Island Queen

The Island Queen still retains many delightful internal features from the golden age of London pub building and internal design, with perhaps the most arresting being the glazed screenwork.

The Island Queen, built in 1851, rises proudly above the adjacent terraces in this smart part of Islington. It was altered internally in 1889 and 1897 and, although various partitions around the central servery have been removed, much remains from that time.

The ground-floor frontage is a timber and glass screen and behind it is an extraordinarily high bar area. A disused door on the left hand side announces “Saloon Bar” in etched glass - unfortunately, the corridor it led to has been opened up, although the high level etched glazing survives. Historic survivals within include the impressive two tier bar counter, the stillion in the centre of the servery, two cast-iron columns with Corinthian capitals and a full-height timber and glass screen forming a (now doorless) room to the rear right. On the right hand counter is a lengthy two bay pot rack of considerable age which has a very pretty etched glass frontage. There is a further glazed screen on the right creating a corridor which leads to a staircase to the first floor. Impressive etched and cut glass is signed ‘R Morris & Son, 239 Kennington Road. SE’, a firm who provided their wares to many a London pub in the late-Victorian years. Other features of note are the Lincrusta ceiling and pretty mosaic  flooring in front of the left and right-hand entrances. At the rear on the left is a late 19th century fireplace with a round-arched grate (the old mirrors in this area were installed in 1979). Throughout the pub, the dado panelling survives. Tragically, most of the original window glass has been lost to clear replacements, but the attractively patterned top lights remain.