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The imposing Doggett’s Coat and Badge pub – known to many simply as Doggett’s – is getting a major revamp.
The landmark Blackfriars Bridge building has been a boozer since 1977, and you’ll find it right on the side of the Thames. It’s a big old concrete structure that was built during the boom of brutalist architecture, which included the nearby Royal National Theatre, designed by Denys Lasdun and opened in 1976, and – just across the river – the Barbican estate, which was completed in 1974.
Nicholson’s Pubs will be reopening Doggett’s on February 15 after significant investment in the once slightly shoddy (or shall we say unloved?) pub, with upgraded bars and private hire areas, as well as a little bit of magic dust scattered on the outside drinking areas.
The pub was built during a full scale redevelopment to the area south of Blackfriars Bridge, and replaced the Cross Keys & Railway Hotel, which had been there since least 1851.
Doggett’s Coat and Badge gets its peculiar name from a boat race between London Bridge and Chelsea’s Cadogan Pier, which was first held on the Thames in 1715 and organised by Irish actor Thomas Doggett. The event is thought to be the longest running sporting event in British history.
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