Olde Swiss Cottage, London

Sam Smiths have sold the freehold and operations closed on 01/02/25 - we do not know who has acquired the freehold and what the future holds. in February 2025, a local community group (Belsize Society) has applied for an ACV.

The local media have been accurate: go to

https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/24900541.ye-olde-swiss-cottage-pub-finchley-road-set-close/

https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/ye-olde-ye-solde-punters-fear-for-pub-next-to-swiss-cottage-gyratory

The pub had closed for a period in 2024 - and all the handpumps were removed so cask beer became no longer available. A visitor commented that the last time in there it seems neglected and run down, sad to see.

Looks like a Swiss chalet which is somewhat incongruous in the midst of an island surrounded by some of London's busiest roads but there is a historical perspective. It was built in 1830 by T Redmond and it stood next to a toll gate; travellers would stop at the tavern while waiting to pay their fees. There had been a gabled building on the site called Lausanne Cottage said to have been used by Charles II as a hunting lodge and their may have been an earlier pub called the Swiss Tavern.

The Swiss chalet look was popular in the first half of the nineteenth century. From 1840 the area grew up around the pub. in 1850 it was the site of the terminus of the General Omnibus Company for their line to London Bridge. The underground station came in 1868 named after the pub. There is a large outside drinking terrace with two inter-locking rooms inside.