drinking establishment
A drinking establishment is a business whose primary function is the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Some establishments may also serve food, or have entertainment, but their main purpose is to serve alcoholic bev ...
which is licensed to serve
alcoholic drink
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...
s for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was used to differentiate private houses from those which were, quite literally, open to the public as "alehouses", "
taverns
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
" and "
inns
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accomm ...
". By Georgian times, the term had become common parlance, although taverns, as a distinct establishment, had largely ceased to exist by the beginning of the 19th century. Today, there is no strict definition, but
CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...
states a pub has four characteristics:GLA Economics, Closing time: London's public houses, 2017
# is open to the public without membership or residency
# serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
# has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
# allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service)
The history of pubs can be traced to
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...
s in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, and through
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
alehouses, but it was not until the early 19th century that pubs, as they are today, first began to appear. The model also became popular in countries and regions of British influence, where pubs are often still considered to be an important aspect of their
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
. In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. In his 17th-century diary,
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
described the pub as "the heart of England".
Although the drinks traditionally served include
draught beer
Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as
Name
Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dire ...
and
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
, most also sell
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
,
spirits
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
,
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
, and
soft drinks
A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a s ...
. Many pubs offer
meal
A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.
Although they ca ...
s and
snacks
A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
Traditionally, snacks are ...
, and so-called gastro-pubs serve food in a manner akin to a restaurant.
A licence is required to operate a pub and the licensee is known as the landlord or landlady, or the publican. Often colloquially referred to as their "local" by regular customers, pubs are typically chosen for their proximity to home or work, good food, social atmosphere, the presence of friends and acquaintances, and the availability of
pub games
A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub or bar. Most pub games date back many years and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports.
Pub games can be loosely grouped into throwing games, d ...
such as
darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
or
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
. Pubs often screen sporting events, such as
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
. The
pub quiz
A pub quiz is a quiz held in a pub or bar. These events are also called quiz nights, trivia nights, or bar trivia and may be held in other settings. Pub quizzes may attract customers to a pub who are not found there on other days. The pub quiz is ...
was established in the UK in the 1970s.
History
Origins
Ale was a native British drink before the arrival of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
in the 1st century, but it was with the construction of the
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
network that the first pubs, called ''
taberna
A ''taberna'' (plural ''tabernae'') was a type of shop or stall in Ancient Rome. Originally meaning a single-room shop for the sale of goods and services, ''tabernae'' were often incorporated into domestic dwellings on the ground level flanking ...
e'', began to appear. The word survives in Modern English as "tavern."
After the departure of Roman authority in the 5th century and the fall of the Romano-British kingdoms, the
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
established alehouses that may have grown out of domestic dwellings, first attested in the 10th century. These alehouses quickly evolved into meeting houses for folk to socially congregate, gossip and arrange mutual help within their communities. The Wantage law code of
Æthelred the Unready
Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...
proscribes fines for breaching the peace at meetings held in alehouses.
A traveller in the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
could obtain overnight accommodation in monasteries, but later a demand for hostelries grew with the popularity of
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
s and travel. The Hostellers of London were granted
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
status in 1446 and in 1514 the guild became the
Worshipful Company of Innholders
The Worshipful Company of Innholders is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London.
The innholders were originally known as hostellers, but their name had changed by the time it was incorporated under a royal charter in 1514. The c ...
. A survey in 1577 of drinking establishment in England and Wales for taxation purposes recorded 14,202 alehouses, 1,631 inns, and 329 taverns, representing one pub for every 187 people.
Inns
Inns are buildings where travellers can seek
lodging
Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...
and, usually, food and drink. They are typically located in the country or along a highway. In Europe, they possibly first sprang up when the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
built a system of
roads
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
two
millennia
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
ago. Some inns in Europe are several
centuries
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
old. In addition to providing for the needs of travellers, inns traditionally acted as community gathering places.
In Europe, it is the provision of accommodation, if anything, that now distinguishes inns from
tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...
s, alehouses and pubs. The latter tend to provide alcohol (and, in the UK, soft drinks and often food), but less commonly accommodation. Inns tend to be older and grander establishments: historically they provided not only food and lodging, but also
stabling
In the UK, a stabling point is a place where rail locomotives are parked while awaiting their next turn of duty. A stabling point may be fitted with a fuelling point and other minor maintenance facilities. A good example of this was Newport ...
and
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...
for the traveller's horse(s) and on some roads fresh horses for the
mail coach
A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. M ...
.
Famous London inns include
The George, Southwark
The George Inn, or The George, is a public house established in the medieval period on Borough High Street in Southwark, London, owned and leased by the National Trust. It is located about from the south side of the River Thames near London Br ...
and
The Tabard
The Tabard was an inn in Southwark established in 1307 that stood on the east side of Borough High Street, at the road's intersection with the ancient thoroughfare to Canterbury and Dover. It was built for the Abbot of Hyde, who purchased the l ...
. There is, however, no longer a formal distinction between an inn and other kinds of establishment. Many pubs use "Inn" in their name, either because they are long established former
coaching inn
The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
s, or to summon up a particular kind of image, or in many cases simply as a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...
on the word "in", as in "The Welcome Inn", the name of many pubs in Scotland.
The original services of an inn are now also available at other establishments, such as hotels, lodges, and
motel
A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...
s, which focus more on lodging customers than on other services, although they usually provide meals; pubs, which are primarily alcohol-serving establishments; and restaurants and taverns, which serve food and drink. In North America, the lodging aspect of the word "inn" lives on in hotel brand names like
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...
, and in some state laws that refer to lodging operators as innkeepers.
The
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
and
Inns of Chancery
The Inns of Chancery or ''Hospida Cancellarie'' were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from a ...
in London started as ordinary inns where
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
s met to do business, but became institutions of the
legal profession
Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education.
It is difficult t ...
in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
.
Advent of the modern pub
It was not until the 19th century that pubs as we know them today first began to appear. Before this time alehouses were largely indistinguishable from private houses and the poor standard of rural roads meant that, away from the larger towns, the only beer available was often that which had been brewed by the publican himself. With the arrival of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, many areas of the United Kingdom were transformed by a surge in industrial activity and rapid population growth. There was huge demand for beer and for venues where the public could engage in social interaction, but there was also intense competition for customers.
Gin houses and palaces were becoming increasingly popular, while the Beerhouse Act of 1830 resulted in a proliferation of beerhouses. By the mid-19th century pubs were being widely purpose-built, allowing their owners to incorporate architectural features which distinguished them from private houses and made them stand out from the competition. Many existing public houses were also redeveloped at this time, borrowing features from other building types and gradually developing the characteristics which go to make pubs the instantly recognisable institutions that exist today. In particular, and contrary to the intentions of the Beerhouse Act, many drew inspiration from the gin houses and palaces.
Bar counters had been an early adoption, but ornate mirrors, etched glass, polished brass fittings and lavishly tiled surfaces were all features that had first made their appearance in gin houses. Innovations such as the introduction of hand pumps (or beer engines) allowed a greater number of people to be served in less time, while technological advances in the brewing industry and improved transportation links made it possible for breweries to deliver their products far away from where they were produced.
