Named after the British victory in the 1868 Battle of Magdala, it was the site of a notorious murder in 1955.

The pub building dates back to at least the mid-19th century, being built in mid-Victorian times to serve the developing neighbourhood south of Hampstead Heath.

[1] The building was named after the British victory in the 1868 Battle of Magdala.

[2][3]The pub is included in CAMRA's heritage guide for its interior, which includes a "remarkably intact room from the 1930s" with wood panelling, an Art Deco frieze and a Tudor-style pink marble fireplace.

[1] The pub became infamous as the location outside which Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, shot her boyfriend David Blakely in April 1955.