The Ten Bells Spitalfields, London — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Ten Bells is one of the oldest pubs in London's East End, standing on the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street in Spitalfields. It has been serving drinks since at least 1752 and carries some of the darkest history in the city.

The pub was originally called the Eight Bells Alehouse (documented in 1755) and became the Ten Bells around 1788 when the nearby Christ Church Spitalfields installed a new set of chimes with ten bells. The current building dates to 1851, when the original was demolished to make way for the new Commercial Street.

The Ten Bells is inextricably linked to the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. At least two of the victims, Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly, were known to have been regulars here, and the pub stood at the centre of the neighbourhood where the killings took place. For a period in the 1970s and 1980s, the pub was actually renamed the "Jack the Ripper" before reverting to its original name.

Today, the pub is a Grade II listed building with beautifully preserved Victorian tiling, a cocktail bar upstairs, and a reputation for quality beers and atmosphere. The surrounding streets, once the territory of the Ripper, are now home to Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane's restaurants, and a thriving gallery scene.

If you're on a Questo quest through the East End, the Ten Bells is a stop where the pint in your hand connects you to centuries of London life, from silk weavers to street markets to some of the city's most notorious history.