__NOTOC__ Bar Hercules, historically the Pillars of Hercules, is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, originally named for the

Pillars of Hercules The Pillars of Hercules ( la, Columnae Herculis, grc, Ἡράκλειαι Στῆλαι, , ar, أعمدة هرقل, Aʿmidat Hiraql, es, Columnas de Hércules) was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank t ...

of antiquity. Most of what exists was built around 1910, but the pub dates back to 1733. 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 ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in ...

'', who is described in the book as living near

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered ...

. More recently, the pub has been favoured by many figures from the London literary scene, including Martin Amis, Ian Hamilton,

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with '' The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' A ...

and

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

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

Sources

References

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External links

https://londonist.com/pubs/the-pillar-of-hercules
Accessed 10 September 2017. {{Pubs in London 1733 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1733 Pubs in Soho Greek Street