Cockpit in City of London, Westminster

Pub tour first pit stop, good cask ale.

Originally a cock fighting venue and can still see the sunken floor and viewing balcony inside. Great place to stop for a drink or two. Recommended

An excellent traditional 'wet' led drinking pub with very traditional features. This pub has not been gentrified or turned into a restaurant. Busy at lunchtimes, but still found seating for seven.

A lovely little pub, with a lovely welcome, and excellent beers.

Very good pub a couple of minutes walk from Blackfriars Station. Four cask beers on handpump when I visited. Lots of standing room outside in the quiet pedestrian alley. Very friendly and helpful chap running the bar. The pub, which is Grade-II listed, was built in around 1865 and its shape recreates that of a cockpit and fighting cock prints adorn the walls.

Nice traditional Englisch pub close to St. Paul's. I can recommend

🚇 Blackfriars 🍺 £6.20 Madri The Cockpit is tucked away on St Andrew’s Hill, close to St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London. The nearest Tube is Blackfriars which is just around the corner. This Grade II listed pub was originally built in the 18th century close to Shakespeare’s Blackfriars home. This pub was used as a “Cock Pit” and takes its name from the sport of cockfighting. The sport was banned in 1849 and the pub was renamed The Three Castles. The pub was rebuilt in 1865 and reverted back to its original name in the mid 1980’s, ironically the pub owners at the time (Courage) have a Cockerel as their emblem. This is traditional one bar pub with bags of oldschool charm. The servery is located at the back right and has a curved counter and a superb 1970’s back bar. Above the servery and the left wall is a gallery which replicates where people used to watch cockfighting from back in the 19th century. The seating is red velour banquette pews with matching small red stools plus a few tall stools around the bar. The walls are adorned with a plethora of beer jugs, Courage signage and paintings of Blackfriar Freddie, the local champion cockerel. To cement this pubs oldschool status, there is a proper red patterned pub carpet running throughout. The beer selection is familiar keg stalwarts plus four cask options. I decided on a pint of Madri, my pint hit the spot, price point was reasonable considering the location. This pub doesn’t serve food but bar snacks are available. I arrived around 1.30pm on a warm Saturday lunchtime in March. The pub was fairly busy with a number of punters outside, a few day trippers sat inside and some regulars at the bar. The atmosphere was chilled and relaxed, the service friendly and welcoming. I have visited this outstanding boozer a number times over the years and it always draws me back. Maybe it’s the allure of the black and gold exterior, the charming location, the oldschool decor or the history surrounding the pub, maybe it’s all of these things. If ever there was a pub you must visit in London, The Cockpit is definitely it. ℹ️ Info correct on 30.03.24

A great option for a few drinks in the St Paul's area, lots of history and a great selection of ales.

Great proper pub, great beer, great friendly service, hidden gem, well worth a visit

Well worth a visit, good selection of real ales, interesting decor and history. well tucked away but glad we found it Its added tomy notable pubs list..

Looking for an historical pub in the back street of london, this is the king of pubs. Independent brew selection.

It's beautiful and worth thinking about

Best pub in the area, excellent beer.

Lovely old school pub, lot's of character

Busyish even early on a Wednesday afternoon. Lots of references to the history. Cosy feeling inside and generous standing room outside. Staff were friendly.

No food, my new favourite pub! Great friendly staff.

We visited this lovely place by booking a tour on Viator call Small group for historic pub in London! This was the very first pub we visited and we loved and enjoyed very much! Seating in this pub is like we are back in times for at least 100 years! The staff are super friendly and welcoming. Beer is great and cold! If not because we have few more bars/pubs to visit, we can stay here whole night!

This smallish traditional pub is located among the maze of small alleys opposite St Pauls. I opted for a rather nice Neck Oil at £7.20. The service was excellent. They did have 4 cask ales and a varied selection of 15 whiskies. It was quite busy for a weekday afternoon due mainly to a pub tour group who popped in for a drink. There is a small seating area outside. The gents toilets are located down a steepish set of stairs in the basement, this could be a problem for the less mobile. In summary a charming pub well worth a visit.

Authentic English pub, with friendly and helpful staff.

Such a cool little spot, not very big but an interesting place for a pint. Met the owner Cookie while there and enjoyed our time.

A very nice pub close to St.Paul's Cathedral

Fantastic pub! Defo recommend. Very welcoming staff and a lovely pint.

This pub was built around 1860 but there’s been a pub on the site since at least the 16th century. Cock fights were held here back in the day and punters would view proceedings from the small gallery area. Even though it was busy on the late afternoon weekday we visited, the ultra efficient and friendly bar staff ensured there was minimum waiting time at the bar. Recommended.

