Old Crown, London

As of March 2023 - "This pub had NO CASK handpumps when we visited tonight ... Best to mark it now as a non-real ale pub." As far as we are aware the pub is "Independently run but tied to McMullen".

In July 2013 Punch Taverns sold this pub to Hertford brewery McMullen's although the news was "kept secret" for some time. So now a Macs tied house. Rebuilt in 1850. Originally Bass Charrington as The Crown. It's been a bit of a trendy bistro/pub since at least the early 1990s, and retains some of that feel under new ownership. Not that big inside, with carpet on the ceiling and bar counter. Lounge upstairs, with its own bar, and a restaurant on the second floor. Still attracts quite a trendy, youngish after-work crowd. Diametrically opposite St George’s Church Bloomsbury, which was consecrated in 1731 and rated by the Guardian as “one of the capital’s most wonderful buildings”, well worth a visit.

There are three handpumps but as at June 2002 just two being used. This may change. Also looks like card-only payments.