Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by john mcgraw
Submitted on Wednesday, 22nd August 2012
With picture contributions to 21062 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (8 more images)
Detail Pages
Well House Inn, Coulsdon
Mugswell
Postal town: Coulsdon
CR5 3SQ
Served areas
Reviews of Well House Inn (Average Rating: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nick Davies left this review about The Well House Inn
Now acquired by Time Well Spent (see the Sportsman up the road) and has been the subject of a cosmetic refurbishment. The public and main bars are much as they were before. The room to the right and the conservatory are now full blown restaurants in the style of the company's other pubs complete with the dark wood tables and black high backed chairs (you half expect a pocket for a hymn book on the back) which instil a sense of sepulchral doom.
The beer range and quality remains much the same, service a little more formal. It's still very much worth a visit, but you'll have to compete with a somewhat ya-ya eating out clientele enjoying their twelve quid burgers and kangeroo meat steaks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sept 2013 update...
The notes below were written a couple of years ago but nothing has changed, the Well House continues to delight and is in the 2014 GBG.
The Well House is a genuine, unspoilt, ancient country pub in a deep valley down a narrow lane. Only the distant rumble of the M25 reminds you that you are all of 15 miles from central London.
There are three main rooms of varying character plus a recently added conservatory. Public bar complete with dartboard and machines, the central lounge and a larger room at the end which is more restauranty in nature.
And as you should expect - but sadly so often don't any more get - for a 16th century building there's exposed beams and open fires and lots of nooks and crannies.
The beer is good, very good - it's a GBG regular these days. Apart from a couple of the usual suspects there's always another couple of guest ales which seem to change every few days, always something new to try. Always a friendly welcome; cuisine is traditional English pub.
The Well House is by far the best pub by a long stretch around these parts, untouched by chain branding and would-be restaurateurs. Well worth a trip out, a destination for a days walking in the North Downs (and it's very dog friendly) and it's an easy stop on this stretch of the M25.
Note that the Coulsdon postal address is misleading, it is more easily approached from the A217 if you are unfamiliar with the complexity of the lanes round here.
On 18th July 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 567 recommendations about 559 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Well House Inn
Hidden down some tight country lanes that are almost impossible to believe still exist within the M25, this is a fantastic historic, rural pub in a peaceful, attractive setting. The pub is Grade II listed and believed to date back to the 1500's, whilst the well in the garden, from which the pub and surrounding hamlet take their name, was apparently listed in the Doomsday Book. The pub has a suitably traditional multiple room format, with the entrance next to the well leading you into a carpeted main bar with pew and standard seating, a red and cream colour scheme, dark wood ceiling beams and a similarly dark wood servery on the back wall. The room has a real 'lived-in' feel to it, being decorated as it is with the accumulated artefacts of a long and interesting history. Among other things, it's worth looking out for some framed pipe collections, displays of interesting old beer bottles, a series of tankards and all manner of odd looking farm tools. The room's real eye-catching feature is the fabulous inglenook fireplace on the right hand wall which looks great but was sadly not lit during our stay. To the left, there is a second bar in a fairly narrow space with several more tables served by pews and standard chairs. A large TV screen was turned off in this room, although I can't imagine it gets a great deal of use. To the right of the main bar there are some dining rooms, accessed by passing through a narrow space lined with a large number of black and white photographs. The roadside half has a traditional dining room with lots of old beams and pillars and a good amount of formally arranged tables, whilst on the other side there is a slightly incongruous conservatory with smarter furnishings. The garden is on a bit of a gradient and looks like it is well maintained and a nice spot in sunnier months.
On the bar there were five handpulls in operation offering a mix of local and well known beers, with the full range comprising Fullers London Pride, Westerham God's Wallop, Adnams Southwold Bitter, Surrey Hills Shere Drop and Hog's Back England's Glory. I gave the Westerham a try and thought it was in pretty good shape, served up by a welcoming barmaid. We also enjoyed some food here from the reasonably priced pub classics menu and the steak and kidney pudding I ordered was top drawer.
I'd been planning a visit here for some time and have to say I'm glad I got a lift in the end, as I can't imagine it's all that easily accessed by public transport. It's a great example of a traditional rural pub and probably one of the best of it's kind within the boundary of the M25. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here and I would like to think I'll make it back out here sooner rather than later.
On 17th April 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Well House Inn
Excellent country pub, still as described below, with very good beers and food, which has somehow managed to avoid the commercialisation that has spolit many pubs in Surrey. Cask Marque listed.
On 9th December 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
View more reviews of Well House Inn (5)
Pubs Galore is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
- Official site of Well House Inn - thewellhouseinn.co.uk
- Facebook - The Well House Inn
- Twitter - Well House Inn
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Well House Inn - whatpub.com
- Historic Pub Interiors - pubheritage.camra.org.uk
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 02 August 2013 by Nick Davies
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Car Park : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 17 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Darts : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Jukebox : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Karaoke : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Live Music : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Micropub : No last updated 17 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Pinball : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Pool Table : No last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
- Real Ale : Yes - In GBG - last updated 02 August 2013 by Nick Davies
- Real Cider : No last updated 17 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- WiFi : Yes last updated 18 July 2013 by Nick Davies
