Devonshire Arms
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The pub is located on the corner of Marloes Road and Stratford Road. It was established in 1851 and has one of the few beer gardens in the Kensington. It had previously been recorded (up until 1891) as being on Devonshire Terrace, Marloes Road. Likemany other pubs in the region, it originally had a residence upstairs where the publican lived with his family, servants and staff. Looking at Census Records for the premises in 1871 and 1881, it could be surmised that the pub was doing fairly well. In 1871, there were three family members, 2 barmaids, a waiter, a cook and a chamber maid living there. In 1881, the number living there had grown to a family of four, a governess, a nurse, a general servant, a potboy, a billiard marker and two barmen. Comparing it to the next nearest pub in the district, it went from a family of three with 3 staff to a widow with four staff (including her housekeeper). Whilst a widow needed less household staff than a family of four, the Devonshire Arms had four pub staff resident compared to two for the Princess Victoria.
From the employment of the Billiard Marker, we can surmise that the Devonshire Arms offered billiards as entertainment for it's patrons. The pub has moved with times in hosting live screenings of sports and offering free wifi, you also have the option of playing one of the board games it can supply, it no longer has a pool table though. It has a reputation of having a great Sunday roast, keeping with the tradition of offering good food. It has a rotating selection of craft beer on tap and serves cask beer, keeping things local. Considering that the pub is further away from the ‘tourist’route than other pubs in the area the fact that its still fairing well is a testament of the fondness of many to their local pub.
One of the things about English Pubs, is their similarity in names. When researching the Devonshire Arms, one of the things that came up is it's commonality. Although not as common a name as others (like The Red Lion), there are still at least 27 pubs with that name in the UK. There was one fairly close to this one at Notting Hill, which opened in 1869 and closed in 2009. The Notting Hill pub changed names twice during it's lifetime. Many of them use the coat of arms of the Duke of Devonshire.
On the right is Duke's coat of Arms, on the left is the Pub Sign. Below the current day pub sign is a picture taken of their arms on a menu as well as a view outside.
Below is the location of the pub on Google Maps, whilst a red dot shows it's placement on a historical map in relation to other landmarks.
