The Greenwood Public House

The Greenwood Public House

A public house dating from the late 1930s, built for Courage and Co, possibly by the brewery architect.

The building is a typical, if rather grand and large, inter-war improved public house. The exterior displays smart neo-Georgian red brick elevations with pediments, dentil cornice, neo-classical door cases and rows of leaded light windows on the ground floor, with sash windows above. The design reflects the historicist style deployed by such buildings, which sought to create a feel of historical permanence in areas undergoing rapid change.

The butterfly plan allows plenty of light into the three main bar areas: the saloon bar, the main bar, and the public bar. There may also have been outdoor seating in the forecourt. An off-sales shop to the right of the main entrance survives with two large shop windows. To the rear is a large function room, called the Assembly Hall, with its own separate entrance marked by coloured glass fanlight. Various signs bearing the pub's name are present, mostly modern, though a cream and green tiled sign inside the entrance to the saloon bar appears to be historic.

Interior survival of original features is very good. The main rooms have simple panelling to picture rail height, Art Deco-style cornices and timber doors with brass handles. The bar and back bar running through the three principal lounge areas are original, though the overbar is a later addition. The main bar area features an octagonal coloured glass skylight, glazed partitions and a stylish mosaic-tiled fireplace, with a second similar fireplace in the adjoining bar and two plainer ones elsewhere. A billiard room is also present. The large function room, lit by clerestory windows, is decorated with a coffered ceiling, dentil cornice, curved brackets and mirrors set in wood lugged surrounds. It retains its stage, proscenium and original late 1930s lighting scheme. A second, smaller function room has an original bar counter and back bar. The function room gents' lavatories retain their original sinks, urinals and tiling. The inspected section of the upper floor comprises small rooms accessed from a central corridor, some retaining their fireplaces and wall cupboards, originally possibly accommodation for motoring customers.

The Greenwood was built by Courage and Co in the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of World War II. It does not appear on the Ordnance Survey map of 1935 but must have been built before wartime building restrictions began in 1939. The first licensee was Wilson Catering Co. The architect's name has not been identified locally, though a nearby pub, The Granville Hotel, was opened by Courage and Co in April 1938 and let to the same catering company, suggesting the brewery's in-house architect may have designed both buildings.

The Greenwood was built as an improved public house. Such establishments, built in great numbers between the wars, rejected the flamboyant architecture, brilliant décor and small bar layout of late Victorian gin palaces. Instead they aimed to encourage sensible drinking and attract respectable customers with vernacular or neo-Georgian exteriors and open-plan interiors, with large clear glass windows and tasteful décor. Many included a restaurant, billiards room or function room to encourage activities beyond drinking. Those situated close to major roads sometimes provided accommodation for travellers. The Greenwood was built to serve the rapidly expanding suburbs of Greenford and Northolt, developed in the 1930s and after World War II when the Central Line railway was extended to connect these areas to central London. Its architecture and facilities epitomise the restrained respectability of the suburbs in their inter-war heyday.