The Rockingham Arms (JD Wetherspoon), Elephant & Castle, SE1

Randomness Guide to London - Rockingham Arms entry

Similar to the pub named after the area round the other corner of this block The Rockingham Arms is another new build glass fronted pub built into the ground floor of an ugly building block. Now Wetherspoons new builds are characterless places at the best of times, but this one seems to have had every drop of soul drained out of it (mainly by the clientele at the time of my visit), so that its air of despair and depravity fitted in well with the feeling of the surrounding area. As Roger mentions below, the difference with the Rockingham over other local establishments is that it does serve real ale and the bar supports the usual JDW house ales and a couple of guests. But if your overriding feeling whilst standing by the bar supping a pint is “I really need to get out of this place, and quick”, then it’s not conducive to a good drinking experience. For the Residents of the E&C area for whom The Rockingham Arms, The Charlie Chaplin and The Elephant and Castle are the pubs of use due to locality, you have my utmost sympathy. For the rest of us, head north up to Borough as quickly as possible.

Named after the 2nd Marquis of Rockingham, an 18th century Prime Minister and landowner, the Rockingham is one of the modern style Wetherspoons with so little character it almost defies description. It has all the reminders of a sterile and faceless environment that you would really struggle to spend much more than an hour in whilst waiting for someone. The glass frontage, plain walls and ceilings do not really conjure up any great inspirational or imaginative feats of interior design and the usual policy of no music makes the lack of atmosphere even more apparent. There are a couple of decent sized screens for when the occasion arises although it is hard to picture this place being a hotbed of passionate sport fans. On the plus side, the beer selection was a bit more adventurous than the average E&C pub with around 3 or 4 guest ales alongside the more regular offerings. It does attract its fair share of well oiled regulars but there is sufficient space in here to steer clear of them. This is certainly not a great pub but probably the best of a bad triumvirate around the shopping centre.

Large open plan Wetherspoon's selling the usual range of real ales.2 mins from Elephant & Castle station.