Identified by CAMRA as having a nationally important historic interior with original Edwardian fittings and displays of ceramics.. A 59ftlong bar counter is fronted with brown Art Nouveau style tiles. The large bar area has a mosaic floor, mahogany gantry and long-case clock. Features include stained glass windows with the arms of Scotland, England and Ireland, lots of etched glass and two mosaic porch floors. The Gents is also worth a visit to view the original features
Historic Interest
Edwardian interior
Three star - A pub interior of outstanding national historic importance
Listed status: A
This fine interior dates from an Edwardian refit of 1902, under local architect William Williamson, and is especially notable for its display of ceramics. The pub now mainly consists of a large bar with a 59ft-long three-sided counter. Originally this space was divided into two by a jug bar entered from Bogies Wynd, the footprint of which can be traced in the mosaic flooring which covers the whole of the present main bar: the jug bar door has been transplanted to the entrance of the gents’. At the back of the extensive servery is a semi-octagonal office with a glazed-in top (such publican’s offices are very uncommon outside London): in front of it stands a long-case clock. As for the amazing ceramics, brown tiles cover the walls and the tall counter front, but pride of place goes to two Doulton pictorial panels, each consisting of a single tile. They show Touchstone and his beloved Audrey from As You Like It. The cartoon for the jester was also used (but with red apparel) in a series of Shakespearean panels at the St James Tavern near Piccadilly Circus in London. There are stained glass windows with the arms of Scotland, England and Ireland (what happened to Wales?). The gents’ are worth a visit for the extraordinary glass-sided Doulton cistern, a pair of marble-framed urinals, tiled walls and mosaic floor. The room at the rear left was brought into use in modern times. Listing upgraded to A in 2008 following survey work by CAMRA.
A splendid example of Edwardian pub fitting and especially notable for the display of ceramics, one of the best in Scotland, including an 18 metre (59 feet) long bar counter completely fronted with brown Art Nouveau-style tiles. The pub was rebuilt in 1890 and then remodelled in 1902 by William Williamson with two-tone tiled walls, including two small Doulton’s of Lambeth tiled panels (each a large single tile) featuring a jester evidently eyeing up the shepherdess a few feet away. The figure is the same as Touchstone at the St James Tavern, Soho, London W1.
The large bar area has an all-over mosaic floor, a mahogany gantry and a long-case clock and within the servery is a semi-octagonal Publican's Office.
Other original features include stained glass windows with the arms of Scotland, England and Ireland, lots of etched glass and two mosaic porch floors, one now opened up. There is a former restaurant at the rear left with a hatch but this area has undergone modern changes. Visit the intact gents' if you can for its glass-panelled Doulton's cistern, a pair of marble-framed urinals, tiled walls and a mosaic floor. The central entrance on Bogie's Wynd must have led originally to a small off-sales compartment divided from the bars on either side by screens.
Feuars Arms, Kirkcaldy
Source: National