The Spotted Dog is a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
public house at 212 Upton Lane,
Forest Gate, London.
It dates back to the late 15th or early 16th century,
and was thought to once have been a hunting lodge for
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
.
History
Leopold Wagner
Leopold Wagner (1927, Klagenfurt – 26 September 2008) was an Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), serving as governor (''Landeshauptmann'') of Carinthia from 1974 to 1988.
Wagner was governor of Carinthia for three consecut ...
's 1921 book ''A New Book About London'' writes of a "huge barn-like structure in the vegetable garden ... (of the pub) ... wantonly sacrificed by the new proprietors in the interest of a bottling store ... (which had) ... anciently enclosed the kennels for a pack of royal hounds". He asserts that when Henry VIII followed the chase in the Essex (Epping) Forest, he "took up the hounds here at Upton" about a mile from the toll-gate which subsequently led to the residential district being named Forest Gate.
Some credence can be attached to this tale because having dissolved
Stratford Langthorne Abbey in 1538 and seized all of its enormous land holdings in the borough Henry Vlll used his own money to purchase the nearby Hamfrith Wood from its owner, Sir
Anthony Hungerford – presumably to facilitate his love of hunting. Mr Wagner provides some intriguing details in support of his account stating that what became the Spotted Dog was at the time the residence of Henry's Master of the Hounds, who was granted the privilege of taking personal profit for refreshing travellers passing that way.
The author asserts that on this account that, until the Great War, the Spotted Dog "stood alone among the inns of the country at large in having its licence direct from the Crown," adding that:
Development
The pub has been closed since June 2004, and is in a state of serious disrepair.
In 2009, the
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...
posted a notice stating that it was a dangerous structure.
In 2014, a campaign group called ''Save the Spotted Dog'' campaigned for the pub to be either reinstated as a family pub, or for it to be used for as some other sort of community facility; the group received support from local MPs and
Newham Council.
In 2020, the council approved plans to renovate the pub and build a 68-room hotel next door.
See also
*
The Old Spotted Dog Ground
The Old Spotted Dog Ground in Forest Gate is the oldest senior football ground in London. Clapton Community FC the fan-owned club purchased the ground in June 2020, having been initially awarded the lease.
The previous tenants Clapton FC ...
References
External links
Save the Spotted Dog campaign
{{Pubs in London
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Newham
Grade II listed pubs in London
Pubs in the London Borough of Newham
Forest Gate
Former pubs in London