Lamb and Flag, Covent Garden, WC2 (3578392482)

The Lamb and Flag is a Grade II listed

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

at Rose Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2. The building is erroneously said to date back to Tudor times, and to have been a licensed premises since 1623, but in fact dates from the early 18th century. The building became a pub in 1772. Situated in what was a violent area of Covent Garden, the pub's upstairs room once hosted bare-knuckle prize fights, leading to it being nicknamed "The Bucket of Blood". A plaque on the building commemorates an attack on

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

in a nearby alley in 1679, when Charles II sent men to assault Dryden in objection to a satirical verse against Louise de Kérouaille, Charles II's mistress. Writer

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

frequented the pub in the 19th century. The pub was refaced with brick in 1958.

References

Covent Garden 17th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Grade II listed pubs in the City of Westminster Fuller's pubs {{UK-listed-building-stub