Notable British public houses

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a list of Notable British public houses.

Once common claim to notability is "oldest pub", a title claimed by many pubs in some form.

Contents 1 East Anglia 2 East Midlands 3 London 4 Northeast England 5 North England 6 Northern Ireland 7 Northwest England 8 Scotland 9 Southeast England 10 Southwest England 11 Wales 12 West Midlands 13 Yorkshire 14 Best British Pub Awards

[edit] East Anglia

• The Eagle in Cambridge, the pub in which Francis Crick and James Watson announced that they had "discovered the secret of life" (the structure of DNA). Was also frequented by Alan Turing and friends.
• The Nutshell, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Britain's smallest pub (5 metres by 2 metres), according to the Guinness Book of Records.
• The Old Ferryboat Inn, Holywell, Cambridgeshire. A contender for Britain's oldest pub, on the basis that recent archaeology has shown that parts of the foundations may date to AD 460 and that there is evidence of ale being served as early as AD 560.

[edit] East Midlands

• Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham. It incorporates caves under Nottingham Castle and claims to be the oldest pub in the UK.
• The Strugglers Inn in Lincoln. It is in the shadow of the castle walls where public hangings used to take place. There are at least two schools of thought on the origin of the name: Either there was a secret tunnel from the castle to the pub where the condemned man had his last drink, or it was the pub where the spectators went to for the duration of the hangings. The pub sign indicates that it is named after the people who would pull on the legs of a hanged man to expedite his demise.
• Victoria Hotel in Beeston (near Nottingham). This pub has won multiple awards for its beer, food and convivial atmosphere. It is located alongside the eastbound platform of Beeston railway station.

[edit] London

• The Blind Beggar, Whitechapel. Famous - or infamous - for its association with the Kray Twins.
• The Angel, Rotherhithe. Another claimant for the title of oldest Thamesbank pub. Claims ancestry from an inn on a site nearby dating back to the 11th Century.
• Dirty Dick's, Bishopsgate. Per its name, once a contender for the filthiest pub in Britain. Modern hygiene regulations have removed this claim to fame.
• The Dove, Hammersmith. Definitely once the haunt of Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene, it also claims the smallest bar in Britain (according to the Guinness Book of Records), though not to be the smallest pub. It also makes the disputed claim to be the oldest surviving Thames-side pub.
• The Drayton Court in Ealing, converted into a pub from a hotel in the 19th Century, has the largest 'beer garden' in London and indeed any city pub in the UK.
• The Feathers, Linhope Street, Marylebone. Claims to be the smallest pub in London, with only three tables and a small bar.
• The George, Southwark is London's only remaining galleried coaching inn. Famous for being visited by Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.
• The Grapes, Limehouse. A Thames waterfront pub, immortalised as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters in Charles Dickens' work, Our Mutual Friend (though some commentators claim that Dickens amalgamated descriptions of several waterside taverns). Built in 1720, the pub is now a listed building.
• The Lamb, Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn. Built in 1720s but refurbished in Victorian times and remains similar to as it was when Dickens used to frequent it. One of the few remaining pubs with 'snob screens' to protect the well-to-do in the saloon bar being seen by the common folk in the public bar.
• The Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street. (formerly a favourite haunt of Samuel Johnson, many other famous men of letters and many many journalists)
• The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping. Historic East End pub, a famous customer being the Hanging Judge Jeffreys. Another claimant to be the oldest surviving Thames-side inn.
• Spaniards Inn, Hampstead. Built in 1585, it is a quaint, oak panelled and atmospheric pub with one of the best gardens in Hampstead and possibly the most myth-saturated pub in London. Dick Turpin, John Keats, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake, Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, Mary Shelley, William Hogarth, Lord Byron, AE Houseman and Evelyn Waugh all have some association with the place.

[edit] Northeast England

• Marsden Grotto, currently the only pub in Europe that is built on a cliff face and partially into cliff caves.
• The Bingley Arms, claiming to be the oldest recorded inn in Britain, located in the small village of Bardsey, West Yorkshire.

[edit] North England

• The Bitter End, Cockermouth, situated in the ancient and historic Kirkgate area of the "Gem" town and home of the smallest brewery in Cumbria.

