Editing Prospect of Whitby

{{Short description|Pub in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox restaurant
| name             = Prospect of Whitby
| image            = Wapping prospect of whitby 1.jpg
| image_alt        = A historic riverside pub with multiple stories, traditional windows, and a dark exterior, situated on the bank of a wide river.
| image_caption    = The Prospect of Whitby from the [[Thames]] foreshore in 2006.
| coordinates      = {{Coord|51.50710|-0.05113|format=dms|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| established      = {{circa}} {{year|1520}}
| food-type        = Pub fare, [[English cuisine|English]]
| dress-code       = Casual
| street-address   = 57 Wapping Wall
| city             = [[London]]
| country          = [[England]]
| zip              = E1W 3SJ
| website          = {{URL|https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/prospect-of-whitby/}}
}}
[[File:Prospect of Whitby (street view).JPG|thumb|upright|The Prospect of Whitby, street view|alt=A narrow, brick pub with white-framed windows, a dark entrance, and hanging signs, viewed from a cobbled street.]]The '''Prospect of Whitby''' is a historic [[public house]] on the northern bank of the [[River Thames]] at [[Wapping]], in the [[East End of London]] and the [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]. It lays claim to being on the site of the oldest riverside [[tavern]], dating from around 1520.

==History==
The tavern was formerly known as ''The Pelican'' and later as the ''Devil’s Tavern'', on account of its dubious reputation. All that remains from the building's earliest period is the 400-year-old stone floor. The pub features 18th-century panelling and a 19th-century [[facade]].<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eflk15CDPiEC&q=london%27s+oldest+riverside+pub| title= Historic London: An Explorer's Companion| last=Inwood| first=Stephen| publisher=[[Pan Macmillan]]| date=June 2012| isbn= 9780230752528| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> The pub has a pewter-top bar and is decorated with many nautical objects.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/Englands-great-pubs/| title= England's great pubs|last=Paris| first=Natalie| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| date=18 April 2013| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wlKwBgAAQBAJ&q=london%27s+oldest+riverside+pub| title= Fodor's London 2016|publisher=Fodor's Travel Guides| date=2016| isbn= 9781101878880| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> In former times it was a meeting place for sailors, [[smuggler]]s, cutthroats and [[footpad]]s. [[Hugh Willoughby (sea captain)|Sir Hugh Willoughby]] sailed from here in 1553 in a disastrous attempt to discover the [[North-East Passage]] to China.

According to [[John Stow]], it was "The usual place for hanging of pirates and sea-rovers, at the low-water mark, and there to remain till three tides had overflowed them". [[Execution Dock]] was actually by Wapping Old Stairs and was generally used for pirates.<ref name=brit>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45082 ''The Thames Tunnel, Ratcliff Highway and Wapping,'' Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878), pp. 128–37] Retrieved 29 March 2007</ref><ref name="Manners">{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7UOqCgAAQBAJ&q=prospect+of+whitby+pub+history| title=The Seven Noses of Soho: And 191 Other Curious Details from the Streets of London| last=Manners| first=Jamie| publisher=[[Michael O'Mara Books]]| date=October 2015| isbn=9781782434627| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/Londons-most-notorious-execution-sites/| title= London's 11 most notorious public execution sites| last=Smith| first=Oliver| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| date=18 February 2016| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> In the eighteenth century, the first [[fuchsia]] plant in the United Kingdom was sold at the pub.<ref name="Farman"/>

Views from the pub were sketched by both [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]] and [[James McNeill Whistler|Whistler]].<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/Londons-best-historical-pubs-the-ultimate-tour/| title= London's best historical pubs: the ultimate tour| last=Attwooll| first=Jolyon| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| date=22 February 2016| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> 

