Half Moon, Herne Hill

An inn has stood on the site at the west end of Half Moon Lane, nearest Herne Hill, since the middle of the 17th century,{{cite book|last1=Brunton|first1=John|last2=Doorn|first2=Jeff|last3=Holden|first3=Robert|last4=Knapp|first4=Caroline|last5=Wimble|first5=Margaret|last6=Young|first6=George|title=Herne Hill Heritage Trail|year=2013 |publisher=Herne Hill Society|isbn=978-187-3520-91-8|page=147}} but the first public house "known by the Sign of the Half Moon" was built by Joseph Miller in 1760.{{cite web|last1=Darby|first1=Patrick|title=The Fields that became Dulwich Park|date=3 April 2014 |url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/journal-archive/100-spring-2014/993-dulwich-park-fields|publisher=The Dulwich Society|access-date=29 May 2016}}

A letter to the Editor of the Monthly Magazine in March 1808, records the death of a boy chimney sweep at the Half Moon on 12 February of that same year, having been taken in suffering from fatigue and cold on "Dulwich Lane", after a great quantity of snow fell.{{cite journal|title=To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine|journal=The Monthly Magazine|date=11 March 1808|volume=25|page=297}}

In 1844, Edward Alleyn's original tombstone, removed many years before from the College of God's Gift Chapel, was 're-discovered' in the skittle ground of the Half Moon,{{cite web|title=A Gazetteer of Dulwich Roads and Place Names|date=7 October 2009 |url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/local-history/465-dulwich-roads-and-place-names|publisher=The Dulwich Society|access-date=17 April 2016}} where it was believed to be serving as a cover or break-water for a parish sewer.{{cite book|last1=Piggott|first1=Jan|last2=Able|first2=Graham|last3=Ronald|first3=Allan|last4=Walsh|first4=Terry|title=Dulwich College: A History, 1616–2008|date=2008|publisher=Dulwich College|page=95}} It is said that the tombstone had "doubtless proved advantageous to the landlord in drawing visitors to his house."{{cite web|title=Peckham and Dulwich|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol6/pp286-303|website=British History Online|access-date=15 May 2016}} One contemporary source states that "Mr. Webb, of the Half Moon Inn, Dulwich, presented the college with the original gravestone of Edward Alleyn, which for many years had been preserved by himself and father in the tea gardens at the rear of the inn."{{cite web|title=Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General REaders, ETC Sixth Series – Voluje Eleventh January – June 1885|year = 1885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QG0JAAAAQAAJ&q=half+moon+dulwich|access-date=17 May 2016}}File:Edward Alleyn memorial stone.jpg

John Webb is shown to be the tenant of the Half Moon Public House, stable and paddock for 22 years from 1824.{{cite book|title=Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 21, Part 2|date=1835|publisher=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons}} John Webb of the Half Moon Public House, Dulwich is also shown in Old Bailey records from 1833, providing a reference of good character for a prisoner named William Patten, aged 22, who was found guilty of stealing 2 live pigs and sentenced to be "Transported for Seven Years".{{Old Bailey|accessdate=24 May 2016|id=t18331017-112|defendant=WILLIAM PATTEN.|trialdate=17 October 1833}}

The Census return for 1851 shows that Mr. Webb the proprietor of the Half Moon employed five staff.{{cite web|title=The 1851 Census|url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/local-history/380-the-1851-census|publisher=The Dulwich Society|access-date=18 June 2016}} In 1853, William John Webb, is shown as giving evidence in the Old Bailey in the case of Daniel Allen, aged 32, feloniously uttering a forged ten shilling Bank of England note, with intent to defraud. He states in his evidence, "I keep the Half-moon, at Dulwich. On Sunday, 7th Nov., between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I was in my bar; the prisoner came in and asked me if I could change a 10/. note for Mrs. Goulding—I told him I could—he had a glass of ale and a cigar, and then left—I paid the note into the Excise-office next day (Monday), and on the following Saturday it was returned to me stamped "Forged"—I had not known the prisoner before—this was on a Sunday—people dress differently on a Sunday in my neighbourhood." The prisoner was found guilty and "Transported for Ten Years".{{Old Bailey|accessdate=24 May 2016|id=t18530103-220|defendant=DANIEL ALLEN.|trialdate=3 January 1853}}

The Half Moon is recorded as being up for sale in April 1868, where it is described as having been in the hands of the Webb family for, "the best part of a century". The pub at this time is said to have four rooms on the top floor; assembly room and six other rooms on the first floor; bar and six rooms on the ground floor, and large tea garden. It is said to be held from Dulwich College for twenty-eight years unexpired, at £95 per annum, and £1 in lieu of land tax. A range of stabling is also underlet at £32 per annum.{{cite book|last1=Harnett Blanch|first1=William|title=Ye Parish of Cam̃erwell: A Brief Account of the Parish of Camberwell.|url=https://archive.org/details/yeparishcamerwe00blangoog|date=1877|page=[https://archive.org/details/yeparishcamerwe00blangoog/page/n483 369]}}

File:1880 Half Moon Tavern, Herne Hill, London.png

In 1878, the area of Dulwich is described as being "a favourite resort for the working men of London, for the purpose of holding their annual gatherings at one or other of its taverns, the chief of which are the "Greyhound," the "Half Moon," and the "Crown."" At this time, the Half Moon was particularly noted for its flower garden, lawns and tea gardens. A newspaper report in April of the same year, records the story of a smartly dressed gentleman asking the stableman at the Half Moon to clean his shoes, and the stableman receiving the princely payment of a half sovereign in return. While cleaning the shoes, the gentleman told the stableman that he had just lost £1,800 on the Grand National, and was later seen in the act of committing suicide on the track near Herne Hill railway station.{{cite web|title=Herne Hill Station Suicide|url=https://www.deathonmydoorstep.com/kent|website=Death on My Doorstep|access-date=28 November 2017}}

