The Jamaica Wine House is tucked into St Michael’s Alley, off Cornhill in the City of London. In this short film, published on 12 October 2016, I stop for a pint and explore a pub with a coffee-house story outside and another bar beneath it.
The site of London’s first coffee house
Before going in, I pause at the blue plaque on the wall. It commemorates the first London coffee house, at the sign of Pasqua Rosée’s Head, in 1652. It is a small detail in a narrow alley, but it gives the stop a much longer history than the afternoon drink I have planned.
The date belongs to the coffee-house site. It should not be read as the construction date of the pub building seen in the film. For this visit, the plaque is the clearest connection between the place in front of me and that earlier chapter of London life.
Inside the Jamaica Wine House
Inside, I find dark wood, separate sections and a striking coffee machine behind the bar. The layout lets the atmosphere change over a very short distance. I begin in a quieter end booth, then look towards the livelier front of the pub.
It is around a quarter past two, and the front is busy with people in business clothes. With a pint in hand, I observe that the long City lunch seems alive and well. That is the scene on this particular afternoon: conversation and drinks continuing while the working day carries on outside.
A quieter wine bar downstairs
Next, I follow the stairs down to the cellar wine bar and restaurant. It feels more relaxed than the busier sections upstairs. The change of level adds another room to a place that is already easy to miss among the surrounding alleys.
That is what stays with me about this stop. A pub hidden down a passage has another bar hidden beneath it. Exploring the City on foot often means looking beyond the main street, and here it also means looking below it.
Back into the City’s alleys
Leaving the Jamaica Wine House, I reflect on the concentration of pubs and bars in these courts and passages. The film is a brief record of that drinking culture as I encountered it in 2016, rather than a guide to today’s menus or opening hours.
For another pub stop from the same archive, see my Broadway Market visit and the Cat & Mutton. The setting is different, but both films end with a drink and a look at the people and streets around the pub.