[edit] Northern Ireland

• The Crown Liquor Saloon, one of the few pubs in the UK to be owned by the National Trust. Grade A listed (The Northern Ireland equivalent of Grade I.)
• The House of McDonnell, Grade A listed traditional country pub in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. Listed (alongside The Crown) in the UK National Inventory of historic pub interiors.
• Grace Neill's, the oldest pub in Ireland.
• McHugh's Bar is the oldest building in Belfast. Grade A listed.
• Ye Olde Man and Scythe is one of the oldest pubs in the country, and the oldest in Bolton, dating back to 1251

[edit] Northwest England

• Canterbury Arms, Large Pub in Ashton Under Lyne, famous for its large beer garden and hauntings.
• The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, Liverpool ('The Phil'). Grade II listed Victorian pub with Art Deco lighting and mosaic floor and bar. Once much favoured by the Liverpool Poets.
• The Scotch Piper, Lydiate, Merseyside is the oldest Pub in the traditional county of Lancashire
• The John O'Gaunt in Lancaster
• The Park Hotel , Birkdale, Southport famous for its quiz night on Sunday evenings with quizmaster Barry G also famous for being the local watering hole of the legendary UK Players Society.

[edit] Scotland

• The Baltasound Hotel, Unst, Shetland Islands. Definitely the northernmost drinking establishment in the UK.
• The Clachan Inn, Loch Lomond. Claims to be the oldest pub in Scotland, definitely known to be serving drinks from 1734AD. Once said to have had Rob Roy's sister as a landlady.

[edit] Southeast England

• The Bat & Ball Inn, Clanfield, Hampshire. Next to the 'Cradle of Cricket' at Broadhalfpenny Down.
• The Eagle and Child in Oxford (frequented by The Inklings, a writing circle that included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis)
• The Hole in the Wall, Brighton, claims to be the smallest pub in Britain, with a certificate stating this fact on the wall.
• The King's Head, Aylesbury, the oldest pub with a coaching yard in the south of England and one of only two pubs in England run by the National Trust
• Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, St Albans, Hertfordshire. Considered to be the oldest pub in Britain by the Guinness Book of Records (8th century). Claim disputed by other establishments who maintain that the inn was entirely rebuilt in 1485AD, not quite in the same location.
• The Red Lion, Southampton, a very old timber-beamed pub where King Henry V tried traitors to the crown in 1415 on the eve of his departure to France.
• The Royal Standard of England, Beaconsfield, Bucks. dating from before 1066, claims to be the oldest free house in England. King Charles hid here during the English Civil War, and the pub is named for his flag or Royal Standard.

[edit] Southwest England

• Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.
• The Top House, Lizard, Cornwall. The most southerly pub in the UK.
• The Llandoger Trow, Bristol. Robert Louis Stevenson’s inspiration for the Admiral Benbow in Treasure Island.

[edit] Wales

• The Skirrid Mountain Inn, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. Perhaps the oldest pub in Wales, listed in chronicles from 1100AD. Owain Glyndŵr is said to have set out from here in the 15th century.

• The Plume of Feathers, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire. The smallest pub in Wales.

[edit] West Midlands

• The Crooked House, Dudley, Staffordshire. Not a metaphor - due to mining subsidence, the inn began to fall into a hole in the early 19th century, but was saved by buttressing. It has retained its dizzying tilt ever since. (Officially called The Glynne Arms.)
• The Old Crown, Birmingham. One of the oldest buildings in the city and the oldest pub in the city dating back to 1368.
• The Nag's Head, Burntwood. Though the current building is more recent, there has been a pub on the site since before the Domesday Book was written.

[edit] Yorkshire

• The Tan Hill Inn in Yorkshire is the highest inn in England (1732ft above sea level). Tan Hill is a high point on the Pennine Way.
• Ye Olde White Harte in Kingston upon Hull, the home of 'The Plotting Parlour' where it was decided not to allow King Charles I into the city, supposedly starting the English Civil War in 1642.
• The Counting House, a pub in Pontefract, West Yorkshire is built in the remains of a 13th Century taxation house, and is noted as being one of the oldest buildings still in use in the local area.

[edit] Best British Pub Awards

• The Flying Fish, Denton, East Sussex was voted best British Pub, and Best Pub Food 2005.