Goodman's Field

About Goodman's Field

A large Wetherspoon conversion on Mansell Street, named after the historic Goodman's Fields once here, site of the 18th-century theatre where David Garrick made his acting debut.

Goodman's Field takes its name from the open pasture that once stretched east of the Tower of London and gave its name to the Goodman's Fields Theatre, the 18th-century playhouse a few streets away where the actor David Garrick made his celebrated stage debut in 1741, playing Richard III under a stage name to avoid his family's disapproval. The current pub is a typically large, high-ceilinged Wetherspoon conversion on Mansell Street, on the Whitechapel side of the Aldgate boundary, and functions as a value-priced, all-day stop for the office workers, students and travellers passing through this corner of E1 on their way between the City and Whitechapel. It keeps the chain's usual formula of a long cask ale line-up, all-day breakfasts and a curry night, with little in the way of period feature beyond the name itself, but its scale and prices make it one of the busiest pubs on this stretch of Mansell Street.