19th century English author, poet and artist John Ruskin refers to walking "between the hostelry of the Half-moon at the bottom of Herne Hill, and the secluded college of Dulwich".{{cite book|last1=Ruskin|first1=John|last2=Rosenberg|first2=John D.|title=The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings|publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=0813917891|page=435|year=1998}} Stanfords' 1864 map shows a tributary of the River Effra flowing north towards Half Moon Lane and running along it, past the Half Moon pub, to Herne Hill.{{cite web|title=The Lost Effra Project by Helen Spring and Chris Schuler|url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/2014-winter/1069-lost-effra|publisher=The Dulwich Society|access-date=12 May 2016}} Before the river was covered over in this area in 19th century, John Ruskin describes this tributary as a "tadpole-haunted ditch".{{cite book|last1=Talling|first1=Paul|title=London's Lost Rivers|date=2011|publisher=Random House Books|isbn=9781847945976|page=54}} During this period, the Half Moon Tavern was accessed by crossing a bridge over the Effra, which appears in an early sketch from 1810.{{cite web|title=Lambeth Archives image collection|url=https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/half-moon-public-house-herne-hill/|publisher=London Borough of Lambeth|access-date=15 May 2016}}

The rural nature of the Half Moon's environs in the early part of the 19th century, is demonstrated by the fact that in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, army manoeuvres took place in Dulwich, with troops stationed on the village green in Half Moon Lane and at the cross roads by the Half Moon Public House.{{cite book|last1=Cordingly|first1=David|title=Billy Ruffian|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1408846742}} The Half Moon is also mentioned as being the location of a strategic "line of defence" in William Le Queux's fictional account of an invasion led by France and Russia, The Great War in England in 1897, published in 1895.{{cite book|last1=Le Queux|first1=William|title=The Great War in England in 1897|date=1895|isbn=5040516606|edition=9}}

Between 1894 and 1896, the old Half Moon was rebuilt as a hotel by architect James William Brooker in Jacobethan Revival style. Brooker lived locally in East Dulwich.{{cite web|title=Dulwich Architects – James William Brooker, FRIBA (1853-1904)|url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/journal-archive/72-summer-2011/631-james-william-brooker|website=The Dulwich Society|access-date=16 January 2017}} The size of the new hotel and richness of its fittings is partly explained by its location near the terminus of one of the horse-drawn omnibus services into London.{{cite web|last1=Treacy|first1=Noel|title=Snug bar of the Half Moon|url=http://www.ipernity.com/doc/noel.treacy/27317191/in/keyword/14133/self|access-date=18 June 2016}} The demolition of the former Half Moon Tavern by its owners The Dulwich Estate was clearly not universally popular at the time, with a subsequent poem appearing in Punch entitled "The Doom of Dulwich", including the lines, "Alas for the famous old inns! Ah! progress is all very well, But one of its shockingest sins, Is ringing antiquity's knell. The "Crown" and the "Half Moon" are gone, And now they the Greyhound attack."{{cite book|last1=Lemon|first1=Mark|last2=Mayhew|first2=Henry|last3=Cowley Burnand|first3=Sir Francis|last4=Taylor|first4=Tom|last5=Brooks|first5=Shirley|last6=Seaman|first6=Sir Owen|title=London Charivari, Volumes 108–111|date=1895|publisher=Punch Publications Limited|page=117}} Writing in May 1896, Alfred Allison, describes the new development, "The picturesque old Half Moon at Herne Hill, with its low ceilings and quaint gables, was recently given over to the wreckers. Not a brick or a plank remains. In its place has grown up a gigantic modern structure quite in keeping with the new surroundings."{{cite news|last1=Allison|first1=Alfred|title=A Lost River|work=London The Man of the World|date=29 May 1896}}

In August 1898, the International Brewers' Journal reported that the new owner of the Half Moon, Thomas Cason, appeared in court claiming that he was induced by misrepresentation as to the takings of the public house when entering into a contract of purchase to buy it for the agreed sum of £64,000 in 1897. After appointing a manager, Mr. Davis, of considerable experience, he stated that he found that he could not take anything like the figures that had been represented to him. The jury without retiring returned a verdict for the defendant, Mr. Wm. Arthur Hine, who gave evidence that the plaintiff had nearly given up the cheap dinners to workmen, had changed the staff, and removed a Freemasons' Lodge from the house. Judgment was entered accordingly with costs.{{cite journal |title=Action for Misrepresentation |journal=International Brewers' Journal |date=15 August 1898 |volume=34 |pages=662–663 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4P04AQAAMAAJ&q=Thomas+Cason+half+moon+herne+hill&pg=PA662 |access-date=29 May 2020}}

In December 1899, social reformer Charles Booth noted that the Half Moon pub had sold "a year or so ago" for £64,000. This was a huge sum considering that houses in neighbouring Stradella Road cost less than £1,000 at this time.{{cite journal|title=Herne Hill|journal=The Magazine of the Herne Hill Society|date=2013|volume=Autumn|issue=124|page=11}} He adds that "Jones does not think it can pay". The 'Jones' referred to is undoubtedly the local Police Constable Jones, with whom Booth went walking the area. Booth describes the Half Moon pub in his 1899 notes as "an elaborate, florid, large, newly decorated public house".{{cite web |last1=Booth |first1=Charles |title=Charles Booth's London |url=https://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b375#?cv=49&c=0&m=0&s=0&z=-272.9249%2C0%2C6304.8499%2C3750 |website=booth.lse.ac.uk |publisher=London School of Economics |access-date=22 September 2021}}

In September 1907, a barman named Joseph Kemp, going upstairs to his bedroom at the Half Moon Public House, fell over the banisters, and died from his injuries a few seconds after being picked up.{{cite news|title=Mr. Hall Caine better|work=Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph|date=7 September 1907}} In 1908, Edith Smith, barmaid at the Half Moon Hotel, Herne Hill, gives evidence at the Old Bailey in a case of counterfeit coinage stating, "The "Half Moon" is a large house and was rebuilt some years ago. There are six bars ... the front bar, or public bar ... is quite open and there are no screens round it." She states that the pub is never busy in the afternoon, that she usually serves in the saloon bar, and that "a glass of ale and a screw of tobacco" costs two pence. The pub at this time is also described as having a cash register.{{Old Bailey|id=t19081020-43|defendant=JOSEPH BOON. JOSEPH COOMBES.|trialdate=20 October 1908}}

In 1921, Brixton Chess Club began convening in the Half Moon, and the club marked the change of venue by inviting the famous Russian chess player Eugene Znosko-Borovsky to give a simultaneous exhibition (simul) there on Thursday 21 April.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Martin |title=Brixton Byways: 9. Fast Forward and Backtrack |url=http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2015/03/brixton-byways-9-fast-forward-and.html#more |website=The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog |date=13 March 2015 |access-date=2 January 2020}}

