The results of the 2025 Pub Design Awards were announced in June. These awards are organised by CAMRA in collaboration with Historic England and are judged by a panel of experts in design and conservation. They are intended to highlight the often underappreciated delights of pub architecture and the sad reality that a lot of it is currently at risk. The awards cover pubs of all sorts, from ornate Victorian gin palaces to modern and distinctive venues, including newly built ones. The 2025 awards all relate to work carried out in 2024.
There was one winner in London. This was the Forester in West Ealing, which took the Community Local award for the outstanding conservation or refurbishment of a street-corner pub at the centre of its local community.
This distinctive Grade II-listed pub was built in 1909 by the doyen of pub architects, Thomas Henry Nowell Parr, for the Royal Brewery (Brentford). It was purchased by Fuller’s in 2012 and refurbished to a high standard in 2024, retaining its four room layout. Fuller’s were careful to preserve the historic features, which led to it being rated at three stars (the highest) on CAMRA’s register of pub interiors of national historic importance. It was entered into the awards because of this refurbishment.
The other awards were as follows:
New Build: ‘bod’, Streethay, Staffordshire; a café/bar owned by Titanic Brewery.
Historic England Conservation: the Swan, Stratford St Mary, Suffolk; a 17th century, timber framed Grade II-listed pub, carefully restored and adapted to improve its viability by Boudica Inns Ltd. The company is owned by Mark and Sophie Dorber, once of the White Horse in Parsons Green.
Conversion to Pub Use: there were joint winners.
• Borough Beer House, Farnham, Surrey; a Grade II-listed former bailiff’s hall dating from 1674, more recently used as a shop. It retains its beamed ceilings, period fireplaces, wood paneling and a herringbone pattern floor.
• Python’s Arms, Lyonshall, Herefordshire; a conversion of a 13th century rural farm building. It was named in acknowledgement of its once having been the home of the Penrhos Court Brewery (1977 to 1983), set up by Monty Python member Terry Jones. Sadly, the pub closed at the end of 2024 and is up for sale.
Refurbishment: Druid Inn, Gorsedd; a large village pub, closed and sold by Thwaites in 2023, acquired and reopened by a small pub company, Pubs Ltd.
There was also a ‘commended’ in this category, the Peasants’ Tavern in North Walsham, Norfolk.
