The Cockpit, EC4

I popped into The Cockpit for a swift half whilst on a crawl of the area two days before Christmas and I was happy to find a down to earth pub that was full of locals whom the friendly staff were on a first name basis with. I was made to feel more than welcome and I thought that the Guinness was on good form. The bar supports five hand pumps that were drawing Adnams, Directors, Pedigree, Bombareindeer (Bombardier with festive clip) and Courage Best and there was also a very limited draught selection. The pub layout has been well described below and I enjoyed reading the history as the reason for the layout and tiny balconies became clear. There is a projector screen and also a plasma screen that was showing muted news whilst some very low background music was playing. This is a good pub to escape the masses and I will make a return visit when next in the area.

Randomness Guide to London - Cockpit entry

Randomness Guide to London - Cockpit entry

It’s probably two or three years since I’ve visited this pub, but it doesn’t seem to have changed one bit. This is a good thing, as it remains one of the few real pubs in this area. I believe that this pub had its own cockpit until the “sport” was outlawed in 1846. Anyway, the name certainly commemorates this “sport”. The Cockpit is an oddly wedge shaped triangular corner pub. The bar counter is tucked into a small corner on a slightly raised area at the back on the right. There’s a handful of tables with small stools and banquettes, plus a few tall stools at the bar or adjacent to a small ledge opposite the bar counter. Both doors to the pub are still in use, indicating that even a pub as small as this one would have had two separate rooms in the past. Decor consists of various prints on the walls, some of fighting cocks of course, as well as a splendid model cockerel, testifying to its Courage Brewery heritage, plus a dozen or so jugs displayed on some boarding. I even saw a shove ha’penny board near one of the radiators. The windows are those small leaded panes, a few of mullioned glass, that give a place an antique feel, and one of the windows had an image of St Paul’s Cathedral painted on it. But the most interesting feature of this pub is the gallery on two of its three sides. This is intended to represent a medieval minstrels’ gallery, although I very much doubt whether it was ever used as such. The reals ales on during my visit were Courage Directors; Bombardier; London Pride; Adnam’s Bitter; and Pedigree. So, there’s nothing particularly exciting in the way of ales, but nonetheless this is a reasonable selection, and the pint of Bombardier that I had was fine. The food menu is pretty basic, and reasonably priced. Sarnies are £3 - £3.50, and mains at £5.50 - £6. This really is one of the City’s hidden gems (there aren’t many of them!!) and is well worth the effort of finding.

The Cockpit has a history going back 400 years and the original building was apparently at one time owned by Shakespeare himself who used it as a refuge for persecuted priests. The current building dates from 1842 and was used for cock fighting until the sport was banned 7 years later when the pub was renamed the Three Castles. It reverted back to the Cockpit in the 70's and much of the interior appears to date from this time. I am assuming that the balconies are recreations as they appear to be far too small and shallow for them to be practical. That said it is not hard to picture the days when they would have been full of yelling punters and the basic shape of the pub is probably not much different than it was in its Cockfighting days. Whilst the cockerels no longer populate the floor space, it is not without its wildlife – I witnessed a couple of mice scurrying around on my visit although no-one seemed to pay much attention when this was pointed out. Despite being dated in a “Watneys Red Barrel” kind of way, the pub is quite homely with dimpled glass windows, lamps, potted plants, lanterns and endless pictures of cockerels. Even the Courage symbols seem to be apt here. The high tongue and grooved ceiling gives the pub a much larger appearance although the bar area in particular can be a bit cramped. There is a big screen for sport although by kick off time you will probably have the pub to yourself as it is in an area not really noted for late nights. We watched an England game here and there were barely a dozen people in the pub. If you like unusual pubs with a bit of history, the Cockpit is certainly worth tracking down for a visit.