In 1975, the then owners Whitbread renovated and renamed this pub from the Essex Arms to the Edgar Wallace to celebrate the centenary of the great crime writer’s birth. At times a Fleet Street journalist, he wrote over one hundred and seventy novels, screenplays and plays, and over one hundred and sixty films are based on his work. It is claimed that in the nineteen twenties a quarter of all the books read in England were by him. Serving a wide selection of very well-kept cask ales, The Edgar Wallace is in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. There are over two hundred beer mats and pump clips to further attest to their real ale credentials. The posters lining the walls may evoke memories among those of a certain age.