- A gin palace is an English name originally for a lavish bar selling gin, later transferred by association to late Victorian Pubs designed in a similar style.
- In the 18th century, gin shops ('dram shops') were just small shops (often originally chemists due to medical associations) that sold gin mostly to take away, or to drink standing up.
- In the late 1820s the first 'Gin Palaces' were built, Thompson and Fearon's in Holborn and Weller's in Old Street.
- They were based on the new fashionable shops being built at the time, fitted out at great expense and lit by gas lights.
- They were thought to be vulgar at the time, although hugely popular.
- Charles Dickins described them as "perfectly dazzling when contrasted with the darkness and dirt we have just left…" in his Sketches by Boz.
Illustration from Sketches by Boz :
- The design hugely influenced all aspects of the design of later Victorian pubs.
- even after gin had declined in importance as a drink; the bar in pubs is based on the shop counter of the gin palace, designed for swift service and ideal for attaching beer pumps.
- The term has survived for any pub in the late 19th century style; as this was the peak of pub building in Britain the style has become associated with the pub, even though none of the original gin palaces survive.
- Well preserved examples of the late 19th century style include the Princess Louise in Holborn and the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool.
Princess Louise in Holborn :
(Various Sources)
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