Notable British public houses
Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOT : Notable British public houses
The following is a list of Notable public houses in the United Kingdom.
Contents
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.
East Midlands
- Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham (incorporates a cave and claims to be the oldest pub in the UK)
- The Strugglers Inn in Lincoln. Named after the fact that 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: 1)There was a secret tunnel from the castle to the pub where the condemned man had his last drink; or 2)It was the pub where the spectators went to for the duration of the hangings.
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 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 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.
Northeast England
- Marsden Grotto, currently the only pub in Europe that is built on a cliff face and partially into cliff caves.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Southwest England
- 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.
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.
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.)
Yorkshire and Humberside
- 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.
Best British Pub Awards
- The Flying Fish, Denton, East Sussex was voted best British Pub, and Best Pub Food 2005.
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