‘Shaun of the Dead’s Winchester Pub Survived Zombies, But Not Gentrification
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest comedies ever made — and the greatest comedy to feature weaponized Sade records — San Diego Comic-Con is currently hosting an “immersive pop-up experience” that recreates Shaun of the Dead’s Winchester Tavern, the pub where Shaun and his buddies attempt to hole up until the zombie apocalypse blows over.
Judging from photos of the event, the recreation isn’t totally convincing. Sure, there is a familiar bar, a pool table and a limp zombie body hanging out of a jukebox, but it doesn’t really look that much like the pub in the movie. And while they’re selling special Shaun of Dead-themed beer, the faux-pub doesn’t actually have a liquor license, so it can’t be consumed on the premises.
At least we can always visit the real-life Winchester pub, right? Wrong!
Although the interior scenes set at the Winchester were filmed at the historic Ealing Studios, the exterior of the pub was, in fact, a real pub called The Duke of Albany in the New Cross area of London, described by Time Out as “a hard bitten boozer … frequented by Millwall fans.”
But in 2005, just a year after Shaun of the Dead hit theaters, The Duke of Albany closed. The building still stands, but it’s no longer a watering hole, instead the pub has been replaced with a classy residential development. FWIW: The building’s sign still makes note of the fact that the building is “fictionally the Winchester.”
It might be nice for the people who get to live their lives in the same spot where Simon Pegg fought off a horde of flesh-eating ghouls, but it’s a bit of a bummer for fans of the movie. It’s especially frustrating that the pub closed so soon after Shaun of the Dead came out, because it easily could have had a second life as a tourist attraction. Even the current building, which barely resembles the pub from the film, is reportedly one of “the U.K.’s most visited filming locations.”
And if people are willing to line up just to not drink in an unconvincing Californian recreation of the Winchester, just think how many people would have wanted to grab a cold pint at the real thing?
All that said, the actual inspiration for The Winchester was a pub called The Shepherds, where Pegg and Nick Frost regularly hung out and debated how they could survive a zombie apocalypse, ultimately determining that they would pop out to a nearby gun shop, then “run back, get into The Shepherds and lock all the doors.”
But sadly, it, too, didn’t prove immune to the sands of time/gentrification. To Pegg’s dismay, The Shepherds was eventually remodeled, becoming a more “hip” bar called The Boogaloo.
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that this is basically the plot of The World’s End.
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