' if would have been one door eastward, No. 201 Fleet Street. Timbs, writing of it about 1870, says : "It is, perhaps, the most primitive place of its kind in the metropolis : it still possesses a fragment of decoration of the time of James I., and the writer remembers the tavern half a century ago, with considerably more of its original panelling." But what of the Cock now, well, a recent refurb has set the scene for a more traditional look. Although the bar area is small, there is plenty of seating to the back and upstairs. The beer was reasonable and the food was typical pub grub. It's a pitty that such history more couldn't be done with such a pub, but if it's good enough for British Fantasy Society to have their open nights then it's worth visiting.