Prince Alfred, Maida Vale

The Prince Alfred is the best example now existing of how London pubs about 1900 were divided up into numerous separate spaces, each occupied by a particular group of individuals and social groups. The layout of many small drinking compartments is a style also seen at the Argyll Arms, Soho, London W1, Princess Louise, Holborn, London WC1 and Salisbury, Covent Garden, London WC1.

Outside, the Prince is nothing terribly exciting – a three-storey Italianate building in keeping with its surroundings – but inside shows to perfection how late Victorian drinkers liked their pubs. The building went up in about 1865 but was given a complete refit around 1898. From outside look carefully at the exposed ceiling on the ground floor and you can see how timber and glass screen-work has been inserted, cutting across the patterned decoration. Also note the tiles and mosaic in the entrance.

The interior has the only peninsula-style servery to retain all of its original surrounding drinking areas – no fewer than five of them, each with its own external entrance. They are separated by timber and glass screens, all of them with a low service door for the use of, say, pot boys and cleaners. The smallest compartment has a set of snob screens – swivelling glazed panels, which gave posh patrons a sense of separation from the serving staff. Other Heritage Pubs with snob screens are Bartons Arms, Aston, Birmingham; Lamb, London WC1; Posada, Wolverhampton , West Midlands; Starting Gate, London N22; Bunch of Grapes, London SW3; Crown, London N1; and Crown & Greyhound, London SE21 but these have been moved.

In the middle of the servery is a wonderfully tall, carved fitment, which is secured to the ceiling by ironwork. All this late Victorian work gives the pub a delicate Rococo feel. A refit in 2001 transformed the character into a café-restaurant establishment with over-prominent kitchen and dining room, and totally inappropriate furnishings in the historic part: counter re-fronted at this time.