In June 1930, police from all the surrounding stations were rushed by motor tenders to the Half Moon Hotel to help quell a disturbance involving 500 fighting Irishmen. The resulting police action involved baton charges, and seven arrests were made.{{cite news|title=Irishmen's Fight|newspaper=Lancashire Evening Post|date=10 June 1930}} The incident took place on Whit Monday, and involved fighting between

rival supporters of Dublin and Cork hurling teams, who played each other at Herne Hill Velodrome. In the subsequent court case, Lambeth magistrates heard evidence from Detective-Sergeant Moyer, who said that when he arrived on the scene he saw a small body of police with their backs to the wall and

truncheons drawn, surrounded by a mob of 500 hooligans. Tumblers were used as missiles, it was stated, and 200 glasses were broken.{{cite news |title=Daily Mirror|date=11 June 1930}}

On 4 March 1935, shortly after shortly after the discovery of a burglary at the Half Moon Hotel, the landlord, William Nye Songhurst, died suddenly from shock. He was aged 47 years, and is reported to have suffered with a bad heart.{{cite news|title=Shock Causes Death|work=Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette|date=5 March 1935}}{{cite news|title=Putting It Briefly|publisher=Western Daily Press|date=5 March 1935}}{{cite news|title=Redhill Man's Sudden Death|work=Surrey Mirror|date=15 March 1935}}

File:Half Moon Herne Hill doorway mosaic 2018.jpg File:Exterior of Half Moon Pub, Herne Hill (2016).jpg File:Inside the Half Moon, Herne Hill.jpg

The Historic England listing for the Half Moon Public House states that, "The proliferation of ornament across the surface of this building gives the whole a sense of vital unity through their sheer number." The Half Moon is also listed by CAMRA as, "A pub with a nationally important historic interior."{{cite web|title=Pub Heritage – Historic Pub Interiors|url=http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/historic-pub-interior-entry.asp?NatPubID=SEL/10824&Detail=full|publisher=Campaign for Real Ale|access-date=22 May 2016}} Only 270 pubs meet CAMRA's exacting criteria and the Half Moon is one of them. The snug bar (referred to as a "Billiard Room" in CAMRA's 1988 South East London Pub Guide{{cite book |title=South East London Pub Guide |date=1988 |publisher=CAMRA |isbn=1-85249-032-2 |page=179 |url=http://westmiddx-camra.org.uk/londonbeerguides/SEL1988.pdf |access-date=23 November 2018}}) contains six back-painted mirrors depicting birds and signed by the renowned 'W. Gibbs & Sons glass decorators' of Blackfriars.{{cite web|title=The CAMRA Regional Inventory for London|url=http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/download/RealHeritagePubsOfLondon.pdf|publisher=CAMRA|access-date=17 April 2016}} The pub is also noteworthy for the rare survival of joinery and associated fabric at the public bar.{{cite web|title=Planning Sub-Committee A: Agenda reports pack|url=http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/g5093/Public%20reports%20pack%20Tuesday%2005-Apr-2016%2018.30%20Planning%20Sub-Committee%20A.pdf?T=10|publisher=London Borough of Southwark|access-date=15 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604033237/http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/documents/g5093/Public%20reports%20pack%20Tuesday%2005-Apr-2016%2018.30%20Planning%20Sub-Committee%20A.pdf?T=10|archive-date=4 June 2016}} The large, uncompartmented public bar at the Half Moon is a typical feature of pubs built during the 1890s pub boom.{{citation |title=Books and Bookmen|date=1975|volume=21|page=xcii}} Photos of the pub from the first part of the 20th century, show it to be operated by the Southwark-based brewery Barclay Perkins & Co.{{cite web|title=List of Barclay, Perkins & Co Ltd pubs|url=http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_Barclay,_Perkins_%26_Co_Ltd_pubs|access-date=15 May 2016}}

The original entrance to the 'Hotel', is indicated by a portico, supported by columns, jutting out from the right-hand side of the pub. The Victorian mosaic tilework at this entrance mark out the words "The Half Moon Hotel". The rear of the Half Moon comprises both an original element forming a billiards room, and a later addition constructed during the 1930s to convert this area into a snooker room. These two activities are still advertised in the stained glasswork on the outside of the pub.

The poet and writer Dylan Thomas lived locally on Milkwood Road and used to drink at The Half Moon. Writer A.F. Churchward-Tinsley, writing in a Welsh magazine in 1959, first drew the connection between Dylan Thomas and the Half Moon. He interviewed Dylan's friend, sculptor and London Welsh rugby player, Evan Samuel, who recounts{{cite web|title=Wales – No. 38 March 1959 [society notes]|url=http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewpage/llgc-id:1214989/llgc-id:1217794/llgc-id:1217827/getText|website=Welsh Journals Online|access-date=29 January 2017}} how, "Dylan used to come to watch the London Welsh games, and when, after the match, the teams would gather, as rugger clubs do, for a few pints at the old Half Moon Hotel at Herne Hill, Dylan would be there adding lustre to the gathering. He was a great conversationalist".{{cite web|title=Under Milk Wood Road... Did Herne Hill Inspire Dylan Thomas?|url=http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/history/milk-wood-road-herne-hill-inspire-dylan-thomas/|website=Southwark News |date=9 February 2017 |access-date=4 March 2017}}

London Welsh Rugby Football Club had their home at the nearby Herne Hill Velodrome for over 40 years after World War I, where "alcohol was not permitted by the Dulwich College landlords". The club adopted the Half Moon pub,{{cite web|title=Big Match Preview – MOSELEY v London Welsh|url=http://www.moseleyrugby.co.uk/oldsite/%5E%20PREVIEWS/Previews%200607/Preview%20-%20Londwelsh%20home.htm|publisher=Moseley Rugby Football Club|access-date=7 January 2018}} with player Vivian Jenkins recalling, "If I had been given a fiver for every time I sang Sospan Fach or Calon Lan at the old 'Half Moon' near Herne Hill Station in my playing days in the thirties I should be a millionaire!"{{cite web|last1=Richards|first1=Huw|title=Home Sweet Home?|url=http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/165592.html|publisher=ESPN|access-date=28 May 2016}}

On 5 May 1969, The Daily Mirror reported the story of builder Alec Graham, 40, who got into a fight with a drinking pal just before closing time at the Half Moon, which resulted in his ear being entirely severed.{{cite news |title=Daily Mirror|issue=5 May 1969}} Alec's ear was handed to him by the pub landlord, Bert Hyland, whereupon he groaned, "I don't want it", before popping it into a dustbin. Alec later went to hospital to be treated, his ear was retrieved after doctors called for a police search, and successfully sewn back on. The landlord, Bert Hyland, was a former champion boxer, who won the Irish Middleweight title in June 1949. "It wasn't a serious fight" said Mr. Hyland, "Alec put the lock on this chap, who reached up and tore off his ear. I picked it up and handed it to Alec and told him to get it sewn back on".{{cite journal |last1=Kitchen |first1=Bert |last2=Logue |first2=Christopher |title=True Stories |journal=Private Eye |date=6 June 1969 |issue=195 |url=http://bertkitchen.com/private-eye/ |access-date=10 June 2018}} Alec is reported as saying afterwards, "I feel a bit groggy. Now I just want to forget about it. I've shaken hands with my friend".

