| The Green Dragon | |
|---|---|
 The Green Dragon, Flaunden | |
 Location within Hertfordshire | |
| General information | |
| Type | Public House |
| Location | Flaunden, Hertfordshire |
| Coordinates | 51°41′48.97″N0°31′58.91″W / 51.6969361°N 0.5330306°W |
| Completed | c. 1700 |
| Website | |
| The Green Dragon, Flaunden | |
The Green Dragon is a Grade II listed public house in Flaunden, Hertfordshire, England. [1] The rear wing, a timber-framed structure, is the oldest part of the building and dates from the early 17th century. [1]
Formerly a residential house, what is now the Green Dragon was built in the early 17th Century, with the front range rebuilt in the early 19th Century and a side extension following in the 1980s. Much of the interior of the pub still contains the original timber frame, whilst the frontage is red brick, and the roof red tile. [1] The tap room was built in 1838, whilst much of the rest of the pub has remained unchanged since the 19th century. [2] [3]
Among the Green Dragon's past clientele are two infamous figures, Nazi politician Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet spy Guy Burgess. Von Ribbentrop was a regular at the Green Dragon during the 1930s when he stayed at his weekend house in nearby Latimer during his time as the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom. [4] [5] Due to his involvement in the Nazi regime, von Ribbentrop would be sentenced to death as a result of the Nuremberg Trials. As a result of Hermann Göring committing suicide, von Ribbentrop became the first of those sentenced to be executed; he was hanged on 16 October 1946. [6]
Burgess meanwhile often visited the Green Dragon when he stayed in Flaunden with his boyfriend, Peter Pollock, who lived in the Sharlowes farmhouse not far from the pub. [4] Burgess would defect to the Soviet Union in May 1951, however, he is reported to have met with fellow Cambridge Five member Donald MacLean in the Tap Room of the Green Dragon the day prior to their defection. [5]
The Green Dragon has been under the custodianship of one family for three generations, having been run by Bob and Ida Burgess since 1932, before being passed on to their daughter Barbara. [7] During the late 1930s when Barbara was a child, she played in the garden with two young girls who were staying at Latimer House. Unbeknown to Barbara and her parents at the time, these two girls were the daughters of King George VI and would grow up to become Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. [8] [7]
The Green Dragon is listed on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors register, and is the only pub in Hertfordshire to be listed as having an "interior of national importance". [9] This is due in large part to the snug being made up of two or more high backed settles, of which there are only a handful left in the country. [10]
The pub prides itself on being a "focal point for traditional rural pursuits" and during the game season its "Tap Room" is visited by shooters following a day of sport. [11]
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
The George Inn, or The George, is a public house established in the medieval period on Borough High Street in Southwark, London, owned and leased by the National Trust. It is located about 250 metres (820 ft) from the south side of the River Thames near London Bridge and is the only surviving galleried London coaching inn.
Bovingdon is a village in Hertfordshire, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Hemel Hempstead, and it is a civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum. It forms the largest part of the ward of Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield, which had a population of 4,600 at the 2001 census, increasing to 9,000 at the 2011 Census.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a Grade II listed public house at 145 Fleet Street, on Wine Office Court, City of London. Rebuilt shortly after the Great Fire of 1666, the pub is known for its literary associations, with its regular patrons having included Charles Dickens, G. K. Chesterton and Mark Twain.
South West Hertfordshire is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented since 2019 by Gagan Mohindra, a Conservative.
McMullen's, known locally as Mac's, is a regional brewery founded in 1827 in Hertford, England, the United Kingdom. The brewery expanded during the second half of the 19th century by purchasing other breweries and their associated pubs. In 1902 it was the second largest brewery in Hertfordshire. The brewery has occupied several different sites in Hertford and moved to its current location in 1891. There have been several breweries on this site and the current one opened in 2006. As of 2021, members of the 6th generation of the McMullen family are still involved with the business.
Flaunden is a village and a civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Buckinghamshire. Old Flaunden was on the banks of the River Chess in Buckinghamshire but owing to constant flooding, the settlement moved up the hill into Hertfordshire in the early 19th century. The new church at the top of the hill was built in 1838 and was the first church designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
The National Pub of the Year is an annual competition held by CAMRA, the winner of which is announced in the February of the year following that in which the competition is run, that finds the best pub in the UK. Established in 1988, the competition helps to highlight quality pubs around the UK that are worth seeking out and visiting. Each year, each local CAMRA branch nominates one pub in their area to be entered. These 200 pubs then go through to the regional competition, which then whittles down to 4 pubs to go to the national final.
The Elysian Brewing Company is an American brewery, owned by AB InBev, that operates two pubs and a taproom in Seattle.
The Bell Inn is a pub at the village of Aldworth, in the English county of West Berkshire. It won CAMRA's National Pub of the Year in 1990, and received the accolade again for 2019. It is a Grade II listed building and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II listed interior. It is also on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.
The Luppitt Inn is the only public house at Luppitt, Devon. Located in the front rooms of a farmhouse, the building is constructed from stone, rendered on one side and includes a tiled roof. The main house, still part of a working farm, was built in the early 19th century. The pub entrance is on the north side of the house, leading to a two-roomed pub. The serving room includes a simple counter made of matchboard, and some simple shelves, as well as a few seats, whilst the second room includes a brick fireplace. The toilets are outside, across the yard. The only table in the pub is covered in puzzles. The unique layout has meant that the pub is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.
The Milbank Arms is a Grade II listed public house at Barningham, County Durham. Built in the early 19th century, it spent a period as a hotel before converting to a public house. It was one of the last public houses in the country to not include a bar counter when one was fitted in 2018. The public house, and former hotel, are named after local land owning family, the Milbanks, who have recently taken over the license.
The Five Mile House is a former pub on Old Gloucester Road, Duntisbourne Abbots, Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 17th century and is grade II listed.
Rooks Nest House is a house on Weston Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It was the childhood home of the author E. M. Forster (1879–1970) who described it in the novel Howards End. It is Grade I listed for its historical interest and literary associations.
The Red Lion is a disused public house on Soho Road, in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England.
The Black Swan is a public house in the city centre of York, in England. The building lies on Peasholme Green, on the site of an important Mediaeval house which had been occupied by various Lord Mayors of York and Members of Parliament. In 1560, Martin Bowes rebuilt the property, and in 1670 Henry Thompson made substantial alterations, rebuilding parts in brick, and altering the interior. Early in the 18th-century, the house was owned by Edward Thompson.
The Duke of Sussex, Acton Green is a public house, opened in 1898, in the northern Chiswick district of Acton Green. It is prominently situated on a corner facing the common. The Grade II listed building is "elaborately decorated" to a design by the pub architects Shoebridge & Rising.
The New Beehive Inn is a former pub in Bradford, England. It was built by Bradford Corporation in 1901 to replace an existing public house of the same name that they had purchased in 1889 and demolished to widen a road. The corporation intended to run the pub itself but instead let it out and sold it in 1926. It has since been run by a number of brewery companies and individuals. The pub contained many features dating to its construction and a significant refurbishment in 1936 and was described by the Campaign for Real Ale as "one of the country's very best historic pub interiors".
Media related to The Green Dragon, Flaunden at Wikimedia Commons
Pubs in Hertfordshire | |
|---|---|
| Dacorum | |
| East Hertfordshire | |
| Hertsmere | |
| St Albans | |
| Welwyn Hatfield | |