Following a fire in the early 19th century, the tavern was rebuilt and renamed ''The Prospect of Whitby'', after a Tyne [[Collier (ship type)|collier]] that used to berth next to the pub. The ship brought [[Coal#Sea_coal|sea coal]] from [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] to London.<ref name="Farman">{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pZh9c6smZ8wC&q=prospect+of+whitby+pub+history| title= The Very Bloody History of London| last=Farman| first=John| publisher=[[Random House]]| date=May 2012| isbn= 9781448121168| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://knowledgeoflondon.com/pubs.html| title= London Pubs| publisher=Knowledge of London| access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref> The Prospect was listed as a [[Grade II listed building]] in December 1950.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1357505 |desc=Prospect of Whitby Public House |access-date=9 December 2008}}</ref> The pub underwent a renovation in 1951 to double the interior space.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19510917/048/0002| title= The Prospect of Whitby| work=[[Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer]]| page=2| date=17 September 1951| access-date=11 September 2016| via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In January 1953, the pub was raided by armed robbers.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19530319/151/0007| title= Jail for Prospect of Whitby Raiders| work=[[Yorkshire Evening Post]]| page=7| date=19 March 1953| access-date=11 September 2016| via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The pub has been visited by [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] and [[Prince Rainier III]] of Monaco.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/london/pubs.shtml| title= The Historic Pubs of London| last=Harris| first=Pearl| publisher=Time Travel Britain| access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref>

On the opposite side of the road ([[Wapping Wall]]) is the former [[Wapping Hydraulic Power Station]], later an arts centre and restaurant.

==In popular culture==
{{Refimprove|section|date=October 2023}}
There is a scene in the 1956 film ''[[D-Day the Sixth of June]]'', starring [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] and [[Richard Todd]], in which Taylor's character is seen with [[Dana Wynter]]'s character having drinks in the pub during the [[Second World War]].

The video for [[Gilbert O'Sullivan]]'s 1970 hit "[[Nothing Rhymed]]" was shot here, as he was living close by in a bedsit when he wrote the song.

The pub features briefly in an episode of ''[[Only Fools And Horses]]''. When Uncle Albert goes missing in one episode Del Boy and Rodney travel around London looking for him. [[Nicholas Lyndhurst]] is shown in one scene walking out of the pub. 

In the comicbook ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' [[Mina Harker]] pauses in front of the pub and says it brings back memories. She is referring to the beaching of the ''Demeter'' at [[Whitby]] in the novel ''[[Dracula]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jess |date=2002-03-10 |title=Notes on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #2 |url=https://enjolrasworld.com/Jess%20Nevins/League%20of%20Extraordinary%20Gentlemen/Notes%20on%20League%20of%20Extraordinary%20Gentlemen%202.htm |access-date=2022-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | publisher=Vertigo |author1=Moore, Alan |author2=O'Neill, Kevin | year=1953 | location=Chapter 2: Ghosts and Miracle | isbn=978-1-4012-4083-7}}</ref>

The pub is also featured in ''[[Jean Bruller|Vercors]]'''s novel ''Les Animaux dénaturés''.[[File:Prospect of Whitby 12.JPG|thumb|upright|Interior, 2013|alt=A dark, traditional interior of a pub with wooden beams, a tiled floor, and small model ships.|left]]

The pub also appears in ''[[Whitechapel (TV series)|Whitechapel]]'', Series 4, Episode 4, in which the body of a victim is discovered on the Thames shoreline. DS Miles briefly explains its history to DI Chandler.

The pub features in several of Anna Harrington's Regency-era romance novels, most notably in ''An Unexpected Earl'' and ''An Extraordinary Lord'', both in the "Lords of the Armory" series. The recurring comic character Hugh Whitby in Harrington's "Capturing the Carlisles" series was named after the pub. 

The pub also features in several of the Charles Holborne legal crime thrillers by former barrister, Simon Michael, particularly ''Corrupted'', in which the protagonist and his family work as lightermen on the Thames during the Blitz. 

The pub also serves as the location for the final scenes in ''[[The Old Guard (2020 film)|The Old Guard]]'' (2020).<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7556122/trivia| title= IMDB Trivia about The Old Guard (2020 film)| website= [[IMDb]]| access-date=19 December 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Town of Ramsgate]]
* [[List of restaurants in London]]
* [[Watermen's stairs]]
* [[The Grapes, Limehouse]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Prospect of Whitby}}
* [http://www.pubs.com/main_site/pub_details.php?pub_id=183 Pubs.com information]

{{Restaurants in London}}

{{Pubs in London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prospect of Whitby}}
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Pubs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Restaurants in London]]
[[Category:History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
[[Category:Grade II listed pubs in London]]
[[Category:16th-century establishments in England]]
[[Category:Wapping]]