This Pub is Closed Long Term
Watch this space !
The Grape and Grain closed on the 5th November 2017, having been open as a popular venue for real ale since 2009. This featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide from 2011 to 2014.
The freehold was acquired by JD Wetherspoon, who then applied for planning permission to redevelop the public house including two storeys added to the existing building, a three-storey extension, roof garden and upgraded facilities. The application was initially approved by Bromley Council, subject to conditions, in April 2019.
All development planning with the new build were put on hold with the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The site remained untouched until JD Wetherspoon put the property on the market on 11th August 2023.
On 8th April 2024, JD Wetherspoon announced that it no longer intends to sell the site: "The company will be developing it into a pub in due course". No further details were given.
Therefore, the future of the premises is still uncertain until development actually commences ! The original planning permission has since lapsed ...
The provisional new name for the pub will be the Royal Crystal Palace, which was the original name for the once fashionable hotel until it was completely destroyed during the Second World War.
If anyone has any further information, then please submit your feedback.
Historic Interest
Rebuilt after the Second World War following almost being completely destroyed through bombing, this was originally built as the Crystal Palace Hotel in 1853 to coincide with the reopening of the Crystal Palace exhibition venue the following year. Boasting over 100 bedrooms, the "Royal" prefix was added following a visit by Queen Victoria. This also served as Joseph Paxton's residence whilst relocating the Great Exhibition building as architect (nicknamed the "Crystal Palace"). Owned by Younger's brewery by the 1940s, plans to demolish the hotel were interrupted by the wartime bombing. The post-war pub has been known by several names following changes of ownership: "Crystal Palace Tavern", "Sportsman", "Occasional Half" and "Jack Beard's at the Palace" (early 2000s to 2009, otherwise known as "The Palace").
Grape & Grain, Crystal Palace
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