The Ten Bells

[SDC]

So if the ten bells is trying to move away from it's ripper past, does anyone know what's happened to the victims board they used to display ?

[John Bennett]

I think we have two threads with the same name here. One started by Chava and the other by me. Anyway...

I believe the pub is essentially the same building, but it appears to have been altered in the early 1890s, giving it the angled corner entrance we know now. A bit of 'refronting', as they say.

Interior-wise, yes, the upstairs loos have gone and the raised area too. It's a much simpler layout. The bar has always been where it is now as long as I've been going there, but 23 years is not long in the history of the Ten Bells!

[WARSPITE]

Mmm...always assumed it was same building. The landlords in the early 1990s told me it used to be more square than rectangular, and it had partitions leading off from the bar which has always been where it was. I remember the makeshift loos on the right,now done away with, and of course the infamous ripper board by the window. I always feel a bit self conscious going in for a drink nowadays!

[Ashkenaz]

[ATTACH]4031[/ATTACH]

The Ten Bells, Scuse the converging verticals had to use wide angle lens.

all the best

Observer

It has plenty of rooms upstairs. Do they offer accomodation ?

[KatBradshaw]

The last time I went I took a piccie inside which I think I have posted. The girl behind the bar was very helpful and talked about knwing it was a hang out for the ripper victims. I asked if it was ok for me to take the piccy as my cousin was doing her coursework on JtR. She said it was fine and that they get a lot of people coming to see it and taking pics. She did say she was pleased I had asked as so many people just take them.

[AdamWalsh]

It seems to be quite a trendy hangout these days. The clientele are often young twenty-somethings. The whole area is very trendy though so I'm not in the least bit surprised.

Every so often you see someone who looks totally out of place, like middle-aged Americans sat by themselves, having a pint and taking the atmosphere in and you can almost guarantee they'll be students of the Whitechapel murders on a sort of pilgrimage

very true - when I was in there it was obvious who were the oblivious "drinkers" and who were the Jack people, me being one of them - just the types that had cameras and spent the whole time looking round instead of just sitting.

[Jon Guy]

The last time I was in the Ten Bells it was called the Jack the Ripper, and it was the year the Diary came out, I bought a copy to read on my return train journey.

I remember the area was deserted, and no-one was in the pub whilst I was there. The victims board was on a wall near the bar, and they were selling a few JTR titbits like maps behind the bar.

[Cubitt]

It seems to be quite a trendy hangout these days. The clientele are often young twenty-somethings. The whole area is very trendy though so I'm not in the least bit surprised.

Every so often you see someone who looks totally out of place, like middle-aged Americans sat by themselves, having a pint and taking the atmosphere in and you can almost guarantee they'll be students of the Whitechapel murders on a sort of pilgrimage

[John Bennett]

Anyone else care to share your experiences/conversations while visiting the Ten Bells?

A couple of years back I went into the Ten Bells during the day, this being when the famous victims board was still in there, albeit facing the wall.

Feeling cheeky, I asked the barman what that large panel was in the corner - he replied "oh, just some board with names on it", just like that.

It did confirm the ambivalence the pub had towards Ripper stuff at the time.

[kensei]

I visited the Ten Bells this September while fitting a solo daytime Ripper tour into a vacation to England. (Had resolved to drink a toast to Mary Jane there- it ended up just being a Coke since it was the middle of the day.) I was struck by how extremely small the interior was for such a famous pub. The bartender barely responded to questions about the Ripper and said I was only the second person he'd ever heard bring it up. I didn't believe that for a second and neither did Philip Hutchinson when I met him later to take his tour. Anyone else care to share your experiences/conversations while visiting the Ten Bells?

[Monty]

John,

I was talking to Paul Begg some years ago who stated that the layout of the Bells inside was different to today.

The entrance was on the extreme left of the photo Observer kindly produced, where the sign is that reads 'The Ten Bells' at body level. The bar was a horseshoe kind, so I was told.

I know many pubs have been altered. The Princess Alice is decidely shorter than it used to be. Most however usually go for a new facade.

Looking at the difference in images, the fact Goads has a squared building (as does the sketch) whereas the 1894 & 1905 images show an angled corner, is confusing. I cant see why they would rebuild an almost identicle building on the spot.

So personally I feel it was altered as opposed to rebuilt.

Cheers
Monty


PS, This image below of the pub in 1905 has always fascinated me. Ever since Andy Ailiffe pointed out that on the top of the telegraph pole that is sticking out of the Ten Bells pub, seems to be the figure of a man doing some work on it. Indeed, it has been suggested this was the reason for the photo.

And if I remember correctly, Rob Clack has a photo of the very window this photo was taken from.

Interest yet dull. Thats the oxymoron I am !

[Observer]

The Ten Bells, Scuse the converging verticals had to use wide angle lens.

all the best

Observer

[The Grave Maurice]

Yikes. Every time I went to the Bells I said to myself, well this is as close as I'm ever going to get: MJK might very well have sat in that corner right over there cadging drinks. Turns out it could have been a different place altogether. Is nothing sacred? I shall follow this thread with interest. (I'm hoping that the building simply underwent some sort of minor facelift.)

[claire]

If the sketch is accurate then there certainly seems to have been some substantial work done to the ground floor...could it be that the accuracy of the sketch is doubtful, with regards to the upper floors? (Particularly if it was done by someone who just did a very brief sketch in situ and then went away to tidy it up.) As for the insurance map, possible, I suppose, that the plot was square but the building a little angled.

Interesting, though. I'm sure there'll be paperwork somewhere on planning permissions for any substantial building work that would have altered the shape of the building...tomorrow I am off to look at similar permissions for the works on Wilton's, so I'll have a check if anything else would exist for the Bells.

[John Bennett]

I'm off to have a closer look...

Mark

Ah, the beauty of living 'in the field' as it were.

Anyway, after seeing the maps, I did mention this in my Wiki entry. I just didn't realise how much work seems to have been done.