During the tenancy of Robert Harrison (2006-2013), listed building consent was granted in 2007 for the formation of a new opening in the existing tongue and groove boarding adjacent to the existing decorative glazed screen between the front Public Bar and Saloon Bar.{{cite web|last1=Tate|first1=Jason|title=The Half Moon Remembered|url=http://www.hernehillsociety.org.uk/news_articles/view/half_moon_remembered|website=Herne Hill Society|access-date=17 September 2017}}{{cite web |title=Planning, Design & Access Statement |url=http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk/documents/?GetDocument=%7B%7B%7B!bi1RgoJ7hlti6KWbfcGhAg%3D%3D!%7D%7D%7D |website=southwark.gov.uk |publisher=Walsingham Planning |access-date=30 June 2018}}

File:Half Moon Herne Hill - Live Music Venue Sign.jpg

The Half Moon was a live music venue for nearly 50 years, with bands having appeared early in their careers including The Police, Van Morrison and U2.{{cite web|title=Half Moon Pub|url=http://www.hernehillforum.org.uk/services/half-moon-pub|work=Herne Hill Forum|access-date=19 April 2014}}{{cite web|title=Saturday Shopping: Herne Hill SE24|url=http://roullierwhite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/saturday-shopping-herne-hill-se24.html?view=magazine|publisher=RoullierWhite|access-date=31 May 2016}} Locals still refer to an impromptu Half Moon performance by Frank Sinatra, who dropped by to visit his old chauffeur.{{cite web|title=5 Things That Could Only Happen in the Half Moon Pub in Herne Hill|date=27 November 2015 |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/savethehalfmoon/5-things-that-could-only-happen-in-the-half-moon-p-1z67l|publisher=BuzzFeed|access-date=9 April 2016}} A press photo of Sinatra's ex-wife Mia Farrow meeting her former chauffeur Dennis Parker, on his first night as landlord of the Half Moon at Herne Hill, would also appear to substantiate this connection, and subsequently date any Sinatra visit to the pub to the 1970s.{{cite web|title=A toast for mine host – from Mia Farrow|url=http://www.diomedia.com/stock-photo-1960-1969-actor--actress-image17929413.html|access-date=15 May 2016}} Farrow is recorded as having stayed in the Half Moon for twenty minutes.{{cite web|title=A toast for mine host – from Mia Farrow|url=http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-feb-29-2012-a-toast-for-mine-host-from-mia-farrow-guest-of-honor-at-69531958.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=BE64FDFF-4BEA-4297-A7C2-A1B9C441811C&p=90011&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3don%2520first%2520night%2520as%2520landlord%2520half%2520moon%2520herne%2520hill%26qt_raw%3don%2520first%2520night%2520as%2520landlord%2520half%2520moon%2520herne%2520hill%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d0%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d1%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3d%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d|website=Alamy.com|access-date=18 September 2017}} Sinatra is said to have introduced Dennis Parker to everyone as "my friend Dennis".{{cite news|last1=Wills|first1=Colin|title=My life with...Sinatra|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/My+life+with...Sinatra%3B+DENNIS+PARKER+WAS+MORE+THAN+FRANK+SINATRA'S...-a060647569|newspaper=Sunday Mirror|access-date=28 May 2016}}

In the early to mid 1960s, The Half Moon hosted one of the premier folk clubs in South London, drawing large numbers of people every Tuesday night. The club was run by Ed Parslow and Charles Pearce, both of whom were students at the Camberwell College of Arts. Pearce was the floor singer and guests included Dave and Toni Arthur, Bert Jansch, Cliff Aungier, Gerry Lockran, Diz Disley, Pete and Marian Gray, The Hickory Nuts, and The Bruce Turner Jump Band.{{cite web|title=Bert Jansch – UK TV (BBC4) tonight|url=http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=154112#3613297|website=The Mudcat Cafe|access-date=20 August 2017}}

The Half Moon was a significant South London venue on the 1970s pub rock circuit,{{cite book|last1=Bradley|first1=Lloyd|title=Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital|publisher=Profile Books|isbn=978-1847656506|page=187|date=8 August 2013}} hosting performances by Dr. Feelgood, Meal Ticket, Nine Below Zero, and Eddie and the Hot Rods. Around 1974, local musician Stevie Smith started the renowned Sunday jam sessions at the Half Moon. These sessions featured other Herne Hill musicians such as Steve Waller and Brendan Hoban, alongside an amazing array of musical talent from contemporary bands, including The Jeff Beck Group, the Rory Gallagher band, and Thin Lizzy.{{cite web|title=Stevie Smith: Biography|url=http://retrosmith.wix.com/stevie-smith#!biography/c1enr|access-date=23 May 2016}} Steve Waller went on to join Manfred Mann's Earth Band after Manfred Mann was, "recommended to check out a popular South London circuit musician – a singer and guitarist – at the Half Moon pub, Herne Hill."{{cite web|title=Not Quite Overnight Sensations – Part 4|url=http://www.platform-end.co.uk/html/overnite4.html|access-date=28 May 2016}} A barmaid at the Half Moon recalls that Steve Waller always ordered a 'triple gin and bitter lemon' at the Sunday lunchtime jam session.{{cite web|title=Steve Waller's Overload – Streets of London| date=13 October 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAtxpZstUBE|via=YouTube|access-date=14 February 2017}} Two remarkable videos featuring a live set of Steve Waller's Overload from the summer of 1990 in the Half Moon exist.{{cite web|title=Steve Waller 1990 Pt1| date=20 July 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBt3Vo24zFc|via=YouTube|publisher=Half Moon Productions|access-date=25 February 2017}}{{cite web|title=Steve Waller 1990 Pt2| date=20 July 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDlaVtPfz4|via=YouTube|publisher=Half Moon Productions|access-date=25 February 2017}}

