Dove, Hammersmith

Celebrated far and wide, the Fuller’s owned Dove overlooks the Thames and is approached by a narrow alley from the river. It was probably built in the early to mid-18th century and then refronted in the 19th. Its amazingly tiny snug, with match-boarded counter and fixed wall benches, is claimed by the Guinness World Records as the smallest public bar in Britain. However, research by beer writer Martyn Cornell suggests it may not be as old as one might think. He believes it was installed some time after 1911 by the then licensee who thought his single-room, fully licensed premises contravened the Licensing Consolidation Act of 1910 and so he created the diminutive snug to rectify matters. However, he needn’t have bothered, Cornell argues, since, if a single-room, fully licensed house had existed before 1872 (as was the case with the Dove), the Act did not make it a necessity to put in a second room. However, had you been drinking here on 7 January 1928 you’d have been waist-high in water judging by a small brass plaque recording that day’s mighty inundation. The other front room is historic too in terms of its wall seating and counter.

Some of the woodwork here, along with that in the vestibule, might even go back to the 18th century and, if so, could be some of the earliest purpose-built pub fittings around. Post-war repairs in 1948 saw the addition of the substantial brick fireplace with its exuberant Portland stone carving of the dove returning to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch. The rear room at the Dove is modern but the terrace beyond overlooking the Thames is a delightful place to enjoy a drink on a fine day.