Great London pub! Solid beer selection, classic English pub decor. Bartenders were very kind and had some great local recommendations of places to visit. Highly recommend!

My favourite pub in the City. Very good beer. Old school crowd and feel. A wonderful haven of a proper boozer.

Fantastic no nonsense old school pub. Excellent atmosphere and history etc. The landlord and other staff are very friendly. I can't really fault this pub at all - a very decent pint of Guinness too!

What a lovely place an absolutely belting old school pub with an absolutely lovely vibe and totally genuine. Popped in randomly for 1 pint after a meeting. Ended up chatting with locals, bar staff and felt right at home stayed for 3 hours and didn't want to leave. I will be hunting this place out again for sure. Oh yes. Good beer not badly priced, historic old place really unique.

No food available. But service was good and bartender was friendly.

Several pub crawls came through on Sundays, then it got busy for a moment

Cool old pub. Small hidden gem. The barman was really friendly.

The best pub in the Square Mile, decent prices, good service and loads of history.

I wanted some proper English ale and got it here in spades.

Absolutely love this bar. A real gem in London History. Staff very friendly. Please visit

Fantastic pub and staff so friendly and helpful 👍

Good pub but very very quiet atmosphere on a Monday evening

Great old London pub. Steeped in history

A traditional London pub in the heart of the City, carpeted, serving a good selection of beer. The owner is friendly and nice.

Fantastic original and quirky pub with good beer selection. Very busy for a Saturday lunchtime. Dog friendly and great atmosphere. Will certainly return.

I've been a patron of The Cockpit for 50 years, however I hadn't been back for 10 years so was pleasantly surprised that little has changed. Barry was great behind the bar, mainly tourists with a couple of regulars which was a great craic. Good selection of ale so a great venue for an historical interlude. Will now visit more regularly as the vibe was good even the urinals are original 1950's LOL.

This was the first stop on our pub crawl. Really enjoyed this pub, it's very old and authentic! It's well worth a visit when you are in London.

Great local pub for crisps and a beer

Lovely historical pub tucked away toilets were not great but the carpet in the pub was very clean great real ale on the pump definitely look up at the decor very interesting

We enjoyed a pint after a day of traveling to London. The place was even quite busy for a weekday, there is a good selection of beers and it looks quite authentic. There are not many seats.

Good beer and chat sitting at a table before heading home. Quiet atmosphere.

Un pub classique, avec une histoire intéressante (que j'ai découvert sur tripadvisor). Bon choix de bières, très bon cidre également. Ambiance cool et serveur sympathique.

Greatest pub in the square mile

Historical old pub with huge potential but falls short in reality when compared to what has been done with similar pubs in the area. Great architecture and aesthetics outside, inside has a lot of potential but needs a serious refresh. All but 1 cask ale was out and the bartender was less than friendly. Having been to several of the older pubs in the area, a good refresh of the interior would go a long way for the atmosphere similar to what has been done elsewhere.

A traditional London pub in the heart of the City, carpeted, serving a good selection of cask ale. The antidote to a gastropub.

Timmy Taors beer on sale. Perfect. Well kept

This is a jem of a pub sevice excellent pleasant staff this is a proper old school London pub

Really good traditional London pub. Good atmosphere and great staff

I love hidden pubs; Cockpit gets 7/10 for hiddenness, 10/10 for odd shapeness and 9/10 for history. Great place to come across wandering from St Paul's down to the river.

Nice saloon style pub. Good service

Nice pub not far from St Paul's cathedral. Friendly welcoming staff with a great selection of beer and spirits

Proper old fashioned boozer. Beer is kept to an excellent standard.

Nice old pub with friendly staff and even some proper beer. Yes, they have the usual fizzy lager stuff too, if you are that way inclined. It gets crowded so get there early if you would like a seat.

A proper London back street pub stones throw from St Paul's great atmosphere.

This pub was built around 1860 but there’s been a pub on the site since at least the 16th century. Cock fights were held here back in the day and punters would view proceedings from the small gallery area. Even though it was busy on the late afternoon weekday we visited, the ultra efficient and friendly bar staff ensured there was minimum waiting time at the bar. Recommended.

Good quality real ales not fizzy euro fizz Quite busy.

Spectacular looking from the outside, a bit rundown but charming inside. I went there last Sunday evening around 8pm. There were only a couple of other customers and it was pretty quiet, no music, no city noises, which kinda made me feel catapulted back in time, in a good way. The bartender, Aoife, was very nice and forthcoming, and, seeing that I sat at the bar on my own, engaged in an interesting conversation with me. Will definitely stop by there again on my next trip to London.