The Half Moon in Herne Hill also has a notable place in rock history as being the venue where Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, first met the members of U2 and watched them perform. Island Records public-relations chief Rob Partridge{{cite news|last1=Denselow|first1=Robin|title=Obituary: Rob Partridge|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/02/obituary-rob-partridge-music-publicist|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=4 June 2016}} described the encounter: "It just so happened that U2 were playing at the Half Moon in Herne Hill, a gig they'd repeatedly played through the course of coming to London. Chris had never seen the band and so went from the Bob (Marley) gig to Herne Hill and met up with the band. The dressing room is like a front room, and I just remember him taking an immediate delight in the band because they are bright, articulate, funny, all those kind of things."{{cite magazine|title=U2 – the early years: "There was a presence, a magnetism..."|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/features/u2-the-early-years-there-was-a-presence-a-magnetism-4226|magazine=Uncut|first=Stephen|last=Dalton|date=December 1999|issue=31|access-date=21 February 2016}}

Writing in his 2022 memoir, Chris Blackwell says: "I went off to see U2 with my girlfriend at the time, Nathalie Delon, and one or two others. I did not know it, but I was heading into another adventure. Arriving at the pub, an old haunt of Dylan Thomas’s, I would never have believed I was about to come across Island’s next big signing. There seemed to be more people in my entourage than in the paying audience, but U2 played as though there were a thousand in front of them. They were bursting out of themselves. I was immediately blown away by their passion. I didn’t really feel the music – it wasn’t my kind of thing, too trebly, a bit rinky-dinky. Bono talks about how when I came to the gig I was dressed in shorts and flip-flops, as if it were a cold winter’s day or something. It was June, but Bono likes to make a story better."{{cite news |last1=Blackwell |first1=Chris |last2=Morley |first2=Paul |title=Why U2 Trusted a Guy in Flip-Flops With Their Future |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-u2-trusted-a-guy-in-flip-flops-with-their-future-11652357961?mod=mhp |access-date=16 May 2022 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}

Chris Blackwell describes the 8 June 1980 gig as having, "probably 12 people in the audience."{{cite web|title=Chris Blackwell: 40 Years and Looking Forward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRMEAAAAMBAJ&q=u2+herne+hill&pg=RA1-PA32|publisher=Billboard 29 September 2001|access-date=14 May 2016|date = 29 September 2001}} However, by their return gig at the Half Moon on 11 July 1980, U2 marked a milestone, as it was the first time they'd sold out a concert venue in the UK.{{cite web|title=EYEWITNESS DATELINE: MAY 22, 1980 – SEPTEMBER 29, 1980|url=http://www.atu2.com/news/eyewitness-dateline-may-22-1980-september-29-1980.html|website=@U2|access-date=4 June 2016}}{{cite book|last1=Jal de la Parra|first1=Pimm|title=U2 Live: A Concert Documentary|date=2003|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=0711991987}} A review of the gig by Bill Graham for Hot Press states, "for the encore Bono leaps off the stage to serenade the audience from the raised enclosure where the mixing desk and us flunkies are located."{{cite web|last1=Graham|first1=Bill|title=Hot Press Review – U2 at the Half Moon Club in Herne Hill|url=http://www.u2theearlydayz.com/11071980-half-moon-club-herne-hill-london.html|website=Hot Press|access-date=4 June 2016}} Producer Steve Lillywhite is also recorded as being present at this show.{{cite book|last1=McGhee|first1=Matt|title=U2: A Diary|date=2010|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0857122032}} Not everyone was impressed. Comedian Vic Reeves states that, "I saw U2 there. I wasn’t impressed – they looked like they wanted to be punks but they weren’t. Bono’s haircut was atrocious."{{cite web|last1=Hodges|first1=Michael|title=Vic Reeves: Interview|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/comedy/vic-reeves-interview-1|publisher=Time Out London|access-date=19 May 2016}} Music writer, Michael Odell, recalls a conversation with Bono backstage at Madison Square Garden, where he mentions that he lives near to the Half Moon in Herne Hill where U2 played, but in answer to Bono's question, "Were you there?" has to admit that he didn't see them play.{{cite book|last1=Odell|first1=Michael|title=Rock Bottom: A Music Writer's Journey into Madness|date=2017|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=978-1785782237}} U2 played one further time at the Half Moon on the opening leg of their tour to promote their album Boy on 5 October 1980.{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=Carl|title=London Gig Venues|date=2016|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1445658209}}{{cite web|title=BOY TOUR LEG 1: 1980, EUROPE|url=http://www.u2.com/tour/index/tour/id/36|access-date=5 June 2016}} Photos of U2 at Half Moon feature in a photozine by Andy Phillips, documenting the band's first and earliest visits to the UK in 1980.{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Andy|title=AnotherTime, Another Place : U2 in the UK 1980|date=2017|publisher=Hanging Around Books|url=https://hangingaroundbooks.com/products/another-time-another-place|access-date=17 November 2017}} A drawing of Bono's 1980 haircut, rendered in stainless steel by the artist Caroline McCarthy, now adorns the inside of the pub.{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Caroline |title=Flying Boots & Eyes On Fire |url=http://www.flyingboots.info/title.html |access-date=3 March 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Porter |first1=Toby |title="Flying Boots and Eyes on Fire" creates an art trail to celebrate the resilience and revival of Herne Hill community |date=13 February 2019 |url=https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/flying-boots-and-eyes-on-fire-creates-an-art-trail-to-celebrate-the-resilience-and-revival-of-herne-hill-community/ |publisher=South London Press & Mercury |access-date=3 March 2019}}

