2 Templar Street
City Centre
Leeds
LS2 7NU
0113 243 0318
The Templar is a traditional and largely unspoilt pub in the centre of Leeds, close to the market. It has a striking buff and green tiled exterior with the pub name and ‘Melbourne Ales’ in carved red lettering (photos 1, 3 & 4). When Melbourne Brewery bought the pub in 1927 they gave it a full refurbishment which added both the exterior and a fully remodelled interior. The lounge at the back with its wood panelled walls, original fixed seating and fireplace is the best preserved part of the pub. In the rest of the pub, the bar counter and wood panelling also date from 1927.
The Templar has been run by the same landlord for over thirty years and the pub has been in the Good Beer Guide for much of that time. Despite being now owned by Greene King it serves cask beers from a number of Yorkshire breweries. Sport on TV is big here and football, cricket and rugby are all shown.
The stained glass window is an abstract art deco version of the Melbourne Brewery bowing courtier logo (photo 5). This was used on quite a few pubs built or refurbished by the brewery in the 1920s and 1930s.
The pub name, which presumably comes from the religious military order, the Knights Templar, is very rare. The inn sign shows medieval soldiers in battle (photo 2).