Tied house system
The latter half of the 19th century saw increased competition within the brewing industry and, in an attempt to secure markets for their own products, breweries began rapidly buying local pubs and directly employing publicans to run them. Although some tied houses had existed in larger British towns since the 17th century, this represented a fundamental shift in the way that many pubs were operated and the period is now widely regarded as the birth of the tied house system.
Decreasing numbers of free houses and difficulties in obtaining new licences meant a continual expansion of their tied estates was the only feasible way for breweries to generate new trade. By the end of the century more than 90 percent of public houses in England were owned by breweries and the only practical way brewers could now grow their tied estates was to turn on each other. Buy-outs and amalgamations became commonplace and by the end of the 1980s there were only six large brewers left in the UK, collectively known as the Big Six;
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
,
Bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
,
Courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
,
Grand Metropolitan
Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...
,
Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold.
The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...
and
Whitbread
Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England.
The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s.
Its largest division ...
.
In an attempt to increase the number of free houses, by forcing the big breweries to sell their tied houses, the Government introduced The Beer Orders in 1989. The result, however, was that the Big Six melted away into other sectors; selling their brewing assets and spinning off their tied houses, largely into the hands of branded pub chains, called pubcos. As these were not brewers, they were not governed by the Beer Orders and tens of thousands of pubs remain tied, much in the same way that they had been previously. In reality, government interference did very little to improve Britain's tied house system and all its large breweries are now in the hands of foreign or multi-national companies.
Licensing laws
There was regulation of public drinking spaces in England from at least the 15th century. In 1496, under, Henry VII, an act was passed, "against vagabonds and beggers" (11 Hen. VII c2), that included a clause empowering two justices of the peace, "to rejecte and put awey comen ale-selling in tounes and places where they shall think convenyent, and to take suertie of the keepers of ale-houses in their gode behavyng by the discrecion of the seid justices, and in the same to be avysed and aggreed at the tyme of their sessions."
The Beerhouse Act of 1830 is widely considered to be a milestone in the history of public houses. Gin was popularised in England in the late 17th century, largely because it provided an alternative to French
brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
at a time of political and religious conflict between Britain and France. Because of its cheapness, gin became popular with the poor, eventually leading to a period of drunkenness and lawlessness, known as the
Gin Craze
The Gin Craze was a period in the first half of the 18th century when the consumption of gin increased rapidly in Great Britain, especially in London. Daniel Defoe commented: "the Distillers have found out a way to hit the palate of the Poor, by ...
.
In the early 19th century, encouraged by a reduction of duties, gin consumption again began to rise and gin houses and
gin palace
A gin palace (also gin house and gin shop) is an English name originally for a lavish bar selling gin, later transferred by association to late Victorian pubs designed in a similar style.
Architecture
In the 18th century, gin shops or 'dram s ...
s (an evolution of gin shops) began to spread from London to most towns and cities in Britain. Alarmed at the prospect of a return to the Gin Craze, the government attempted to counter the threat, and encourage the consumption of a more wholesome beverage, by introducing the Beerhouse Act of 1830. The Act introduced a new lower, and largely deregulated, tier of premises called "the beerhouse".
Under the act any householder, upon payment of two
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
(roughly equal in value to £ today), was permitted to brew and sell beer or
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
in their own home. Beerhouses were not allowed to open on Sundays, or sell spirits and fortified wines; and any beerhouse discovered to be breaking these rules was closed down and the owner heavily fined.
Within eight years 46,000 new beerhouses opened and, because operating costs were so low, huge profits were often made. The combination of increasing competition and high profits eventually led to what has been described as a golden age of pub building when many landlords extended or redeveloped their properties, adopting many of the recognisable features which still exist today.
Attempts to check the growth were made from 1869 onwards, by introducing magisterial control and new licensing laws, aimed at making it harder to obtain a licence and controlling drunkenness, prostitution and undesirable conduct on licensed premises.
In the United Kingdom, restrictions were tightened considerably following the advent of the First World War. The
Defence of the Realm Act
The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after it entered the First World War and was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war, such as the p ...
, along with introducing
rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
and censorship of the press, restricted pubs' opening hours to 12 noon–2:30 pm and 6:30 pm–9:30 pm. Opening for the full licensed hours was compulsory, and closing time was equally firmly enforced by the police. There was also a special case established under the State Management Scheme where the brewery and licensed premises were bought and run by the state, most notably in
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
.
Lock-in
A "lock-in" is when a pub owner allows patrons to continue drinking in the pub after the legal closing time, on the theory that once the doors are locked, it becomes a private party rather than a pub. Patrons may put money behind the bar before official closing time, and redeem their drinks during the lock-in so no drinks are technically sold after closing time. The origin of the British lock-in was a reaction to 1915 changes in the licensing laws in England and Wales, which curtailed opening hours to stop factory workers from turning up drunk and harming the war effort. From then until the start of the 21st century, UK licensing laws changed very little, retaining these comparatively early closing times. The tradition of the lock-in therefore remained.
Since the implementation of the
Licensing Act 2003
The Licensing Act 2003 (c 17) is an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises in England and Wales used to sell or supply of alcohol, provide regulated entertainmen ...
, premises in England and Wales may apply to extend their opening hours beyond 11 pm, allowing round-the-clock drinking and removing much of the need for lock-ins. Since the
smoking ban
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...
, some establishments operated a lock-in during which the remaining patrons could smoke without repercussions but, unlike drinking lock-ins, allowing smoking in a pub was still a prosecutable offence.
Smoking bans
Concerns about the effects of cigarette smoke inhalation first surfaced in the 1950s and ultimately led many countries to ban or restrict smoking in specific settings, such as pubs and restaurants. Early in 2004, the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all enclosed public areas. Scotland was the first UK nation to introduce a ban on indoor smoking in March 2006, followed by the rest of the UK in 2007. Australia introduced a similar ban in 2006 and now has some of the world's toughest anti-smoking laws, with some territories having also banned smoking in outside public areas.
Some publicans raised concerns, prior to the implementation of restrictions, that a smoking ban would have a negative impact on sales. The impact of the ban was mixed with some pubs suffering declining sales, and others seeing an increase, particularly in food sales.
Architecture
Saloon or lounge
By the end of the 18th century a new room in the pub was established: the saloon. Beer establishments had always provided entertainment of some sort—singing, gaming or sport. Balls Pond Road in Islington was named after an establishment run by a Mr. Ball that had a
duck pond
A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other waterfowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink.
Typically, such ponds are round, oval or kidney-shaped. An example is the lily pond in th ...
at the rear, where drinkers could, for a fee, go out and take a potshot at the ducks. More common, however, was a card room or a billiard room. The saloon was a room where, for an admission fee or a higher price of drinks, singing, dancing, drama, or comedy was performed and drinks would be served at the table. From this came the popular
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
form of entertainment—a show consisting of a variety of acts.
A most famous London saloon was the Grecian Saloon in The Eagle,
City Road
City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...
