29 April 2011

Fully licensed

Congratulations to William and Catherine!

Now, on to the party! Pubs in the United Kingdom have been granted the ability to stay open until 1:00am tonight and tomorrow night in order to celebrate the Royal wedding, which means this is the perfect time to explore The Rose & Crown.

Even a casual glance at the Rose & Crown will reveal that the outward architectural design isn’t coherent across the board. In actuality, the traditional English pub was patterned after four distinctive style of pubs. Rather than show my incomplete knowledge of architecture at this juncture, I’ll leave it to the professionals:
The city, or “street,” pub dating from the 1890s Victorian city center – features brick and wood paneling on the facade and gives us our elegant mahogany bar, the etched glass, and the molded plaster ceiling.

Dickensian pub, after the Cheshire Cheese pub in London – offers a brick-walled flagstone terrace with covered tables, a slate roof, and half-timbered, Elizabethan-styled exterior.

Waterfront, or “river,” pub, on the canal lock – a facade with a modest stone building, a clay tile roof and decorative doorways, stone terrace with an iron fence lining the homey village-inn-styled dining room.

Country, “provincial,” pub, from the suburbs of the 17th and 18th centuries – a slate roof and plaster exterior with stone-quoined corners.


p. 119, The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot, First Edition, 2006.
Alex Wright

As the descriptions imply, the design elements of these various types of pubs isn’t exclusive to the exteriors, but follows through into the stylized interiors. While you may not be able to venture over to the Rose & Crown today, I hope you to find time to raise a glass to the newest Royal couple!

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