Well House Inn, Coulsdon

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.

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.

This is a delightful and genuinely old pub in a fairly isolated setting, easily accessible by car, less so by public transport. I took the train to Kingswood then yomped across country and golf course to find it, well worth the trouble it was too. There are three interconnecting rooms plus a small modern conservatory. The middle room seemed to be the focal point, carpeted with a large inglenook fireplace with stacked logs, the bar is on the back wall where the full range of beers are displayed on the pumps. This visit found Hogs Back Ruby Autumn Ale, Surrey Hills Shere Drop, WJ King King's Old Ale, Adnams Bitter and Pride. The bar extends into the two adjoining areas however there are only a couple of pumps visible in each. On approaching the pub it is easy to see that it is formed of three cottages knocked together, unusually the main entrance is around the back, beyond the car park and hillside garden. An attractive exterior with knapped flint, herringbone brickwork and timber beams, once inside the low beamed ceilings, collection of pewter tankards, copper implements, brasses, tin advertisements and the suchlike maintain that first impression. The side room to the left on entering is probably the public bar, there is a dartboard in here and a small TV which was switched off on Saturday afternoon. Boarded floor, another fireplace with a stack of board games on the hearth. The other side room is larger and was popular with people eating, the sandwiches looked exceptional, although I didn't get to see a menu. The adjacent conservatory looked to be an eating area too. Seating matches the pub character with settles, benches and stools, agricultural tools and bridles hang from the ceiling and walls, Toby jugs and books over the bar gantry and I also noticed a display case of old pipes and tobacco tins. The outside garden on the sloping hillside has good countryside views and of course St Margaret's Well remains with a bit of blurb about it's history on a sign. This is a splendid ancient pub, certainly worth making every effort to get to, I'm sure I'll endeavour to do so again.