, a pub which was referenced by name in the 18th century
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From t ...
: "Up and down the City Road / In and out The Eagle / That's the way the money goes /
Pop goes the weasel
"Pop! Goes the Weasel" (Roud 5249) is a traditional English and American song, a country dance, nursery rhyme, and singing game that emerged in the mid-19th century. It is commonly used in Jack-in-the-box toys and for ice cream trucks. The song ...
." This meant that the customer had spent all his money at The Eagle, and needed to
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
for a coat (''weasel and stoat'').
A few pubs have stage performances such as serious drama, stand-up comedy, musical bands,
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
or
striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "ex ...
; however,
juke box
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...
es,
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
and other forms of pre-recorded music have otherwise replaced the musical tradition of a piano or guitar and singing.
Public bar
The public bar, or tap room, was where the working class were expected to congregate and drink. It had unfurnished floorboards, sometimes covered with sawdust to absorb the spitting and spillages (known as "spit and sawdust"), bare bench seats and stools. Drinks were generally lower quality beers and liquors. Public bars were seen as exclusive areas for only men; strictly enforced
social etiquette
Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...
s barred women from entering public bars (some pubs did not lift this rule until the 1980s). In the Manchester area the public bar was known as the "vault", other rooms being the lounge and snug as usual elsewhere. The vault was a men's only bar, meant for working men in their dirty working clothes.
This style was in marked contrast to the adjacent saloon or lounge bar which, by the early 20th century, was where male or accompanied female middle-class drinkers would drink. It had carpeted floors, upholstered seats, and a wider selection of better quality drinks that cost a penny or two more than those served in the public bar.
By the mid 20th century, the standard of the public bar had generally improved. Pub patrons only had to choose between economy and exclusivity (or youth and age: a
jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...
or
dartboard
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard.
Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the boar ...
). By the 1970s, divisions between saloons and public bars were being phased out, usually by the removal of the dividing wall or partition. While the names of saloon and public bar may still be seen on the doors of pubs, the prices (and often the standard of furnishings and decoration) are the same throughout the premises. Most present day pubs now comprise one large room, although with the advent of
gastropub
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s.
Etymology
The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...
s, some establishments have returned to maintaining distinct rooms or areas.
Snug
The "snug" was a small private room or area which typically had access to the bar and a frosted glass window, set above head height. A higher price was paid for beer in the snug and nobody could look in and see the drinkers. It was not only the wealthy visitors who would use these rooms. The snug was for patrons who preferred not to be seen in the public bar. Ladies would often enjoy a private drink in the snug in a time when it was frowned upon for women to be in a pub. The local police officer might nip in for a quiet pint, the parish priest for his evening whisky, or lovers for a rendezvous.
Campaign for Real Ale
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...
(CAMRA) have surveyed the 50,000 pubs in Britain and they believe that there are very few pubs that still have classic snugs. These are on a historic interiors list in order that they can be preserved.Derbyshire – Spondon, Malt Shovel , Heritagepubs, CAMRA. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
Counter
The pub took the concept of the bar counter to serve the beer from
gin palace
A gin palace (also gin house and gin shop) is an English name originally for a lavish bar selling gin, later transferred by association to late Victorian pubs designed in a similar style.
Architecture
In the 18th century, gin shops or 'dram s ...
s in the 18th century. Until that time beer establishments used to bring the beer out to the table or benches, as remains the practice in (for example)
beer garden
A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.
Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
s and some other drinking establishments in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. A bar might be provided for the manager or publican to do paperwork while keeping an eye on his or her customers, and the term "bar" applied to the publican's office where one was built, but beer would be tapped directly from a cask or barrel sat on a table, or kept in a separate taproom and brought out in jugs.
When purpose built Victorian pubs were built after the
Beerhouse Act 1830
The Beerhouse Act 1830 (11 Geo 4. and 1 Will 4. c. 64) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which liberalised the regulations governing the brewing and sale of beer. It was modified by subsequent legislation and finally repealed i ...
, the main room was the public room with a large serving bar copied from the gin houses, the idea being to serve the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time. The other, more private, rooms had no serving bar—they had the beer brought to them from the public bar. There are a number of pubs in the Midlands or the North which still retain this set up, though these days the beer is fetched by the customer themself from the taproom or public bar. One of these is The Vine, known locally as The Bull and Bladder, in
Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 2.5 miles south of Dudley and 2 miles north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a popu ...
near Birmingham, another the Cock at Broom, Bedfordshire a series of small rooms served drinks and food by waiting staff. By the early 1970s there was a tendency to change to one large drinking room as breweries were eager to invest in interior design and theming.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
, the British engineer and railway builder, introduced the idea of a circular bar into the
Swindon station
Swindon railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in South West England, serving the town of Swindon, Wiltshire. It is down the line from the zero point at and is situated between and on the main line. It is managed by Great Western ...
pub in order that customers were served quickly and did not delay his trains. These island bars became popular as they also allowed staff to serve customers in several different rooms surrounding the bar.
Beer engine
A "beer engine" is a device for
pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...
ing beer, originally manually operated and typically used to dispense beer from a
cask
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
or container in a pub's basement or cellar.
The first beer pump known in England is believed to have been invented by John Lofting (born Netherlands 1659-d. Great Marlow Buckinghamshire 1742) an inventor, manufacturer and merchant of London.
The London Gazette of 17 March 1691 published a patent in favour of John Lofting for a fire engine, but remarked upon and recommended another invention of his, for a beer pump:
"Whereas their Majesties have been Graciously Pleased to grant Letters patent to John Lofting of London Merchant for a New Invented Engine for Extinguishing Fires which said Engine have found every great encouragement. The said Patentee hath also projected a Very Useful Engine for starting of beer and other liquors which will deliver from 20 to 30 barrels an hour which are completely fixed with Brass Joints and Screws at Reasonable Rates. Any Person that hath occasion for the said Engines may apply themselves to the Patentee at his house near St Thomas Apostle London or to Mr. Nicholas Wall at the Workshoppe near Saddlers Wells at Islington or to Mr. William Tillcar, Turner, his agent at his house in Woodtree next door to the Sun Tavern London."
"Their Majesties" referred to were
William and Mary
William and Mary often refers to:
* The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland)
* William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple
William and Mary may ...
, who had recently arrived from the Netherlands and had been appointed joint monarchs.
A further engine was invented in the late eighteenth century by the locksmith and
hydraulic
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
engineer
Joseph Bramah
Joseph Bramah (13 April 1748 – 9 December 1814), born Stainborough Lane Farm, Stainborough, in Barnsley, Yorkshire, was an English inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having improved the flush toilet and inventing the hydraulic pr ...
(1748–1814).
Strictly the term refers to the pump itself, which is normally manually operated, though electrically powered and gas powered pumps are occasionally used. When manually powered, the term "handpump" is often used to refer to both the pump and the associated handle.
Companies
After the development of the large London
Porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
breweries in the 18th century, the trend grew for pubs to become
tied house
In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.
