The Blind Beggar

The Blind Beggar is a pub on Whitechapel Road in London’s East End, standing at the corner with Cambridge Heath Road. It lies just across the old boundary between Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, close to Whitechapel Station. The building dates from 1894 but occupies a site where an inn had stood since before 1654. Its name comes from the old ballad of the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, a story revived in the 18th century. The pub is also linked to the creation of the Salvation Army through William Booth’s first sermon outside its doors in 1865. It became famous as the place where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell in 1966. The pub’s history includes its role as the nearest outlet for Mann’s Albion brewery, where the first modern brown ale was brewed. It has been frequented by figures such as Harry Redknapp and was once owned by Bobby Moore. The ballad tells of Henry de Montfort, a nobleman blinded at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, who supposedly begged at this crossroads. The legend spread widely in Tudor times and was printed in Thomas Percy’s 1765 collection. In 1900 the story appeared on the seal of Bethnal Green’s former borough council. Inside, the pub retains its traditional bars and seating areas, with the saloon bar where Cornell was killed still part of its layout. A statue nearby commemorates William Booth’s work that began with his sermon outside. Visitors often start the Monopoly pub crawl from here, drawn by its place on the board. The surrounding streets carry the East End’s working-class history, with markets and older terraces nearby. The building itself is a plain late-Victorian structure, its fame resting on stories rather than grand architecture.