CityPubs

Cheshire Cheese Today

Under the bridge girders which carry the four railway lines entering Fenchurch Street Station which serve London, Tilbury and Southend line (LT&S) you will find the Cheshire Cheese. Today The Cheshire Cheese is part of the Stonegate Group and offers a wide range of drinks, cocktails, spirits and bottles of almost anything you could wish along with Cask Ales such as Black Sheep, Sussex Best, Camden Ales and others rotate depending on availability, tea and coffee are also offered. The food menu has an impressive range; small plates, chicken dishes, sharing plates, burgers and meats from the grill, curries, fish & chips to name just a selection.

Live sport is shown on a multitude of large screens and there are live sports for you to take part in too, pool and darts are available.

There is plenty of seating and if you are lucky upstairs offers comfy seats where you can view through the arched windows, these are my personal favourites.

The pub feel is of a stylish traditional one, natural wood blended with tasteful decoration and instantly gives you a relaxed atmosphere. I have no reservations in listing the Cheshire Cheese here, the Stonegate Group have done excellent work in making this a brilliant venue to eat and drink. There are not many pubs in the City who offer a dog-friendly welcome, the Cheshire Cheese does just that.

Cheshire Cheese Past

The bridge girders above your head when you are in the Cheshire Cheese were built for the widening of the railway into Fenchurch Street Station around 1881. The previous brick supported bridge can still be seen alongside the iron girders, the original brick arch can also be seen if you venture outside and gaze upward, this dates from 1839. The Cheshire Cheese we see today was built around 1881, it was named after its predecessor, a gabled and jettied house of c. 1600.

Nearby Notables

If you leave The Cheshire Cheese, with the pub at your back, turn right walking just a few paces you come to the retained façade of the former Great Northern & Great Western Railway Depot, built in 1855-6 on a wedge-shaped site left by the railway, and reconstructed 1983-7 as part of the Fenchurch Street station redevelopment.

Just a few more steps you will come to French Ordinary Court, an interesting name which probably comes from a tavern selling ‘ordinaries’, meals served at a fixed time and price, these were common in the City of London during the 17th & 18th centuries, and I guess popular. Although the entrance is more modern,John Rocque’s Map of London in 1746 shows the passage with its current name of French Ordinary Court.

A few steps more, you reach number 42 Crutched Friars, a Grade II* Listed Building, it straddles French Ordinary Court and has been the City University Club since January 2018. Previously it was the residence of the Spanish Ambassador during the late 18th century. A delightful red brick house from around 1725 when George I was the English monarch.