A report for th ...
s which could only sell beer from one brewery (a pub not tied in this way was called a Free house). The usual arrangement for a tied house was that the pub was owned by the brewery but rented out to a private individual (landlord) who ran it as a separate business (even though contracted to buy the beer from the brewery). Another very common arrangement was (and is) for the landlord to own the premises (whether
freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
*Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
*Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...
or
leasehold
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...
) independently of the brewer, but then to take a mortgage loan from a brewery, either to finance the purchase of the pub initially, or to refurbish it, and be required as a term of the loan to observe the solus tie.
A trend in the late 20th century was for breweries to run their pubs directly, using managers rather than tenants. Most such breweries, such as the
regional brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
Shepherd Neame
Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the ...
in Kent and
Young's
Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs.
The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...
and Fuller's in London, control hundreds of pubs in a particular region of the UK, while a few, such as
Greene King
Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
...
, are spread nationally. The
landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
of a tied pub may be an employee of the brewery—in which case he/she would be a manager of a managed house—or a self-employed tenant who has entered into a lease agreement with a brewery, a condition of which is the legal obligation (trade tie) only to purchase that brewery's beer. The beer selection is mainly limited to beers brewed by that particular
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
. The Beer Orders, passed in 1989, were aimed at getting tied houses to offer at least one alternative beer, known as a
guest beer
In 1989, licensing legislation passed by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government made it possible for a tied pub to stock at least one guest beer from a different brewery.
The Monopolies and Mergers Commission was concerned that the market c ...
, from another brewery. This law has now been repealed but while in force it dramatically altered the industry. Some pubs still offer a regularly changing selection of guest beers.
Organisations such as
Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It op ...
,
Punch Taverns
Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constitu ...
and O'Neill's were formed in the UK in the wake of the Beer Orders. A PubCo is a company involved in the retailing but not the manufacture of beverages, while a
Pub chain
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding promi ...
may be run either by a PubCo or by a brewery. In 2016 a number of the largest PubCo's were
regulated
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
and tied tenants in England and Wales got new statutory rights to go free of tie or to have disputes heard by the Pubs Code Adjudicator.
Pubs within a chain will usually have items in common, such as fittings, promotions, ambience and range of food and drink on offer. A pub chain will position itself in the marketplace for a target audience. One company may run several pub chains aimed at different segments of the market. Pubs for use in a chain are bought and sold in large units, often from regional breweries which are then closed down. Newly acquired pubs are often renamed by the new owners, and many people resent the loss of
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
names, especially if their favourite regional beer disappears at the same time.
In 2009 about half of Britain's pubs were owned by large pub companies.
Brewery tap
A brewery tap is the nearest outlet for a brewery's beers. It is usually a room or bar in the brewery itself, although the name may be applied to the nearest pub.
Types
A pub has no strict definition, but
CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...
states that a pub has four characteristics:
#Open to the public without membership / residency
#Serve draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
#Have at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
#Allow drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e. not only table service)
Together these characteristics differentiate pubs from restaurants and hotel bars, although some pubs also serve as restaurants or hotels.
Gastropub
A gastropub is a hybrid pub and
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
, notable for serving good quality beer, wine and food. The name is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
" and "public house", and was coined in 1991 when David Eyre and Mike Belben took over The Eagle pub in
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington.
The well after which it was named was redisco ...
, London. The concept of a restaurant in a pub reinvigorated both pub culture and British dining, though has occasionally attracted criticism for potentially removing the character of traditional pubs.
In 2011, ''The Good Food Guide'' suggested that the term has become irrelevant such is its commonality these days.
Country pub
A "country pub" is simply a rural drinking establishment, though the term has acquired a romantic image typically of thatched roofs and whitewashed stone walls. As with urban pubs, the country pub can function as a social and recreational centre, providing opportunities for people to meet, exchange news, and cooperate on local charitable events. However, that culture of functioning as a social centre for a village and rural community started to diminish in the later part of the 20th century as many country pubs either closed down, or were converted to restaurants or
gastropub
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s.
Etymology
The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...
s. Those country pubs located on main routes may once have been coaching inns, providing accommodation or refreshment for travellers before the advent of motorised transport.
Roadhouse
The term roadhouse was originally applied to a coaching inn, but with the advent of popular travel by
motor car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
in the 1920s and 1930s in the United Kingdom, a new type of roadhouse emerged, often located on the newly constructed
arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...
s and bypasses. They were large establishments offering meals and refreshment and accommodation to motorists and parties travelling by
charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...
. The largest roadhouses boasted facilities such as tennis courts and swimming pools. Their popularity ended with the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when recreational road travel became impossible, and the advent of post-war
drunk driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is invo ...
legislation prevented their full recovery. Many of these establishments are now operated as pub restaurants or fast food outlets.
Theme pub
A theme pub is a pub which aligns itself to a specific culture, style or activity; often with the intention of attracting a niche clientele. Many are decorated and furnished accordingly, with the theme sometimes dictating the style of food or drink on offer too. Examples of theme pubs include sports bars,
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
pubs,
biker bar
A biker bar is a bar that is frequented by motorcyclists (bikers). Some are owned or managed by people who are friendly toward motorcyclists.
s, Goth pubs,
strip club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
s,
karaoke bar
A is a type of karaoke establishment commonly found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the United States and Canada. It originated in Japan, and is now popular worldwide, particularly in Asia. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms contai ...
s and
Irish pub
An Irish pub is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Irish pubs are characterised by a unique culture centred around a casual and friendly atmosphere, hearty food and drink, Irish sports, and tr ...
s.
Micropubs
In Britain, a micropub is a very small, modern, one-room pub founded on principles set up by Martyn Hillier, the creator of the first micropub, The Butchers Arms in
Herne, Kent
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Fo ...
in 2005. Micropubs are "based upon good ale and lively banter", commonly with a strong focus on local cask ale. It became easier to start a small pub after the passing of the 2003 Licensing Act, which became effective in 2005.
Other
A "nolo" or "no lo" pub serves only non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverages. A
temperance bar
A temperance bar, also known as an alcohol-free bar, sober bar, or dry bar, is a type of bar that does not serve alcoholic beverages. An alcohol-free bar can be a business establishment or located in a non-business environment or event, such as ...
serves no alcohol at all.
Signs
In 1393, King
Richard II of England
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...
compelled landlords to erect signs outside their premises. The legislation stated "Whosoever shall brew ale in the town with intention of selling it must hang out a sign, otherwise he shall forfeit his ale." This law was to make alehouses easily visible to passing inspectors,
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
ale taster
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with ...
s, who would decide the quality of the ale they provided.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's father,
John Shakespeare
John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal ...
, was one such inspector.
Another important factor was that during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
a large proportion of the population were
illiterate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
and so pictures on a sign were more useful than words as a means of identifying a public house. For this reason there was often no reason to write the establishment's name on the sign and inns opened without a formal written name, the name being derived later from the illustration on the pub's sign.
The earliest signs were often not painted but consisted, for example, of
paraphernalia
Paraphernalia most commonly refers to a group of apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used for a particular activity. For example, an avid sports fan may cover their walls with football and/or basketball paraphernalia.
