The Tiger Tavern, Tower Hill 1960s

The Tiger Tavern once stood at the corner of Lower Thames Street and Tower Hill, on a site that had housed a tavern since the 1500s. The building pictured here dated from 1893 and managed to survive the heavy bombing of the Second World War, even as much of the surrounding area was reduced to rubble.

By 1960, plans were underway to redevelop the area. The Tiger Tavern closed its doors in January 1963 and was subsequently demolished. Its final landlord, Reginald Bath, had run the pub for five years.

A new office block was completed on the site in 1965, incorporating a modern reincarnation of the Tiger Tavern. That building, too, was eventually cleared, and in 2002 it was replaced with yet another office development—marking yet another chapter in the long history of this well-trodden corner of the City.