The Verulam, St Albans Central, St. Albans

Built 1n 1820’s, the Veralum (the Roman name for St Albans – useless info ed) originally opened as a hotel but became a pub in 1853. Sadly it would appear that its days are now over as it has recently shut and is destined to be turned into housing. Whilst it was never an essential part of my occasional St Albans pub crawl, I did pay a couple of visits. The first time I was put off by its slightly upmarket ambience and gastro leanings and paid little more than glance through the door before venturing elsewhere. My most recent visit only occurred because the Farriers Arms opposite refused to allow us in at a few minutes to 11 whilst the Veralum was far more accommodating. On the whole I found it quite a dull place with the now routine modern décor of shades of grey, bare floors and stripped back furnishings. The L-shaped interior was a bit cramped although finding a seat wasn’t hard at that time of night. 3 of the 4 pumps were operational with Black Sheep Best, London Pride, Buntingford Highwayman IPA, the latter being a new one on me. By St Albans standards, the pub was not much above average judging by my last visit but it did once have an excellent reputation and cropped up in the occasional Good Beer Guide. There are far worse pubs around that are more deserving of the axe and the Veralum’s demise should sound a warning bell to a few of its neighbours.

Fair sized corner pub just over the road from The Farriers Arms. Single horseshoe bar with 3 real ales on tap.