Town of Ramsgate

About Town of Ramsgate

A pub on this Wapping High Street site since at least the 16th century, renamed for the Ramsgate fishermen who landed catches here to dodge Billingsgate market dues, standing above the stone steps where the 'Hanging Judge' Jeffreys was caught fleeing in 1688.

A pub has stood on this narrow stretch of Wapping High Street since at least the 16th century, originally known as the Red Cow, reputedly after a barmaid, before taking its current name from the fishermen of Ramsgate who used to land their catches at this spot specifically to avoid the dues charged at Billingsgate Market further upriver. At the rear, Wapping Old Stairs lead down to the Thames foreshore, the same steps where the notorious 'Hanging Judge' George Jeffreys was reportedly recognised and captured in 1688 while trying to flee England disguised as a sailor after the fall of James II. The stairs were also long used to load convicts onto ships bound for the penal colonies, and to chain pirates at the low-tide mark at the nearby Execution Dock. The pub itself keeps a narrow, low-beamed traditional layout with a small riverside terrace looking out over the same stretch of water, trading as an independent free house rather than a chain.