The Admiral Wells public house, Holme, Cambs - geograph

The Admiral Wells is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in Holme,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, now in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. Nearby

Holme Fen Holme Fen is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Holme in Cambridgeshire. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Great Fen project, which aims to create a 3,700 w ...

is 2.75 metres (9.0 feet) below sea level, and the Admiral Wells claims to be the lowest pub in Great Britain. However, large-scale maps show the pub itself is approximately 4 metres above sea level, so this claim appears to be incorrect.

History

In the late 1840s, William Wells, who had inherited the nearby Holmewood Hall from his father Captain William Wells, drained

Whittlesey Mere Whittlesea Mere was an area of open water in the Fenland area of the county of Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), England. The mere occupied the land southeast of Yaxley Fen, south of Farcet Fen and north of Holme Fen. The town of Whittle ...

. By 1852, the area was dry and available for agriculture. Using his new-found wealth, Wells built a pub on the land and named it The Admiral Wells after his grandfather, Thomas Wells.

References

Buildings and structures in Cambridgeshire {{Cambridgeshire-struct-stub