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Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Rex Rattus
Submitted on Saturday, 1st January 2011
With picture contributions to 1103 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (4 more images)
Detail Pages
The County Arms, Wandsworth Common, SW18
SW18
SW18 3SH
Served areas
The County Arms
Here’s a sneak peak at one of our new mains to our upcoming summer menu!
1:37 PM May 31st from Twitter for iPhone
Reviews of The County Arms (Average Rating: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The County Arms
Overlooking Wandsworth Common and dating from the mid-19th century, this is a very imposing building in the brewers’ Tudor style, so I suspect it may have been rebuilt at a later stage. Wandsworth Common is the mainline for the County, and I walked the main road.
The name can be seen in mosaic to the entrance along with some good vestigial etched glass with Art Nouveau leaded stained-glass clerestories. Thereafter there’s a huge, rambling baronial interior which can be seen on Google and their site, appearing to have been toned down a bit since PSM’s review, but still a rather corporate affair, pastel hues with ‘zoned’ furniture and some kilims, décor by way of things such as photos of birds, tits or finches and the like, all to very loud Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name. Customers were few for a Saturday evening at 9.00pm, affluent professional types, a child leaving as is the requirement come this time of night.
As usual given the SW postcode, there was London Original (obviously) and Wimbledon Copper Leaf, £3.15 a half and as always, tasting of burnt leaves.
This is probably a good bet for the likes of Mother’s Day but it’s a monumental hike to get here and the cask selection was predictably dull; where’s the Proper Job?
On 1st March 2024
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The County Arms
Stood at the edge of Wandsworth Common, this is a large Young's pub with a truly impressive facade that is well worth taking in before entering. You pass through a nice porch with a great mosaic tile floor which bears the pub's name into a huge main bar area with a central island servery in an area that would once have comprised a series of separate rooms. The furniture is very high end, with plush banquettes, solid chairs and comfy sofas all looking tempting. Despite having been knocked around a lot, the place still retains a few traditional features, including the dark wood bar counter, smart fireplace to the rear and attractive etched glass partitioning screens. Doors either side of the fireplace lead into a large dining room with rugs over thick floorboards, standard table and chair seating, another nice fireplace and lots of old photos, paintings and the like on the walls. It's quite a nice room to be honest, but I expect it only really gets used by those wanting to try something from the rather pretentious and expensive menu. Beyond is a new extension which is comparatively shallow but very wide and has a conservatory roof in part, plenty more seating and is apparently used for private functions including weddings. There is a beer garden somewhere too, but it was pitch black when we visited, so I didn't explore.
On the bar, Youngs Ordinary and Special are joined by permanent guest Wimbledon Common Pale Ale and there was a reasonably decent selection of craft keg and bottled beer. We came here for a beer tasting with Fourpure Brewery (which was excellent by the way - they are touring Young's pubs with these events and I'd thoroughly recommend joining one if you get the chance), so mainly drank cans of their beer, but we did include a half of the Ordinary as part of the tasting, which was a massive disappointment after a couple of tasty craft beers and really was a poor advert for cask ale at this event aimed at craft converts.
I really liked this pub, despite the annoying, pretentious makeover that Youngs have given it. It's still a really beautiful building and if you can look past the gentrification, it's still a rewarding place to enjoy a drink or two. It's a shame that it is let down somewhat on that point, but there are still some Fourpure beers in the fridges, so I guess that's what I'll be having if I ever make it back here.
On 3rd January 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The County Arms
This is a large and imposing Young’s house with the usual range on. I enjoyed a particularly good pint of Winter Warmer – at £3.38 a pint. The large horseshoe bar is in the middle of the room, with a black and white tiled splash area around it. The room stretches around to the right of the bar counter, leading to another large separate room at the back, which in turn leads to a conservatory. There is also a garden to the side of the pub, but it really wasn’t garden weather during my visit so didn’t explore it. Furnishings are a mixed bag – some large, solid tables, “tub” chairs, square stools, and normal tables and chairs. There are a couple of decent features remaining – a bit of attractive glasswork plus the name of the pub picked out in mosaic in the entranceway. It was very busy during my late lunchtime New Year’s Day visit, with all the tables and seating occupied mainly by family groups with young children in tow. Just about everybody was either still eating or had recently finished eating.
I try to imagine what it might be like in here on a “normal” day, on the assumption that the customer base on New Year’s Day is not typical, and I suspect that it would qualify as “OK”. The staff were struggling to cope today, with table clearing apparently not the top of the priority list. But I would be happy to drop in for another pint if I was passing, although I doubt whether I would go out of my way to visit again.
On 1st January 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
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- Official site of The County Arms - www.countyarms.co.uk
- Facebook - The County Arms
- Twitter - The County Arms
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The County Arms - whatpub.com
Earlsfield, 0.98 miles, 18 min walk (show)
Wandsworth Town, 1.13 miles, 21 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 01 March 2024 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 01 March 2024 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Child Friendly : Yes - Out by 21.00. - last updated 01 March 2024 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 01 March 2024 by Tris C
- Function Room : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Jukebox : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Live Music : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Pinball : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 May 2014 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : No last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
- WiFi : Yes last updated 03 January 2018 by Pub SignMan
