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The Moon Under Water
Orwell's essay on his favourite pub. First published in the Evening Standard 9th February 1946.
This edition is set by hand in 16pt Village type, printed on Zerkall 7635 paper, and bound with three-hole pamphlet stitch in a handmade cotton rag cover. The leaves and drop cap initials are coloured by hand in each copy, and the moon on each cover is hand-painted in sumi ink, making each copy unique
This edition is set by hand in 16pt Village type, printed on Zerkall 7635 paper, and bound with three-hole pamphlet stitch in a handmade cotton rag cover. The leaves and drop cap initials are coloured by hand in each copy, and the moon on each cover is hand-painted in sumi ink, making each copy unique
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
8 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 1946
1 person is currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
George Orwell
1,264 books50.5k followersEric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both fascism and stalinism), and support of democratic socialism.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 3, 2022
George Orwell wrote an essay about his favorite pub, "The Moon Under Water." He loves a public house with a Victorian atmosphere, beer mugs with handles, open fires, inexpensive meals, motherly barmaids, drought stout, and no radio so people can converse. As usual, Orwell is very particular about his likes and dislikes in a humorous way! His ideal pub even has a garden so families can enjoy going out together. Orwell gives us a surprise about the location of this wonderful pub.
During the pandemic, a pub-style restaurant by a river with outdoor dining became my favorite lunch place. So I really like Orwell's idea of serving pub fare in a garden atmosphere. But I would prefer a glass of wine over Orwell's stout. I also like the name of Orwell's pub - I can picture the reflection of the moon in the river near my favorite pub-style restaurant.
The JD Wetherspoon chain of pubs in the UK has named some of its locations "The Moon Under Water" in recent years. I hope they live up to Orwell's expectations!
3.5 stars.
During the pandemic, a pub-style restaurant by a river with outdoor dining became my favorite lunch place. So I really like Orwell's idea of serving pub fare in a garden atmosphere. But I would prefer a glass of wine over Orwell's stout. I also like the name of Orwell's pub - I can picture the reflection of the moon in the river near my favorite pub-style restaurant.
The JD Wetherspoon chain of pubs in the UK has named some of its locations "The Moon Under Water" in recent years. I hope they live up to Orwell's expectations!
3.5 stars.
November 29, 2022
The Moon Under Water: what a wonderfully evocative name!
The Moon Under Water was George Orwell’s final feature for London’s “Evening Standard” newspaper. What might this last essay be about? Perhaps the theory that aeons ago there was more water on the moon than there is now? Or perhaps ethereal poetry, about the moon reflected in a deep pool, surrounded by trees …
Immediately we get a romantic mental image. But it is, apparently, the name of George Orwell’s favourite London public house:
“only two minutes from a bus stop, but ... on a side-street, and drunks and rowdies never seem to find their way there, even on Saturday nights.”
I can just imagine this, a lovely old Victorian pub filled mainly with regulars, and with a great atmosphere. I know an artist who used to paint hanging pub signs, and think what a gift it would be to him, to paint this one. Perhaps we all have an idea of a traditional public house, whether or not we go to pubs regularly, and George Orwell describes this one in detail:
“its whole architecture and fittings are uncompromisingly Victorian. It has no glass-topped tables or other modern miseries, and, on the other hand, no sham roof-beams, ingle-nooks or plastic panels masquerading as oak. The grained woodwork, the ornamental mirrors behind the bar, the cast-iron fireplaces, the florid ceiling stained dark yellow by tobacco-smoke, the stuffed bull’s head over the mantelpiece—everything has the solid, comfortable ugliness of the nineteenth century.
In winter there is generally a good fire burning in at least two of the bars, and the Victorian lay-out of the place gives one plenty of elbow-room.”
He even describes the barmaids, who are all very motherly, “know most of their customers by name, and take a personal interest in everyone.”
It’s always quiet enough to talk in George Orwell’s pub, without having to compete with a radio or a piano, and any singing such as might be indulged in on Christmas Eve is “of a decorous kind”.
