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One of London's Real Heritage Pubs, the main bar area is on a raised level with a tiny public bar at the front, the smallest area for any London bar at around 33 square feet. However, research suggests that this bar is not very ancient and was installed some time after 1911 by the then licensee who mistakenly thought his pub layout contravened the Licensing Consolidation Act of 1910 and hurriedly created the tiny snug.
The likes of Dylan Thomas, Ernest Hemingway and Alec Guinness have enjoyed a pint or two of excellent beer here; fortunately for them they were all drinking after 7th January 1928 when the bars were waist-high in water. Now, we hope, the Thames Barrier will stop another inundation! The rear conservatory has a fruit bearing vine and leads to a terrace overlooking the Thames. Well worth a visit but often crowded in summer. If you are lucky you can climb up the spiral stairs to the tiny mezzanine terrace which has two or three tables.
Classic food with a twist is served every day and the food is of restaurant-quality.
Note that the pub no longer takes cash for payments.
Historic Interest
Famous grade II listed (Historic England ref 1079783) riverside tavern which was licensed by 1740 as the Doves Coffee House and bought by the brewery in 1796. The name Doves remained well into the twentieth century but at some point an economy drive cut the name down to one dove! The venue has been visited by a host of celebrities over the years, as attested by the list of names on one of the walls; the Scottish poet James Thompson used the pub as his local and may have composed Rule Britannia in an upstairs room.
Three star - A pub interior of outstanding national historic importance
Listed status: II
This pub still retains woodwork that may be as old as the 18th Century.
This pub was probably built in the early to mid-18th century and then re-fronted in the 19th. As you enter the vestibule, on the right is the tiny snug, with match-boarded counter and fixed wall benches. It's claimed by the Guinness World Records as the smallest public bar in Britain, however research by beer writer Martyn Cornell suggests it may have been installed some time after 1911. The story goes that the licensee mistakenly thought that the Licensing Consolidation Act of 1910 required him to put in a second room but he need not have bothered since, if a single-room, fully licensed house had existed before 1872 (as was the case with the Dove), the Act did not make it a necessity to put in a second room.
As you continue through the vestibule you are in the oldest room in the pub. Some of the woodwork here, such as the fixed bench seating, bar counter and bar-back is very old and, along with that in the vestibule, might even go back to the 18th century and, if so, could be some of the earliest purpose-built pub fittings around. Post-war repairs in 1948 saw the addition of the substantial brick fireplace with its exuberant Portland stone carving of the dove returning to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch. The rear room up half a dozen steps is relatively modern but the terrace beyond overlooking the Thames is a delightful place to enjoy a drink on a fine day.
Celebrated far and wide, the Fuller’s owned Dove overlooks the Thames and is approached by a narrow alley from the river. It was probably built in the early to mid-18th century and then refronted in the 19th. Its amazingly tiny snug, with match-boarded counter and fixed wall benches, is claimed by the Guinness World Records as the smallest public bar in Britain. However, research by beer writer Martyn Cornell suggests it may not be as old as one might think. He believes it was installed some time after 1911 by the then licensee who thought his single-room, fully licensed premises contravened the Licensing Consolidation Act of 1910 and so he created the diminutive snug to rectify matters. However, he needn’t have bothered, Cornell argues, since, if a single-room, fully licensed house had existed before 1872 (as was the case with the Dove), the Act did not make it a necessity to put in a second room. However, had you been drinking here on 7 January 1928 you’d have been waist-high in water judging by a small brass plaque recording that day’s mighty inundation. The other front room is historic too in terms of its wall seating and counter.
Some of the woodwork here, along with that in the vestibule, might even go back to the 18th century and, if so, could be some of the earliest purpose-built pub fittings around. Post-war repairs in 1948 saw the addition of the substantial brick fireplace with its exuberant Portland stone carving of the dove returning to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch. The rear room at the Dove is modern but the terrace beyond overlooking the Thames is a delightful place to enjoy a drink on a fine day.
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This Pub serves 2 changing beers and 2 regular beers.
Dove, Hammersmith
Changing beers typically include: Dark Star (varies) , Fuller's (seasonal)
Lunchtime Meals
Evening Meals
Garden
Family Friendly
Dog Friendly
Real Fire
Wi Fi
Real Ale
Real Heritage Pub
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