Eastbrook Public House

Eastbrook Public House

Public house built in 1937-8 for the pub company GA Smith and Dunning, who were the first licensees. The architect is unknown. Built to serve the rapidly expanding suburbs of Dagenham, it exemplifies the 'improved' public house movement of the inter-war period, which rejected the flamboyant late Victorian 'gin palace' in favour of sensible, respectable establishments with vernacular or Neo-Georgian exteriors and open-plan interiors.

The building is two storeys, constructed in red brick with a rendered upper storey. It features a modillion eaves cornice, a hipped pan-tiled roof with sprocketed eaves, and tall brick chimneys. The principal north-facing frontage has an advancing central bay with brick quoins, an entrance portico leading to the Walnut Bar, an iron balconette to a blind first-floor window, and a triangular pediment above. The flanking wings are set back; the western wing has a large chimney with tiled detailing to the brickwork and bears a single surviving original pub sign in timber and iron. The eastern wing contains the flat-roofed Music Room with its own separate front and side entrances. The secondary western façade has a projecting central bay and portico leading to the Oak Bar, with a window and balconette above.

All windows are original timber mullion and transoms with leaded lights, some retaining timber shutters. All four entrances preserve their original glazed doors and fanlights, some with tile-lined vestibules.

The interior survives in exceptional condition, virtually unaltered. The building is planned as a U-shaped arrangement of public areas centred on the Walnut Bar, with the Music Room adjoining to the east and the separately accessed Oak Bar to the west.

The Oak Bar adopts a rustic, neo-Tudor aesthetic. It features encased beams imitating sturdy timbers, exposed joists, and panelled walls with roughly textured plasterwork above to suggest rubble. A Tudor-arched fireplace survives alongside its original bar counter, back bar and servery, all featuring four-centred arches. A second fireplace is blocked but retains its mantle shelf. Original banquettes line the walls and some unfixed bench seating appears contemporary. The furnishings include a set of glass and metal light fittings deliberately executed in a rudimentary style.

By contrast, the Walnut Bar is neo-Georgian in character and refined in detail. It contains walnut panelling, a walnut bar counter with square and round panels, and an original back bar featuring slender paired columns with wavy Art Deco detail in the rear mirrors (some later covered). Full-height timber fluted Tuscan columns flank the window bays, with original radiator covers below. The ceiling beams are moulded. A classical fireplace completes the scheme.

Adjacent to the Walnut Bar, the Music Room is separated by a folding walnut and glass partition with leaded panes. A second folding screen allows the Music Room to be further subdivided. The Music Room features a stage with a proscenium of wooden fluted Tuscan columns, walnut panelling, moulded ceiling beams, and eight stained glass windows depicting musical instruments.

Original WCs survive in the Oak Bar; those in the Walnut Bar are modern. A modern disabled WC has been added in the vestibule of one of the Music Room's two separate entrances.

The non-public areas are plainly finished but well-preserved, with floor surfaces of wood block or quarry tiles. The stair survives. Upstairs rooms contain three original Art Deco fireplaces and bathrooms with cream and black tiles. The upper rooms appear to have provided accommodation for travellers, as was common in improved public houses situated close to major roads.