Place Name
This was previously named after a pub the Ship Tavern, at 27 Lime Street, which was first recorded here in 1447. The pub was a favourite of shipowners and mariners and from 1909 Port of London notices were posted here. The old pub built in 1842 is Grade II listed. It closed down in 2010 and is now a restaurant. A plaque on the wall read: “Originally called The Ship & Shovel, the eighteenth century Inn developed an intimate connection with tea, coal and the established church. The church connection was with St Paul’s Cathedral; the building of which was paid for in coal, or rather by a tax on that commodity. All the coal entering that part of London was weighed and taxed by shovel load; and one of the places it was weighed and taxed was outside The Ship Inn Lime Street. Coal heavers weighed it out using large style shovels; being dusty and thirsty work they often refreshed themselves at The Ship, leaving their shovels propped against the outside wall, hence The Ship & Shovel”.
