The Ocean Queen was once known as a resort of prostitutes and dubious characters. In the 1870s it comprised a public house and four adjacent two roomed cottages in a small yard, most of which could be shut off from the street. Some of the buildings were let out furnished, some not. The landlord also reputedly kept a menagerie of birds, monkeys and dogs. By the 1891 census the four cottages each had a young female "housekeeper" in residence.

The pub was destroyed by a Second World War bomb. It was replaced by a Lloyd's bank, which in more recent years was converted into the Briarbank Brewery and tasting room.

The closure date is recorded in the Borough Police licensed premises register 1903-1923.