The Duke of Sussex, W4

This is a mid-19th century pub, rebuilt in 1898 for the Cannon brewery in the brewers’ Tudor style, grade II-listed and on CAMRA’s inventory of pubs with historic interiors, this being of Regional Importance. The interior is well described below, with photos on CAMRA’s website. It’s quite nice overall, with some fantastic etched glass windows, traditional furniture including some brown vinyl banquettes, brown wainscoting then either pale or dark grey paint up to a dark grey Anaglypta ceiling. There’s a large, formal dining area to the rear and décor comprises the occasional print. Lighting is mixed, some of it powered by ugly galvanised exposed trunking to bare brick walls; why did the pub’s owners do this to a beautiful heritage pub? The ale line-up amounted to two unused pumps, an anonymous one reversed, then something called Harry’s Bitter (obviously the current Duke of Sussex), his countenance applied to the pump clip and thus off-putting, me opting for a half of Wandle at £2.70 which was ok, served by a perfunctory barman. This place is fine and worth including in a crawl, but the Swan, a thirty-second walk from here, is far more rewarding.

Official site of The Duke of Sussex - www.thedukeofsussex.co.uk

Official site of The Duke of Sussex - www.thedukeofsussex.co.uk

An attractive corner pub, the tiled entrance lobby with a mosaic floor cannot fail to impress, elongated horseshoe bar, arched feature windows and some original etched and coloured glass. No bar back these days, there would have been once when there were several rooms, clearly visible in the different floor patterns. A restaurant area sits to the rear left with a lovely arched window and door letting onto the garden beyond. The other side returns slightly and looks to be a cosy slightly intimate spot. There is a fair bit of decent exposed brickwork, large black iron columns and seating at distressed scrubbed tables. Huge vases of cut flowers including lilies on window shelves and the end of the bar. Five on, Truman's Runner, Hog's Back TEA, Sharp's Atlantic, GK IPA and the enjoyable Bedlam Brewery IPA. I liked it here, well worth a punt.