Pelican Stairs

You are standing at the top of Pelican Stairs, a narrow, historic passage that marks one of the few remaining public gateways to the Thames in Wapping. These stone steps date back centuries and were originally part of a vast network of watermen's stairs, which acted as the city’s primary river taxi ranks before the age of bridges and paved roads. The stairs take their name from a riverside inn that once occupied the adjacent building, which later became the world-famous Prospect of Whitby pub. During the eighteenth century, this specific alleyway gained a reputation as a meeting point for smugglers and thieves, earning the nearby pub the nickname of the Devil's Tavern.