Swan & Sugar Loaf stood at South End and served generations of residents until it closed in 2010 after the pub crashed into administration.
The pub itself featured a stained-glass window depicting two swans and a loaf of sugar.
Built by Overton’s Brewery on Surrey Street, the pub replaced an earlier building of the same name, which accounts suggest was far less interesting.
In London’s Heritage Pubs, Geoff Brandwood and Jane Jephcote described the Swan & Sugar Loaf as “dramatically designed,” saying its bold architecture stood out where two roads met.
They especially praised the snug area, which had a Jacobean-style fireplace and six seats, calling it the “drinker’s version of a chapter house in an Abbey”.
The book was published in 2008, just two years before the Swan & Sugar Loaf were forced to close.
The building was squatted in for a time in 2011, and the occupants were evicted after the England Riots that August.
Scaffolding was put up to restore the building after this period of neglect, and for a while, it wasn’t clear whether the pub would reopen or if it would be turned into a restaurant.
In the end, it was neither.
By 2012, the Swan & Sugar Loaf had been replaced with a Tesco Express.
The name still lives at top of the Tesco Express building and as the name of a TfL bus stop.
The story of the Swan & Sugar Loaf now features in London’s Lost Pubs (£20 Pen and Sword), a newly released book by author Sam Cullen.
The book chronicles over 200 pubs that have vanished from London in the past 25 years, using a wealth of reviews, guides, and personal memories to revive their histories.
Cullen said: “As much as it’s sad that these pubs don’t exist anymore, I wanted to make sure they are not lost to time by telling their stories, their history, and some of the quirky characters who drank in them.
“Pubs can tell you so much about social and cultural history.
“The book is a celebration of pubs that existed as a vehicle for looking at aspects of London life.
“My criteria for inclusion were that they closed within the past twenty-five years, and there was an interesting story to tell.”
Although the Swan & Sugar Loaf is no longer standing, its legacy lives on in the memories of those who experienced it and in the pages of Cullen’s book.
