Pub history: The Lion and Lobster

The Lion and Lobster is one of Brighton's oldest pubs, but did you know it has links with a grisly 19th century crime? Find out more by listening below.

"The Lion and Lobster is a popular pub in Sillwood Street, Brighton which regularly appears in best-of and must-visit lists.

The pub is notable for it's large and rambling interior that includes an award-winning restaurant alongside it's main bar on the ground floor.

The building is painted in a vivid red, quite like the lobster which it is part-named for, but it could still be said to be something of a hidden gem.

Situated near, but not in, the hustle and bustle of central Brighton, The Lion and Lobster is not a place a tourist will find themselves stumbling into unaware.

One of Brighton's oldest pubs, it has been operating since the 19th Century. It was previously known as The Olive Branch and The Rockingham before it became the Lion and Lobster.

It was formerly owned by Irish actor Gary Whelan, notable for his appearances in The Bill, Ballykissangel and the film Michael Collins.

He owned the pub from 2001 until 2014 when he sold it to the City Pub Company for 4.5 million pounds which at the time made it the most expensive pub in the city.

It was a considerable profit for Whelan as he had originally purchased the pub for just £1 million pounds.

It is rare to find an old Brighton pub that does not come with some interesting history, and the Lion and Lobster is no exception.

Perhaps one of the more unusual anecdotes belonging to the pub is from 1866 when it became involved in murder mystery.

Mrs Ellen Warder was murdered by her husband, a doctor who gave her small quantities of the poison Wolf's Bane over a month.

Her brother suspected Dr Warder was not giving Ellen the correct medicines to remedy the mysterious illness.

When she eventually passed away, another doctor considered the circumstances to be so unusual he refused to sign the death certificate.

Subsequently the Coroners inquest was called and held at the Lion and Lobster, then known as The Rockingham.

Dr Warder disappeared to London, before returning discreetly and committing suicide in the Bedford Hotel on Brighton Seafront. It transpired he had had two wives before Ellen, both of whom had died in unusual circumstances.

In many ways it seems fitting that the pub should have ties to such a grisly tale as the interior of the pub could be mistaken for the setting of a gothic novel itself.

The inside is a rambling warren; red, black and brown decor, dimly lit with all-sorts of hidden corners. It wouldn't be at all surprising if you didn't find the two-floor outdoor terrace which is concealed at the top right of the pub.

The pub’s mystery and intrigue make it a truly unique pub that embodies the famously individual spirit of Brighton."