Griffin

Pub Heritage Group have recently carried out a regrading of Real Heritage Pubs - click here for full details

Greater Manchester - Heaton Mersey

Two star - A pub interior of outstanding national historic interest

Listed Status: Not listed

552 Didsbury Road
Heaton Mersey
SK4 3AJ

Tel: (0161) 443 2077

Email: thegriffinhotel@joseph-holt.com

Website https://www.joseph-holt.com/pubs/griffin-heaton-mersey

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thegriffinhotelhm

Real Ale: Yes

Lunchtime Meals: Yes

Nearby Station: East Didsbury

Station Distance: 850m

Public Transport: Near Railway Station (East Didsbury) and Bus Stop

Bus: Yes

View on: Whatpub

Built in 1831, the Griffin was acquired by Joseph Holts in 1921. On right-hand is the traditional multi-roomed layout including a lobby bar with a splendid screened servery (lower sashes removed). Off floor lobby are a small right-hand room with old fixed seating; a left-hand room with lovely fixed seating and early 20th-century fireplace; a tiny narrow room on the right (seems to be a conversion of a passage); another small right-hand rear room with marble fireplace and old fixed seating (opened-up to the lobby); and an area behind the servery with more fixed seating. Holts extended the pub in the 1970s creating an open-plan bar of three areas on the left with a servery copying the old one and re-using the old lower sash screens. Lots of 'Griffin Hotel' etched windows.
Built in 1831 by the local Thorniley family, it was acquired by Joseph Holts in 1921. CAMRA helped to save the Griffin from demolition in the 1970s. It is well worth a visit to see two ornate shuttered bars - one being a modern copy of the original. On the right-hand side is the old multi-roomed layout including a lobby bar with a splendid carved mahogany screened servery which is complete apart from the removal of the lower sashes that raised and lowered. Off the black and white tiled floor lobby are a small room to the front right with old fixed seating and a Victorian (style?) fireplace; a room on the left with lovely fixed seating and an early 20th-century brown-glazed brick and wood surround fireplace; a tiny narrow room on the right which looks like a conversion of a passage; another small room at the rear right with a marble fireplace and old fixed seating, but opened-up to the lobby; and an area behind the servery with more good fixed seating.

When Holts decided to extend the pub in the 1970s they created an open-plan bar of three areas on the left with a servery that is an accurate re-construction of the original one and using the lower sash screens in the upper part. A wide doorway connects the front section to the old part of the pub. Lots of 'Griffin Hotel' etched windows and etched panels throughout, though, no doubt, some are replacements.
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