Three star - A pub interior of exceptional national historic importance
Listed Status: II*
274 Kilburn High RoadTel: (020) 3876 8204
Website https://blacklionkilburn.co.uk/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/197256637640291
Real Ale: Yes
Real Cider: Yes
Lunchtime Meals: Yes
Evening Meals: Yes
Nearby Station: West Hampstead
Station Distance: 700m
Public Transport: Near Railway Station (West Hampstead) and Bus Stop
Bus: Yes
View on: Whatpub
Pride of place here goes to the series of four copper relief panels by designer F. A. Callcott depicting eighteenth-century ladies and gents at leisure at the supposed antecedent of the present pub.
An impressive corner-site pub built in 1898 to designs by architect, R. A. Lewcock. It has a light, spacious interior enriched with some particularly spectacular and appealing decoration. The copper relief panels depict ladies and gents variously enjoying a game of bowls, drinking and smoking, watching the inn sign being painted, and taking the waters at Kilburn Wells, the spa that lay nearby to the south. There is a deep and superbly ornate Florentine frieze in both main rooms and also a richly decorated ceiling.
Originally the main space would have been subdivided – see the names 'bar' (probably the public bar), private bar and saloon above the doors externally - but there is still one screen surviving, which was moved to its present position on the left in 2003, before which it was at right-angles to the main road. There is also a long, panelled bar counter; note the doors to service the beer engines in former times, and the original bar-back. There are fine etched windows on the side elevation but mostly sadly removed from the front. The large room on the right (now a restaurant) was originally a music room.
An imposing corner-site pub built in 1898 to designs by architect, R. A. Lewcock. It has a spacious, light interior enriched with some particularly spectacular and appealing decoration. Pride of place goes to the series of four copper relief panels by designer F. A. Callcott depicting eighteenth-century ladies and gents at leisure at the supposed antecedent of the present pub. They are variously pictured enjoying a game of bowls, drinking and smoking, watching the inn sign being painted, and taking the waters at Kilburn Wells, the spa that lay nearby to the south. There is a deep and superbly ornate Florentine frieze in both main rooms and also a richly decorated ceiling. When built the main space would have been much more subdivided than it is now but there is still one screen surviving: it was moved to its present position during a major refurbishment in 2003, before which it was at right-angles to the main road. Long, panelled bar counter and original bar-back. Fine etched windows on the side elevation but mostly sadly removed from the front. The large room on the right (now a restaurant) was originally a music room.