Daniel Craig has a new role away from the big screen: pub co-owner.
The pub is said to be haunted by Gilbert, a former hangman who is believed to linger in its cellar. The story apparently wasn’t mentioned to Craig and his partners before the sale.
Retiring landlady Pauline Tucker later told them: “You don’t see him. You feel him.”
Daniel Craig is The Horseshoe pub’s new co-owner
The actor has joined forces with hospitality names to take over The Horseshoe, a 250-year-old pub in Clerkenwell with a local legend lurking below stairs.
Craig, 58, was unruffled by the prospect of a ghostly presence. “I don’t know what he drinks but we might have to leave a pint down there: ‘Here you are Gilbert’,” he joked to The Times.
A new chapter for The Horseshoe
Craig is co-owner alongside Soho House founder Nick Jones, Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll and Justin O’Shea, creative director of Bad Belze, the lager brand Craig launched with O’Shea.
The pub is set to undergo a year-long refurbishment. The plans include turning the upstairs bar, which has been filled with dartboards, into a dining room, as well as adding a terrace and a sizeable beer garden.
Craig has said the aim is to keep the ground floor feeling like a traditional pub, rather than transform it into a modern gastropub.
The Horseshoe, on Clerkenwell Close, had been run by Pauline and Richard Tucker for 36 years. It closed in October ahead of the renovation, and is not expected to reopen until 2027.
Daniel Craig’s family ties to pubs
Pub life is familiar territory for Craig. His parents and grandparents ran pubs in Cheshire, and he has spoken about spending much of his childhood around them.
“I grew up in pubs,” he told The Times. He recalled talking to locals as a child and described pubs as places where people could catch up on the day and share their problems.
That connection appears to inform his plans for the Horseshoe: a refreshed venue that still works as a neighbourhood boozer. The challenge will be preserving that welcoming, everyday feel as the pub takes on a new life.
For now, there’s also a cellar to contend with and, if the legend is true, a potential new regular called Gilbert.
