MarkKelleher

By MarkKelleher

The Apple Tree Pub, Clerkenwell, London

There's been a pub on this site since 1726.

One of the landlords was strongman Thomas Topham.

To celebrate what was thought to be a big British victory over Spain in 1741, Topham performed a weight-lifting feat in Great Bath Street by picking up three hogsheads of water. That's the sort of thing they did in those days.

When the full information got back to England about the battle, it was actually one of the biggest defeats in the history of the British Navy - the Battle of Cartega de Indias in present day Colombia.

The pub used to be opposite the notorious Coldbath Fields Prison, renowned for its brutality, but that closed in 1885.

The current building was rebuilt in 1848, and that two-storey extension on the left was added in 1925.

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