The claim
A slim Georgian pub on Narrow Street with its back to the Thames, the Grapes claims an ancestry going back to 1583. Dickens knew it and is thought to have drawn on it for the riverside tavern in Our Mutual Friend. Co-owned by Sir Ian McKellen, it keeps a Gandalf staff behind the bar and a tiny river terrace.
What the records show
The claim is the pub's own: its website calls it a traditional London pub since 1583. No record is cited for that date, and the surviving narrow riverside building is 18th-century.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1583 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| 1805 | First record of a drinking house here | Historic England |
What to look for inside
- Thought to inspire the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters in Our Mutual Friend
- Co-owned by Sir Ian McKellen since 2012
- Gandalf's staff displayed behind the bar
- Riverside veranda survived wartime bombing
Visiting
The Grapes is in London, England, at 76 Narrow Street, Limehouse, London E14 8BP. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- camra.org.uk/pubs/grapes-limehouse-155228
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes,_Limehouse
- www.thegrapes.co.uk
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1260573
- alondoninheritance.com/the-thames/narrow-street-the-story-of-a-riverside-community/
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/43301
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
Run this pub? There is a badge for it
Free to put on your own site, no permission needed. It shows what the pub claims and what the records support, and it changes when the data does.
How to use it, and how to change what it says — if you have a document we have not seen, we would like to read it.
