Coronation Hall

Coronation Hall is a pub operated by J D Wetherspoon plc, located in Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. The pub is notable for its building: it is a former cinema that was later converted into a public house, and it now trades as one of the roughly 800 pubs and hotels that make up the Wetherspoon estate across the United Kingdom and Ireland. As a Wetherspoon house, Coronation Hall follows the company's standard operating model: a large, open-plan, food-led pub offering a broad menu of breakfasts, main meals, snacks and desserts alongside a wide range of cask ales, craft beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks, typically at prices positioned below the average for the local market. The pub participates in the chain-wide programmes that define the Wetherspoon brand, including the twice-yearly real-ale festivals, the guest-ale and craft-can rotations, seasonal food menus such as the Christmas menu, and cocktail ranges. Wetherspoon's own corporate history records that its pubs host real-ale festivals featuring up to 50 beers each, ten of which are from overseas brewers, and that the company pioneered initiatives such as dedicated non-smoking areas before the 2007 smoking ban. Coronation Hall, as part of that estate, is marketed through the Wetherspoon website and app, where customers can view the pub's details, menus and current promotions. The building's earlier life as a cinema gives Coronation Hall the kind of architectural character that Wetherspoon often seeks when converting large, distinctive premises — former banks, theatres, cinemas and post offices — into pubs. This heritage is part of the appeal of the Wetherspoon format, which combines low prices and high volume with often grand or unusual interiors. The pub is owned and operated by J D Wetherspoon plc, a company founded by Tim Martin, whose first pub opened in Muswell Hill, north London, in December 1979 and which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1992. Coronation Hall therefore sits within a large, publicly listed hospitality group while retaining a distinct local identity tied to its Surbiton location and its cinematic past.

Coronation Hall is a pub in Surbiton, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. Its building was originally a cinema, and it was later converted into a public house; it now trades as part of the J D Wetherspoon estate. The pub's own history is therefore bound up with two stories: the history of the building as a local cinema, and the history of Wetherspoon as the operator that took it over and runs it today. J D Wetherspoon was founded by Tim Martin. According to the company's own history, the first Wetherspoon pub opened on 9 December 1979 in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, having been purchased from an entrepreneur who had converted it from a bookmaker's shop. For its first month the pub was called Martin's Free House, and it was renamed Wetherspoons early in 1980. During the early years the company's pubs were all in north London, with the head office above The Dog in Archway. The chain expanded through the 1980s and 1990s, opening its first central London and railway-station pub, Hamilton Hall at Liverpool Street station, and its first airport pubs at Heathrow Terminal 4 in 1992. In 1992 the company was floated on the Stock Exchange as J D Wetherspoon plc, with shares issued at £1.60. Wetherspoon's operating style was established early. In 1990 the pubs hosted their first real-ale festival, a four-day event featuring six beers; the festivals later became twice-yearly fixtures in every Wetherspoon pub, offering up to 50 beers each, ten of them from overseas brewers. In 1991 The Tally Ho in North Finchley opened with a dedicated non-smoking bar upstairs, one of several pioneering initiatives the company introduced before the smoking ban of July 2007. The same year the company started its CBS scheme — cleanliness, beer and service — and produced the first edition of Wetherspoon News, an eight-page black-and-white magazine given free to customers. Coronation Hall belongs to the later, mature phase of this expansion, in which Wetherspoon converted large and often architecturally distinctive buildings — cinemas, banks, theatres, post offices — into pubs. The conversion of a former cinema in Surbiton into a Wetherspoon pub gave the building a new commercial life while preserving its presence as a landmark in the local area. As a Wetherspoon house, Coronation Hall operates under the chain's standard model: a large, open-plan, food-led pub with an extensive menu and a broad drinks range, participating in the company's national promotions such as the beer festivals, seasonal menus and cocktail ranges. It is marketed through the Wetherspoon website and app, where its details, menus and offers are listed alongside those of the rest of the estate.

• First Wetherspoon pub opens in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December; initially called Martin's Free House.

• The pub is renamed Wetherspoons early in the year.

• Wetherspoon's pubs host their first real-ale festival, a four-day event featuring six beers.

• The Tally Ho in North Finchley opens with a dedicated non-smoking bar upstairs; the company also starts its CBS (cleanliness, beer and service) scheme and produces the first edition of Wetherspoon News.

• Hamilton Hall at Liverpool Street station, London, opens as the company's first central London and railway-station pub.

• Wetherspoon opens its first two airport pubs at Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4.

• The company is floated on the Stock Exchange as J D Wetherspoon plc, with shares issued at £1.60.

Value-led, food-and-drink pub within the J D Wetherspoon chain, housed in a converted former cinema in Surbiton.

• Real-ale festivals

  Twice-yearly festivals in Wetherspoon pubs offering up to 50 beers each, ten of them from overseas brewers.

• Guest ale and craft can range

  Rotating guest ales and craft cans with published tasting notes.

• Christmas menu

  Festive food menu available in Wetherspoon pubs from mid-November to the end of December, excluding Christmas Day.

• Spritz cocktail range

  A choice of nine classic and fruity spritz cocktail recipes.

1. 1Award-Winning Pubs & Hotels Across The UK & Ireland - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
2. 2History - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
3. 3About us - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
4. 4Awards - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
5. 5Coronation Hallwikidata.org