The Half Moon was the venue where The Alarm announced their new name to the world in January 1981,{{cite web|title='Sixty Eight Guns (session)' (MacDonald/Peters), The Alarm|url=http://thealarm.com/sixty-eight-guns-session-macdonaldpeters-the-alarm|access-date=14 May 2016}} and performed a second gig in May 1982.{{cite web|title=Gig: 6/5/1982, The Alarm, Half Moon, Herne Hill|url=http://thealarm.com/gig-651982-the-alarm-half-moon-herne-hill/|website=thealarm.com|access-date=23 September 2017}} It also hosted the first ever gig by Then Jerico in 1983,{{cite web|title=Mark Shaw Vintage: Yet more TJ Archive photos !|url=http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thenjericorarities/updates/13410|website=Reissues and Rarities|access-date=14 May 2016}} and the first gig by Gavin Rossdale{{cite magazine|last1=Myers|first1=Ben|title=Bush: The Chemical Brother|url=http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/bush-the-chemical-brother|magazine=Kerrang!|access-date=17 May 2016}} of Bush.{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Andrew|title=60 Seconds: Gavin Rossdale|url=http://edition.metro.news/content/20170116.am/htmlpages/485677.html|website=Metro|access-date=29 January 2017}}

The era of New wave music in the early 1980s was a particularly rich period in the Half Moon's music history, with a succession of bands and performers including The Stray Cats, The Comsat Angels, The Triffids, The Sound, The Go-Betweens, The Chameleons, Jason and the Scorchers, and Billy Bragg all appearing.{{cite web|title=Venues: Half Moon, Herne Hill|url=http://www.songkick.com/venues/10656-half-moon-herne-hill/gigography?page=5|website=Songkick| date=22 April 2006 |access-date=15 May 2016}} The Billy Bragg gig on 12 December 1983 was reviewed in both Sounds and Melody Maker, "Pity (Billy Bragg's) doting followers, who arrived in their buzzing droves, didn't have the decency to stay for the main act."{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Andrew|title=Billy Bragg: Still Suitable for Miners|date=2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0753549230|pages=120–123}}

Writing in The Guardian in 1981, Robin Denselow states, "The Half Moon, Herne Hill, South London, is established as a testing ground for bands who often move on to greater things."{{cite web|last1=Denselow|first1=Robin|title=Herne Hill: Albania/Bim|url=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1PFTPFsmE2M/T7ydzYnUbQI/AAAAAAAAGig/x5vVoukQTD0/s1600/Guardian+review+April+6th+1981+of+debut+gig+at+Herne+Hill+(warm+up+for+The+Venue).jpg|website=The Guardian|access-date=2 June 2016}} The Half Moon was also a venue for more well-known acts going back to their roots, hosting gigs by Steve Marriott in 1984,{{cite web|title=Some things that happened in the week 24th May to 30th May 1984|date=25 April 2010 |url=https://fenlandgentoldstuff.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/some-things-that-happened-in-the-week-24th-may-to-30th-may-1984/|access-date=2 June 2016}} and Grammy Award winner Albert Lee in 1990.{{cite book|last1=Watts|first1=Derek|title=Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee|date=2008|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786482955|page=222}} In 1998, "The Bard of Salford" John Cooper Clarke performed at the Half Moon.{{cite web|title=John Cooper Clarke Played My Local|url=http://www.cyberspike.com/clarke/reviews/lond98.html|access-date=23 May 2016}}

In 2003, punk rock band The Parkinsons played the pub.{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Carl |title=London Gig Venues |date=2016 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1445658209}} More recent acts at the Half Moon during the tenancy of Robert Harrison from 2006 to 2013, include Paloma Faith, Kae Tempest (with their band Sound of Rum in 2009), Rumer, The Beat, The Handsome Family, The Wonderstuff, The Coal Porters, Wilko Johnson, and Turin Brakes.{{cite web|title=Venue Review – Half Moon, Herne Hill|url=http://www.ieattothebeat.com/2014/03/robert-harrison-at-the-half-moon-pub-review-from-2008/|publisher=London Tourdates Magazine|access-date=14 April 2016}}{{cite web|title=Live review of The Beat at The Half Moon in South London|url=http://therebelmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/2011_05_01_archive.html|publisher=Rebel Magazine|access-date=23 May 2016}}{{cite web|title=The Half Moon Remembered|url=http://www.hernehillsociety.org.uk/news_articles/view/half_moon_remembered|publisher=The Herne Hill Society|access-date=29 May 2016}}{{cite web|title=The Coal Porters / The Henry Brothers / Dan Raza|url=http://www.egigs.co.uk/reviews/?a=12686|website=eGigs|access-date=26 March 2017|ref=Half Moon, Herne Hill, London on Friday 5 December 2008}}{{cite web|title=Wilko Johnson|url=http://www.bandsintown.com/event/3730136-wilko-johnson-london-half-moon-herne-hill-2010?artist=Wilko+Johnson&came_from=174|website=bandsintown.com|access-date=5 November 2017}} Chris Sievey's comic persona Frank Sidebottom appeared onstage in June 2007.{{cite web|title=Frank Sidebottom at The Half Moon|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/klaritapandolfi/albums/72157600519573356|website=Flickr|date=8 June 2007 |publisher=Kaparte|access-date=17 January 2017}} The musician and founder of 2 Tone Records, Jerry Dammers, also used the Half Moon as a rehearsal space during this time.{{cite web|last1=Harrison|first1=Robert|title=Half Moon Pub remembered|url=http://www.ieattothebeat.com/2015/02/half-moon-pub-remembered/|website=ieattothebeat|access-date=8 March 2017}} The beginning of the pub's relationship with 2 Tone Records dates back to the early 1980s, when bands from the label, such as The Swinging Cats{{cite book|last1=Smithie|first1=Alan|title=Sperm, Wonderful Sperm!|isbn=978-1438981581|page=81|date=2009-07-01}} and The Higsons{{cite web|title=Venue: The Half Moon, Herne Hill|url=http://www.45worlds.com/live/venue/the-half-moon-herne-hill|website=45worlds|access-date=22 March 2017}} played there.

