The New Hall Inn, also known as the Hole in t'Wall, is the oldest

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 ...

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Windermere lake and the town of Windermere to the north east with which it forms the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness. The town was histor ...

, and is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building.

History

The building, located on Lowside, Bowness, dates from around 1650. Thomas Longmire, a noted wrestler of his era, was landlord of the inn between 1852 and 1862. The New Hall Inn gained its pub licence in 1866. The New Hall Inn was acquired by John Booth of the Old Brewery,

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few mi ...

, in 1880, and numerous changes to the pub were made. The pub was one of the largest in Bowness by 1890, by which time it was known locally as the "Hole in the Wall", or "Hole in t'Wall" in regional

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

. The origin of the name is not entirely certain; there may have been in a literal hole in the wall of the building to pass drinks to the neighbouring

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and ostlers. The inn was the oldest licensed house in Bowness by 1907, and appealed to a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

clientele, particularly

boatmen A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

. A 1931 account describes the pub as a place where dominoes and darts could be played, and where

mild beer Mild ale is a type of ale. Modern milds are mostly dark-coloured, with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter-hued as well as stronger milds, reaching 6% abv and higher. Mild originated in Britain in the 17th century ...

was served. The building gained its

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listing in 1973.

Robinsons Brewery Robinsons Brewery is a family-run, regional brewery, founded in 1849 at the Unicorn Inn, Stockport, England. The company owns around 250 pubs, mostly in North West England. History William Robinson purchased the Unicorn Inn from Samuel Hole on ...

acquired the pub in 1982.

References

Tourist attractions in Cumbria Grade II listed pubs in Cumbria {{pub-stub