Historical legal term
In l ...
connected with the brewing process such as bunches of hops or brewing implements, which were suspended above the door of the pub. In some cases local nicknames, farming terms and puns were used. Local events were often commemorated in pub signs. Simple natural or religious symbols such as "The Sun", "The Star" and "The Cross" were incorporated into pub signs, sometimes being adapted to incorporate elements of the
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
(e.g., the coat of arms) of the local lords who owned the lands upon which the pub stood. Some pubs have
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
inscriptions.
Other subjects that lent themselves to visual depiction included the name of battles (e.g.
Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to:
* Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain
* Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England
It may also refer to:
Music
* ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees
Pl ...
), explorers, local notables, discoveries, sporting heroes and members of the
royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
. Some pub signs are in the form of a pictorial pun or
rebus
A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) ...
. For example, a pub in
Crowborough
Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...
, East Sussex called ''The Crow and Gate'' had for some years an image of a crow with gates as wings. A ''British Pathe News'' film of 1956 shows artist
Michael Farrar-Bell
Michael Charles Farrar Bell, later Farrar-Bell (1911–1993) was a British stained glass and postage stamp designer.
Bell designed pub signs, then became known as a stained glass designer as the head of Clayton and Bell, which had been one of t ...
at work producing inn signs.
Most British pubs still have decorated signs hanging over their doors, and these retain their original function of enabling the identification of the pub. Today's pub signs almost always bear the name of the pub, both in words and in pictorial representation. The more remote country pubs often have stand-alone signs directing potential customers to their door.
Names
Pub names are used to identify and differentiate each pub. Modern names are sometimes a marketing ploy or attempt to create "brand awareness", frequently using a comic theme thought to be memorable, ''Slug and Lettuce'' for a
pub chain
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding promi ...
being an example. Interesting origins are not confined to old or traditional names, however. Names and their origins can be broken up into a relatively small number of categories.
As many pubs are centuries old, many of their early customers were unable to read, and pictorial signs could be readily recognised when lettering and words could not be read.
Pubs often have traditional names. A common name is the "Marquis of Granby". These pubs were named after
John Manners, Marquess of Granby
Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Manners, Marquess of Granby, (2 January 1721 – 18 October 1770) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British soldier and the eldest son of the John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland, 3rd Duk ...
, who was the son of
John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland
John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland KG PC (21 October 1696 – 29 May 1779) was an English nobleman, the eldest son of John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland and Catherine Russell. Styled Marquess of Granby from 1711, he succeeded to the title in 172 ...
and a general in the 18th-century
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
. He showed a great concern for the welfare of his men, and on their retirement, provided funds for many of them to establish taverns, which were subsequently named after him. All pubs granted their licence in 1780 were called the Royal George, after
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, and the twentieth anniversary of his coronation.
Some names for pubs that seem absurd or whimsical have come from corruptions of old slogans or phrases, such as "The Bag o'Nails" (Bacchanals), "The Goat and Compasses" (God Encompasseth Us), "The Cat and the Fiddle" (''Chaton Fidèle'': Faithful Kitten) and "The Bull and Bush", which purportedly celebrates the victory of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
at "Boulogne Bouche" or
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
Harbour.
Entertainment
Traditional games are played in pubs, ranging from the well-known darts,
skittles
Skittles may refer to:
* Skittles (confectionery), a brand of fruit-flavor chewy candy, distributed by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
*'' Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical''
* Skittles (sport), the game from which bowling originated
* Skittles (ch ...
,
dominoes
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
bar billiards
Bar billiards is a form of billiards which involves scoring points by potting balls in holes on the playing surface of the table rather than in pockets. Bar billiards developed from the French/Belgian game billard russe, of Russian origin. The cu ...
, to the more obscure
Aunt Sally
Aunt Sally is a traditional English game usually played in pub gardens and fairgrounds, in which players throw sticks or battens at a ball, known as a 'dolly', balanced on top of a stick, traditionally a model of an old woman's head was sometime ...
,
nine men's morris
Nine men's Morris is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire. The game is also known as nine-man morris, mill, mills, the mill game, merels, merrills, merelles, marelles, morelles, and ninepenny marl in English. ...
and ringing the bull. In the UK betting is legally limited to certain games such as
cribbage
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players.
Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...
or dominoes, played for small stakes. In recent decades the game of
pool
Pool may refer to:
Water pool
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a rocky pool ...
(both the British and American versions) has increased in popularity as well as other table based games such as
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
or
table football
Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...
becoming common.
Increasingly, more modern games such as video games and
slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
s are provided. Pubs hold special events, from
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
s of the aforementioned games to
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
nights to
pub quiz
A pub quiz is a quiz held in a pub or bar. These events are also called quiz nights, trivia nights, or bar trivia and may be held in other settings. Pub quizzes may attract customers to a pub who are not found there on other days. The pub quiz is ...
zes. Some play pop music and hip-hop (dance bar), or show
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
on big screen televisions (sports bar).
Shove ha'penny
Shove ha'penny (or shove halfpenny), also known in ancestral form as shoffe-grote ['shove- groat' in Modern English], slype groat ['slip groat'], and slide-thrift, is a pub game in the shuffleboard family, played predominantly ...
and
Bat and trap
Bat and trap is an English bat-and-ball pub game. It is still played in Kent, and occasionally in Brighton. By the late 20th century it was usually only played on Good Friday in Brighton, on the park called The Level, which has an adjacent pub cal ...
were also popular in pubs south of London.
Some pubs in the UK also have football teams composed of regular customers. Many of these teams are in leagues that play matches on Sundays, hence the term "
Sunday League Football
Sunday league football is a term used in Britain and Ireland to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term pub league may also be used, owing to the number of ...
".
Bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
is found in association with pubs in some parts of the country and the local team will play matches against teams invited from elsewhere on the pub's bowling green.
Pubs may be venues for
pub song
In English popular culture, the "traditional" pub songs typified by the Cockney " knees up" mostly come from the classics of the music hall, along with numbers from film, the stage and other forms of popular music.
The tradition is continued in t ...
s and live music. During the 1970s pubs provided an outlet for a number of bands, such as
Kilburn and the High Roads
Kilburn and the High Roads were a British pub rock band formed in London by Ian Dury in 1970. The band released one studio album in 1975, disbanding the same year. AllMusic credits the band with being "an undeniable influence on punk and new ...
The Kursaal Flyers
The Kursaal Flyers were a British pop band, formed in Southend-on-Sea in 1973. They are most famous for their 1976 single "Little Does She Know" (which was a top 20 hit) and were the subject of a BBC documentary following them on tour in 1975.
...
, who formed a musical genre called
Pub rock
Pub rock is a rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particu ...
Some pubs have a long tradition of serving food, dating back to their historic usage as inns and hotels where travellers would stay.
Many pubs were drinking establishments, and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food, other than sandwiches and " bar snacks", such as
pork scratchings
Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways.
It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US) or scratchings (UK); these are served in small piece ...