I am tempted to compare this with pubs of today, with their noisy “turning out”, arcade games and blaring music, although I do think that those which offer “Live Music” are probably better than those which grind you down with canned music. Nowadays there are huge screens in some pubs too, so that if you want to watch the World Cup with your friends you can do it at the pub. I wonder what George Orwell would have thought of such an intrusion. For this essay was written on 9th February 1946, well before televisions became standard in Britain. By 1953, for Elizabeth II’s coronation, perhaps one person per street might have a tiny screen. Ironically, for George Orwell who predicted so many futuristic concepts—some of which are coming to pass—television was itself futuristic.
We also have “family pubs” now, which was not the case in George Orwell’s day. Another aspect he likes about The Moon Under Water is its great surprise:
“You go through a narrow passage leading out of the saloon, and find yourself in a fairly large garden”.
New pubs now are built with tables and gardens all round the outside, and the older ones try to make their back yards into seating areas, with tables, umbrellas and tubs of flowers. They have bouncy castles, slides and other games for children as standard, but George Orwell enjoyed seeing what was an unusual sight in a pub of that time: children playing on swings and squealing on the chute:
“I think that the garden is its best feature, because it allows whole families to go there instead of Mum having to stay at home and mind the baby while Dad goes out alone.”
This too then, is something which would become standard in the future, although his description feels more like a modern suburban pub than a traditional city pub. I found myself in an old East London pub once, on one of the rare occasions when I went there with friends from work. When it was my turn, I duly went to the bar to get a round of drinks (desperately hoping I could remember them right, as a non-drinker) and was most perplexed to be asked “Do you want it in a mug or a glass?” I hadn’t a clue what the bartender meant, so he repeated it, and then said “... the half of bitter?”, and held up a thick faceted glass tankard with a handle, and a smooth glass beaker without. I turned to ask the friend who had ordered this (who obviously didn’t care either way, and just wanted her beer)—and in my consternation inadvertently jostled a regular patron, who turned most belligerent at spilling his booze—even when I’d added another one for him to my order. So I definitely agree with Mr. Orwell about plenty of elbow-room. (He also likes there to be separate rooms for darts, which is surely a good idea!) So it amused me to read the very specific instructions on appropriate drinking vessels, and how his pub:
“never … make the mistake of serving a pint of beer in a handleless glass. Apart from glass and pewter mugs, they have some of those pleasant strawberry-pink china ones which are now seldom seen in London … most people like their drink to be transparent, but in my opinion beer tastes better out of china.”
George Orwell is also very demanding about the sort of food he wants to be offered, and is pleased that in The Moon Under Water the food is served upstairs in a separate dining room. This was probably quite unusual, but nowadays in Britain “family pubs” are more like restaurants, and many do serve what he calls plentiful good, cheap, food. Some pride themselves on being more upmarket, but all of them have seating areas for all, and the actual bar selling alcoholic drinks is slightly separate. Older country pubs might have a “snug” to one side as you go in, and a general bar on the other side. One might allow children, the other, licensed to serve drinks, not. In The Moon Under Water there are no less than four bars: the public bar, a saloon bar, a ladies’ bar, and a bottle-and-jug, as well as a dining room upstairs.
We get a very good impression of The Moon Under Water when we have read George Orwell’s description, and think maybe we might like to go there. I live near London. Can I pinpoint exactly where it is?
And now George Orwell plays his trump card (Oh yes, card games are a good option in an traditional pub, and shove ha’penny, and draughts, and bagatelle … all perhaps now from a time gone by).
One of the things we think of when we consider George Orwell’s books, is how many of his predictions have come true. Earlier I mentioned massive TV screens, but in “1984”, written 2 years after this essay, he is to write of “telescreens”—large TVs which can see into all corners of every house. They are located both in homes and the public spaces of “Oceania”, and are used to transmit messages from the party and monitor civilian activity.
