Historic London Hidden Riverside Pub - The London Apprentice

Planning a London trip and looking for hidden London pubs beyond the usual tourist crowds? Our podcast shorts series is perfect for quick travel research tasks and a great way of supporting London pubs.

In this episode of Publicity – Your London Travel Toolkit, Love Letter to London Pubs shorts, we explore The London Apprentice in Old Isleworth. Getting ready to reopen after a major refurbishment by Greene King aimed at preserving the building’s Tudor and Georgian character while modernizing the pub for future generations.

A historic Thames riverside pub connected to Lady Jane Grey, Henry VIII, smugglers, ghost stories, and over 500 years of London history.

Discover hidden London history, riverside walks, authentic local neighborhoods, Tudor intrigue, Thames beer gardens, and one of west London’s most atmospheric historic pubs near Richmond, Twickenham, Kew Gardens, and Syon House.

Perfect for travelers searching for:

•  hidden London gems 
•  historic London pubs 
•  Thames walks 
•  unusual things to do in London 
•  authentic London experiences 
•  London pub culture

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Planning a trip to London and looking for a hidden historic pub beyond the usual tourist crowds? We're heading west along the Thames to Old Isleworth, one of London's most atmospheric riverside neighborhoods. We'll visit the London Apprentice at 62 Church Street Isleworth TW76BG. It's a remarkable historic London pub connected to Tudor Royalty, river traders, smugglers, ghosts, and more than five centuries of Thames history. If your ideal London trip includes hidden pubs, riverside walks, authentic local neighborhoods, and fascinating stories most tourists never hear, this one deserves a place on your London itinerary. Old Isleworth sits on a quiet curve of the Thames between Richmond and Twickenham. Unlike the packed pub districts of Soho or Covent Garden, this stretch of West London still feels slower, quieter, and deeply tied to the river that shaped the city, despite being only 30 minutes from central London. The Isleworth Society records a settlement here from before the Norman Conquest, while the Domesday Book of 1086 already described Isleworth as a thriving riverside community. Isleworth developed from a small Saxon riverside settlement into a layered suburban town tied into trade, transport, agriculture, and royal power flowing in and out of London. Today that history still feels visible as you walk through old Isleworth. Georgian terraces, riverside lanes, old inns, church towers, and hidden corners survive beside the Thames. For travellers wanting to experience a quieter and more atmospheric side of London, this makes an excellent self-guided riverside walk. Much of Isleworth's early importance centered on nearby Sion Abbey, later transformed into Sion House, one of West London's great historic estates and only a short walk from the London Apprentice. Founded under Henry V in 1415, Sion Abbey later became the London seat of the Dukes of Northumberland after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. In the 18th century, Robert Adam redesigned the interiors, while Capability Brown redesigned the grounds. Together they transformed the property into one of Britain's great neoclassical estates. During the Georgian and Victorian periods, Isleworth evolved into a semi-rural retreat for wealthy Londoners. Many of their large riverside mansions, villas, inns, and terraces along Church Street and Lower Square survive today. In the 18th and 19th centuries, orchards and market gardens dominated the surrounding land. If you're planning a West London sightseeing day around Richmond, Kew Gardens or the Thames Path, combined in Scion House with the London Apprentice creates one of London's best hidden historical day trips. History doesn't just pass through Isleworth, it stops, gets a pint, and enjoys the view. Just outside the pub stand Isleworth Stairs, once an important Thames ferry point connected to Richmond Palace and Royal Movement along the river. On 9th of July 1553, Lady Jane Grey is believed to have boarded a royal barge from Isleworth Stairs to begin her journey to London to be proclaimed Queen of England. She was sixteen years old. Her reign would last just nine days. Lady Jane Grey's father-in-law, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, had offered her the crown nearby at Sion House as part of the political struggle over the Tudor succession. One of England's most traumatic constitutional crises unfolded within a few hundred yards of where travelers now sit drinking beside the Thames. That layer-in of everyday London life and extraordinary history is exactly what makes hidden London places like this so memorable. The London Apprentice is Grade 2 Star Listed, a designation reserved for particularly important historic buildings. Only 6% of England's listed buildings have grade two star status. The present building dates from the early 19th century, but an inn has stood on this site since Tudor times. The first recorded pub license dates to 1731. The pub was originally kept open all night to serve watermen, traders, and Thames travelers. When you visit today, follow your London tour guide advice and look up as you walk through the door. The pub still contains extraordinary seventeenth century decorative plaster ceilings. They were created