Crown, Devizesback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Right next to the brewery so 6 ales on, all from Wadworths and all in good condition. Staff were all teenagers and a bit gormless. A bit soul-less inside with a large dining area at the back, so it didn't have much of an atmosphere. Other than the ales being good, it didn't stand out.
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EERT; why, what has happened - or do you know?
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I remember this pub as The Old Crown a great old real pub with a stone floor log fires bar Billiards, the gents was outside in the yard there was also an out building with a function room .
A wanton act of destruction by Wadsworth who normally take pains to conserve their estate !
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went in lunchtime, very friendly staff, food was excellent and well priced, well recommended, not sure about night times though.................
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Odd place. Visited twice on a trip to Devizes. Firstly for lunch when clientele was very civilised. Food fine and a Wadworth beers in good nick with all on, as you would expect so close to the brewery. Went back in the evening and it was absolutely heaving with youngsters. Most friendly but a few numpties. £3 to get in but one of only two places for late drinking
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Soulless with disinterested staff, a great advertisment for drinking at home
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One rather expects the beer quality at this hostelry to be in fine form, given its immediate proximity to the brewery which owns it (the shadow of Wadworths looms large over much of Wiltshire but there really is no escape as close as this). I had visited this pub with some friends from university some 16 years since, as one chap came from Potterne just outside of Devizes. I remembered various aspects of the place - the Waddie's beer was nicely-served and condtiioned (4 featured on cask - Horizon was had by some while others went for Red White & Brew, or the new keg stout, Guinness-apeing Corvus), and there was a pleasant air about the place emanating from a mixed, though predominantly younger, clientele.
What had altered in those intervening years was the style of interior design and decor, which, as the last reviewer more than alludes to, is somewhat bland and by-numbers, especially for what would appear externally to be a pretty trad tavern. Okay, endless faux beams, horsebrasses, mahogany bar fittings and other Victoriana isn't always welcome, or indeed original. However, in the Crown I couldn't help but feel it would've been better to retain something of that style for its interior. It all came across as a bit, well, youth club-ish, with lots of flashy games machines, large leather sofas, similarly large TVs, and other pared-down (and suspiciously-cheap-looking) minimalist touches. It wasn't hard to see why the younger folk were keen on it, and if that's the market they wish to focus on and it keeps their tills ringing as the Jaegerbombs explode, then fair dos.
We on the other hand, as a group of 14 that ranged from age 35 to 74, opted for the large (everything at the Crown is large!) and nicely-laid-out rear courtyard, which was pretty much as I'd remembered it from the mid-'90s when I last ventured here. This suited us better as it extricated us from the rather dull and characterless bar area.
Not a bad boozer - indeed the main factors at play (beer quality, efficiency and pleasantness of service, cleanliness, behaviour of clientele etc) were all in good order. I suppose it's just not a pub that necessarily suits all tastes, and the lack of character indoors does rather belie its more homely exterior image.
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What can I say about this place. Stark and soulless describes it well. If the Saturday night I visited was anything to go by, this place could be renamed the Marie Celeste. With poor beer and blaring TVs in every corner, I left pretty sharpish.
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We visited this pub as part of the Wadworth Brewery tour deal in Jan 2011. It has a clean, fresh, modern feel to it and has the full selection of Wadworths real ales in good condition. The food was also spot-on, well-presented and good value. (partcularly the hot Lucifer sausages). Worth a visit.
start - 17 Jan 2011 12:15 |
We fell off a canal boat and luckily ended up in this pub instead of the water. There was no food if I remember correctly but it was a good pub.
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