Closing down: the Coombe Lodge Beefeater is to shut on September 2
The writing on the wall: notices of closure went up this week
The Beefeater at Coombe Lodge, the large chain pub on Coombe Road near Lloyd Park, is to close on September 2, as its owners, Whitbread, continue to get out of the business of brewing (long gone) and selling of beer.
The nearby Premier Inn motel, also owned by Whitbread, is not thought to be affected by the pub closure.
Earlier this year owners Whitbread announced plans to sell off 38 Beefeater restaurant-pubs for £38million.
Around 1,500 jobs were expected to be lost as a consequence, although in many cases, including it is thought Coombe Lodge, the properties will continue to trade, but under a different operator.
Coombe Lodge has been much-admired as a characterful building, but less so as a character-less bar that has served pretty mundane food in recent times.
Characterful: the building is impressive, in recent times the pub offering has been less so
It is one of a number of buildings in the area which were at some point all associated as part of the Coombe estate, which passed through the hands of several wealthy owners, perhaps most notably Frank Lloyd, the newspaper publishing heir who gave the land for Lloyd Park to Croydon.
Coombe Lodge is a Grade II-listed Georgian red brick mansion built in the 1760s.
After World War II, the estate was bought by Croydon’s local authority, which used the house as an old people’s home. The council’s parks department built its nursery in the grounds. Coombe Lodge has a huge beer garden (or “beer meadow”, according to one recent visitor), as well as later additional features, including the brick porch and large conservatory.
Read more: Coombe Wood House is providing what Croydon’s long missed
Read more: Selhurst fans’ favoured pub to re-open as a bit of a Dark Horse
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