And of course we have our large TVs, and also CCTV, and face recognition technology, more or less as he predicted. There are many more instances, as well as words like “Big Brother” entering our vocabulary as a unique concept.
So it seems a neat twist that one commercial chain of pubs, J.D. Wetherspoon’s has now decided to use the name The Moon Under Water for thirteen of its outlets, as a tribute to George Orwell, and his favourite pub.
The Moon Under Water was George Orwell’s final feature for London’s “Evening Standard” newspaper. What might this last essay be about? Perhaps the theory that aeons ago there was more water on the moon than there is now? Or perhaps ethereal poetry, about the moon reflected in a deep pool, surrounded by trees …
Immediately we get a romantic mental image. But it is, apparently, the name of George Orwell’s favourite London public house:
“only two minutes from a bus stop, but ... on a side-street, and drunks and rowdies never seem to find their way there, even on Saturday nights.”
I can just imagine this, a lovely old Victorian pub filled mainly with regulars, and with a great atmosphere. I know an artist who used to paint hanging pub signs, and think what a gift it would be to him, to paint this one. Perhaps we all have an idea of a traditional public house, whether or not we go to pubs regularly, and George Orwell describes this one in detail:
“its whole architecture and fittings are uncompromisingly Victorian. It has no glass-topped tables or other modern miseries, and, on the other hand, no sham roof-beams, ingle-nooks or plastic panels masquerading as oak. The grained woodwork, the ornamental mirrors behind the bar, the cast-iron fireplaces, the florid ceiling stained dark yellow by tobacco-smoke, the stuffed bull’s head over the mantelpiece—everything has the solid, comfortable ugliness of the nineteenth century.
In winter there is generally a good fire burning in at least two of the bars, and the Victorian lay-out of the place gives one plenty of elbow-room.”
He even describes the barmaids, who are all very motherly, “know most of their customers by name, and take a personal interest in everyone.”
It’s always quiet enough to talk in George Orwell’s pub, without having to compete with a radio or a piano, and any singing such as might be indulged in on Christmas Eve is “of a decorous kind”.
I am tempted to compare this with pubs of today, with their noisy “turning out”, arcade games and blaring music, although I do think that those which offer “Live Music” are probably better than those which grind you down with canned music. Nowadays there are huge screens in some pubs too, so that if you want to watch the World Cup with your friends you can do it at the pub. I wonder what George Orwell would have thought of such an intrusion. For this essay was written on 9th February 1946, well before televisions became standard in Britain. By 1953, for Elizabeth II’s coronation, perhaps one person per street might have a tiny screen. Ironically, for George Orwell who predicted so many futuristic concepts—some of which are coming to pass—television was itself futuristic.
We also have “family pubs” now, which was not the case in George Orwell’s day. Another aspect he likes about The Moon Under Water is its great surprise:
“You go through a narrow passage leading out of the saloon, and find yourself in a fairly large garden”.
New pubs now are built with tables and gardens all round the outside, and the older ones try to make their back yards into seating areas, with tables, umbrellas and tubs of flowers. They have bouncy castles, slides and other games for children as standard, but George Orwell enjoyed seeing what was an unusual sight in a pub of that time: children playing on swings and squealing on the chute:
“I think that the garden is its best feature, because it allows whole families to go there instead of Mum having to stay at home and mind the baby while Dad goes out alone.”