,
pickled egg
Pickled eggs are typically hard boiled eggs that are cured in vinegar or brine. As with many foods, this was originally a way to preserve the food so that it could be eaten months later. Pickled eggs have since become a favorite among many ...
s, salted
crisps
A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or app ...
and peanuts which helped to increase beer sales. In
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
(especially London) it was common until recent times for vendors of cockles,
whelk
Whelk (also known as scungilli) is a common name applied to various kinds of sea snail. Although a number of whelks are relatively large and are in the family Buccinidae (the true whelks), the word ''whelk'' is also applied to some other marine ...
s,
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
s, and other
shellfish
Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...
to sell them during the evening and at closing time. Many mobile shellfish stalls would set up near pubs, a practice that continues in
London's East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
. Otherwise, pickled cockles and mussels may be offered by the pub in jars or packets.
In the 1950s some British pubs would offer "a pie and a pint", with hot individual steak and ale pies made easily on the premises by the proprietor's wife during the lunchtime opening hours. The
ploughman's lunch
A ploughman's lunch is an English cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions.Hessayon, ''The new vegetable and herb expert'', 2014, p. 73 Additional items can be added such as ham, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and ...
became popular in the late 1960s, as did the convenient "chicken in a basket", a portion of roast chicken with chips, served on a napkin in a wicker basket.
Family chain pubs which served food in the evenings gained popularity in the 1970s, and included
Berni Inn
Berni Inn was a chain of British steakhouses, established in 1955. It was established by brothers Frank and Aldo Berni, who modelled the chain on restaurants they had seen in America. The restaurants introduced the postwar British public to its ...
and Beefeater.
Quality dropped but variety increased with the introduction of
microwave ovens
A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce th ...
and
freezer
A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...
food. "Pub grub" expanded to include British food items such as steak and ale pie,
shepherd's pie
Shepherd's pie, cottage pie, or in its French version hachis Parmentier is a savoury dish of cooked minced meat topped with mashed potato and baked. The meat used may be either previously cooked or freshly minced. The usual meats are beef or lam ...
,
fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...
,
bangers and mash
Bangers and mash, also known as sausages and mash, is a traditional British dish, consisting of sausages served with mashed potatoes. It may consist of one of a variety of flavoured sausages made of pork, lamb, or beef (often specifically Cumber ...
,
Sunday roast
A Sunday roast or roast dinner is a traditional meal of British and Irish origin. Although it can be consumed throughout the week, it is traditionally consumed on Sunday. It consists of roasted meat, roasted potatoes and accompaniments su ...
,
ploughman's lunch
A ploughman's lunch is an English cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions.Hessayon, ''The new vegetable and herb expert'', 2014, p. 73 Additional items can be added such as ham, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and ...
,
chicken tikka masala
Chicken tikka masala is a South Asian dish consisting of roasted marinated chicken chunks ( chicken tikka) in a spiced sauce. The sauce is usually creamy and orange-coloured. The dish was popularised by cooks from South Asia living in Great B ...
, and
pasties
Pasties (singular pasty or pastie) are patches that cover a person's nipples and areolae, typically self-adhesive or affixed with adhesive. They originated as part of burlesque shows, providing a commercial form of bare-breasted entertainment. T ...
lasagne
Lasagna (, also , also known as lasagne, ) is a type of pasta, possibly one of the oldest types, made of very wide, flat sheets. Either term can also refer to an Italian dish made of stacked layers of lasagna alternating with fillings such as ...
and
chilli con carne
Chili con carne (also spelled chilli con carne or chile con carne and shortened to chili or chilli; ), meaning " chili with meat", is a spicy stew containing chili peppers (sometimes in the form of chili powder), meat (usually beef), tomatoes an ...
are often served. Some pubs offer elaborate hot and cold snacks free to customers at Sunday lunchtimes, to prevent them getting hungry and leaving for their lunch at home.
Since the 1990s food has become a more important part of a pub's trade, and today most pubs serve lunches and dinners at the table in addition to (or instead of) snacks consumed at the bar. They may have a separate dining room. Some pubs serve meals to a higher standard, to match good restaurant standards; these are sometimes termed gastropubs.
Listed
CAMRA maintains a "National Inventory" of historical notability and of architecturally and decoratively notable pubs. The
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
owns thirty-six public houses of historic interest including the George Inn,
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, London and
The Crown Liquor Saloon
The Crown Liquor Saloon, also known as the Crown Bar, is a pub in Great Victoria Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Refurbished in 1885, and at least twice since, it is an outstanding example of a Victorian gin palace, and one of Northern Ir ...
,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Northern Ireland.Evans, Jeff (2004) ''The Book of Beer Knowledge: essential wisdom for the discerning drinker''. St Albans: CAMRA Books
Records
Highest and remotest
The highest pub in the United Kingdom is the Tan Hill Inn,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, at above sea level. The remotest pub on the British mainland is The Old Forge in the village of
Inverie
Inverie (; ) is the main village on the Knoydart peninsula in the Scottish Highlands. It is located on the north side of Loch Nevis and, although on the mainland of Britain, the network of single-track roads surrounding the village is not connect ...
,
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...
, Scotland. There is no road access and it may only be reached by an walk over mountains, or a sea crossing.
Smallest
Contenders for the smallest public house in the UK include:
*
The Nutshell
The Nutshell is a pub in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, that until 2016 claimed to be the smallest pub in Britain, although this claim was challenged by several others, including the Smiths Arms at Godmanstone (now closed) and the Lakesid ...
–
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
*The Lakeside Inn –
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
,
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
*The Little Gem –
Aylesford
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone.
Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village s ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
*The Smiths Arms –
Godmanstone
Godmanstone (or Godmanston) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately north of the county town Dorchester. Its name means ''Godman's Farm'' and it is sited by the River Cerne amongst chal ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
*
The Signal Box Inn
The Signal Box Inn is a public house in the seaside resort of Cleethorpes, United Kingdom. It was opened in August 2006 and is a contender for the smallest pub in the world.
Details
The Signal Box Inn is named for its location at Lakeside Station ...
–
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
The list includes a small number of parlour pubs, one of which is the Sun Inn in
Leintwardine
Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire.
History
Roman
A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium in f ...
,
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
.
The smallest public house in Wales is claimed by Y Goron Fach (The Little Crown) in Denbigh, with a single bar of .
Largest
The largest pub in the UK is the Royal Victoria Pavilion, in
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...
, Kent. The venue was previously a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
and before that a theatre.
Oldest
A number of pubs claim to be the oldest surviving establishment in the United Kingdom, although in several cases original buildings have been demolished and replaced on the same site. Others are ancient buildings that were used for purposes other than as a pub previously in their history.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is a public house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is one of several pubs that lay claim to being the oldest in England, claiming to have been in business since 793 AD. The pub was once recognized as the oldest in ...
in
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, holds the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the oldest pub in England, as it is an 11th-century structure on an 8th-century site.
