The Town of Ramsgate on Wapping High Street in London.
Photo: Fin Fahey via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5. Lighting and contrast adjusted.
Why The Town of Ramsgate Is Worth Seeking Out
You may have come looking for The Town of Ramsgate because of its connection to Execution Dock, the notorious stretch of the Thames where pirates and other maritime offenders were once hanged.
But there’s an important catch: nobody knows exactly where Execution Dock was.
The strongest candidate is the stretch of river around Wapping Old Stairs, immediately beside The Town of Ramsgate. That puts this narrow riverside pub remarkably close to the landscape where London’s darkest maritime punishment once played out—even if we can’t draw an X on the mud and call it the execution spot.
And there’s more here than pirate history.
Before you head for the bar, look at the pub sign outside. Then step through the door and start looking for the same place again.
Can You Find Ramsgate Harbour?
Look for the large wood-framed mirror near the entrance, etched with an image of Ramsgate Harbour circa 1850.
That seaside scene explains the slightly puzzling name of a pub sitting miles away in Wapping.
Fishermen sailing from Ramsgate in Kent once landed their catches at nearby Wapping Old Stairs, avoiding the river taxes they would have encountered farther upstream at Billingsgate. The pub eventually took their name, becoming The Town of Ramsgate in 1811.
Take another look at the pub sign outside and you’ll spot Ramsgate Harbour there too.
Then turn around and follow the long, narrow bar toward the river.
What’s the Pint Pick?
Order a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best if it’s on the handpump.
This classic 4% best bitter from Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes is a traditional southern English cask ale and a good fit for a pub where the maritime history is already doing most of the talking.
Order your 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.
Then take your pint and keep heading toward the back of the pub.
Step Out Toward the Thames
Follow the long bar all the way toward the rear and you’ll eventually reach the pub’s small riverside terrace.
This is where the geography starts to make sense.
The Thames is directly in front of you, and Wapping Old Stairs are just beside the pub. The fishermen who gave The Town of Ramsgate its name once used those stairs to bring their catches ashore.
They also lead toward a much darker chapter of Wapping’s history.
But before you go looking for them, there’s one more pub story worth knowing.
Was Judge Jeffreys Really Captured Here?
According to longstanding tradition, yes—but treat the details as historical lore rather than a courtroom transcript.
Judge George Jeffreys became notorious for the brutal sentences handed down during the Bloody Assizes. After James II fled England in 1688, Jeffreys also attempted to escape, reportedly disguising himself as a sailor.
The story attached to The Town of Ramsgate says he stopped here—when the tavern was known as The Red Cow—and was recognized before he could get away.
Even Historic England records that Jeffreys was reputedly captured at this inn, which gives this particular pub story considerably more weight than the average tale hanging over an old London bar.
No favorite chair required.
Now Find Wapping Old Stairs
Head back outside and turn left beside the pub. Look for the narrow passage squeezed between the building and the brick wall. It doesn’t look much like an entrance, but that’s Wapping Old Stairs.
Follow the passage toward the river.
These are Wapping Old Stairs, and they’re the physical link between the pub, the Ramsgate fishermen and the Execution Dock story.
Before heading down, check the tide and look at the condition of the steps. The Thames is strongly tidal, and the lower stairs and foreshore can be wet, muddy and slippery. If the water is high or the footing looks poor, there’s no need to descend to understand what happened here.
If conditions are good, make your way carefully toward the foreshore.
Now you’re standing in the landscape that makes The Town of Ramsgate much more than another old riverside pub.
So, Is This Really Execution Dock?
Possibly—but nobody can point to the exact spot with certainty.
For centuries, criminals convicted of piracy and other offenses under Admiralty law were brought to Execution Dock and hanged beside the Thames. The condemned were executed below the high-water mark, and their bodies were traditionally left until three tides had washed over them.
The exact location of Execution Dock has been lost, and several places along this part of Wapping have been proposed. The area around Wapping Old Stairs and The Town of Ramsgate is considered one of the strongest candidates.
That also explains something you may notice at low tide.
The pub traditionally identifies one of the old posts visible from the foreshore with the Execution Dock story. Treat that as pub folklore rather than a verified surviving execution artifact.
You don’t need a surviving gallows—or even a conveniently placed pirate post—to make this stretch of the Thames interesting.
The landscape is the artifact.
Keep Exploring London’s Historic Riverside Pubs
The Prospect of Whitby — Continue along Wapping’s historic waterfront to another centuries-old Thames tavern, where a replica gallows keeps the Execution Dock legend very much in view.
The Mayflower — Follow the Thames east to Rotherhithe for the historic pub associated with the Mayflower and Captain Christopher Jones, complete with a riverside jetty and its unusual Descendants Book.