The Flask

The Flask is a Grade II listed public house at 74–76 Highgate West Hill, Highgate, London. According to the 1936 Survey of London, a pub known as The Flask has stood on this spot since "at least as early as 1663". The present buildings probably date from the early 18th century, and were partially rebuilt in about 1767 by William Carpenter. A Manorial court met there in the eighteenth century. The Flask is currently owned and operated by the London-based Fuller's.

The pub is believed to have been named after the flasks of Hampstead mineral water that could be purchased here when Hampstead was popular for its wells in the 18th century, and The Flask, Flask Walk, Hampstead, is another pub nearby. Like all good pubs, The Flask has its own legends which may or may not be true. It is said that the highwayman Dick Turpin hid from the law in the stables there, that the artist William Hogarth drank at the bar and even that Karl Marx was a customer. For good measure, the pub is also said by some to have a female ghost. It was also reported in 1736 a 64 year-old man, accompanied by a hairdresser, ran from the Bull's Head in St Giles to The Flask in just 45 minutes, "To the Surprize of every Body who was present".

More information

Comments Statistics

| | Public