The White Bear Public House

The White Bear public house, dated 1899, is a five-storey building with a basement, and stands four windows wide in St John Street, Islington. It is constructed of red brick and stone. The ground-floor frontage is of stone, now painted, featuring two broad basket-arched openings. A free-standing column at the centre, and pilasters to the sides, are adorned with elaborate foliage capitals supporting scrolled consoles; the outer consoles have entablatures and pediments framing the fascia and dentil cornice. A wooden pub front is set back, with a shallow central bow window featuring a panelled dado and original glazing bars. Original double doors are positioned on either side of the entrance, with elaborate decorative wrought iron grilles above, bearing the name "WHITE BEAR". Embossed and glazed tiles cover the side walls, though some are missing from the right-hand wall. Upper windows are segmental-arched with decorative keystones and springers. Panels of cut and moulded brick are located between the windows on the first, second, and third floors, with decorative brick aprons throughout. Pilasters flank the elevation, panelled at the fourth-floor level. The shaped coped gable features a tympanum of cut and moulded brick displaying the date 1899, topped with a spike finial. Internally, the pub retains its original bar front, some partitioning with engraved and faceted glass, a structural Corinthian column, and a section of embossed and glazed tilework, now painted.