The Spotted Dog: A royal 16th-century tavern steeped in history

The Spotted Dog is a Grade II listed building at 212 Upton Lane, Forest Gate, London. It dates to the late 15th or early 16th century, and has a long and storied past. According to Leopold Wagner's 1921 book A New Book About London, the Spotted Dog was once thought to have been a hunting lodge for King Henry VIII. Wagner wrote that when Henry followed the chase in the Essex forest, he 'took up the hounds here at Upton' about a mile from the toll-gate.

He also claimed that Henry VIII purchased the nearby Hamfrith Wood from its owner to facilitate his love of hunting. Wagner asserts that at the time, the privilege was granted to someone, typically the Master of the Hounds, to take personal profit from refreshments for travellers passing by. Although Wagner does not specifically state that the Spotted Dog was the residence of Henry VIII's Master of the Hounds, it was common for such figures to reside at buildings associated with their duties.

Until the Great War, the Spotted Dog had its license direct from the Crown, according to Wagner. He adds that 'Wagner considers that 'few historic hostelries. have preserved their pristine freshness like Ye Olde Spotted Dog. (its). picturesque, ivy-mantled wooden fabric. appears very much today as when Daniel Defoe referred to it in his History of the Plague in London. when. (in 1665). those able to escape came to encamp in the fields round about, and again after the Great Fire the following year.

A large painting on the west wall of the public bar bears the arms of the City Corporation and the date of 1603, and is said to commemorate the meetings of merchant princes for eight years while plague carried away thirty thousand souls. The Spotted Dog has been closed since June 2004 and is in a state of serious disrepair. In 2009, the London Fire Brigade issued a notice, stating that the pub was a dangerous structure. In 2014, a campaign group called Save the Spotted Dog campaigned for its restoration or alternative community use, with local MPs and Newham Council supporting the campaign. In 2020, Newham Council approved plans to renovate the pub and build a 68-room hotel next door.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons