Churchill Arms Christmas: The Kensington Pub Covered in Trees and Lights

Turn the corner onto Kensington Church Street in December and there is a pub that looks like a Christmas tree itself.

That is the Churchill Arms. Every winter its whole front disappears under fir trees, garlands and tens of thousands of lights, and the pavement outside fills with people photographing it.

I have been twice: on a December evening and on a November afternoon. This is my guide to the Churchill Arms Christmas display: when it goes up, how it started, and what to expect inside.

Where Is the Churchill Arms?

At 119 Kensington Church Street, between Notting Hill Gate and Kensington High Street. It is a Fuller's pub, and Notting Hill Gate is the nearest station, about five minutes' walk away.

Kensington Church Street is a long, curving street of antique shops and cafés, known for its dealers in porcelain, furniture, old maps and prints. The pub is near the Notting Hill end, so you see it long before you reach it. The street takes its name from St Mary Abbots, the church at its southern end, whose spire is the tallest of any church in London.

Fuller's is the old Chiswick brewery, founded in 1845, and you can still read its full name, Fuller, Smith & Turner, across the front of the pub under the lights.

It is decorated all year round. In summer the same front is covered in hanging baskets and window boxes, and it is almost as famous for its flowers as for its Christmas trees.

When Does the Churchill Arms Christmas Display Go Up?

Much earlier than you would think. Work usually starts in the first week of October, and the display is finished by mid-November. The team puts it up between 5am and 10am, before the pub opens.

In 2025 the lights were switched on on Thursday 13 November at 6pm. It stays up until early January. The switch-on evening draws a big crowd, so come on another night if you want space.

By day you can see how it is built. Trees are fixed along every ledge and above every window, with garlands, baubles and small flags between them. After dark, the lights make it glow gold from the pavement to the roof.

The design changes every year, so regulars come back to see what is new. When I passed on 27 November 2024, it was already complete, down to the rows of small flags along the ledges.

How Many Christmas Trees Are on the Churchill Arms?

It changes every year. The display began around 1991 with ten trees. By 2019 there were about 100, and in 2021 the pub used around 135,000 lights.

In 2023 the design used about 30 trees, plus an 18-foot tree over the door. When I went on 16 December 2023, the whole front was lit, from the lamps at street level to the roofline.

The corner is the best place to stand. From there you see both sides of the building at once, with the trees climbing up the walls. On my December 2023 visit, the crowd spilled right across the pavement.

For a photograph without the crowd, cross to the opposite pavement and use the widest lens you have. Blue hour, about half an hour after sunset, gives you a deep blue sky behind the gold.

Who Started the Churchill Arms Christmas Display?

Gerry O'Brien, the Irish landlord who took over the pub in 1985. He started the flower displays in 1986, and the Christmas trees a few years later.

He ran the pub for 32 years and retired in August 2017. The display carried on without him. James Keogh, the pub's manager since 2013, has kept it going ever since.

Look at the door in daylight, and you can see the detail. A red post box stands outside, and the doors are framed with greenery and hand-painted Christmas signs.

What Is the Churchill Arms Like Inside?

Just as busy. Every inch of the walls is covered in pictures, signs and Churchill memorabilia, and at Christmas there are garlands and lights on top of all that.

When I went in on 27 November 2024, a sign over the bar read Life's too short to drink cheap wine. Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and a Union Jack bulldog looked down from the wall.

The pub also has a Thai kitchen, which has been running since about 1989, with tables in a plant-filled conservatory at the back. The pub says it was the first pub in London to serve Thai food, and it still does. Thai food in a Kensington pub sounds odd, but it has been part of the place for more than 35 years.

In December it is very busy, especially in the evening and at weekends. For a seat, go in the afternoon on a weekday. If you want to eat, arrive early, because the tables fill fast. At the bar, the house beer is Fuller's London Pride.

As for the name, it comes from Winston Churchill's family. The pub says his grandparents, the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife, drank here in the nineteenth century, and it took the name after the Second World War. Churchill himself was born at Blenheim Palace in 1874, and I have written about Woodstock, the town at its gates.

Its age depends on who you ask. The pub says it was established in 1750. Other records say it opened in 1824 as the Bedford Arms, and took a new name soon after.

Either way, it has been on this corner for about two centuries, and Churchill is everywhere inside, in the photographs and pictures on the walls.

Which Other London Pubs Are Decorated for Christmas?

The Churchill Arms is the most famous, but it is not the only one. These are the pubs I have photographed at Christmas, all worth a detour.

The Duke of Wellington on Portobello Road, a Young's pub, hangs a wreath on its blue front, and in December 2025 its chalkboard offered the best mulled wine on Portobello Road. It is ten minutes north of the Churchill Arms, at the Notting Hill end of Portobello Road.

The Victoria, in Strathearn Place near Paddington, wraps its curved balcony in garlands, with small trees on the terrace below. It sits in a quiet corner of the Hyde Park Estate.

In Covent Garden, the Crown & Anchor on Neal Street puts potted trees along its roof line above the red front. Nearby, Mr Fogg's Tavern frames its door with a thick arch of greenery, lights and baubles.

On the corner of the Strand and Wellington Street, The Wellington has a lovely atmosphere at Christmas. On Christmas Eve 2023 a candle burned in its window, with the lit Strand reflected in the glass.

And outside central London, the Duke of Kent in Ealing, another Fuller's pub, covers its gables in lights and fills its rooms with trees and garlands.

In December, Christmas tree sellers also set up on the pavements of Notting Hill, so you can walk home with a tree of your own.

While you are in the area, walk up to Notting Hill for the Christmas doors, which are in my guide to Christmas wreaths in London. The same streets are lovely on a New Year's Day walk.

Holland Park is a ten-minute walk west, with its Kyoto Garden, a gift from the city of Kyoto in 1991, and Portobello Road is ten minutes north. Kensington Palace is about fifteen minutes south, through the gardens. A good way to arrive is through Kensington Gardens, past the Round Pond and up the hill.

For more of the season, see my ranking of the best Christmas lights in London and my guide to things to do in London in winter.

The Churchill Arms is one of eight Christmas area walks on this site. The nearest is Chelsea, south along Kensington Church Street and Sloane Street.

Visiting the Churchill Arms at Christmas: Practical Notes

📍 Where: 119 Kensington Church Street, London W8 7LN.

📅 Open days: The Christmas display is up from mid-November to early January.

⏰ Opening: Open daily. Check the pub's website for Christmas Day and New Year's Eve hours.

🎫 Admission: Free to look at. Inside, it is a normal pub.

🚇 Getting there: Notting Hill Gate (Central, Circle and District lines), about five minutes' walk.

☕ Food: Thai food from the pub's own kitchen.

⏳ How long: Ten minutes for photographs, or an evening if you stay for dinner.

📷 Best time: Just after dark on a weekday in late November, when the lights are on and the crowds are smaller.

🗺️ Nearby: Notting Hill, Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens and Holland Park.

♿ Access: The pavement outside is level. Inside, the pub is small and very crowded in December.

The display goes up between 5am and 10am, before the pub opens, so October mornings are the time to watch the trees being fixed to the ledges. By mid-November it is finished, down to the small flags along the ledges.

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