South London has plenty of pubs with outdoor seating, but very few have a garden quite like Skehan’s.
Hidden behind the pub, the garden opens out into several different levels, each with its own character. Some areas are bathed in sunshine throughout the day, while others sit beneath mature planting, offering welcome shade when the weather is at its warmest.
It’s the kind of place where you can choose exactly the spot that suits your mood, whether you’re settling in for a lazy afternoon or meeting friends for an evening drink.
The garden changes with the seasons too. Carefully looked after by the pub’s gardener, the flowers, shrubs and planting are refreshed throughout the year, so every visit feels a little different.
A Pub Beer Garden Peckham Visitors Love to Discover
Many people looking for a beer garden Peckham don’t realise that one of the area’s hidden gems is only a short walk away in neighbouring Nunhead.
The moment you walk through the gate, it feels as though you’ve stepped into another world.
Traditional Thai huts, imported many years ago by Madam Chai herself, sit amongst the garden alongside ornaments, antiques and personal touches collected over decades. Rather than feeling designed, it feels lived in—a garden that’s grown naturally alongside the pub and the people who have shaped it.
History is tucked away here too.
Long before it became today’s peaceful retreat, part of the garden was home to a barn where horses were once stabled. When Bill Skehan and Madam Chai took over the pub, they transformed the old outbuilding into part of the unique space visitors enjoy today.
More Than Somewhere to Sit Outside
The garden isn’t separate from the pub—it’s very much part of everyday life at Skehan’s.
If there’s a big football or rugby match on, you don’t have to head indoors. TVs in the garden mean you can enjoy the sunshine without missing any of the action.
Friends gather over pints of Guinness, families spend long Sunday afternoons together, and musicians often drift outside between sessions to catch up before heading back in for another set.
On warm evenings, the atmosphere naturally flows between the pub and the garden, making it feel like one welcoming space rather than two separate areas.
A Garden Full of Stories
Spend a little time exploring and you’ll discover that the garden tells stories as well as offering somewhere to relax.
One of those stories celebrates Michael Fitzsimons, remembered as “the man who pulled pints for Premiers.” Michael managed the famous Press Bar at the House of Commons, where politicians, journalists and Prime Ministers were among his regular customers.
Today, visitors can read about his remarkable career in the garden itself.
The story also forms part of Skehan’s own family history. Michael was the father of current landlord Bryan, while Bryan’s uncle Bill Skehan helped shape the pub into what it is today after building a successful partnership with Madam Chai.
With that family connection, you could say that running Skehan’s was always going to be part of Bryan’s story.