*last orders called at the “Ye Olde Swiss Cottage” Pub-London NW3-the end of an era

Last week, under miserable dark damp gloomy and bitterly cold London skies – my London Shoes ventured over to a north western area of London – for the specific purpose of visiting THE actual SWISS COTTAGE.

On Saturday 1^st February 2025 ‘last orders’ were called for the very last time at the “Ye Old Swiss Cottage” pub – a pub so prominent that it had an area of London – an electoral ward – and even a tube station named after it.

Swiss Cottage (the area) is in the London Bor. of Camden and is situated 3.25 miles from central London.

The district is named after the 200+yr old “Ye Old Swiss Cottage“ pub that sits on an island in the middle of the 4.5 mile long ‘Finchley Road’.

When the Finchley Road was officially opened in 1835, there was a toll-gate at the site of the now Swiss Cottage pub. Apparently, this toll-gate booth was built in the style of a Swiss chalet.

Swiss chalet style building designs were very popular in London throughout the early Victorian era.

This particular Swiss chalet building was converted into a pub in the 1840’s – and there’s a lovely illustration from 1843 that shows just what the Swiss Cottage looked like in those times.

In 1850 the site surrounding the Swiss Cottage pub became a London Omnibus terminus.

By 1868 an extension of the Metropolitan Railway line – terminated at Swiss Cottage –the station was named Swiss Cottage after the pub standing just outside the station.

The current Swiss Cottage tube station was built in 1939, and Swiss Cottage has always appeared as a ‘stop’ on a standard London tube map.

Swiss Cottage tube station is interestingly, actually 1 of 6 – London Underground stations that are named after pubs – the other 5 are:- Royal Oak / Angel / Manor House / Elephant & Castle / Maida Vale.

The actual Swiss Cottage pub building itself has obviously seen several renovations, rebuilds and refurbishments throughout the 200+years that it’s been standing there.

Its interior was a proper old skool pub – dark lighting – wood panelling – carpeted floor etc.

It used to be a popular ‘football crowd’ pub for supporters to congregate for a few pre-match drinks before heading off on the tube network, to the various matches being played.

However – it’s fair to say that the popularity of ‘Ye Old Swiss Cottage’ pub has dwindled over recent years – and in a densely populated area where the cultural demographic has changed considerably over the past decades, the Swiss Cottage pub is probably no longer as popular or important to what it once was.

Hundreds of pubs are closing in London, more so than any other part of the country. There are no longer pubs on every corner as there once were, and a pub is no longer a hub of the community – so it is inevitable that pubs like the Swiss Cottage will be under threat of closure.

In fact, there is now only one other pub in the Swiss Cottage area, namely ‘The North Star’ situated further down the Finchley Road –(ps  look out for a London Shoes blog on the North Star in its own right – coming soon).

So – on Saturday 1^st Feb 2025, the very last pint was pulled at the ‘Ye Old Swiss Cottage pub – a very sad day and the end of an era that’s spanned 200 years!!!

As you can imagine, it’s closure has sparked a lot of reaction – with media coverage in the press/radio and tv – and of course, its closure has been all over social media – with a lot of moaning and vocal displeasure about its closure – but as with most things in life these days, I guess its classic case of ‘use it or lose it’.

From what I understand, no one is actually quite sure what the future holds for the ‘Ye Old Swiss Cottage’ pub – surprisingly this famous and historic site is not Listed, which could potentially have quite an adverse effect on its future and most definitely its value.

There is obviously a fear that this legendary pub location will be simply raided to the ground and replaced by yet another block of residential flats/apartments. However, there are many who are fully expecting it to be bought up by a brewery or pub a chain, and re-open as a pub, a theme pub or restaurant.

The workmen I spoke to ‘on site’ – when I asked them if they would allow me entry inside to take a few photos (a request that was declined), when we got talking about its future – simply and humorously welcomed me to ‘Swiss Towers’ !!!

It’s always disappointing when a long-standing bit of history is no longer there – but I guess we’ll just have to see what develops.

For this jaunt out I didn’t go to a pub for a cheeky beer – as the pub was no more – so instead, me in an effort to get off of the bitterly cold streets of Swiss Cottage – my London Shoes ended up in the Community Centre Café where I tucked in to a luverlee plate full of sausage – bacon & beans, washed down with a piping hot cuppa rosie……and very nice it was too.

Hope you enjoyed this emotive little tale – and that the photos albeit taken under a miserable London sky, helped bring the story to life a bit.

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See below the entire gallery of photos taken to accompany this Swiss Cottage blog article