Basement Photo Friday – A Scary, Made for Halloween, London Pub and its Old Cellar Cells

London is famous for it’s history, buildings, beautiful parks, amazing museums and trend setting styles, restaurants and shops. London is also most famous and visited for the centuries old public houses a.k.a “pubs” that adorn almost every street corner or tiny little back-alleyway.   Many of the pubs in London date back to the 1500’s (some possibly traced to the 1400’s) with The Citte of Yorke, Ye Old Cheshire Cheese or Ye Olde Mitre being a few of the most “famous” or infamous if you will.

As you might imagine, pubs that are as old as most in London have amazing and storied histories.  The Viaduct Tavern is one of those pubs and it has a curious and much debated past.  Opened in 1869, it is said to have been built on the site of an old, defunct debtor’s prison.  The “cells” of that prison are still below in the pub’s cellar.  If you are ever in London, head over to the Viaduct Tavern to see for yourself.  You’ll have to ask the barkeep (nicely of course) if you could be taken to the cellar to see where the prisoners were held.  The best chance of a min-tour is when the pub is not busy, between the lunch and dinner rush.