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