Did you know that the name Rotherhithe is Saxon for "sailors' haven"? And at one time, most of the parish of Rotherhithe was covered by marshland. Docks have existed here since the beginning of the 16th century, and the ship builders of Rotherhithe were the best in the trade during the 17th century. There aren't many sailors about today but the Ship certainly is a little haven. A small friendly locals' pub with a pretty beer garden to the rear and seating outside the front of the pub. It's difficult to trace the history of the Ship accurately as there have been so many pubs with this name in the area. The Ship that stands here now was built in the first quarter of the 20th century, but there has been a Ship Inn on this site since at least the early 19th century. Unusually, this pub is one of the few pubs in England to have had two names at the same time. Until 1985 a sign on one side of the pub called it the Great Eastern, after a steamship built on the Isle of Dogs by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, while on the other side of the building it was called the Ship.