{"id":5394,"date":"2025-05-27T07:29:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T07:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5394"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:06:58","slug":"the-houses-of-toby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/the-houses-of-toby\/","title":{"rendered":"The Houses of Toby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Wednesday 16 April, CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited five former Charrington pubs in the Hoxton and Islington areas.\u00a0 First was the William IV<\/a><\/strong> in Hoxton. \u00a0It is locally listed, although Hackney\u2019s database does not have a full description, simply saying \u2018Georgian public house\u2019. \u00a0The pub has a surviving door lobby but the windows are now completely plain and modern. There are some remnants of wooden wall panelling, along with a single slender cast iron pillar. \u00a0Outside, there remain faux-1930s Charrington \u2018globe\u2019 lights installed by Bass in the 1980s to give a \u2018retro\u2019 look. \u00a0William IV, the \u2018Sailor King\u2019, ruled from 1830 to 1837. \u00a0Dark Star Hophead, Fuller\u2019s London Pride and Timothy Taylor Landlord are normally served here.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pub number two was the Hanbury Pub & Townhouse<\/a><\/strong> (aka The Social, originally the Hanbury Arms) in Linton Street (N1 7DU). \u00a0This is recognised by CAMRA as having a pub interior of local historic interest. \u00a0A Neo-Georgian brick pub rebuilt in 1937 by architect S J Funnell, its internal divisions were sadly removed by Charles Wells in 1997\/98 but the original three-part layout can still be defined. \u00a0The left-hand door on Mary Street used to lead to an off-sales counter.\u00a0 Inside there is a good array of two-thirds-height panelling. \u00a0The counters are original, as is the bar-back in the right-hand area, still with its Charrington\u2019s lettering. \u00a0The left-hand counter is strange in that it is brought forward yet this seems to have been the original arrangement.\u00a0 The bar-back behind it however has gone in favour of a kitchen area.\u00a0 The pub also features a still for distilling gin. \u00a0The exterior sports a fine corner name panel with the famous Charrington\u2019s \u2018Toby\u2019 emblem. \u00a0Five Points Railway Porter; Salcombe Devon Amber and Salcombe Gold are normally served here.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/
(c) Michael Slaughter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The third stop was the Brave<\/a><\/strong> (formerly the Lord Clyde) in Essex Road. \u00a0This inter-war pub is neither statutorily nor locally listed but retains remnants of its distinctive Charrington\u2019s leaded windows, plus matchwood panelling on the walls and fielded panelling on the front of the bar counter, all now painted over in a pastel green colour. \u00a0The iron window-winders are a pleasing survival. \u00a0The pub\u2019s original name honoured Sir Colin Campbell (1792 to 1863), later 1st Baron Clyde, and a veteran of the Peninsular War, the War of 1812 and the Crimean War (plus several other nowadays less-celebrated imperial campaigns). \u00a0No real ale is served here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The penultimate call was the Castle<\/a> <\/strong>(known as the Pint Pot during the 1980s) in Pentonville Road.\u00a0 Like the Hanbury, this pub not listed but recognised by CAMRA as having a pub interior of local historic interest. \u00a0A three-storey house built in 1789, the star feature of the pub is a fine Victorian bar-back fitting, dating from an 1890s refit. \u00a0This has five cut-glass mirrored bays with the centre one having a prominent balustraded canopy above with detail picked out in gold. \u00a0Above all five bays extends a deeply coved frieze, divided into six sections, painted gold and separated by seven narrow wooden strips with more detail picked out in gold. \u00a0Most of the lower shelving has been lost but large pilasters painted dark brown remain. \u00a0The single open-plan drinking area would once have been divided into three rooms, as evidenced by the two existing entrances and a third, in the Baron Street elevation, now blanked off. \u00a0Internally, the drinking area is on two levels, the lower level incorporating the bar counter while the upper level continuation of the bar counter has an ‘L’-shaped glazed screen, separating the servery from the drinking area, creating a private area for the staff. \u00a0Originally a partition separated the two bars and part of this remains attached to the outside wall, being floor-to-ceiling with glazing at the top and some detail painted in gold. \u00a0A ‘Toby’ relief to the top left of the Pentonville Road door confirms that this was once a Charrington’s house. \u00a0St Austell Proper Job and Young\u2019s Special are normally served here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The evening concluded in the Thornhill Arms<\/a><\/strong> in Caledonian Road. \u00a0This c1850 pub is also recognised by CAMRA as having a pub interior of local historic interest. \u00a0This is a three-storey Victorian pub of brick with the ground floor of brown glazed stone and two bright yellow columns on the corner. \u00a0The fascia has raised ceramic lettering in brown on a cream background: \u2018Ales\u2019, \u2018Charringtons\u2019 and \u2018& Stout\u2019 on either side and \u2018Thornhill Arms\u2019 on the corner. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The interior retains an island bar counter dating from the late 19th century with console brackets and what looks like newer panels added to the front, which is now painted in gastro blue-grey.\u00a0 Thankfully the top has been spared the paint pot. \u00a0All around the interior is a dado of Victorian dimpled reddish-brown tiling with rows of dark green and a narrow one of deep pink above. \u00a0The island bar-back is all modern, being of planks of timber, and sadly distracts. \u00a0Multiple doors indicate that the interior was originally partitioned. \u00a0The pub takes its name from George Thornhill MP, who developed the nearby Thornhill Estate in the 1830s. \u00a0No real ale is served here.
Kim Rennie and Jane Jephcote<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday 16 April, CAMRA\u2019s London Pubs Group visited five former Charrington pubs in the Hoxton and Islington areas.\u00a0 First was the William IV in Hoxton. \u00a0It is locally listed,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pub-crawl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5397,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5394\/revisions\/5397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}