The Magdala Tavern

A new stop on our route this year is 'The Magdala Tavern' in South End Green ( Just opposite Hampstead Heath overground station.
The pub was built in 1868 and named after the battle of Magdala in Abyssinia that took place the same year.
However it was in the 1950's that this quiet Hampstead boozer gained noriety when nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis shot and killed her lover David Blakely during a drunken argument outside the pub on Easter sunday 1955.

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Ruth Ellis

During a short but sensantional trial, Ellis gained sympathy when details emerged of the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Blakely - He had once beaten her so badly she suffered a miscarriage. However when stood up in court and declared. 'when I shot him I intended to kill him' she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. Despite a huge public appeal she became the last woman in England to be given the death penalty in July 1955.​

Fake bullet hole!

For many years after untill its closure in 2014 the Magdala traded on its connection with the Ruth Ellis murder, one publican even going so far as to drill fake bullet holes in wall outside!

​However when the pub reopened in September 2021 it has since been gaining notoriety of a different kind - mainly for its massive selection of beers on tap and mouthwatering food menu.
Why not join us this October on our Halloween tour and discover this little Hampstead gem for yourself.
Hampstead to Highgate Haunted Halloween pub tour
13th - 31st October
Click HERE for booking info