by English and Italian craftsmen centuries ago. Modern visitors can experience architectural details that survived plagueures, royal upheaval, industrialization, war, and cycles of London development. This is not a modern pub pretending to be historic. It is historic. The origins of the pub's unusual name remain debated. One theory connects it to the apprentice lads of London's livery companies. They rode decorated barges along the Thames during festivals and holidays. Isleworth became a popular riverside destination for those young London workers escaping the crowded city. Another theory references an old London ballad called The Honour of the Apprentice of London. Either way, the name reflects work in London. Apprentices, tradesmen, craftsmen, and river workers whose labor built the city tourists now visit. Camera describes the London Apprentice as a historic riverside pub with brewing links to the former Isleworth Brewery, then Taylor Walker, and now part of Green King. Local tradition claims Henry VIII and Catherine Howard visited the inn while connected to nearby Sion House. Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, was imprisoned at Sion in November 1541. Taken to the tower in February 1542, she was executed on thirteenth February 1542, aged 18 or 19. Charles II is said to have visited with Mistress Nell Gwynne, orange cellar turned actress, who became one of the most beloved figures of the restoration. This entire stretch of the Thames was deeply tied to royal movement, aristocratic estates, and political intrigue for centuries. Not all visitors were royal, however. Nearby Hounslow Heath and the original Roman road west from Londinium were notorious for highwaymen, thieves, and smugglers. Dick Turpin's name appears regularly in local legend. There's a tale of a passage running from the old inn to All Saints Church across the road, used by smugglers moving contraband from the Thames to the pub's cellars without being seen. For travelers interested in cultural London history, the connections continue. Doctor Who fans may recognize the name William Hartnell, the original Doctor Who. The actor lived opposite the pub during the 1920s and 1930s. Artist JMW Turner lived here and painted Thames landscapes inspired by the area. Vincent Van Gogh lived in Isleworth in 1876 while working as a teacher and assistant preacher. A blue plaque still marks the house where he stayed along Twickenham Road. This small West London Riverside District contains far more cultural history than most London visitors ever realize. There are even connections to fated ocean liner the RMS Titanic. Andrew Pears of the famous Pearce Soap family owned nearby Spring Grove House, now part of West Thames College. A memorial to the Pearce family stands in Isleworth Cemetery, including Thomas Pearce, 1882 to 1912, who died on the RMS Titanic. Probably the most famous person alive today associated with Isleworth is naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who was born in Isleworth. Like many old London pubs, the London apprentice also carries ghost stories. Local legend speaks of a young apprentice drowned in the Thames during flood waters, while another story concerns Reverend Glossop of nearby All Saints Church, whose spirit is said to linger close to the churchyard. On a lighter note, there's the lovely Riverside Terrace. Step outside the pub and you'll see Isleworth 8, a small island nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust, and home to rare birds, riverside habitats, and one of the quietest Thames views anywhere in London. On a summer evening with the river moving slowly past and aircraft descending towards Seathrow high overhead, this becomes one of West London's most atmospheric pub settings. Londonist has described the London Apprentice as offering some of the best beer garden views in London. Following a major refurbishment in 2026, Green King has been working to preserve the building's Tudor and Georgian character while modernising the pub for future generations. Places like this matter not because they're old, but because they preserve a version of London that many travellers never experience. Riverside London, work in London, hidden London, a London of fairy stairs, watermen, royal barges, smuggling routes, local legends, old plaster ceilings, and centuries of stories still alive beside the Thames. So if you're planning a London trip and searching for hidden London pubs, historic riverside walks, authentic local neighbourhoods, Thameside Beer Gardens, unusual London history, or lesser known places beyond central London. London Apprenticed in Isleworth is absolutely worth adding to your itinerary. It's one of London's great hidden riverside pub experiences. If you live, work or travel to London, own or manage a London pub, own, manage or work at a London tour guide business or a London attraction, and would like to be guest contributor to our main podcast, Publicity, your London Travel Toolkit, then email me expatandy at publicythepodcast.com. Love our content? Love London and its pubs? The best thing you can do is to share the love. Literally. Share our content with your network. You sharing is the butterfly ripple effect across the globe for a small business in London. I'm expatandy. You've been listening to Publicity, your London Travel Toolkit podcast, and this is our Love Letter to London Pub's short series. Thanks for listening.