222 New Road
Copnor
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO2 7RW
023 9282 4397
The Mermaid is one of the most eye-catching buildings in suburban Copnor with its three-gabled frontage and splendid art-nouveau cast-iron canopy (photo 1). It dates from 1900, designed by architect A.E. Cogswell for the Pike Spicer Brewery. Pike Spicer was taken over by Brickwoods 10 years later but amazingly the pub still has painted signs advertising their bitter (photo 2).
The interior is quite interesting too, with its unaltered Victorian layout and sympathetic alterations made in the 1950s and 1960s, and it’s on Camra’s list of Historic Pub Interiors.
It’s a lively community pub with karaoke, live music, darts, pool and, unusually, bar billiards. There’s no food but beers are Sharp’s Doom Bar plus a guest.
