Although there’s a thriving pub/bar scene at the (ahem) ‘vibrant’ Brixton end of Coldharbour Lane, things look much bleaker once you head east towards Camberwell via Loughborough Junction.
The most recent Coldharbour Lane casualty is The Angel, a pub dating back to Victorian times with fascinating theatrical connections.
After finally closing for good in 2011, the premises were purchased by stinking rich property developers Lexadon, who offered the space for six months to self-proclaimed ‘community arts’ venture, the Brick Box, who put on barely-advertised events including a £40-a-head Edwardian -themed supper night.
Read more here: History of The Angel.
Update Apr 2018: It’s now home to private flats and the Mama Dough pizza restaurant.
[Photographer unknown]
Now completely vanished is the Loughborough Park Tavern, which stood on the corner of Coldharbour Lane/Moorlands Road (formerly Loughborough Park).
This grand pub was originally known as the Royal Veteran and stood between a small row of shops, at 305 & 307 Coldharbour Lane SW9.
To the east was Blake’s bicycle shop selling Raleigh ‘all steel’ bicycles, then R E Hobday’s free off-licence, a closed shop at 313, then a newsagent and another Blake’s bike shop.
The pub was pulled down in the late 1970s to make way for the Barrier Block (Southwyck House) development.
More: The mystery of the Brixton Loughborough Park Tavern solved!
Perhaps the saddest loss of all the pubs on Coldharbour Lane is The Junction (formerly The Warrior), which once boasted its own fine brewery.
The pub closed in 2003, with a subsequent luxury residential development above guaranteeing that the ground floor would never see action as a pub again.
After remaining empty for nearly a decade, the inevitable conversion into a supermarket began, with Tesco opening for business in January 2013.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for the multinational though, with some locals expressing their displeasure at seeing another supermarket pub takeover through the medium of smashed windows and ad hoc paint jobs.
Situated almost opposite the The Junction, the Green Man pub has stood on this site for well over 140 years.
The pub closed around the same time as its neighbour, and after closure was converted into apartments, with a Lambeth Council ‘Skills Zone’ using the old pub space downstairs.
Originally known as The Crown and renamed as the ‘Mucky Duck’ in the 1990s, the pub closed around 2002, and was briefly squatted for some time shortly after.
Although the original pub façade has been restored It’s now a Co-Op supermarket.
The back of the building has since been rebuilt for private housing, with a mansard roof added.
See archive photos here: The Crown/Mucky Duck, Loughborough Junction.
Situated on the corner of corner of Coldharbour Lane and Harbour Road, Camberwell, this building used to house The Enterprise, which spent some time as The Coast Bar in the 1990s before being converted into a Vietnamese restaurant known as The Eastern Tree.
After closing in the mid 2010s, the building remained empty for years until it was taken over by local jazz fans and renamed The Junction in 2015.
Despites its deserved popularity – the live music there was exceptional – greedy landlords kicked them out after seven years.
It’s now operating as the Casa Mofongo Bar Restaurant.
Surviving pubs
Happily, some pubs on Coldharbour Lane are still alive and well, with the Prince of Wales, The Market House (formerly the Living Bar/IsoBar/Coach & Horses), the Prince Albert and the Dogstar are all doing good business at the Brixton end of the street.
Loughborough Junction has now lost all its pubs on the main drag, but the Sun & Doves (now renamed The Sun Of Camberwell) has recently reopened, and the Amaryllis remains closed.
More below:
Formerly the Sun and Doves, this large boozer near Kings Hospital is a rare survivor on Coldharbour Lane, and has recently reopened after being purchased by Antic London (who also run the Dogstar).
More a wine bar/restaurant than a pub, the Amaryllis Bar and Kitchen was another Coldharbour Lane survivor, with a good reputation for its Caribbean food.
It was previously known as the Plough (latterly ‘Jack Beards At The Plough’) and dated back to 1856.
Sadly, it closed in Jan 2019 and was still empty and boarded up in May 2024.
More info
- Read more about the lost pubs of Brixton here.
- Is your local under threat? Check our our Save Your Local Pub guide.
- Discuss the lost pubs of Brixton on the urban75 boards.
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