Elgin, Notting Hill

Rebuilt in 1867, architects Hammack & Lambert,it was refurbished in 1898. A pub with some spectacular Victorian ornamentation on the corner of a busy junction near to Ladbroke Grove tube station. Three distinct rooms are still clearly discernible although they are now interlinked. The star performer is the room in the northern part which is screened off from the corner bar by a wonderful timber and glass screen of exceptional exuberance. The grey etched parts, gilded patterns and facetted jewel-like details gleam and sparkle. CAMRA is unaware of any other pub screen like it. Then there is a bar-back of rare richness, embellished with seventeenth-century style carved wood detailing, gilded mirrors and a frieze of bas-relief apples. Finally, on the side wall come coloured tile strips and more gilded mirrors displaying foliage, hops, butterflies and birds in flight.

The counters are original too and are classic examples of that curious feature found in London pubs but not, apparently, elsewhere – doors to allow the servicing of the beer engines in times gone by. At the back of the pub is a large lounge with fielded dado panelling round the walls. It has a skylight over the rear part. A sadness at this pub is the modern replacement in the corner bar of the Victorian bar-back by a good quality modern replacement, although the glass and metal shelves and gantry with metal uprights looks a bit out of place in an otherwise magnificent pub like this. Behind the servery is an office with some fine decorative glass.