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem is a Grade II listed public house in Nottingham which claims to have been established in 1189, although there is no documentation to verify this date. The building rests against Castle Rock, upon which Nottingham Cast ...
in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
is claimed to be the "oldest inn in England". It has a claimed date of 1189, based on the fact it is constructed on the site of the
Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortress and o ...
brewhouse; the present building dates from around 1650. Likewise, The Nags Head in
Burntwood
Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England, approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills. The town had a population of 26,049 and forms part of Lichfield district. ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
only dates back to the 16th century, while it has been claimed that a pub on the site is mentioned in the Domesday book, Burntwood is not in fact listed.
There is archaeological evidence that parts of the foundations of
The Old Ferryboat Inn
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
in
Holywell
Holywell may refer to:
* Holywell, Flintshire, Wales
* Holywell, Swords, Ireland
* Holywell, Bedfordshire, England
* Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England
* Holywell, Cornwall, England
* Holywell, Dorset, England
* Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...
may date to AD 460, and there is evidence of ale being served as early as AD 560.
The Bingley Arms
The Bingley Arms is a public house in Bardsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It claims to be both the oldest surviving business and oldest surviving pub in the United Kingdom. It is possibly the fourth oldest surviving business in Europe.
...
, Bardsey, Yorkshire, is claimed to date to 905 AD.
Ye Olde Salutation Inn
Ye Olde Salutation Inn (nicknamed The Sal) is a Grade II listed public house, with parts dating from around 1240, which lays claim (along with Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem and The Bell Inn) to being the oldest pub in Nottingham. The inn also has a ...
in Nottingham dates from 1240, although the building served as a tannery and a private residence before becoming an inn sometime before the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. The
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
was first recorded in 1249, when it was an alehouse for the workers constructing nearby
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
The cathedral ...
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
, Greater Manchester, is mentioned by name in a charter of 1251, but the current building is dated 1631. Its cellars are the only surviving part of the older structure.
Longest and shortest name
The town of
Stalybridge
Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...
in Greater Manchester is thought to have the pubs with both the longest and shortest names in the United Kingdom – The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn and the Q Inn, both operating (the Rifleman reopening in new premises, moving from Astley Street to premises two doors away from the Q Inn in Market Street in 2019, after being closed for three years). The original Rifleman building retains a pub sign, and a blue plaque from 1995 recording the recognition of the name in the Guinness Book of Records.
Statistics
*The most expensive place to get a pint of beer is in Doha, Qatar, where prices average £10.30 (2019).
*The average retail price of a pint of beer in the UK is £4.12 (2019).
*The cheapest place to get a beer in the UK is Preston, where a pint costs on average £3.06 (2019).
*In 2018, British people drank 7.75 billion pints of beer: 21.2 million pints a day.
*As of 2019, there are 40,683 pubs in England, 2,901 in Wales and 3,612 in Scotland.
*Pubs are closing at a rate of one every 12 hours (as of February 2019).
Decline
The number of pubs in the UK has declined year on year, at least since 1982.British Beer and Pub Association – Statistics, Various reasons are put forward for this, such as the failure of some establishments to keep up with customer requirements. Others claim the smoking ban of 2007, intense competition from gastro-pubs, the availability of cheap alcohol in supermarkets or the general economic climate are either to blame, or are factors in the decline. Changes in demographics may be an additional factor. In the fifteen years to 2017 a quarter of London's pubs had closed. The closures have been ascribed to factors such as changing tastes, rise in the cost of beer due to applied taxes and the increase in the
British Muslim
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population,The Tabard Inn in
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's ''
Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
'' onwards.
The highwayman
Dick Turpin
Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...
used the Swan Inn at
Woughton-on-the-Green
Old Woughton ( ) is a district and civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The parish was established in April 2012 by the division into two parts of Woughton parish. The original (undivided) civil parish was its ...
in Buckinghamshire as his base.
Jamaica Inn
The Jamaica Inn is a traditional inn on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the UK, which was built as a coaching inn in 1750, and has a historical association with smuggling. Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamle ...
near
Bolventor
Bolventor ( kw, Bedhasbold) is a hamlet on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in Altarnun civil parish between Launceston and Bodmin.
Toponymy
The hamlet has been said to take its name from the "Bold Venture" tha ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
. In the 1920s John Fothergill (1876–1957) was the innkeeper of the Spread Eagle in
Thame
Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...
, Berkshire, and published his autobiography: ''An Innkeeper's Diary'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1931). During his idiosyncratic occupancy many famous people came to stay, such as
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
fulfilled his lifetime ambition of visiting a 'genuine British pub' during his November 2003 state visit to the UK when he had lunch and a pint of non-alcoholic lager (Bush being a teetotaler) with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
History Roman
A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
, County Durham in Blair's home constituency. There were approximately 53,500 public houses in 2009 in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller villages no longer have a local pub.
London
Many of London's pubs are known to have been used by famous people, but in some cases, such as the association between
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
and
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a Grade II listed public house at 145 Fleet Street, on Wine Office Court, City of London. Rebuilt shortly after the Great Fire of 1666, the pub is known for its literary associations, with its regular patrons having ...
, this is speculative, based on little more than the fact that the person is known to have lived nearby. However,
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
is known to have visited the Cheshire Cheese, the
Prospect of Whitby
The Prospect of Whitby is a historic public house on the banks of the Thames at Wapping in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lays claim to being the site of the oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520.
History
The tavern was fo ...
,
Ye Olde Cock Tavern
Ye Olde Cock Tavern is a Grade II listed public house at 22 Fleet Street, London EC4. It is part of the Taylor Walker Pubs group.
Originally built before the 17th century, it was rebuilt, including the interior (which is thought to include w ...
and many others.
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
is also associated with the Prospect of Whitby and the Cock Tavern.
The
Fitzroy Tavern
The Fitzroy Tavern is a public house situated at Charlotte Street in the Fitzrovia district of central London, England, owned by the Samuel Smith Brewery.
It became famous during a period spanning the 1920s to the mid-1950s as a meeting place ...
is a pub situated at 16
Charlotte Street
Charlotte Street is a street in Fitzrovia, historically part of the parish and borough of St Pancras, in central London. It has been described, together with its northern and southern extensions (Fitzroy Street and Rathbone Place), as the ''s ...
in the
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...
district, to which it gives its name. It became famous (or according to others, infamous) during a period spanning the 1920s to the mid-1950s as a meeting place for many of London's artists,
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
s and
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
s such as
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...
,
Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
, and
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
. Several establishments in
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, London, have associations with well-known, post-war literary and artistic figures, including the
Pillars of Hercules
The Pillars of Hercules ( la, Columnae Herculis, grc, Ἡράκλειαι Στῆλαι, , ar, أعمدة هرقل, Aʿmidat Hiraql, es, Columnas de Hércules) was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank t ...
,
The Colony Room
The Colony Room Club was a private members' drinking club at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London. It was founded and presided over by Muriel Belcher from its inception in 1948 until her death in 1979.
The artist Francis Bacon was a founder and lifelo ...
Canonbury
Canonbury is a residential area of Islington in the London Borough of Islington, North London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road.
In 1253 land in the area was granted to ...
