CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

EDINBURGH AND THE LOTHIANS - Edinburgh, New Town, Abbotsford

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

3-5 Rose Street, New Town, Edinburgh, EH2 2PR

Tel: 0131 225 5276

Draught Beer & Cider: Real ale on Aitken fonts

Public Transport: Railway Station: Waverley; Bus: Princess Street buses

Pub Food: Meals lunchtimes; restaurant lunchtimes and evenings

Listed Status: Grade B

View this pub on a local map

One of the finest examples of an island-style pub built 1902 and barely altered since. It is owned by Jenner's Edinburgh's famous department store. It is believed to have been built by Charles Jenner so that his workmen could spend their wages in his own establishment! Unlike the majority of these pubs, the Abbotsford has no island gantry. Instead, the there is a carved mahogany structure with a balustrade around the top perched on the bar counter similar to a modern day 'pot shelf' - Leslie's Bar has a similar arrangement. Designed by one of Edinburgh's most prolific pub architects, Peter Lyle Henderson, it is a red sandstone ashlar building with a corner turret.

In the far left corner is the original snack counter, an unusual survivor still in use for ordering meals at lunchtime, with a good back gantry with a balustrade, and bevelled mirrored panels. The dark, dado-panelled walls have inlaid mirrors; there are mahogany fittings including pediments above the doors, and a very decorative high ceiling in green and cream painted plaster. There was a small lounge at the rear of the bar but this was lost when the first floor was acquired for pub use in the early 1970s and a staircase built in its place. The upstairs restaurant has quality fittings including a small circular bar counter and panelled walls with inset mirrors but all date from the 1970s. The Abbotsford is one of only a handful of pubs in Edinburgh still using the traditional Scottish method of dispense - the tall fount (the 'u' is silent) - to dispense its range of real ales.