A poster for Clinic's show at the Half Moon in 2010, appears in the book "Classic Rock Posters – Sixty Years of Posters and Flyers: 1952 to 2012".{{cite book|last1=Farren|first1=Mick|last2=Loren|first2=Dennis|title=Classic Rock Posters – Sixty Years Of Posters And Flyers: 1952 To 2012|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=9781780384528|year=2012}} At the same 'secret show', support act Anna Calvi is said to have blown Clinic off the stage.{{cite web|last1=Carnihan|first1=Kier Wiater|title=Anna Calvi – One Breath|date=10 October 2013 |url=http://www.the-monitors.com/2013/10/10/anna-calvi-one-breath/|access-date=12 June 2016}} Grammy Award winner La Roux{{cite web|title=La Roux Win Best Electronic/Dance Album|url=http://www.grammy.com/videos/53rd-annual-grammy-awards-pre-telecast-best-electronicdance-album|publisher=The GRAMMYs|access-date=10 April 2016}} launched her singing career at the pub when she was 17, after being encouraged by her parents to perform at an open mic night.{{cite news|title=Singer La Roux slams 'aggressive' developers in row over future of iconic Half Moon music pub|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/singer-la-roux-slams-aggressive-developers-in-row-over-future-of-iconic-half-moon-music-pub-a3221181.html|work=Evening Standard|location=London|access-date=9 April 2016}} She recalls, "I spent a couple of years going to my local pub in Herne Hill doing open mic nights there."{{cite web|title=La Roux plays special gig at East London pub|website=Digital Spy |date=16 September 2014 |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a597133/la-roux-plays-special-gig-at-east-london-pub/|access-date=19 June 2016}} The pub is also particularly renowned as a long-standing venue for live blues music.{{cite web|title=Half Moon Blues|url=http://dulwichonview.org.uk/2016/01/28/half-moon-blues/|website=Dulwich on View|access-date=29 February 2016}} DJ Food was the last act to perform at the Half Moon before it was closed due to a flood in 2013.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

As well as music, the Half Moon has hosted regular comedy, with acts including Mark Lamarr, Eddie Izzard and Omid Djalili. Comedian Jo Brand said, "I have lived in this area since 1978 and in Herne Hill for a few years as a student nurse. The Half Moon was always the centre of the universe for us, and when I started doing stand-up comedy, I performed there a few times."{{cite news|title=Jo Brand calls for iconic pub to be given community asset status|url=http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=114788&headline=Jo%20Brand%20calls%20for%20iconic%20pub%20to%20be%20given%20community%20asset%20status§ionIs=news&searchyear=2015|newspaper=South London Press|access-date=19 June 2016}}

The pub has also been a regular venue for theatre, and is listed in the London Theatre Report published in 2014.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Alistair|title=London Theatre Report|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/london-theatre-report.pdf|publisher=The Society of London Theatre and The National Theatre|access-date=18 June 2016}} The play Botallack O'Clock premiered at the Half Moon in 2011, before transferring to the Edinburgh Festival in 2012, and New York City in 2013.{{cite web|title=Botallack O'Clock by Eddie Elks|url=http://www.thirdmantheatre.com/#!current/ap4bi|publisher=Third Man Theatre|access-date=14 April 2016}} The Inbetweeners Movie actress Lydia Rose Bewley performed in theatre productions at the pub in 2010.{{cite web|title=Lydia Rose Bewley – Biography|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3617801/bio|publisher=IMDb|access-date=18 February 2018}} The Half Moon has also been a venue for Rollapaluza cycling.{{cite web|title=Rollapaluza x Dulwich Paragon @ the Half Moon|url=http://archive.rollapaluza.com/rollapaluza-x-dulwich-paragon-the-half-moon/|publisher=Rollapaluza roller-racing|access-date=10 April 2016}}

There has also been a boxing gym upstairs at the Half Moon.{{cite news|title=Boxercise: The workout that pulls no punches|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/boxercise-the-workout-that-pulls-no-punches-9241353.html|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=9 April 2016}} Danny Williams, who knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, and went on to fight for the WBC heavyweight title, trained here as a child.{{cite news|last1=Reed|first1=James|title=Brixton's pearl on the brink|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/brixtons-pearl-on-the-brink-1527559.html|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=21 May 2016}} The boxing gym was run for a number years by former British and European light welterweight champion Clinton McKenzie.{{cite web |last1=Watts |first1=Peter |title=Getting battered at the Half Moon |url=https://greatwen.com/2016/04/22/getting-battered-at-the-half-moon/ |website=The Great Wen: A London blog |date=22 April 2016 |access-date=7 January 2025}} The charity London Community Boxing (LCB) was founded by people who met at the Half Moon gym.{{cite web|title=Issue 10 of The Peckham Peculiar: boxing charity plans for bellenden site|url=https://issuu.com/peckhampeculiar/docs/binder1|access-date=19 June 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Behnejad|first1=Saina|title=Packing a punch to help disadvantaged lead good and healthy lives|url=https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/15897/packing-punch-help-disadvantaged-lead-good-healthy-lives/|website=London News Online|access-date=30 January 2017}}

English writer and poet Richard Church recalls stopping for lunch at The Half Moon Tavern to "rest the horses", when moving home from Battersea to Herne Hill as a child in Edwardian era London. "I sat on the tailboard, and the foreman treated me to a ginger beer and a meat pie."{{cite book|last1=Church|first1=Richard|title=Over the Bridge: An Essay in Autobiography|date=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1448214877}}

In 1988, the public bar of the Half Moon featured in an advert for Red Rock Cider, directed by John Lloyd and starring Leslie Nielsen.{{cite web|title=Leslie Nielson in red rock cider advert 1988| date=21 October 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaAdSdZUzgs|via=YouTube|access-date=9 April 2016}}

The Half Moon is depicted in the graphic novel, From Hell, by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.{{cite web|title = An Occult Psychogeography of Hawksmoor's London Churches|url = http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2015/10/an-occult-psychogeography-of-hawksmoors-london-churches.html|website = The Bohemian Blog|access-date = 2015-12-30}}

In 2007, as part of the "Disappearing London" documentary television series that was broadcast on ITV London, Madness frontman Suggs visited the Half Moon to interview boxer Clinton McKenzie in his boxing gym above the pub.{{cite web |last1=Humphreys |first1=Dafydd |title=Disappearing London S02E04 (2007) |date=18 February 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZJSV5gnsg |via=YouTube |access-date=26 January 2019}}

In April 2008, comedian Ronnie Corbett was interviewed with TV presenters Ant and Dec in the Half Moon for The Observer.{{cite news|last1=Wiseman|first1=Eva|title=The jokers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/apr/20/baftas2008.antanddec?CMP=share_btn_tw|newspaper=The Observer|access-date=30 May 2016}}

Scenes from the 2011 British movie Treacle Jr., directed by Jamie Thraves and starring Aidan Gillen, were filmed in the Half Moon.{{cite web|title=Treacle Jr.|url=https://www.imdb.com/media/rm1028368384/tt1542486?ref_=tt_pv_md_4|publisher=IMDb|access-date=9 April 2016}}

