The Ten Bells is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

at the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street in

Spitalfields Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Stre ...

in the East End of London. It is sometimes noted for its supposed association with at least two victims of Jack the Ripper: Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly.

History

The Ten Bells pub has existed in one guise or another since at least the middle of the 18th century. It originally stood on a site known as 12 Red Lion Street, just a few metres away. However, when this building was pulled down as part of the cutting of Commercial Street in 1851, the owners of the Ten Bells ( Truman Hanbury Buxton & Co) were able to move the public house to its current position at 84 Commercial Street (at one time known as 33 Church Street). The name of the pub has changed over time, but those names have generally derived from the number of bells in the " peal" housed in the

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...

-designed Christ Church, Spitalfields next door. In 1755 it was known as the "Eight Bells Alehouse". The name is likely to have changed in 1788 when the church installed a new set of chimes, this time with ten bells; certainly, there are insurance records to show that the pub was registered as "the Ten Bells, Church Street, Spitalfields" from 1794. The number of bells in the church increased to twelve at one point and were subsequently reduced to its current number of eight after a fire in the steeple in 1836. However, save for a brief deviation from the theme (see below), the "Ten Bells" name has stuck. The interior of the pub is decorated floor to ceiling with original Victorian tiling. Two of the walls feature a blue and white floral pattern tiling scheme and there is a colourful tiled dado going round the room. Of particular note is the mural of painted tiles on the wall on the north side of the building, entitled ''Spitalfields in ye Olden Time – visiting a Weaver's Shop'', which commemorates the weaving heritage of the area. The mural was designed by the firm of W. B. Simpson and Sons and dates from the late 19th century. The Ten Bells was renovated by landlord John Twomey in December 2010 to fully display the pub's Victorian heritage. The renovation also included the addition of a new mural titled ''Spitalfields in Modern Times''. This was painted by artist Ian Harper. Rather than feature the weavers of the 19th century, the painting features 21st century Spitalfields scenes and characters, such as

Gilbert and George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942) are artists who work together as the collaborative art duo Gilbert & George. They are known for their formal appearance ...

. The building was designated a Grade II listed building in 1973.

Jack the Ripper

Some accounts of the Jack the Ripper story link two of his victims, Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly, to the pub: Annie Chapman may have drunk at the pub shortly before she was murdered; and it has been suggested that the pavement outside of the pub was where Mary Kelly picked up clients as a prostitute. Between 1976 and 1988, the public house was named "The Jack the Ripper", and memorabilia relating to the case were displayed in the bars. The brewery ordered the change back to its original name after a long campaign by Reclaim the Night demanded that a murderer of women should not be commemorated in such a fashion. The pub is mentioned in the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

'' From Hell'' (1999), about Jack the Ripper, by writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and artist Eddie Campbell. The film adaptation '' From Hell'' (2001), also features the pub, including a scene showing Johnny Depp (as Inspector Abberline) having a drink with Ripper victim Mary Kelly.

Current use

In October 2011, the Ten Bells was featured in the Jamie Oliver series ''Jamie's Great Britain''. Oliver's great-great-grandfather was a landlord of the pub during the 1880s. Oliver is shown visiting the Ten Bells to discuss his East London roots, and to see how Londoners lived, drank and ate at the end of the 19th century.

References

*Begg, P., Fido, M., & Skinner, K. ''The Jack the Ripper A–Z'' (Headline, 1996) *Cullen, Tom ''Autumn of Terror: Jack the Ripper, His Crimes and Times'' (London: Bodley Head, 1965)

External links

* {{Jack the Ripper, state=collapsed Jack the Ripper Pubs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Grade II listed pubs in London Spitalfields Commercial Street, London