White Swan

The Story

A late Victorian four-storey brick building on Tudor Street, its ground floor faced in marbled stone pilasters with cartouches and swan reliefs flanking the doorway. The sign above bore a swan on land — unmistakeable. Managed by Trumans, it served the printers and compositors of nearby Northcliffe House, home of the Daily Mail. On 28 May 1961, Peter Benenson came here after reading about two Portuguese students imprisoned for raising a toast to freedom. He sat down, wrote the article that would become 'The Forgotten Prisoners', and in doing so founded Amnesty International. The pub had a football team — the Mucky Duck XI — and the CAMRA 1991 guide noted a working water pump behind the bar. Closed around 1971 as part of the Daily Mail redevelopment. Two stone swans remain carved on the doorway of what is now a café.