Museum Tavern, London

Posted on 14. Oct, 2011 by Robert Gale in Pubs

Museum Tavern, London

The Museum Tavern is a traditional pub located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Due to its close proximity of the British Museum it’s very popular with tourists.

Brief History and Interior

There has a pub on the site of the present pub since well before the British Museum was built. According to Des de Moor in his excellent book London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars book, in the early 18th century the pub was known as the Dog and Duck which reflected the hunting that took place in the surrounding swamps and ponds. When the British Museum was rebuilt across the road from the pub it changed its name to suit.

According to the pub’s website, the Museum Tavern was expanded in 1855 and much of the interior is original. There were originally partitions inside the pub (up to 5 separate areas) as was common in Victorian pubs but these have since been removed. Much of the carved wooden fittings, etched and cut glass outer windows and some coloured leaded-glass detail remain.

The main bar has wood bar back with what appear to be original mirrors advertising cigars, Watney beers, spirits and Malvern water.

The Beer

The selection of beers available is impressive for a small, predominantly tourist pub with 7 hand pumps dispensing a wide range of ales with Young’s London Gold and Theakston Old Peculiar being regulars. Judging by the branded glasses for the new Old Golden Hen from Greene King, this may also become a regular.

Other beers available when I visited were Hobgoblin, Marstons EPA,Harveys Sussex Best and a spiced beer called Crafty Devil form Thwaites.

More Photos of the Museum Tavern

Venue Location

Museum Tavern

49 Great Russell Street

London

WC1B 3BA

Tel: 020 7242 8987

twb.im/museumtav

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.