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Old Red Lion

418 St John Street
Finsbury
London
EC1V 4NJ

• (020) 7837 7816
• Send an email to the Pub
• oldredliontheatre.co.uk/

Social Links

• Visit Old Red Lion on Facebook
• Follow @ORLTheatre on Twitter

Opening Times

Owner

Star (Heineken UK)

About the Pub

Well-known theatre pub on one of the oldest sites in London, a pub here being first recorded in 1415; the present building dates from 1898. An ornate wooden and glass panelled screen partially cuts off what used to be a private saloon at the front. Board games are available. The pub also has a largescreen TV and can get busy on big sports occasions such as rugby matches. At the back is a patio drinking area. Pool is very popular. The long bar is separated by a most unusual engraved glass partition.

Historic Interest

Grade II listing:- Public house. Dated 1899. By Eedle and Myers for Charles Dickerson and John William North, victuallers. Ground-floor pub front of polished granite and stucco, brick upper floors of front elevation rendered in banded stucco rustication and pilasters divided by rubbed and finely cut red brick panels, some terracotta decoration; roof obscured by parapet. Pub occupies ground and 1st floors; upper floors residential. Free-Classical style with Neo-Jacobean and other Renaissance motifs. Four storeys; 3-window range including a narrower and canted far right bay, 2nd and 3rd storeys 2:2:1. Elaborate main entrance to far right canted bay, subsidiary entrances to other bays. Banded stucco and panelled pilasters dividing windows are carried up in successive orders from ground to parapet; storeys articulated horizontally by moulded stucco sill bands. 1st floor with elliptical and round-arched casement windows with fanlights: radiating stucco banding to heads and prominent keystones that rise to the 2nd floor sill band; pilaster shafts composed of terracotta lions. 2nd floor with round-arched architraved and keystoned casement windows with plain fanlights and 2nd floor cornice with egg and dart moulding. 8/1 architraved sashes to 3rd floor. Balustraded parapet with shaped brick name panel as gablet inscribed in Arts and Crafts lettering: 'THE OLD RED LION 1415 REBVILT 1899'; ball and pyramid finials. Elaborate relief-decoration of moulded brickwork below gablet, with 2 lions, initials ("D" & "N") and leaves. Ground-floor pub front of period: bays filled with original glazing and grained woodwork articulated by pilasters with polished red granite shafts, black granite bases and decorative stucco capitals. Deeply recessed segmental-arched main entrance with pair of original panelled doors with glazing and plain overlight flanked by 1/2 chamfered piers of same materials as pilasters; richly animated stucco relief with foliated scrolls and centre masque to shaped panel above entrance. Other bays with identical pairs of original doors with glazing, overlights and plain glazed windows of original design; painted mirrored glass fascia reading: 'CHARRINGTON OLD RED LION'. Wrought-iron bracketed wall lanterns to ground-floor pilasters. INTERIOR: : much of the original interior survives including barback and division screens.

Regular cask ales

This pub serves 1 regular beer.

• Sharp's Doom Bar

Changing cask ales

This pub serves 1 changing beer.

Changing beers typically include:

• Wychwood Hobgoblin Ruby

Updated on 19/12/2019 Branch responsible is East London & City

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