The Clarendon Hotel, Wolverhampton

Official pages of the Clarendon Hotel - www.marstonstaverns.co.uk

Official pages of the Clarendon Hotel - www.marstonstaverns.co.uk

This is Banks’s (Marston’s) “unofficial” tap house, by this I mean that although they have never claimed that it is the brewery tap, it is directly in front of the brewery and it has more Marston’s ales on hand pull than any other Banks’s pub that I know of. It’s a nice Victorian corner pub, the interior is large and has a bit of a strange layout but I shall try my best to describe it as accurately as I can. As you pass through the main door (which is down the side of the pub in Brewery Lane) you will see a large open plan lounge area with modern decor to your left, a smaller more traditional lounge area down a couple of steps on your right and a very small traditional public bar to the left of the main lounge. The large modern lounge has a small bar counter, three flat screen TVs and several modern paintings/photos of flowers. The more traditional lounge area has a nice old fire place, a TV and more of the same pictures of flowers. The public bar is directly behind the bar counter in the main lounge, but it also has its own small bar counter. This is where I normally head when I visit, as it has a nice large fire place with a steel surround embossed with the Banks’s lion emblem, leather seating, a large flat screen TV showing sky sports news and Wolves FC memorabilia on the walls. Regular ales are Banks’s Mild and Bitter (two in the lounge and two in the bar), Marston’s Pedigree and five changing guest’s from the Marston’s portfolio such as Brakspear, Jennings, Ringwood or Wychwood beers. They seem to make a point of having one of Jennings seasonal beers on. This is a decent pub and a former GBG entry, the interior is a little strange, maybe due to its mix of modern and traditional décor but the nice bar area makes up for any modern tat. Always worth a visit if you’re near the Chapel Ash side of the city centre simply for the range of ales. Also it should be noted that there are a couple of good pubs nearby.