The Lamb & Flag, Covent Garden.

Covent Garden's most preserved 18th century pub.

The Lamb & Flag stands at the corner of Rose Street and Garrick Street in Covent Garden, one block north of the Covent Garden piazza. The pub has stood on the site since 1772, with the current building dating to a 1845 rebuild that preserved the 18th century footprint. The pub has functioned continuously as a public house ever since, with the exception of two brief licensing breaks in the 19th century.

The room is two parts: a small ground-floor public bar with a dozen stools and a horseshoe counter, and an upstairs function room that once hosted bare knuckle prize fights and is now used for private hire. The 19th century bare knuckle fights gave the pub its enduring nickname, "The Bucket of Blood." The downstairs bar's wallpaper, fixtures, and fireplace are unchanged since 1952. The upstairs is more recently refurbished but retains the original timber beams.

Why this matters. The Lamb & Flag is the rare Covent Garden pub that has held its 18th century footprint and its working-class identity through two centuries of West End commercialization. The pub is a landmark of London literary and theatrical drinking history.

The Bucket of Blood nickname.

The pub's nickname dates to the 1860s, when the upstairs function room hosted bare knuckle prize fights for paying audiences. The fights were technically illegal under English boxing law of the period but were widely tolerated in the West End. The upstairs floor reportedly required regular cleaning of blood, hence the nickname. The fights ceased by 1880 with the Marquess of Queensberry rules era, but the nickname has persisted for 165 years.

Charles Dickens drank at the Lamb & Flag and may have witnessed the upstairs fights during his 1850s Covent Garden period. John Dryden, the poet laureate, was attacked by hired thugs outside the pub in 1679, in a famous London literary incident known as the "Rose Alley ambuscade." The incident is commemorated by a small plaque on the wall outside.

Pint of London Pride and a Scotch egg.

• Pint of London Pride: six pounds. The Lamb & Flag standard.
• Pint of Young's Bitter: six pounds. The Young's brewery has supplied the pub since 1860.
• Scotch egg: five pounds. The classic English pub snack, made fresh daily by the pub's small kitchen.
• Pickled onion: one pound. The classic English pub side, stored in a large jar behind the bar since the 1980s.
• The thing nobody knows: the bar pours a small Bell's Scotch at four pounds from a bottle that has been on the back shelf since the 1990s. Order "the Bell's." The bartender will pour without asking.

Friday at 6pm. The Covent Garden post-work hour.

The Lamb & Flag opens at 11am and closes at 11pm. Friday at 6pm is the Covent Garden post-work hour: the pub fills with theatre crew, West End office workers, and the occasional Royal Opera House staff. The downstairs bar is at full capacity, and the standing crowd extends into Rose Street.

The Tuesday at 4pm hour is the off-peak experience. The Sunday lunchtime at 12:30pm is the Sunday roast hour: the pub serves a traditional British Sunday roast (sixteen pounds) with all the trimmings. The roast is the pub's only meaningful kitchen output beyond bar snacks.

The pub has a tradition of opening early on Christmas Eve at 10am for the Covent Garden market staff. The Christmas Eve hour is the most local hour the pub has all year.

What the wall outside says.

A small bronze plaque is mounted on the exterior wall of the Lamb & Flag commemorating the 1679 Rose Alley ambuscade. John Dryden, the English poet laureate, was attacked by three hired thugs while leaving the pub on the night of December 18, 1679. The attack was widely believed to have been ordered by the Earl of Rochester, who had been satirised in a Dryden poem earlier that year. Dryden survived the attack but the assailants were never identified.

The plaque was installed in 1972 by the City of Westminster. It is the only physical commemoration of a literary incident on the Lamb & Flag's exterior. The pub regards the plaque with mild amusement and zero promotion. The plaque is approximately 30cm tall and is positioned three metres above street level, which means most pub visitors miss it entirely. Look up.

For two, fifty pounds across an evening.

Plan for forty-five to sixty pounds per pair for a three-hour visit. Three pints at six, two whiskies at four-fifty, two Scotch eggs at five, plus a small London pub tip in coin. Add fifteen pounds for a shared Sunday roast on Sundays.

Cards are accepted. Tipping is not customary in London pubs, but a five-pound coin left on the bar at the end is appreciated. The kitchen tips separately if you order a roast.

West End theatre, the Covent Garden tourist crowd, the Dickensians.

The Lamb & Flag draws three populations. The first: West End theatre staff and crew, particularly from the nearby Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the Donmar Warehouse. The second: a steady Covent Garden tourist contingent, particularly American visitors seeking authentic London pubs. The third: a small Dickensian and English literature scholar contingent who appreciate the Dryden plaque and the Dickens connection.

You will find a high tourist proportion at peak hours. The pub's Covent Garden location guarantees this and the regulars accept it. The local theatre crew tends to drink in the upstairs function room when it is not booked.

How not to be the worst person at the Lamb & Flag.

• Do not request the bare knuckle fights upstairs. The fights ended in 1880.
• Do not photograph the Dryden plaque obsessively. One photo is fine. The plaque is small.
• Do not order a craft cocktail. The pub serves pints and pub spirits.
• Do not bring a stag party. Covent Garden has many other options.
• Do not arrive on Friday at 6pm without a tolerance for crowds. The standing room extends to Rose Street.
• Do not order food beyond the Scotch egg, the pickled onion, and the Sunday roast. The kitchen is small.
• Do not, ever, ask the bartender to retell the Dryden ambuscade story unless it is a slow afternoon. The story is long. Save it.

Royal Opera House, the Lamb & Flag, the Coach & Horses.

The classic Covent Garden literary evening: catch a 7:30pm performance at the Royal Opera House. Walk three blocks east to the Lamb & Flag at 10pm for two pints and a Scotch egg, just before last orders. End at the Coach & Horses in Soho at 10:30pm if you can make it before their 11pm close.

For more bars in the area, see our London city guide, the Coach & Horses entry, and the Ship Tavern entry.

Yes. Covent Garden's most preserved 1772 pub.