The Princess Louise is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...

, a street in central

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Built in 1872, it has a well-preserved 1891

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

interior, with wood

panelling Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity ...

and a series of booths around an island bar. It is a

tied house In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely. A report for th ...

owned by the

Samuel Smith Old Brewery Samuel Smith Old Brewery, commonly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery and pub operator based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, established in 1758. It claims to be Yorkshire's oldest brewery. It is known fo ...

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

About

Being located near

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, it is patronised by academics.

Building

The building is protected by its Grade II* listing and has what has been described as "a rich example of a Victorian public house interior", by William B Simpson and Sons; who contracted out the work.'' Protz, R.''(Ed.),

Good Beer Guide The ''Good Beer Guide'' is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets (pubs, clubs, and off-licences) in the United Kingdom. Details The content of the ''Guid ...

2006, The men's toilets, with their marble urinals, are mentioned in the listing. The pub, which is also listed on

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors The National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors was a register of public houses in the United Kingdom with interiors which had been noted as being of significant historic interest, having remained largely unchanged for at least 30 years, but us ...

, was refurbished in 2007. The pub is unusual in that it retains its snob screens. In June 2009, the pub was joint winner of the best refurbishment class of the 2008 Pub Design Awards awarded annually by the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founded on 16 ...

(CAMRA). Author Peter Haydon included the Princess Louise in his book ''The Best Pubs in London'' and rated it No. 5 in the capital, saying it had "possibly the best preserved Victorian pub interior in London".

History

The pub was operated by

Regent Inns Regent Inns was the British parent company of Walkabout, Jongleurs/Bar Risa and Old Orleans chains. It went into administration in October 2009. The part-time executive chairman was Bob Ivell. Brands Jongleurs is a chain of sixteen comedy club ...

from 1990 until 1998, when the lease was taken over by Samuel Smith. The Princess Louise has been the venue for a number of influential folk clubs run by

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a British folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as o ...

and others, which played an important part in the

British folk revival The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of folk music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century. It is particu ...

of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

References

External links

CAMRA National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors

Beer in the Evening

pubs.com review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Louise National Inventory Pubs Grade II* listed pubs in London Commercial buildings completed in 1872 Buildings and structures in Holborn 19th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Pubs in the London Borough of Camden Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden