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Reviewing milestone with Tris39
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Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon), St Albans Central, St. Albans
St. Albans
AL1 3LE
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon)
They have upped their game a little on the ale front and have guests as well as the usual fare. The queuing system still seems to be observed at busy times but the staff are not so inflexible as they once were and will actually serve along the whole bar. Damn cold in the winter, like now !! May have to go outside after this pint to warm up.
On 20th January 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon)
Pretty poor offering for a Wetherspoon.The only good thing about it was there a several different drinking areas but unfortunately there was not much selection of real ales and the one I did try was not very good.I suppose this is partly due to there being a cider festival going on.As with a lot of other Wetherspoon's people seem to have got into a nasty habit of queuing at the bar which just adds to the confusion.
On 22nd July 2012
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about Waterend Barn (Lloyds No1)
With the lease on JDW's other St Albans pub, the Cross Keys, not being renewed this is now their only St Albans outlet. The previous Lloyds No.1 branding has been removed but apart from that the pub remains the same. They have never had a great reputation for real ales in here, being more food and family focussed. It will be interesting to see if that improves now there is just the one outlet, and whether or not the old Cross Keys clientele make their way to the Waterend Barn. From my visit yesterday they seem to be trying it out.
On 5th June 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alesonly . left this review about Waterend Barn (Lloyds No1)
We were in here yesterday as one of First pubs on our pub Crawl I Had a Pint of Abbot as thats all I could see as it was so packed solid and we could not even get near the bar. No it weren't a Saturday night It was Thursday afternoon. I was told there was some sort of special college do on thats why it was packed never mind. Nice old style building very large barn type of place serving the usual Wetherspoons food menu good selection of Ales on Tap about 9 but could not see which ones were on tap. I would pop in again when I'm passing as its a nice place well worth going if your with Friends for a Meal during the day time which was our intention. We went too the other Wetherspoons The Cross Keys instead.
On 18th November 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 132 recommendations about 105 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Waterend Barn (Lloyds No1)
Not just one barn but two for your money! The 17th Century Waterend Barn and its smaller but slightly older 16th Century companion Lower Hormead Barn were both moved lock, stock and barrel from outlying villages to St Albans City centre in 1938 and functioned as a restaurant until becoming part of the Wetherspoons chain in 2005. They are a bit tucked away off the High Street and not immediately obvious despite the size of the complex.
The main entrance leads to a lobby with some lounge seating centred on a large brick arch fireplace. Note the “before and after” pictures showing what the main barn initially looked like. The main bar is in the Waterend Barn itself to the right of the lobby and is one of the more impressive sights that you will come across in the world of pubs and certainly in the world of Wetherspoons.
The interior is huge and is a spectacular mass of Tudor timberwork, beams and pillars all housed under under a massive vaulted roof. The bar runs almost the whole length of the far side whilst one end of the barn is dominated by a huge fireplace above which hangs a large modern quiltwork. Tucked away behind is what appears to be a modern extension known as the Blenheim Room with just a couple of tables and loungey seating. Opposite the main bar is a small raised balcony that houses DJ equipment (this is a Lloyds No 1 bar) and there is a brace of TV’s and a Big Screen positioned at the opposite end to the fireplace.
The smaller Lower Hormead Barn is less imposing but still worth a look in its own right. It appears to be used more as a dining or function room and has its own separate food bar. A portrait of Francis Bacon casts a watchful eye from one end.
At the front of the main entrance is a small patio with a few benches when the weather allows.
Being a ‘Spoons you know what to expect food and drink wise although the 9 hand pumps haven’t always deleivered much in the way of guest beers in my past visits but they did recently have a better than normal run of Festival ales.
The staffing also sometimes leaves a lot to be desired and I have encountered some pretty clueless and amateurish barwork on some of my visits with regular short measures being the one of the more annoying habits.
As a Lloyd No 1Bar it is probably avoided at Weekend evenings when the clubbers kick in but my visits have always been daytime when there is an older and more civised crowd
It certainly does have its shortcomings and I would sooner see this as a normal ‘Spoons than a Lloyds No 1 but even Wetherspoons harshest critics would have to admit that the building itself makes it a place that should be experienced at least once whilst in town.
On 7th April 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Castro-Garcia left this review about Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon)
2 former listed barns from 1610 were dismantled and re-erected in the middle of St Albans in 1938. It was a restarant, but is now a Lloyds bar (Wetherspoons)
The decor and features are breath-taking, plus plenty of sofas, alcoves and roaring fireplaces
Ruddles Best
Abbot Ale
Daleside Morocco Ale
Davenport's Last Minute Lager
Well's Banana Bread Beer
18 Christmas Ales are lined up for the holidays on rotation :)
On 22nd November 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 22 recommendations about 22 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
William Purnell left this review about Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon)
A Lloyds No1 Bar in the Wetherspoon stable
On 18th October 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 218 recommendations about 205 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon)
The main bar is a barn of a place, as the name would suggest. I've been here a couple of times in Winter when they've been trying to heat the place up with real fires only to fill the room with smoke. Away from the main bar there are a couple of smaller areas with comfortable seating and I believe, thankfully, where the kids are confined to. There are a couple of plasma screens on mute and no piped music. By some Wetherspoons standards they don't have a big range of beers, today it's three plus Pedigree. A rather annoying thing about this place is that although the three real ale pumps are located at one end of the bar the only real chance you have of getting served is to go to the other end where the bar person's 'personal till' is and order there. Not only that but they demand you pay up front, before deigning to saunter down the other end to get the beer.
On 12th April 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]