The Goat is a public house in Kensington, London, at 3a

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

, which dates back to 1695. It is where the English serial killer

John George Haigh John George Haigh (; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...

, the "Acid Bath Murderer", met his first victim.

History

The Goat is the oldest remaining pub on Kensington High Street, being constructed in 1695. The area had become a regular east–west route when King William built

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

and The Goat was the first significant building on this new thoroughfare. It was built as a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

but by 1702 it was an alehouse. In 1707, the freehold was purchased by the local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

for £80, using funds from the legacies of two women who had left money for education and support of the poor. The income from the alehouse was then used to support the poor and the National School which had been established in Kensington in 1645. There were extensive alterations in 1880. Around 1896, a new pub sign was painted by the Beggarstaffs, who had their studio in Kensington at the time. This endured into the twentieth century and impressed the local art aficiando Oliver Brown.

John George Haigh, the "Acid Bath Murderer"

In 1944, the English serial killer

, the "Acid Bath Murderer", had a chance meeting in the Goat with William McSwann, a wealthy owner of amusement arcades, for whom he had worked as a chauffeur in 1936, before spending time in prison for fraud. They met at The Goat again at about 6pm on 9 September, when they had some glasses of wine and a meal, after which Haigh enticed McSwann to his workshop nearby at 79 Gloucester Road (now the basement of a branch of

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

), broke his skull with a pinball table leg, and dumped his body in a 40-gallon tub which he filled with

sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

. Haigh went on to kill McSwann's parents almost a year later, and dissolved their corpses in sulphuric acid elsewhere, before assuming McSwann's identity and selling all of his parents' properties.

Secret tunnels to Kensington Palace

There are many rumours of tunnels linking the pub to

, which it overlooks, and although there are extensive vaults under the road, and perhaps tunnels into the grounds, no tunnel to the palace itself has yet been found.

Present day

In 2016, the pub was owned by the Taylor Walker pub chain. It is now called the Goat Tavern and part of the Greene King pub chain.

Sign

File:London, Kensington High Street, Goat Tavern -- 2016 -- 4614.jpg, The pub's sign in 2016

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goat, The South Kensington Pubs in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 1695 establishments in England