Golden Hind

In the 1930s the Tollemache brewery of Ipswich underwent a large expansion and built a number of vast mock-baronial estate pubs which, due to their ornate style, and the scale of the expansion, led to their being known as Tolly Follies. They were based on the design of the Tollemache stately home, Helmingham Hall. The Golden Hind (built in 1936 by Caudey & Barefoot) is included because it is the least altered of these pubs - prior to a major refurbishment by Pubmaster in the 1990s it was virtually as built. (There is another Golden Hind on Milton Road, Cambridge which is identically built but it was totally refitted inside during the 1980s).

Its external features include a clock tower (there is an appeal to restore it into use), 11 ornate chimneys and a large loggia at the rear.

On the right, a revolving door leads into a large space where the Oak Room and the room behind were made into one. Above the back section is an imposing oval shaped lantern skylight with four plaster reliefs representing the seasons; 12 individual flowers on another part of the Atrium representing the months of the year, 52 plaster flowers on the lower band and a row of leaded windows between the last two. On the right is the original staircase with turned baluster which leads to a large function room upstairs that retains two original fireplaces. Some of the fine oak panelling from the former Oak Room survives but the original bar has been replaced by a new one to the rear. Another door, on the left, leads to a further opened out area, this one L-shaped. Immediately ahead is an ornamentally screened cubicle with leaded lights; this originally shielded the off-sales though it is now difficult to work out how it was accessed. The bar fittings in this room are new and little of historic interest remains - just a little panelling near the pool table.