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The Wig & Pen, Northampton
Northampton
NN1 1JA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Wig & Pen
Blessed with a fairly prominent town centre location, this is a pleasant historic pub with an elongated L-shaped layout. A narrow, lower front space offers hard pew seating before giving way to the bar area, where an L-shaped, dark wood counter occupies the right-hand side of the room, with limited seating to the left and through a more spacious rear space. Most of this seating comes in the form of low stools and more pews, all serving copper topped tables. Some nice dark wood beams cross the ceiling and further back there’s a large raised section of ceiling that looks like it should have a skylight in it, but is currently blocked off. Some decent wood panelling contrasts a plain paint scheme, enlivened with old paintings, brewery adverts and mirrors, which cover much of the wall space throughout. There was also a large Tv screen on the back wall showing highlights of the previous day’s football whilst indie tunes played in the background. Out the back, there’s a decent split-level patio garden with a neon ‘Wig & Pen’ sign on the back wall, loads of solid garden furniture, plenty of shelter and at least one more screen showing the football.
There are no less than eight handpulls on the bar, but three of these had ‘Coming Soon’ labels next to fairly mainstream cask brands, whilst a fourth was dispensing a real cider. This left four ales on the go - Dark Star Hophead, Taylors Golden Best, Mad Goose Purity Gold and Youngs Ordinary. A super-friendly barmaid pulled me a decent drop of the Hophead, which I enjoyed supping whilst listening to the local’s dissecting the football coverage.
This is a pretty down to earth town centre boozer, seemingly popular with a slightly older clientele, which offers comfortable seating in a proper pub environment alongside a decent selection of well-kept cask ales. There was nothing here that really blew my mind, but I enjoyed the friendly service and simplicity of the place and would suggest it’s worth a quick look if you’re crawling the town centre.
On 29th December 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Wig & Pen
Traditional town centre pub, quite busy early Saturday lunchtime with a good mix of locals, shoppers and beer tourists. Its been well described numerous times below, plenty of beer choice, I had a nice pint of Silverstone Pit Stop. A good official start to a Northampton pub crawl.
On 6th May 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Wig & Pen
Old beamed pub , long thin front lounge leading up to bar area and final larger area giving an L-shape. Copper tables, distressed paint work, settles. Friendly service and a nice place all round.
On 8th November 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Wig & Pen
The Wig & Pen is a decent looking pub which still has its old Mansfield brewery signage outside.
Once inside there is a an L shaped room which runs to the rear,the rear area is up one step where the bar is,there are normal tables and chairs to the front and some pew seats and small stool further down the room,it is carpeted throughout and seemed quite comfortable and cosy.
There was a good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Elgoods Cambridge Bitter,which went down well,the other real ales noted were ,Hop Back Citra,RCh Old Slug Porter
Adnams Ghost Ship,London Pride,Black Sheep Bitter and Black Hole Cosmic.
There was quiet background music playing and the pub was doing good trade on our Saturday dinner visit.
I quite liked this pub.
Pub visited 1/10/2016
On 18th November 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Wig & Pen
Jacobean-era pub with attractive etched glass windows at the pub’s front. Three tiered interior in what is essentially a long narrow room branching off into an L-shape with a fairly impressive rear courtyard patio area beyond. Some old stylings inside - pub carpet, wood fittings, copper-top tables. The rear area hosts al fresco footy. Good natured locals on our two visits, especially so on the late evening where it functions as a ‘plub’ for the more grown-up element of the weekend funsters (so beware loud music etc though the bouncers were notably friendly). 8 pumps with 7 on, a good mix of micro and regional. Went for Elgoods Bitter and Great Oakley Delapre Dark and got excellent beer for my money although note that it is one of the more expensive pubs in NN1. It should be a default visit if you can drag yourself away from the Malt Shovel/Phipps axis.
On 13th August 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Wig & Pen
This is an old long and narrow pub with the bar at the end.
It wasn't overly busy on my Friday afternoon visit but certainly wasn't quiet. I counted eight hand pumps at the front of the bar and three at the side. The front eight had Nethergate Old Growler, Adnam's Ghost Ship, Old Speckled Hen, Slater's Queen Bee, Elgood's Golden Newt & Black Dog Mild, Potbelly Best and one unused that was being changed. The three side pumps had Fuller's London Pride & Oliver's Island and Greene King IPA. Apart from two beers all of these were from the old regional or long established brewers. I thought I would try the Old Growler which was in good nick but cost the ridiculous price of £4.20. I have to admit that I had failed to spot the 10% CAMRA discount but even at £3.78 it's still over the top for the Midlands. I didn't see anything special about this pub at all and just left feeling I'd been ripped off.
On 25th May 2015
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about Wig & Pen
Packed solid on a Saturday night at 7pm, the Wig & Pen had a decent selection of ales on the bar. The service was quick but the music was just a bit loud for my 50 year old ears. We stopped for just the single pint before heading to the theatre. I am told that if you order clutching your theatre ticket, you attract some discount on your pint, but that was after I had paid so I never got to test the theory.
Decent pub in the heart of a vibrant student orientated city, well worth a visit.
On 16th March 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Wig & Pen
A real gem in the centre of town and well worth a visit. There were 11 ales and 2 ciders to choose from on this visit. The pub is traditional in style and retains a lot of it's original features. I especially liked the open beams above the bar and Jacobean oak timber bar, there was a small clock in a timber alcove across from the bar. There was a good number of small copper topped tables, some of which were Arts and Craft. Most of the timber work around the front of the pub, was distressed in finish.
In spite of the pub being quite busy, the bar staff were welcoming and helpful when discussing their beers of choice. We went for the Dukeries Ray of Sunshine and Nene Valley Blond Session Ale, both were A1. The pub also hosts a wide selection of whiskeys and advertises their handmade pies.
On 1st March 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Wig & Pen
Attractive old building with an extension to the rear, and rather larger than the narrow frontage would suggest. The low ceilinged are inside the door leads to a 'L'-shaped bar with more headroom further back. Traditional furniture and decor. Silent news on large TV screens, and background music at a sensible volume. Covered patio beer garden. Excellent choice from 11 beers and two ciders on handpump, and my pint of Langton Inclined Plane (£3.60 less 10% Camra discount) was in fine form. Well worth a visit.
On 22nd November 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Wig & Pen
A really good looking pub. A narrow frontage leads to a much deeper than expected interior. There are lots of features including old beams, stained glass, a massive brick fireplace and an impressive clock. There's also a smart outside area. Cricket was being shown quietly in the pub. There are 13 handpumps, 3 had Greene King products on them, 3 had real ciders, one was off and the rest had a good selection of guest ales on them. My pint was in excellent condition and there's also a 10% CAMRA discount. One of my favourite pubs in Northampton.
On 17th July 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3224 recommendations about 3135 pubs]