London Pubs Group

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Warrington

The Warrington
93 Warrington Crescent
Maida Vale
W9 1EH

Grade II listed
One of Britain's Real Heritage Pubs on CAMRA's National Inventory of Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest

Part of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's small but growing pub chain [NB this is no longer the case: it is now part of Faucet Inns' portfolio], this is a spacious, stucco-fronted hotel put up in the middle of the 19th century. It was given a major later in the century, probably in the 1890s, and the glorious tiled columns to the entrance porch and a huge mosaic floor bearing the name of the pub given some idea of the richness within.

The main room is on the right and has a grey marble-topped counter with unusual, bulgy pilasters and lozenge decoration. Grey marble also appears in the columns of a three-bay arcade which marches across the right-hand side of the room, embracing the generously-scaled staircase to what is now the upstairs restaurant.

In some of the windows is some lively stained glass Over the servery is a semi-circular canopy, decorated with Art Nouveau-style paintings of naked ladies. More such paintings, with the signature Colin Beswick 1965, appear on the back wall and are meant to evoke the unlikely story that has grown up that this was once a brothel.

The left-hand room was once clearly divided into three as the patterning in the ceiling shows. The lowest status part has matchboard wall-panelling and an ornate, much decayed mirror advertising Bass pale ale. Other things to note are the attractive an unusual high-level chequerwork glazed screens, the skylight over the first-floor landing and the deep, decorative cornices on the first floor.


The Regional Inventory descriptions in these notes are extracts from the following book
London Heritage Pubs: An Inside Story

The Warrington featured on the Evening Crawl of Maida Vale in May 2002, the Evening Crawl of Maida Vale and Bayswater in December 2005, the Daytime Crawl of NW London and Maida Vale in October 2006, the Viva Victorian: Evening Crawl of Maida Vale and Maida Hill in December 2012, and the Rural Rides: Daytime Crawl of Kensal Green, Maida Hill, Maida Vale and St John's Wood in February 2017.