Uxbridge Arms, Kensington

A beerhouse originally dating back to 1836, this is an attractive middle-of-terrace two-storey pub, refronted in the ground floor with brick, seemingly in the interwar period. That refurbishment scheme also left us with numerous fittings in the two rooms.

The two front doors lead into an L-shaped bare wooden floored room on the right so maybe an off-sales on the left hand side is lost? The L-shaped bar counter has an inter-war front but a ceramic top added in 2017 replacing an earlier formica one. There is a 1930s brick fireplace painted black at the front right with a real coal fire in winter, but the bar back is modern. On the walls is a heavy wallpaper (anaglypta?) which is a treatment used to make the walls appear to be panelled.

There is clear evidence that this room has been extended in modern times (confirmed by locals who say the room was smaller in the past). The far end of the bar counter is a modern add-on – possibly the counter originally was curved back to the wall. Also, if you look carefully you will see the treatment of the walls in the rear part of the room is different to that at the front indicating it has been done to copy the walls at the front part of the room. Sadly, all the wall treatment has recently painted battleship grey. Some beams have adzed wood (tooled with an adze to make it look old) and there is an imitation beam at the rear.

A widish doorway leads to the small left hand room that has a carpet and old dado painted black. The brick fireplace looks more likely to be 1950s (than 1930s), and has been painted black. The small counter is more like a hatch and has a counter front that is different to the right hand side but possibly 1930s (or later?) but the bar top looks 1930s.