This too then, is something which would become standard in the future, although his description feels more like a modern suburban pub than a traditional city pub. I found myself in an old East London pub once, on one of the rare occasions when I went there with friends from work. When it was my turn, I duly went to the bar to get a round of drinks (desperately hoping I could remember them right, as a non-drinker) and was most perplexed to be asked “Do you want it in a mug or a glass?” I hadn’t a clue what the bartender meant, so he repeated it, and then said “... the half of bitter?”, and held up a thick faceted glass tankard with a handle, and a smooth glass beaker without. I turned to ask the friend who had ordered this (who obviously didn’t care either way, and just wanted her beer)—and in my consternation inadvertently jostled a regular patron, who turned most belligerent at spilling his booze—even when I’d added another one for him to my order. So I definitely agree with Mr. Orwell about plenty of elbow-room. (He also likes there to be separate rooms for darts, which is surely a good idea!) So it amused me to read the very specific instructions on appropriate drinking vessels, and how his pub:
“never … make the mistake of serving a pint of beer in a handleless glass. Apart from glass and pewter mugs, they have some of those pleasant strawberry-pink china ones which are now seldom seen in London … most people like their drink to be transparent, but in my opinion beer tastes better out of china.”
George Orwell is also very demanding about the sort of food he wants to be offered, and is pleased that in The Moon Under Water the food is served upstairs in a separate dining room. This was probably quite unusual, but nowadays in Britain “family pubs” are more like restaurants, and many do serve what he calls plentiful good, cheap, food. Some pride themselves on being more upmarket, but all of them have seating areas for all, and the actual bar selling alcoholic drinks is slightly separate. Older country pubs might have a “snug” to one side as you go in, and a general bar on the other side. One might allow children, the other, licensed to serve drinks, not. In The Moon Under Water there are no less than four bars: the public bar, a saloon bar, a ladies’ bar, and a bottle-and-jug, as well as a dining room upstairs.
We get a very good impression of The Moon Under Water when we have read George Orwell’s description, and think maybe we might like to go there. I live near London. Can I pinpoint exactly where it is?
And now George Orwell plays his trump card (Oh yes, card games are a good option in an traditional pub, and shove ha’penny, and draughts, and bagatelle … all perhaps now from a time gone by).
One of the things we think of when we consider George Orwell’s books, is how many of his predictions have come true. Earlier I mentioned massive TV screens, but in “1984”, written 2 years after this essay, he is to write of “telescreens”—large TVs which can see into all corners of every house. They are located both in homes and the public spaces of “Oceania”, and are used to transmit messages from the party and monitor civilian activity.
And of course we have our large TVs, and also CCTV, and face recognition technology, more or less as he predicted. There are many more instances, as well as words like “Big Brother” entering our vocabulary as a unique concept.
So it seems a neat twist that one commercial chain of pubs, J.D. Wetherspoon’s has now decided to use the name The Moon Under Water for thirteen of its outlets, as a tribute to George Orwell, and his favourite pub.
October 23, 2022
An enjoyable and fun little essay. Orwell tells us of his ideal pub. The atmosphere, acceptance, warmth, comfort; being surrounded by friends and friendly faces; enjoying good food, good drink, good camaraderie. A perfect home away from home.
A bit like Cheers, in its way......a place where everyone knows your name. Home.
A bit like Cheers, in its way......a place where everyone knows your name. Home.
November 9, 2022
Orwell's final essay for The Evening Standard is on the subject of his favourite pub, a quintessentially old fashioned English place with roaring fires, draught stout and barmaids who call you "Dear", not "Duckie". This pub is surprisingly modern, however, in that, not only does it have a beer garden, but women and even children (in the beer garden) are allowed. Something of a family fun pub then.
For a writer most associated with creating a dystopia, "The Moon Under Water" pub is very much a utopia in the sense that it is only an ideal and does not actually exist, except in this short, enjoyable essay.
For a writer most associated with creating a dystopia, "The Moon Under Water" pub is very much a utopia in the sense that it is only an ideal and does not actually exist, except in this short, enjoyable essay.
February 6, 2023
The podcast brought me here. Oh to be the great pubsman of our time
March 28, 2025
Even though I don’t agree with all of the qualities Orwell has listed off, I love that he wrote an essay about the perfect pub.
April 28, 2025
Compton arms tea
July 17, 2025
This is absolutely beautiful and perfect. After reading this I defy you to not want to sit down in The Moon Under Water with a pint and a fag with George Orwell
December 21, 2025
I love it...I want to go to London and see all the pubs now.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews