Lord Clyde.

Lord Clyde

The fittings are plain on purpose. CAMRA's inventory reads the 1913 rebuild as an early example of the turn away from Victorian ornament: a restraint and simplicity which forms a marked contrast to the ornateness of pubs from a decade or so before1.

Why go

Truman, Hanbury and Buxton rebuilt the pub in 1913 and left their eagle on the corner, above a fascia still carrying the name of E J Bayling, the landlord who took it on at the rebuilding (CAMRA). The frontage is glazed green and cream earthenware over the entire ground floor, running in a band below the cornice and around an oeil-de-boeuf window upstairs, per the statutory listing (London Pubs Group). Historic England listed it Grade II on 3 September 2010, and CAMRA rates the interior Two Star on its National Inventory, a pub interior of very special national historic interest, which is the top band. Inside, two rooms survive with the original counter and bar-back, three separately labeled doors that map the old public, saloon and probable snug layout, a disused serving hatch in the back room, and a framed Truman's price list from 1961. One family ran it for more than 60 years until early 2020. It now trades under Stonegate (CAMRA London Region).

Order this / avoid

• Order: Timothy Taylor Landlord, the one regular cask, or take whatever is moving on the four changing handpulls. CAMRA's branch sees Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, Fuller's London Pride and Brains Rev James Original here most often1. Drink it in the back room, for the hatch and the panelling.
• Avoid: a Sunday evening. It closes at 8pm. Also avoid arriving expecting the pub the guidebooks describe: the founding family left in January 2020 and no named writer has assessed it since.

What locals & experts say

• CAMRA National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, Two Star: a pub interior of very special national historic interest. The record adds what survives: Two separate rooms remain, as does the original bar counter and bar-back.1
• CAMRA, South East London branch (record updated 20 July 2026): A gem of a street corner building with lovely external Truman tilework... Tucked away near Borough Underground station, well worth a visit to step back in time.1
• CAMRA London Pubs Group, on the setting: In what must be the shortest street in London, the pub was rebuilt in 1913 and has a marvellous exterior with lots of ceramic work. The same record explains the name: Colin Campbell Clyde was granted a peerage in 1858 for his part in putting down the Indian Mutiny the previous year.3
• Time Out, in a listing whose operational detail is out of date but whose read on the room still lands: a lived-in home from home for middle-aged regulars and penny-conscious students, with a back room where regulars play darts under a print depicting the Lord Clyde's heroic action at the Battle of Balaclava.5

Good to know

• Timing: Monday to Saturday noon to 11pm, Sunday noon to 8pm, per CAMRA's London Region record. Time Out's listing says 11am opening and a 6pm Sunday close, and its beer list and phone number are also out of date, so use CAMRA's.
• Booking: walk in. Pavement seating in good weather.
• Getting there: a couple of minutes from Borough Underground, on the corner of Clennam Street and Ayres Street.
• Hygiene: FSA rating 5, inspected 1 June 2026 by Southwark, FHRSID 1227117 (record).
• Food: unverified. The only source that mentions food service is the stale Time Out listing. Call ahead on (020) 7407 5643 if you need to eat.
• Namesakes: three other Lord Clydes are separately registered with the FSA, in Bollington, Bolton and Bradford. This page is the Borough one.
• Nearby, in this database: The Royal Oak is also filed under Borough, and the Hand & Marigold is a short walk into Bermondsey. Jeff's note on that entry, "Part of the borough trifecta," most likely includes this pub, but no source names a trio and the question is still open.

Craft signals (beer: changing lines, unchanging brands)

Two signals and both point at a fixed offer wearing a rotating label. CAMRA's record is four changing beers and one regular, and the beers its branch sees most often on those four handpulls are Harvey's Sussex Best, Fuller's London Pride and Brains Rev James Original, with Timothy Taylor Landlord holding the regular line. Every one of those is a national brand a Stonegate house can order without a buying decision, and no guest programme, takeover or tap list is published anywhere. The room is the reason to come and it is a very good reason; the glass is not, and the National Inventory listing sits under Experience where it belongs.

Verdict

could-visit — One of the best-preserved pub interiors in London, and the reason is a date: 1913, the moment the trade swung away from Victorian ornament, which is why the fittings here are plain rather than gilded. CAMRA puts it on the National Inventory at Two Star, an interior of very special national historic interest, and Historic England listed it Grade II in 2010. Two rooms, the original counter and bar-back, a disused serving hatch, an etched Mild Ales and Double Stout mirror and a framed 1961 Truman's price list. The beer is a Timothy Taylor Landlord and four rotating handpulls, which is respectable and not a destination, the founding family left in January 2020, and it now trades under Stonegate. Go for the room.