London Pubs Group

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

Prince of Wales

169-171 Lyham Road
Brixton
LONDON
SW2 5PY

Like the Hero of Switzerland and the Effra Hall, this pub is not a listed building but it is on CAMRA’s London Regional Inventory and the description is as follows: “Brick-built pub on the site of a couple of houses in the interwar years (probably Thirties). The plain façade conceals a pub that’s still divided into two parts by two-thirds height timber partitions, both sides of which are served from a central servery – very rare for London. As so often with such a layout the two parts are linked by a passage across the back giving common access to the gents’. The door in the rear partition has been lost. The right-hand door leads to the lounge with a carpet. On the rear right-hand side there is an adaptation of an inglenook fireplace arrangement of inter-war brick with doors leading off it. There is fielded panelling around the inside and above it and, unusually, there is a ladies toilet off it at the rear. Fielded paneling around the room to two-thirds height. Inter-war counter front painted black with a still working heated footrail. The bar back is island-style but looks 1960/70s work with glass shelves and a ply back. The public bar on the left has lino in the front part and carpet in the rear part. It retains the original 1930s bar counter, curved at the rear and with a still working heated rail. Fielded panelling around the room to two-thirds height. There is an Art Deco shaped stone fireplace painted black on the rear left wall. Same island bar back i.e. 1960/70s. There are three original fixed benches, one is attached to the front partition. There is signs of a door in the front middle of the pub so maybe there was an off-sales (or small snug?) and a partition lost. Within the servery on both sides the under counter shelf and wash basin are of pewter and there are wooden cupboards.”

The Prince of Wales featured on the A River Runs Through It: The Brixton Six: Evening Crawl of Brixton on 24 April 2019.

The WhatPub link is here: Prince of Wales