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Picture source: Stephen Harris

The Crown & Dolphin was situated at 56 Cannon Street Road.  This pub was present by 1811, the time of the notorious Ratcliffe Murders.  A sailor called John Williams was arrested for the murders but himself died in mysterious circumstances whilst in prison.  Although his guilt was never established, and modern accounts suggest that the evidence was tenuous, Williams’ body was paraded around Wapping and then buried on un-consecrated ground outside the Crown & Dolphin with a stake driven through his heart.  One hundred years later, in 1911, road-diggers accidently revealed what remained of the body and the landlord of the pub helped himself to the skull as a souvenir.  The pub was a Charrington’s Brewery house and closed in 1992 to undergo conversion to private flats.

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Other Photos

Picture source: Timothy Keane