A Peckham pub carrying a name that once belonged to one of the rowdiest theatres of Shakespeare’s London
The Prat’s history desk raises the curtain on The Red Bull, a Peckham pub whose name, whether it knows it or not, echoes one of the most riotous and colourful theatres of Shakespeare’s London. The red bull is both a common heraldic beast and the name of a genuine piece of English theatrical history, and the naming desk enjoys both layers.
The heraldic beast
At its simplest, the Red Bull belongs to the great menagerie of heraldic animals that have graced English inn signs for centuries – the lions, the greyhounds, the boars, the bulls. The bull signifies strength, valour and fortitude in heraldry, and a red one made for a bold and memorable sign in the days when most drinkers could not read and a pub was known by its picture. Many a Red Bull, White Bull and Black Bull has stood across the country, each a splash of bold colour on a street corner.
The rowdiest theatre in London
But the naming desk’s real delight is the theatrical echo. The Red Bull was the name of a famous playhouse in Clerkenwell, built around 1605, which became notorious as the rowdiest and most boisterous theatre in Jacobean London. Where the Globe drew a mixed crowd and the indoor houses catered to the refined, the Red Bull played to a raucous, working-class audience that loved spectacle, swordfights, clowning and noise – and was not shy about pelting the stage when displeased. It survived the Puritan closure of the theatres and even hosted illicit performances during the Commonwealth, when plays were banned. For a pub, there could hardly be a more fitting namesake than a theatre famous for giving the ordinary people a rowdy good time.
The pub today
The Red Bull serves its Peckham patch as a genuine local, and it holds one of the stronger ratings in this stretch of the survey. Whether its name was chosen for the heraldic beast or the boisterous playhouse, it carries a splash of bold colour and, for those who know the history, a distant echo of the roar of a Jacobean crowd.
The clowns of the Red Bull
The naming desk lingers fondly on the old playhouse a moment longer, for it was famous above all for its clowns and its spectacle. The Red Bull’s audience wanted action – jigs, drums, trumpets, swordfights, and above all the broad physical comedy of the great clowns of the day, who played directly to the pit. It was theatre as raucous popular entertainment, closer to a variety show than to the refined drama of the indoor houses, and it was beloved for exactly that. When the theatres were closed under the Commonwealth, it was at the Red Bull that illicit performances were most stubbornly staged – the people’s playhouse refusing, to the last, to let the show go dark.
The verdict
A rating of 4.8 across nearly 200 reviews is an excellent score, marking the Red Bull as a genuinely well-loved local. A Peckham pub whose name recalls both a bold heraldic beast and the rowdiest playhouse in Shakespeare’s London is the history desk’s kind of layered heritage. The Prat orders a pint, imagines the roar of the Red Bull’s pit, and toasts the ordinary people who always loved a good, loud show.
Hanna Miller, Journalist and Philosopher
London, UK
Hannah Miller, a proud graduate of the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, started her career documenting agricultural innovations and rural life in the Midwest. Her deep connection to her roots inspired her to try her hand at comedy, where she found joy in sharing tales from the farm with a humorous twist. Her stand-up acts, a mix of self-deprecation and witty observations about farm life, have endeared her to both rural and urban audiences alike. She is a four-year resident to London and the UK.
