The Doctor Johnson

The Story

One of the finest surviving 1930s estate pubs in London — or it was until it became a Co-op. Designed in 1938 by architect H. Reginald Ross for Courage, whose name came about because one of the brewery's directors was a devotee of Samuel Johnson, author of the first English dictionary. The great man gazes down from bas-relief portraits on each elevation of the building, carved by artist Arthur Betts. The pub is in the popular loosely neo-Georgian style with 1930s Art Deco streamlining, the broad curve turning the corner from one elevation to the other. What made it exceptional was the survival of the internal layout: four rooms, each with its own bar counter ranged around a central serving area — the quadrant-shaped snug with Art Deco details, the large public bar, the saloon, and a vast lounge opening onto the garden. Grade II listed relatively late in its life, with the listing extending even to the pub's sign. The website Hairy Bar Snacks, who award 10/10 only to pubs that carry pork scratchings and pickled eggs, gave it 10 out of 10 despite it offering neither — such was the power of the revolving doors 'reminiscent of a posh hotel' and the original Art Deco typography on the toilet doors. Sold to the Co-op in 2022. Now a convenience store with flats above, though some original features reportedly survived the conversion.