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A Facade That Remembers What It Replaced
Locksmith Eastcheap: A Vinegar Warehouse With Shakespeare Carved Into It
A dramatic Victorian building here was built for vinegar, not verse, yet still carved a nod to Falstaff's favourite tavern into its own facade. Phone 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith genuinely familiar with this stretch.
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Covering Eastcheap between Cannon Street and Tower Hill. Open in Google Maps
Why Eastcheap Is Different
A warehouse that couldn't resist a literary nod
At 33-35 Eastcheap stands one of the City's most dramatic Victorian facades, a Grade II* listed building designed by the architect Robert Lewis Roumieu and completed in 1868. Its original purpose was entirely unglamorous: a warehouse for Hill and Evans, a Worcester-based vinegar manufacturer. Nothing about vinegar storage demanded the riot of gables, arcades and carved heads Roumieu gave it, yet the building remains one of the most striking in the Square Mile, drawing architectural opinions as strong as its own facade.
Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian, called it one of the maddest displays of gabled Gothic in London. The critic Ian Nairn went further still, describing it as the scream you wake on at the end of a nightmare. Whatever the verdict, nobody designed it to be ignored.
A Boar, Carved In Memory Of Falstaff
The building's most pointed detail sits halfway up its facade: a carved boar peering out from foliage, alongside portrait heads of Henry IV and Henry V. This wasn't decoration for its own sake. The site had previously held the Boar's Head Tavern, the setting Shakespeare chose for Falstaff's scenes in both parts of Henry IV. The original tavern burned in the Great Fire, was rebuilt afterward, and became something of a pilgrimage stop for Shakespeare enthusiasts before finally being demolished in 1831 for a road-widening scheme. Its actual sign survives today, on display at Shakespeare's Globe.
Eastcheap carries other small surprises too, if you know to look up. A tiny carved mouse, nibbling cheese on a building near Philpot Lane, is sometimes called London's smallest sculpture. Further along, at 20 Eastcheap, three stone camels led by a merchant recall Peek Brothers, a historic tea and spice trading house that once had its headquarters there. We're considerably less interested in decorative history than in what's actually fitted to a door. A lock gets our full attention regardless of what's carved on the building around it.
Pressed for time? sort a lockout straightaway, book a repair for a quieter moment, or ring our night line whenever suits.
What Eastcheap Businesses & Residents Call About
What this stretch of the City brings us
Converted Victorian Buildings
Warehouses in their original life, several buildings here later became something else entirely. We judge security on what's there now, never on an ornate facade alone.
Book aheadModern Offices Among Period Facades
Behind some genuinely historic frontages sit newer office fit-outs entirely. We respect the building while still working with what's actually installed.
Book aheadShops & Cafés Serving Office Workers
Daytime trade here depends on the surrounding offices staying busy. A fast lock replacement keeps a jammed unit from losing that custom.
Same-day priorityFlats Near The Commercial Core
A small number of residential entrances sit among the offices on this stretch. Each one gets its own assessment, not grouped in with the commercial units.
Book aheadBroken Or Snapped Keys
A snapped key doesn't always come free easily from the older locks here. This page covers the careful method we use.
Call nowEvening Lockouts
Once the office crowd clears out, this stretch quietens fast. We still turn out, whatever the hour.
Call nowWorth stating plainly: making duplicate keys and setting up card or intercom access both fall outside what we do. Both go to the managing agent's own suppliers instead.
Locked Out On Eastcheap
Office hours' pace, then a quiet evening
Steady office and commercial traffic defines this stretch through the day.
Once evening sets in, things empty out fast, leaving noticeably quiet streets behind.
Neither pattern changes our method. Soft techniques get a full run before a drill is ever brought out.
Fixing a snapped key looks nothing like fixing a lost one. See broken keys or lost keys for the specifics on either.
Around Eastcheap
What this stretch connects to
West, where this street effectively begins.
The wider district this stretch sits within.
The postcode covering this street.
East, towards Lloyd's and the insurance district.
North-west, past the Guildhall.
North of this stretch.
What We Do
Services across Eastcheap
What A Facade Chooses To Remember
A warehouse that kept a tavern's memory alive
Most buildings forget whatever stood there before them. This one went out of its way to carve the memory directly into its own stonework, vinegar trade or not.
The building's full architectural story is told by this detailed account of 33-35 Eastcheap. The street's smaller animal carvings are covered by this piece on the City's hidden sculptures.
What's genuinely worth remembering is simpler in our line of work. A lock that still does its job properly needs regular attention, not a carved tribute.
Uncertain what your own lock needs? Walk us through what it's doing and we'll be upfront about what we think.
The Process
Booking a locksmith Eastcheap callout
- Get in touchAddress, which unit, and a line on what's wrong.
- Access confirmedWhere sign-off is needed, we arrange that before the visit.
- Looked at firstA price follows the engineer's own inspection, never before it.
- Tested on the spotLock and door are both checked working before we leave.
Access & Traffic
Getting to you along Eastcheap
This street carries steady traffic between Cannon Street and Tower Hill throughout the working day. Loading restrictions apply throughout.
Both Monument and Bank stations lie within easy reach, often the quicker option once surface roads back up.
Weekday office hours bring the busiest conditions here, with evenings considerably quieter. We plan each visit around whichever pattern applies.
Why People Call Us
What Eastcheap tenants and residents rely on us for
- We assess the door, not the decoration. An ornate facade doesn't tell us what's actually fitted inside.
- We don't skip to force. Gentler methods get a proper try before a drill does.
- Comfortable with Victorian buildings. Period hardware and layouts are routine for us.
- Homes matter here too. A residential job gets exactly what a commercial one does.
- Scope stated plainly. Spare keys and access-system programming aren't work we take on.
- Reachable at any hour. Busy weekday or a quiet evening street, it's the same to us.
Nearby
Areas around Eastcheap
Common Questions
A Vinegar Warehouse That Remembers Shakespeare
Does a building on this street genuinely reference Shakespeare?
Yes, through a carved boar on its facade, nodding to a tavern that once stood on the same spot.
What was this particular building actually built for?
A vinegar warehouse, completed in 1868 for a Worcester-based manufacturer.
Did critics have strong opinions about its design?
Very strong. One well-known critic described it as the scream you wake on at the end of a nightmare.
Small Carvings Worth Looking Up For
Is there a genuinely tiny sculpture hidden on this street?
Yes, a pair of carved mice nibbling cheese, often called London's smallest sculpture.
What's the other notable animal carving nearby?
Three stone camels, referencing a historic tea and spice merchant's own trademark.
Do these carvings serve any practical purpose today?
Mostly decorative, though they're a genuine reason visitors look up rather than just walk past.
Booking On Eastcheap
Which stretch does this page actually cover?
Eastcheap itself, running between Cannon Street and Tower Hill.
Do you work on Victorian buildings as well as modern offices here?
We do. This street has a genuine mix, and each building gets assessed on its own terms.
Can you reach a lockout during a busy weekday?
We can, though finishing on foot often works out faster once this stretch gets congested.
Is weekend cover realistic in a mostly commercial area?
It is, seven days a week, whatever the street itself is doing.
Do you handle residential premises as well as offices here?
We do, alongside commercial work, which makes up the larger share of callouts here.
What if my building has its own security procedures?
Walk us through them in advance and we'll build the visit around that.
A warehouse once carved history into its own walls. We'd settle for your lock simply doing its job.
Office, shop or flat on Eastcheap — let us know what's wrong and we'll sort the right engineer.