The pub was flooded in August 2013, and was subsequently closed for a number of years. In 2014, The Dulwich Estate put forward proposals for the conversion of the upper floors of the Half Moon into five self-contained flats and a mews house at the rear, but these plans were subsequently withdrawn following pre-application planning advice received from Southwark Council.{{cite web|title=Half Moon Pub – update from The Dulwich Estate|url=http://www.hernehill.org.uk/news/half-moon-pub-update-dulwich-estate|website=hernehill.org|access-date=25 February 2018}} In December 2015, the pub was awarded Asset of Community Value (ACV) status by Southwark Council.{{cite web|title=Half Moon community value status 'big step forward'|url=http://www.brixtonblog.com/half-moon-wins-community-value-status/34850|website=brixtonblog|date=23 December 2015 |access-date=28 December 2015}} The ACV status of the Half Moon was upheld by Southwark Council in April 2016, following an appeal by The Dulwich Estate against the listing. In January 2016, London's Fuller's Brewery acquired the lease from the freeholder, The Dulwich Estate.{{cite web|title=THE HALF MOON – THE FUTURE|url=http://www.fullers.co.uk/pubs/pubs-articles/half-moon-herne-hill|publisher=Fuller's|access-date=8 June 2016}}{{cite web|author=Emily Sutherland |url=http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Operators/Other-operators/Half-Moon-pub-in-Herne-Hill-bought-by-Fuller-s |title=Half Moon pub in Herne Hill bought by Fuller's |website=Morningadvertiser.co.uk |date=2016-01-06 |access-date=2016-02-13}}{{cite web|author=Jamie Bullen |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/half-moon-pub-set-to-reopen-three-years-after-it-was-closed-because-of-floods-a3149226.html |title=Half Moon pub set to reopen three years after it was closed because of floods |work=Evening Standard|location=London |date=2016-01-05 |access-date=2016-02-13}} The pub reopened on 20 March 2017.{{cite web|title=Half Moon Pub To Reopen on March 20|url=http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/half-moon-pub-re-open-march-20/|website=Southwark News|date=16 February 2017 |access-date=4 March 2017}}

In April 2016, the Half Moon made international news after a picture of its barred list became a viral hit on Twitter.{{cite web|title=Are you one of the awful people on this pub's amazing barred list?|date=12 April 2016 |url=http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/12/are-you-one-of-the-awful-people-on-this-pubs-amazing-barred-list-5811744/|publisher=Metro|access-date=14 April 2016}} A book of stories inspired by the barred list has successfully been crowd-funded, and is currently being designed and edited.{{cite web|last1=Mitchinson|first1=John|title=Still Barred|url=https://unbound.co.uk/books/still-barred|publisher=Unbound|access-date=27 April 2016}} The book hit its fundraising target of £4,000 on crowdfunding publisher Unbound in October 2017, although a publication date is currently not known.{{cite news|last1=Stone|first1=Stuart|title=Book based on barred pub customers hits crowdfunding target|url=https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2017/11/16/Anthology-of-Herne-Hill-s-drunk-Avengers-hits-crowdfunding-target|access-date=17 November 2017|publisher=The Morning Advertiser|date=16 November 2017}}

A community campaign to save the music venue at the rear of the pub received backing from local celebrities including Jo Brand, La Roux, and even the Mayor of London,{{cite web|title=Comedian Jo Brand Joins Half Moon Pub Campaigners|url=http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/comedian-jo-brand-joins-half-moon-pub-campaigners/|website=southwarknews.co.uk|date=10 March 2016 |publisher=Southwark News|access-date=9 April 2016}}{{cite web|title=Mayor Boris's support for iconic Half Moon pub|url=http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=115782&headline=Mayor%20Boris%E2%80%99s%20support%20for%20iconic%20Half%20Moon%20pub§ionIs=news&searchyear=2016|publisher=South London Today|access-date=20 May 2016}} but suffered a setback in April 2016 when Southwark Council approved plans to remove the stage and replace it with a new kitchen and dining area. Whilst no longer a regular music venue, the Half Moon hosts live entertainment each year for Dylan Day on 14 May, celebrating the connection of Dylan Thomas with the pub.{{cite web|title=Dylan Day at the Half Moon – 14 May|url=http://www.hernehill.org.uk/news/dylan-day-half-moon-14-may|website=Herne Hill Forum|access-date=6 June 2017}} It is also used as a venue for the annual Herne Hill Music Festival{{cite web|title=Herne Hill Music Festival|url=http://hernehillfestival.org/home|website=hernehillfestival.org|access-date=15 May 2018}} and Herne Hill Free Film Festival.{{cite web|title=Herne Hill Free Film Festival|url=http://www.freefilmfestivals.org/filmfestival/herne-hill/|website=freefilmfestivals.org|access-date=15 May 2018}} The new function room, called 'The Workshop', is located in a converted 1920s garage building at the back of the Half Moon.

In 2018, the Half Moon was a finalist in The Publican Awards for 'Best New Pub/Bar'.{{cite web|title=Finalists|url=https://www.publicanawards.co.uk/finalists/|website=The Publican Awards|access-date=13 March 2018}} In May 2018, the Half Moon was named the Regional Winner for London in the National Pub and Bar Awards.{{cite web|last1=Johnston|first1=Katherine|title=Herne Hill's Half Moon Named Best Pub in London|url=https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/herne-hills-half-moon-named-best-pub-in-london/|website=Southwark News|date=24 May 2018 |access-date=26 May 2018}}{{cite web|last1=Bowman|first1=Lisa|title=Has your local been named as one of Britain's best pubs?|url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/25/local-named-one-britains-best-pubs-7576908/|website=Metro|date=25 May 2018 |access-date=26 May 2018}} In November 2019, the pub was named winner of The Griffin Trophy, for Fuller's best pub.{{cite web |title=Our best pubs and hotels for 2019 have been revealed... |url=https://www.fullers.co.uk/blog/pubs-articles/best-pubs-for-2019 |website=fullers.co.uk |publisher=Fuller's |access-date=1 December 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Half Moon, Herne Hill}}
• {{Official|http://www.halfmoonhernehill.co.uk/}}

{{Pubs in London}}

{{National Inventory Pubs}}

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Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark

Category:Grade II* listed pubs in London

Category:Pubs in the London Borough of Southwark

Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1896

Category:National Inventory Pubs

Category:Herne Hill

Category:Music venues in London

Category:Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Southwark