The Magdala an infamous pub which is worth visiting

Were ‘bullet holes’ in Ruth Ellis pub fake?

The Magdala is a pub on South Hill Park in Hampstead which is named after the 1868 Battle of Magdala. It has become notorious due to being the site of a murder in 1955.

The Magdala is also included in CAMRA’s heritage guide for its interior

‘This pub follows the gentle curve of the street. It went up in mid-Victorian times to serve the developing neighbourhood but is included in this guide for its 1930s makeover. You can see clear signs of this outside in the buff tile facing on the ground floor and the attractive strips of glazing in the windows.

The left-hand room was extended but only the bar counter survives the rest having been given a dull modern look. But on the right is a pleasant and remarkably intact room from the 1930s. The walls are elegantly panelled to half height and there is a low-key Art Deco frieze. The bar counter is panelled and follows the style of the wall panelling while the picture is completed by a Tudor-style pink marble fireplace.’

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Ruth Ellis

Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom. She shot her boyfriend David Blakely outside the pub in April 1955.

She met David Blakely through her job as the manager of the Little Club, a nightclub in Knightsbridge. They had a bit of a tempestuous relationship. Ruth began seeing Desmond Cussen and moved in with him at 20 Goodwood Court, Devonshire Street.

On Easter Sunday, 10th April 1955, Ruth took a taxi from Cussen’s home to 29 Tanza Road, Hampstead, where she suspected Blakely might be. As she arrived, Blakely’s car drove off. She so walked to The Magdala where she found Blakely’s car parked outside.

At around 9:30pm, Blakely and his friend Clive Gunnell emerged. Blakely passed Ellis waiting on the pavement when she stepped out of the doorway of Henshaw’s, a newsagents nearby. As Blakely searched for the keys to his car, Ellis took a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver from her handbag and fired five shots at Blakely.

The first shot missed. Ruth fired a second shot which caused him to collapse onto the pavement. She then stood over him and fired three more bullets.

Ellis was seen to stand over Blakely as she repeatedly tried to fire the revolver’s sixth shot, finally firing it into the ground. This bullet ricocheted off the road and injured Gladys Yule, a bystander, who lost the use of her right thumb.

Ellis asked Gunnell, “Will you call the police, Clive?” On 20th June 1955, Ellis appeared in the Number One Court at the Old Bailey, London, before Mr Justice Havers. (Bonus geekery his grandson is the Actor Nigel Havers)

A guilty verdict resulted in the mandatory death sentence which was carried out at Holloway Prison on 13th July 1955.

According to lore, the holes outside the pub were created by the bullets from the gun of Ruth Ellis, however, these were drilled by an entrepreneurial landlady!