A Hampstead backstreet pub with roots to 1704, once known as Ye Olde White Bear, reopened after years dark.
Published Apr 12, 2026 By Sofia Reeves Address 1 Well Road, Hampstead, London NW3 1LJ Nearest Transit Hampstead (Northern line), 8 minute walk Hours Mon 5:30pm – 11:00pm Tue 12:00pm – 11:00pm Wed 12:00pm – 11:00pm Thu 12:00pm – 11:00pm Fri 12:00pm – 11:30pm Sat 12:00pm – 11:30pm Sun 12:00pm – 10:30pm Good For A fireside pint, A Heath walk stop, A Sunday roast Cask ale Historic pub Fireplace Hampstead Heath Sunday roast Visit The Old White Bear Suggest an edit Ask the editors Tables are walk in on quiet days. Book ahead for a Sunday roast.
The Old White Bear sits on Well Road, deep in the residential lanes of old Hampstead and a short walk down from the village and the Heath. Its roots run to 1704, and for most of its life Londoners knew it as Ye Olde White Bear. After closing in 2014 the pub stood dark for years before reopening in December 2021, a return that Wikipedia and the London CAMRA branch both record.
What you get now is a proper neighborhood pub rather than a museum piece. There is cask ale on the pumps, a fire for the colder months, and a kitchen running pub plates and Sunday roasts. The setting does a lot of the work, since the corner location on Well Road and New End Square keeps it tucked away from the tourist drift around Hampstead tube.
This is a fireside local for a Heath walk or a long Sunday. For more in the area, see our cosy London winter pubs guide and the roundup of London hidden gems.
The pub keeps the bones of a Georgian backstreet house, low and snug, with a fireplace that anchors the main room through winter. It reads as a settled village local, the kind that fills with Heath walkers and dog owners rather than a destination crowd.
The kitchen leans traditional, with pub plates through the week and roasts on Sunday. The corner site gives it a couple of frontages and a calm position away from the main Hampstead foot traffic, which is part of why regulars treat it as a refuge.
