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Site of The Square Rigger, 2014	Picture source: Colin Price
The Square Rigger was situated at 2 Arthur Street. This pub was built in the 1960s on the site of an earlier pub called The Crooked Billet - the address was then known as 9-10 Crooked Lane. It has now been demolished, with a commercial building built on the site. It was also known as the Old City Of London Shades.
The Square Rigger is an extremely unusual pub, constructed a a replica of an eighteenth century ship of the line with a giant sail, a mast running through the middle of the pub, and two 'decks'. From the centre of the 'ship' you look out over the 'gunwhales' to murals of a distant sea coast. All that's missing from the total illusion is a whiff of the brine and the motion of the waves! The upper bar is also a wine bar, and next to the lower bar is a dining area. The pub serves bar snacks and pizzas with tongue-in-cheek, maritime names. Hot and cold snacks and pizzas served during opening hours: sausage at 40p to Bigger Rigger pizza at £2.60.
The Maritime England Year leaflet, 1982.
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