The Waterman's Arms

Book a stay at The Waterman's Arms

Booking route

Bookable direct or via major booking sites

Checked October 2026. Pubs change hands, hours change, policies change — always confirm anything that matters, especially the dog policy and kitchen days, directly with the pub before you book. Run this pub? Confirm or correct these details.

A bit of history

Built as the Newcastle Arms in Cubitt Town, with written references from 1853; in the early 1960s Daniel Farson ran it as the Waterman's Arms, a music-hall-style pub, and by 2011 it had become the Great Eastern before the Waterman's Arms name returned. The pub says it is a Grade II listed building, as part of a listed group around the Newcastle Draw Dock.

Source: A London Inheritance: https://alondoninheritance.com/londonpubs/watermans-arms-isle-dogs and the pub's own website: https://thewatermansarms.co.uk/

Stories & legends

• On record: In 1962 the writer and broadcaster Daniel Farson bought the run-down Newcastle Arms with money left by his parents and renamed it the Waterman's Arms, hoping to revive Victorian music hall. His TV film Time, Gentlemen Please! was partly shot there, and the crowds came, but the entertainment cost more than the bar took. He sold up in 1964 with a £3,000 overdraft and wrote about the venture in Limehouse Days. Source: A London Inheritance (Waterman's Arms, Isle of Dogs); Wikipedia, Daniel Farson
• Local legend: A London Inheritance relates that the pub's guests included Shirley Bassey (who performed), Judy Garland and Groucho Marx, and that Clint Eastwood wrote 'rowdy' in the guest book. Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud are also said to have followed Farson from Soho. These star-studded visits are told from the Farson era; we found no second source for individual names. Source: A London Inheritance (Waterman's Arms, Isle of Dogs)

Character

Not yet rated

Menu style

Not confirmed

Booking model

Not confirmed — ask when you book the room

Source: Pub's own site: 'a stand out food & drink offering' from a pint and a snack to a three-course meal; menu not reviewed. — checked October 2026

Other pubs with rooms near Docklands and the Royal Docks

Straight-line distances, so allow longer by road.

• The Pelton Arms

  Greenwich · about 0.4 miles

  4 rooms. Dogs in the rooms not confirmed.

• The Admiral Hardy

  Greenwich · about 0.5 miles

  7 rooms. Dogs in the rooms not confirmed.

• The Ship Inn

  Docklands and the Royal Docks · about 0.5 miles

  3 rooms. Dogs in the rooms not confirmed.

Questions people ask about The Waterman's Arms

Does The Waterman's Arms serve food every day?

Not every day — the kitchen at The Waterman's Arms is closed Mon.