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The Diamond Inn (Free House)

Beer (sort)Average Score (sort)No. Samples (sort)
Larkins - TraditionalExcellent1

Visits Details

11 Apr 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
2nd stop of the outing to Oxted and its environs: To get to this second independently-run freehouse of the day’s visits, I simply retraced my steps back to Oxted Station to take the first available service to Hurst Green at 14:32, and all of 2 minutes between stops. There is also the later 14:47 and 15:02. From Hurst Green Station, you can cross the footbridge over the platforms or go over the road bridge and turning right on exiting the station into Greenhurst Lane and then into Hurst Green Road, which then becomes Holland Road. You pass of note Windmill Manor Care Home and Holland Junior School, both on your left, before reaching The Diamond Inn, also on your left. A warm welcome was also offered here and prompt, friendly service followed. Its old-fashioned bar with pillars and etched glazing lent an extra olde-worlde charm. It was ticking over with locals seated at the bar and nearby tables but a “pew” to be had among them and all their jovial banter. It is open all day thankfully on a Saturday as demonstrated on this visit.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Larkins - Traditional3.40ExcellentVery good head and lacing presented on this local Kentish ruby coloured bitter from microbrewery, Larkins*, a mere 9 miles away. A very mildly citrusy bitter first bite with a hint of marmalade shred. A pleasant hoppiness riding up aided by Larkins’ homegrown on-site traditional Kentish varieties: Goldings, Bramling Cross, and Whitbread Goldings. A hoppy bitterness mixed with the right sort of gentle malty note with a biscuit or two for good measure joining in. This is derived from barley with no added sugars aiding the merest subtle sweetness I could detect that is naturally produced from the grain. A dry hoppy bitterness saddling out with a fruit-infused resinous touch on my palate, alongside its satisfying live ale yeast strain in on the mix, unique to Larkins and used by the brewery since 1993. Very quaffable indeed and served in top nick! *Larkins was set up in October 1986 on the site of the former Royal Tunbridge Wells Brewery in Rusthall, Kent, and relocated in 1988 to their family farm in Chiddingstone and reinstated the farm's overgrown hop gardens in the early 2000s. Larkins Brewery is reported to supply its ales to approximately 40 to 50 independently-run freehouses and restaurants within a 20-mile radius of its farm.

About The Diamond Inn

Summary of Beer Scores

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Excellent1
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Website.

The pub is found in Holland, Surrey, RH8 9BQ.

Comprising three old cottages, The Diamond Inn, now an independently-run freehouse, was named after Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Situated on the southern edge of a hamlet called Holland, The Diamond Inn has been serving the people of Surrey and its visitors for over 125 years. According to the pub’s website, punters often remark they have stumbled across “a secret place” and "found a real gem!" Very much a traditional pub-feel about it with an extensive bar counter covering almost its whole width with many locals standing at the bar and sitting on bar stools, with others seated at nearby tables. There is a separate room for darts at one end and a larger rear area for dining. Very much a wet-led pub on our April 2026 mid-afternoon visit. Outside has a covered and heated smoking area adjoining a large rear garden looking onto the Surrey countryside. A regular real ale evidenced on this visit is Chiddingstone’s Larkins Traditional from neighbouring Kent and a mere 9 miles away.

We have visited this pub once, seen 1 beer and tried it.

Postcode: RH8 9BQ