Location Lant Street, Southwark Website www.thegladpub.com | Key people Daniel Orcese | |
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The Gladstone Arms is a public house in Lant Street in the Borough – the Southwark district of London. It is also known as The Glad. Built on the site of a Victorian pub, the current building was constructed in the 1920s. It has been threatened by redevelopment but its popularity as a meeting place and live music venue have caused it to be recognised as an asset of community value.
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History
There has been a public house here since the 19th century and, after Charles Dickens lodged in the street, he subsequently referred to it in The Pickwick Papers. The current structure was rebuilt in the interwar period of the 20th century. It is named after William Ewart Gladstone who was prime minister four times in the 19th century. In addition to its traditional drinking clientele, it attracts young, creative types and gays.
Music
It is used as a live music venue and has its own record label. The type of music includes folk, blues and rock. Acts who have performed there include Ellie Goulding and Noah and the Whale. The pub is small and intimate and so does not have a stage or elaborate sound system but it is popular and crowded on music nights.
Closure
The pub was inactive and boarded up for a period but, in 2006, the business was revived by Daniel Orcese who introduced live music and Pieminister pies. In 2015, it was threatened by demolition and redevelopment as a 10-storey block of flats but the planning application was refused after a campaign by the Walworth Society to save it. The building was not listed by Historic England but it was recognised as an asset of community value. The tenancy was due for renewal on 31 October 2016 and there was a further campaign to save the institution from a rent increase which would cause it to close. Local MP Neil Coyle joined the Campaign for Real Ale in a pub crawl to save this and other local pubs.