London Pubs Group

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Lord Southampton

2 Southampton Road
Kentish Town
NW5 4HX

Although this pub is not a listed building it is on CAMRA’s London Regional Inventory of Pub Interiors of Special Historic Interest and the description is as follows: “A prominent corner-site community local, this was given a major refit between the wars, as indicated outside by the buff and mottled dark blue faïence facing. Although the dividing walls were progressively cut through between about 1973 and 1986, you can still gain a good sense of how the pub was laid out half a century or more ago. There were three rooms, each with its own external doorway and also an off-sales area entered from Grafton Terrace which remained in use until the late 1970s. There are plenty of inter-war features, including extensive wall panelling, exposed timbers in the ceilings (to create an ‘olde worlde’ effect) and the bar counter and back fitting. The most intact part of the Lord Southampton is the left-hand rear area, which forms an intimate panelled space with its own glazed hatch to the servery. It’s here that the door to the gents’ leads off and into something unusual – a steel bridge spanning a small, enclosed yard below.

History across the road: St Dominic’s Priory just to the north is one of the largest Roman Catholic churches in London, 299ft long and built in 1874-83 to designs by architect CA Buckler. South of the church the convent buildings, dating from the 1860s, have been converted into housing.”

The listing description of St Dominic’s Priory (grade II) is as follows: “Dominican priory. c1863-83. By Gilbert Blount, WK Broder and Charles A Buckler; built by J Langdon. Multi-colour stock brick with stone dressings. Slated mansard roof with dormers to west range; slated gabled roof to south range. 2 irregular ranges forming a 3-sided courtyard with the south aisle of the Roman Catholic Priory Church of St Dominic (qv). West range with central pointed arch entrance having gabled slated porch; ground floor 2-light traceried windows; 1st floor with single light casements. To right, 2 gabled bays with similar windows. South range buttressed with asymmetrically attached campanile having a spire and lancets articulating stairs. 2-light traceried ground floor windows, 1st floor 2-light plate tracery gables. INTERIOR: not inspected but noted to retain a refectory, common rooms and chapter house opening off the cloister ambulatory with plate tracery windows; dormitory cubicles over.”

The Lord Southampton featured on the North Stars: Evening Crawl of Belsize Park and Kentish Town on 25 April 2018.

The WhatPub link is here: WhatPub/Lord Southampton

The Pub Heritage Group link is here: PHG/Lord Southampton