Pillars of Hercules, Soho

Bar Hercules, historically the Pillars of Hercules, was a pub in Greek Street, Soho, London, originally named for the Pillars of Hercules of antiquity. Most of what exists was built around 1910, but the pub dates back to 1733.[1] The road at the side of the pub through the arch is named Manette Street, after Dr Manette, one of the characters from A Tale of Two Cities, who is described in the book as living near Soho Square.

The Pillars of Hercules
The pub in 2008
General information
Address7 Greek Street
London
W1
Coordinates51°30′52″N 0°07′52″W

More recently, the pub has been favoured by many figures from the London literary scene, including Martin Amis, Ian Hamilton, Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan. Clive James named his second book of literary criticism (At the Pillars of Hercules) after it, apparently because that was where most of the pieces within it were commissioned, delivered or written. Singer Nick Drake is also said to have frequented the pub during his time in London,[2] and theatre designer Sean Kenny drank there with his staff in the 1960s, their design studio being a few steps from the pub's back door. The critic James Wood includes an anecdote set in the pub in his study The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel (2004):

One London lunchtime, many years ago, the late poet and editor Ian Hamilton was sitting at his usual table in a Soho pub called the Pillars of Hercules. The pub was where much of the business of Hamilton's literary journal, The New Review, was conducted. It was sickeningly early—not to be at work, but to be at drink. A pale, haggard poet entered, and Hamilton offered him a chair and a glass of something. "Oh no, I just can’t keep drinking," said the weakened poet. "I must give it up. It's doing terrible things to me. It's not even giving me any pleasure any longer." But Hamilton, narrowing his eyes, responded to this feebleness in a tone of weary stoicism, and said in a quiet, hard voice, "Well, none of us likes it."[3]

The pub closed on 24 February 2018,[4] reopening later in the year as Bar Hercules under new owners Be At One.[5]

Sources
  1. "Pillars of Hercules at ultimatepubguide.com". Archived from the original on 5 May 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
  2. Wagner, Sonja (2005). "London Days". Ancient Enchantments. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  3. Wood, James (2005). The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel. Pimlico. pp. 1–2.
  4. "Famed Soho pub not shutting down". www.thedrinksbusiness.com. 2 March 2018.
  5. Hansen, James (8 August 2018). "Soho Pub Whitewashes History During Refurbishment". Eater London. Retrieved 13 December 2018.

References
  • Wheatley, Henry Benjamin (2011), Round about Piccadilly and Pall Mall: Or, a Ramble from the Haymarket to Hyde Parkvb (illustrated ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9781108036504
  • Knight, Charles, ed. (1851), Knight's cyclopædia of London, London, p. 789{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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