The Glue Pot, Swindon

Posted on 06. Jan, 2011 by Robert Gale in Pubs

The Glue Pot, Swindon

Situated in the centre of Brunel’s Railway Village and a short walk from Swindon station and the town centre, the Grade-II listed Glue Pot can trace its history back to the mid 19th century.

Brief History

According to Swindon Heritage Trails, The Glue Pot was “originally built as a three-story house and shop it was first occupied in the 1840s by a Mr Fidler, whose trade is unknown. In the 1850s, a William Warner occupied it as a wool and linen drapery after which it was converted into a public house, which was called ‘The London Stout House’.”

The pub gets it’s unique name from the railway coachbuilders who would bring their gluepots with them when they took their breaks and would place their pots on the central stove to keep them hot. Sadly, the stove no longer exists.

Exterior and Interior

The Glue Pot is located at the end of a row of Bath stone houses built by the Great Western Railway and still resembles the corner shop that it once was. The signs are painted in bright green and yellow matching the logo of its owner the Hopback Brewery. There are remnants of its previous owner, Archers Brewery, in the form of the pub sign that hangs on the side of the building. The barman who was working when I visited was unsure why Hopback hadn’t replaced it with their own sign.

The interior is a small single bar with high backed settles and barrels used as makeshift tables. The pub has a lovely basic feel to it.

The Beers

The Glue Pot always has 8 beers available and being owned by the Hopback Brewery, you can expect around 5 ales from their range. The other three guests always feature a beer from the White Horse Brewery and when I visited the other two were from Milestone and Downton (which is in fact a sister company of Hopback).

Foreign beers like Chimay are also available and Hopback bottles and minikegs are available to take away.

Location

The Glue Pot is located about 5-10 minutes walk from the railway station and about the same distance from the centre of town. If you are going to have a pint or two before catching the train I would recommend this pub over the Queen’s Tap which is situated across the road from the station.

More Photos of the Glue Pot

Venue Location

The Glue Pot

5 Emlyn Square

Swindon

SN1 5BP

Tel: 01725 510 986

twb.im/gluepot

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.