CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND - Paisley, Bull Inn

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

7 New Street, Paisley, PA1 1XU

Tel: 0141 848 0472

Draught Beer & Cider: Real ale

Public Transport: Railway Station: Paisley Gilmour Street; Bus: 9 to/from Glasgow

Pub Food: Meals lunchtimes (not Sundays)

Listed Status: Grade A

View this pub on a local map

Superbly preserved town centre pub, with a great deal of its original Art Nouveau interior intact, which can get very busy at weekends. It retains a spirit cask gantry and six sets of four spirit cocks (the only ones we are aware of in Scotland), which were used originally to dispense the whisky and other spirits from the casks. CAMRA is only aware of four other sets of spirit cocks at Shipman's, Northampton; Queens Head 'Turners Vault', Stockport, Greater Manchester; Haunch of Venison, Salisbury, Wiltshire; and Crown, Belfast, Northern Ireland - all CAMRA Real Heritage Pubs.

This four-storey red sandstone ashlar tenement building, complete with a conical-roofed turret, was built in 1901 by W D McLennan. Beyond the stained glass front windows is a dark, panelled public bar with an impressive back gantry running down the right hand side and containing four, large, elongated, upright whisky barrels and four smaller spirit casks. Over the long bar counter are six arched service areas - an unusual device. On the left-hand side is a splendid terrazzo-tiled and wood-surround fireplace with a mirrored overmantle, which rises some 3.7m (12 ft) up the wall, and two old fixed seating areas with timber and leaded glass short partitions.

Moving on to the back of the pub, you will find a timber and leaded glass partition; beyond it there are three snugs, one of which still retains its door. The book People's Palaces has a plan showing there were four snugs originally - two on the left and two at the rear. New toilets have replaced the rear snugs, which explains why the ladies' has a ‘3’ on the door and the gents', a '4'. The snug on the right was originally a private room. Each snug has an old fireplace, some have bell pushes, but the seating has been replaced and the leaded glass windows are modern.