Painters Arms, Luton

The Painters was rebuilt in 1913 and occupies a corner site at the junction of Hightown and Havelock Roads. The ground floor is faced with deep green glazed bricks and the upper floor is of red brick. What makes the pub special is the survival of much of its original plan and the array of internal tiling. It was acquired by Benskins Watford Brewery Limited in 1921 and in the 1990s this was branded a ‘Benskins Heritage Inn’.

On Hightown Road side the central entrance leads to a lobby with colourful patterned tile floor. There are three doors each with decorative etched panels in the top of the doors – ‘Public Bar’ in the one on the right, ‘Jug Bar’ in the centre one, and ‘Saloon Bar’ in the top of the left hand one.

The door with 'Jug Bar' means that it was originally for off-sales and now leads to a small snug. It is created by two three-quarter-height partition walls with Art Nouveau-style glazing along the top dividing it off from the larger bars left and right. It retains the original bar counter and did have seats (removed in the last few years) that ran down the sides of this intimate space where customers sat to partake a swift one before returning home.

The door on the right of the entrance lobby leads to the Public Bar with a curved panelled bar counter painted black and original bar back with plain columns and small decorative capitals at the top (one replaced by plain wood). It retains the original fixed seating with a bare timber back, some dado panelling at the rear and a vestibule entrance from Havelock Road.

In the rear left is a glazed brown brick fireplace and on either side of the fire are tiles to half height, some decorative, in shades of brown topped off with a frieze above in brown and green with fern and scallop shell ornament. Note the intertwined letters 'P A' (= Painters Arms) in the central panel between 'Public' and 'Bar' on the window in the public bar. This and the other rooms have a deep cornice painted dark brown.

The now disused entrance porch on the left in Hightown Road has a lobby with a colourful patterned tile floor and more of the tiling to half-height in shades of brown topped off with a frieze above in brown and green with fern and scallop shell ornament. A door with a ‘Saloon’ etched panel in the top leads into a short passage with more of the tiled dado and two doors – the one ahead has ‘Saloon Bar’ in the top and the one to the right has ‘Private Bar’ - the doors look to have been switched as the door from the central lobby has a ‘Saloon Bar’ panel.

The front left Saloon Bar retains the original bar counter which carries a superstructure on twinned columns and with a pot shelf; above this are glazed lunettes which have an Art Nouveau-style glazing almost identical to those in the top of the screenwork around the Jug Bar. The original bar back remains and on the left wall is more of the colourful tiled dado, a tiled, cast-iron and wood surround fireplace, and fixed seating.

A widish gap leads to the rear room, the former ‘Private Bar’ i.e. the two rooms were combined some time ago. This room has another original panelled bar counter and bar back, also more of the pot shelf as appears in the front room. The attractive tiling continues on the dados of the walls on the left and there is a cast-iron fireplace that includes two pictorial green tiled panels. There is some tiled dado in the servery, dado panelling on rear wall, and also a pool table.

A wall at the rear was taken out in 2000 and the door from the public bar widened so it is now possible to walk all the way around the pub. This small area at the rear has some old dado panelling and service here is from a hatch / doorway with shelf to the back of the servery. The pub was listed in 1998 following joint fieldwork by CAMRA and English Heritage.