Pleasant ambiance Popular with tourists Historic City pub Thanks

Small but nice English pub. I went there for a beer only.

Reece treated us in the best way possible. Had my first drink in the UK at this pub(came to visit from Australia). Thumbs up to Reece who served us. 😊

A great historic pub, a little hard to find but well worth it.

The history of this pub makes it a must see. It is individually owned and has that feel.

Nice little, local pub, on the edge of Temple area of London

Found this pub on a little pub crawl near our apartment, lovely ale, friendly staff, so friendly we went back later same evening! Not a big place but we loved it, sad that they called last orders at 10.30 on a Friday night as we could have stayed a lot longer.

This is a tucked away pub in the back streets near to St Paul's cathedral which you most likely would not find just by walking around. It is small and old fashioned looking but just the type of pub that I was looking for. Because it is tucked away, it was not busy and I easily found a table to sit at. The staff were friendly and welcoming and they had a good range of beers and wines to choose from. I had a draught pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord and it was in very good condition. Well worth a visit if you are nearby.

A proper old fashioned city boozer

This really is a proper London backstreet pub stuck in the post war era. Your surrounded in the aura and feel of a proper London pub, yes it's small but well worth a visit. And the beer is great too!

We were only passing by so didn't get the chance to order any food. Having said that the pub was dripping in history and charm which makes me want to come back and give it the time it deserves.

Had a fantastic time here. Shout out to Ricky and Reece who were always on it and proper friendly. Gonna be coming here for a while!

Nice little pub friendly bar staff nice atmosphere well worth a visit

Classic British Pub. No food on offer

Great little London pub off the beaten track a bit which is steeped in history and with some well cared-for beers. No food except bar snacks and the toilets are only accessible by tight stairs but okay for able-bodied patrons.

A regular place to go for a beer (or two) after work. A pub with a very interesting past. The staff are always friendly and welcoming. Good selection of beers for a small place.

Nice old fashioned London pub - small inside with a good atmosphere but, despite visiting on a Thursday evening, not difficult to get a drink. Road outside is quiet and plenty of space either side to stand with a drink, although it is on a bit of a steep hill.

The pub was very full but the bar staff seemed to manage really well. They had gluten free beer, so it was lovely not to have to drink over-sweet fizzy cider. For those who didn't get a seat, the road outside is really quiet and the pavements were full. We had a good evening!

Typical London’s pub, place is small but cosy and has its own history to tell! Amazing ales to taste, it is worth the stop here. Also prices are lower with respect to other pubs in the city. Recommended!

This pub has the friendliest landlord in London. He is very gracious and welcoming to eveyone who steps through the door including dogs. This old pub has history and a very welcoming atmosphere. The reason I only gave 4 stars is that the wash hand basin in the ladies was dirty.

Nice London pub which is a stop on the tourist tours route. The barmaid was very patient with the group of Americans in front of me. The beer was delightful (Harvey's Best Bitter) and the wine too. Well worth checking it out but I would avoid a Thursday evening as it gets packed.

Very friendly. Good Choice of Beers.

We didn't eat there but my friends and i enjoyed the wine. It's only a small place but friendly.

Found on Instagram and it didn’t disappoint 🍺

A good old fashioned pub, great selection of ales 🍺

Really nice traditional pub in the city

Stopped in on a pub crawl and found the history of the place fascinating, and the atmosphere delightful!!

Classic London pub. Mix of friendly locals and tourists. Love it

Good quite bar in london everyone was friendly and up for a laugh im a handful after a drink i didnt fight or get kicked out what was a bonus I'd drink here again if i ever stay in the area again

Lovely little pub in an unusual, off the track location. Good beers and the barman was very friendly. We didn't have food, not sure if they even serve it.

Pub inglés tradicional con buena variedad de cervezas.

Lovely old fashioned boozer tucked away on a quiet back street. Nice staff and decent prices for the area. Recommended

Terrific authentic English pub. Really enjoyed our visit. Highly recommend!

Cool pub, where you can feel at home :)

Small place with history. The beer was soso. Choices are limited and the one we had was so light.

Discovered Tribute Cornish Ale. Perfect

Visited on a recommendation and glad I did. Tucked away down a back street meaning it was very quiet when we went. Well worth a visit.

Exactly what a pub should be and the Guinness was a work of art.

Great London pub. Good ale and friendly barman , regulars.

Great traditional pub. No frills. Friendly bar staff and nice atmosphere. Recommended for a low key, relaxed evening