The Magdala
General information
LocationSouth Hill Park, Hampstead, London NW3 2SB, England
OwnerOri Calif
Website
www.themagdala.co.uk

The Magdala, also known as The Magdala Tavern or colloquially as simply The Magy, is a pub on South Hill Park in Hampstead, north London. Named after the British victory in the 1868 Battle of Magdala, it was the site of a notorious murder in 1955.

History

The pub building dates back to at least the mid-19th century, being built in mid-Victorian times to serve the developing neighbourhood south of Hampstead Heath.[1] The building was named after the British victory in the 1868 Battle of Magdala.[2][3]

The two "bullet holes" in the wall were drilled by the pub's landlady in the 1990s.[4]

The pub is included in CAMRA's heritage guide for its interior, which includes a "remarkably intact room from the 1930s" with wood panelling, an Art Deco frieze and a Tudor-style pink marble fireplace.[1]

The pub became infamous as the location outside which Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, shot her boyfriend David Blakely in April 1955.[5]

After closing for refurbishment in 2014,[5] The Magdala reopened in January 2015 before closing again in February 2016, with the upper floors converted to flats.[6] It reopened again as a pub and restaurant in May 2021.[7]

The Magdala has been listed as an Asset of Community Value since September 2014.[6] It is owned by Ori Calif.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Magdala". Pub Heritage: Historic pub interiors. CAMRA. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Pankhurst, Richard (8 November 1981). "Ethiopian place-names in Britain". The Local Historian. (British Association for Local History). 14 (8): 468.
  3. ↑ Christopher Wade (1973), More streets of Hampstead, Camden History Society, p. 20, The first building in this street was The Magdala Tavern, which was already there by 1868.
  4. ↑ "The Telegraph: Were the 'bullet holes' marking Ruth Ellis's pub murder really done with a drill by a canny landlady?". Retrieved 22 June 2023
  5. 1 2 Foot, Tom (25 June 2014). "SOLD: the pub where Ruth Ellis shot her lover". Camden New Journal. New Journal Enterprises Ltd. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 Banks, Emily (12 February 2016). "Famous Ruth Ellis murder pub The Magdala shuts its doors". The Hampstead & Highgate Express. Archived from the original on 25 July 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  7. ↑ Boniface, Michael (17 May 2021). "The Magdala returns as pubs and restaurants reopen indoors on May 17 the pub in South Hill Park – closed since 2014". The Hampstead & Highgate Express. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Magdala pub: Landlord keen to 'welcome customers new and old'". Ham & High. Retrieved 12 January 2023.

51°33′20″N 0°09′56″W / 51.5556°N 0.1656°W / 51.5556; -0.1656

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