The Bricklayers Arms — Restaurant in London

🚇 Forest Hill 🍺 £5.70 Cruzcampo

The Bricklayers Arms is located in a residential area on the border between Forest Hill and Sydenham in southeast London. Forest Hill and Sydenham stations are a similar distance to the pub.

There have been three Bricklayer’s Arms buildings on this site, the first was founded in 1834 by James Munro who converted his cottage to a beershop. The second was build in 1860, the pub you see today was built in 1924 by Young’s Brewery.

This is a traditionally decorated pub comprising two adjoining bars, divided by a horseshoe-shaped servery. To the rear, there are two additional rooms and a beer garden at the back. The interior features a combination of boarded and carpeted floors, dark wood panelling, patterned wallpapers, and conventional furnishings. The pub is equipped with several tv’s, a dartboard and a Joanna can also be found tucked into a corner.

The beer selection was a who’s who of well-known brews, alongside two cask ales. I opted for a Cruzcampo; the pint was excellent and price point was below average. This is a wet-led pub, so no food is served.

I arrived just after 5 p.m. on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in July. The pub was fairly busy, with a friendly local crowd spread across both bars and the back room. The atmosphere had a classic local pub feel; I settled near the dartboard and watched a bit of the cricket on the box. The service was excellent, the jovial lady behind the ramp was warm and welcoming.

It was great to see this wet-led local’s pub busy on a Saturday afternoon. I loved the decor, the authentic pub atmosphere, the reasonably priced pints, and the down-to-earth hospitality. This is my kind of pub, and I would wholeheartedly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the area.

📅 26th July 2025

If you want to see all my pub reviews in one place, head to @londonpubmap on...

Sky Sports, dartboard, jukebox, beer, local customers! In my opinion, 5 of the best features a pub can have!

Decent selection of beer choice on tap and on bottle, non-alcoholic beer too if that tickles your fancy - alongside bar snacks.

Friendly staff, always on hand for service, and you're very rarely waiting too long to be served. The only time I did wait a while for service was when it was a packed pub for Super Sunday football - ordered 2 pints, and the manager apologised for making me wait, and didn't charge me - 2 beers on the house!

Incredible!

Dog friendly, kid friendly (has board games) - and every single one of the locals are friendly too!

They even have a fishmonger that pops in every Sunday evening around 6ish selling fresh small-potted seafood that you're allowed to eat in the pub. Lovely fella he is too!

Overall, one of the better pubs in the local area and honestly one of the cleanest too - including the gents toilets!

Glad we've got a pub like this locally as this kind of pub is the type that we're losing, daily.

Save The Local by giving The Bricklayers Arms...

Probably the best pub in the area. Used to be a Youngs, now mercifully a freehouse with very, very fairly priced pints that are well kept. All the sport on TV and really friendly, efficient staff who recognise you after a couple of visits. Old school pub without the old school ruffian elements. Anyone who lives nearby will know this anyway, but worth taking a trip to if not from the area, for an afternoon or evening in a quality,...