Silver Cross

First licensed in 1674 as The Garter, but the building goes back further — part of the site was St Katherine's Hermitage, constructed in the thirteenth century. The Silver Cross sits on Whitehall, and its most-repeated fact is that Charles I granted it a licence to operate as a brothel, which the BBC claimed in 1999 was technically never revoked, making it the only legal brothel in the country. It's now a Greene King. The plaster ceiling in the bar dates from Charles I's time in Whitehall Palace. From here it's a one-minute walk to the next pub, which at this stage of the crawl feels like a gift.