Why The Ship & Shovell Is Worth Seeking Out
You may have come looking for The Ship & Shovell because you’ve heard about the London pub split between two buildings, or perhaps you’re exploring around Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross and want to add an unusual pub to the day.
Yes, it really is one pub in two separate buildings. Follow Craven Passage and you’ll find The Ship & Shovell facing itself across the narrow alleyway, with a pub door on either side.
Don’t be surprised to find drinkers gathered outside with their pints. Craven Passage runs directly between the two halves of the pub, so simply make your way through and choose whichever side you want to enter.
And that’s exactly how you should experience it: pick a side, order a pint—and before you leave, have a look at the other half.
How Do You Find The Ship & Shovell?
Use The Sherlock Holmes pub as your landmark. From Northumberland Avenue, walk past The Sherlock Holmes and head down the side street immediately beside it. Continue along Craven Passage and you’ll run straight into The Ship & Shovell.
Look for the bright red pub fronts and barrels on either side of the passage. That’s your first clue that you’ve arrived somewhere unusual: both sides belong to the same pub.
Which Half Should You Go Into?
Either one. Both are The Ship & Shovell.
That’s the wonderfully confusing part. At street level, the two halves sit on opposite sides of Craven Passage, so there isn’t an interior doorway that takes you from one bar into the other.
Don’t spend too long trying to choose the “right” entrance. Pick a side, have a look around and find yourself a spot.
What’s the Pint Pick?
Order a pint of Badger Tangle Foot from the handpump. The golden ale is one of Hall & Woodhouse’s signature beers and a fitting choice at this brewery-owned pub, bringing a little taste of Dorset into the middle of London.
Order your Tangle Foot pint at the bar and pay when you order. If the card machine prompts you for a tip, skip it. Digital prompts are increasingly common, but tipping is still not customary when buying drinks at a UK pub bar counter.
Can You Take Your Pint to the Other Half?
Yes. Don’t be shy about stepping outside with your pint and crossing Craven Passage to the other half. It feels slightly ridiculous, which is rather the point.
And if you’re wondering how one pub actually operates across two separate buildings, the answer is underneath your feet. Behind the scenes, the two halves are connected beneath Craven Passage by a working staff passage linking the pub below street level.
The underground connection is for staff, not customers. Up here, the strange physical layout is part of the experience: two buildings, two front doors and one pub, with a public London passage running straight through the middle of it.
Why Is It Called The Ship & Shovell?
If the unusual spelling has caught your attention, keep an eye out for references to Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, the 17th-century naval commander whose name has become part of the pub’s identity.
Shovell had a distinguished naval career before meeting an extraordinary end in 1707, when his flagship was wrecked off the Isles of Scilly during one of Britain’s worst maritime disasters.
But the Admiral may not explain the whole story behind the pub’s name. Earlier references use the more ordinary spelling Ship and Shovel, while the modern pub leans into the rather more memorable Admiral Shovell connection.
For the traveler standing here today, the result is another odd little layer to a pub already doing things differently.
Keep Exploring Around Charing Cross
The Sherlock Holmes — You already passed it on the way here. Head back toward Northumberland Avenue to see the historic 221B sitting-room display hidden upstairs.
The Lamb & Flag — Continue into Covent Garden and follow narrow Rose Street to another tucked-away historic pub, this time with old drinking rooms, London Pride and the wonderfully gruesome “Bucket of Blood” story.