The Bar & Restaurant Edit: When Deniz Hargreaves, our Lettings Manager, fancies a pint and a relaxed chat with his colleagues after work he heads for The Mossy Well. ‘It has a great atmosphere, friendly staff and good ale – what more could anyone ask for?’
I remember the site when it was the Express Dairy and sold another sort of soothing drink, milk, but the current owners, Weatherspoons have been respectful of the site’s history and even have a ‘milk float’ bar.
Weatherspoons of course started their business in Colney Hatch Lane back in 1979, so the opening of The Mossy Well was a bit of a homecoming for them.
The Mossy Well, 258 Muswell Hill Broadway, Muswell Hill, N10 3SH Tel: 020 8444 2914
Here’s what the people at The Mossy Well have to say about their pub:
The Mossy Well, in Muswell Hill, which opened in October 2015, is the latest addition to Wetherspoon’s pubs in and around London. The site, more recently The Village pub, was previously the Express Dairy Building – and that history is reflected throughout this outlet.
The opening of The Mossy Well, at a cost of just over £3 million, also signals Wetherspoon’s return to the north London area of Muswell Hill. The company opened its first-ever pub in 1979, around half a mile from this site.
The pub is set over two floors of the former Express Dairy Building which once comprised the dairy yard and a tea room to the front. These premises have been part restored and part newly built. The original single-storey property was a purpose-built tea room from 1900, with the Express Dairy milk depot to the rear, entered through the now filled-in archway at the end of the building.
Most of the existing high-level elevation has been retained, including original details to the front gable, while the shop front has now been replaced with a new opening shop front.
The metal-truss-roofed access to the yard has been retained and restored, including exposed trusses. A new mansard first-floor loft area forms the upper customer area, with exposed steel detail, featuring roof lights over double-height voids.
The pub has two bars and a bespoke carpet design, as well as reclaimed furniture inside. There are also two reclaimed Victorian fireplaces, uncovered on site, restored and in use again.
There is a terrace area to the front and rear of the pub, as well as a landscaped courtyard garden, to the rear, incorporating the external ‘milk float’ bar.
There is also a secret woodland, with several semi-mature trees, covered areas, fixed seating, heaters, a water feature, reclaimed furniture and bespoke lighting. The pub, which is wheelchair accessible, has a specially adapted ‘Changing Places’ WC for those with disabilities or unable to use standard accessible toilets.
There are several original artworks and commissioned pieces, including local artists’ paper sculpture work, commissioned painting, local photographers’ works and a sculpted solid timber cow on display in the garden.
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