The Washington

The Washington has stood on England's Lane since 1865, and the intervening decades have left it with the kind of interior you can't commission: etched glass panels, ornate ceiling mouldings, period mirrors — the accumulated detail of a building that's been a pub for over 160 years. Belsize Park gives it a setting that feels more like a village local than a London venue, despite being comfortably inside zone 2.

The headline is Martha's Bar. Behind a bookcase door in the pub, a hidden speakeasy occupies the basement — its own bar, its own atmosphere, its own entrance reveal. It's a space that delivers on the promise of the concealed door rather than deflating once you're through it.

Behind the Bookcase

Martha's Bar works because the separation is real. It's not a themed corner or a basement with a gimmick entrance — it's a fully private space with its own bar service, low lighting, and an intimate atmosphere that holds whether you're at capacity with 60 standing or hosting a smaller gathering of 30. The bookcase reveal gives events a talking-point arrival that sets the tone for the evening.

For birthday celebrations, engagement drinks, and social events where the venue is part of the story, Martha's Bar provides something that very few London pubs can match: genuine drama without theatrical overkill.

A Victorian Pub with Its Own Character

Upstairs, the pub operates as a properly maintained Victorian local — Cask Marque accredited, with a food menu anchored by Sunday roasts and a drinks list that covers cask ales through to cocktails. Semi-private areas and an Outdoor Snug offer additional event options for gatherings that suit the main pub's atmosphere.

England's Lane, on the Belsize Park-Hampstead border, gives the venue a neighbourhood identity that shapes the experience. Guests arrive through a residential high street of independent shops and cafés — a world away from the commercial strips where most London event venues sit. Belsize Park, Chalk Farm, and Swiss Cottage tube stations are all walkable.