The Old Thameside Inn

The Old Thameside Inn is a modern pub, and it doesn't pretend otherwise. The reason you're here is directly above your head: the surviving rose window and gable wall of Winchester Palace, the 12th-century London residence of the Bishops of Winchester. The ruins loom over the pub's terrace on Clink Street. From this spot, the Bishops ran an operation that included Bankside's theatres, bear-baiting pits, a private prison — the Clink, which gave English its slang for jail — and licensed brothels whose workers were known as Winchester Geese. The building itself was once Pickfords Wharf, a spice warehouse on docks dating back to the 16th century. Get a table on the terrace if you can. The views across to the City are worth the stop.