, was the prototype for Orwell's ideal English pub, ''
The Moon Under Water
"The Moon Under Water" is a 1946 essay by George Orwell, originally published as the Saturday Essay in the ''Evening Standard'' on 9 February 1946, in which he provided a detailed description of his ideal public house, the fictitious "Moon Unde ...
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
is close to the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
and is consequently used by political journalists and
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs). The pub is equipped with a
Division bell
In some of the Commonwealth realms, a division bell is a bell rung in or around parliament to signal a division (a vote) to members of the relevant chamber so that they may participate. A division bell may also be used to signal the start or end ...
that summons MPs back to the chamber when they are required to take part in a vote.
The Punch Bowl, Mayfair
The Punch Bowl, at 41 Farm Street, Mayfair, is a London public house, dating from ''circa'' 1750. It is listed as Grade II by English Heritage. It is a Georgian building and, although altered over the years, retains many period features includi ...
was at one time jointly owned by
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
and
Guy Ritchie
Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr.
Ritchie left school at age 15 and wor ...
. The
Coleherne public house
The Coleherne Arms 1866 public house was a gay pub in west London. Located at 261 Old Brompton Road, Earl's Court, it was a popular landmark leather bar during the 1970s and 1980s. In 2008, it was rebranded as a gastropub, The Pembroke.
History ...
in
Earls Court
Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
was a well-known gay pub from the 1950s. It attracted many well-known patrons, such as
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
,
Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...
and
Rudolph Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
. It was used by the serial-killer
Colin Ireland
Colin Ireland (16 March 1954 – 21 February 2012) was a British serial killer known as the Gay Slayer because his victims were gay. Criminologist David Wilson believes that Ireland was a psychopath.
Ireland suffered a severely dysfunctio ...
to pick up victims.
Jack Straw's Castle Jack Straw's Castle may refer to:
* a place associated with Jack Straw's Lane, Oxfordshire
* Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead
{{disambiguation ...
was a pub named after
Jack Straw
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
, one of the three leaders of
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
, the pub was active since 14th century until its destruction by
The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
In 1966
The Blind Beggar
The Blind Beggar is a pub on Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, England.
Due to its location close to Whitechapel Station, the pub is generally described as being in Whitechapel; it is however located just on the Bethnal Green side of ...
in
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
became infamous as the scene of a murder committed by gangster
Ronnie Kray
Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
. The Ten Bells is associated with several of the victims of
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...
. In 1955,
Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis ( née Neilson; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a British nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely.
In her t ...
, the last woman executed in the United Kingdom, shot David Blakely as he emerged from ''The Magdala'' in
South Hill Park
South Hill Park is a English country house and its grounds, now run as an arts centre. It lies in the Birch Hill estate to the south of Bracknell town centre, in Berkshire.
History
Construction by Watts
The original South Hill Park mansi ...
,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, the bullet holes can still be seen in the walls outside. It is said that
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
and a young
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
met in the ''Crown and Anchor'' pub (now known as ''The Crown Tavern'') on
Clerkenwell Green
Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington.
The well after which it was named was redis ...
when the latter was visiting London in 1903.
The Angel, Islington
The Angel, Islington, is a historic landmark and a series of buildings that have stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road in Islington, London, England. The land originally belonged to the Clerkenwell Priory and has had ...
was formerly a
coaching inn
The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
, the first on the Great North Road, the main route northwards out of London, where
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
is believed to have written much of ''
The Rights of Man
''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...
''. It was mentioned by Charles Dickens, became a
Lyons Corner House
J. Lyons & Co. was a British restaurant Chain store, chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons (caterer), Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore Gluckstein, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ ...
, and is now a
Co-operative Bank
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...
.
Oxford and Cambridge
The Eagle and Child
The Eagle and Child, nicknamed The Bird and Baby, is a pub in St Giles' Street, Oxford, England, owned by St. John's College, Oxford and operated by Mitchells & Butlers as a Nicholson's pub. The pub had been part of an endowment belonging t ...
and the Lamb and Flag, Oxford, were regular meeting places of the
Inklings
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...
, a writers' group which included
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
and
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
.
The Eagle
The eagle is a large bird of prey.
Eagle or The Eagle may also refer to:
Places England
* Eagle, Lincolnshire, a village
United States
* Eagle, Alaska, a city
* Eagle Village, Alaska, a census-designated place
* Eagle, Colorado, a statuto ...
in Cambridge is where
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical struc ...
interrupted patrons' lunchtime on 28 February 1953 to announce that he and
James Watson
James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...
had "discovered the secret of life" after they had come up with their proposal for the structure of DNA. The anecdote is related in Watson's book ''
The Double Helix
''The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA'' is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA written by James D. Watson and published in 1968. It has earned both critical ...
''. and commemorated with a blue plaque on the outside wall.
Outside Great Britain
Although "British" pubs found outside of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and its former colonies are often themed bars owing little to the original British pub, a number of "true" pubs may be found around the world.
In Scandinavia, especially Denmark, a number of pubs have opened which eschew "theming", and which instead focus on the business of providing carefully conditioned beer, often independent of any particular brewery or chain, in an environment which would not be unfamiliar to a British pub-goer. Some import British cask ale, rather than beer in kegs, to provide the full British real ale experience to their customers. This newly established Danish interest in British cask beer and the British pub tradition is reflected by the fact that some 56 British cask beers were available at the 2008 European Beer Festival in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, which was attended by more than 20,000 people.
In Ireland, pubs are known for their atmosphere or "
craic
''Craic'' ( ) or ''crack'' is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – ''the'' craic – as in the expression "What's the craic ...
". In Irish, a pub is referred to as ''teach tábhairne'' ("tavernhouse") or ''teach óil'' ("drinkinghouse"). Live music, either sessions of traditional Irish music or varieties of modern popular music, is frequently featured in the pubs of Ireland. Pubs in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
are largely identical to their counterparts in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
except for the lack of spirit grocers. A side effect of "
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
" was that the lack of a tourist industry meant that a higher proportion of traditional bars have survived the wholesale refitting of Irish pub interiors in the "English style" in the 1950s and 1960s. New Zealand sports a number of Irish pubs.
Pubs have a long history in Canada, with some still operating after 200 years, like the Olde Angel Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake. A fake "English looking" pub trend started in the 1990s, built into existing storefronts, often run by corporate pub firms. Most universities in Canada have campus pubs which are central to student life, serving food and drink as well as hosting social events. Often these pubs are run by the student's union and at some universities, a budget is reserved for course pub nights. The gastropub concept has caught on, as traditional British influences are to be found in many Canadian dishes. Aside from pubs, the term bar can refer to themed drinking establishments, sports bars, or cocktail bars, or to the physical counter in a pub. Tavern was previously a popular term, though it has become somewhat antiquated.
In South Africa pubs and taverns have had a particularly long and notable presence in the city of Cape Town. Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 Cape Town was a major trading port between Europe and Asia and hosted a very large number of drinking establishments earning the city the moniker ''Tavern of the Seas''. The oldest currently operating pub in South Africa, and one of the last drinking establishments left from the ''Tavern of the Seas'' era, is the Perseverance Tavern opened in 1808.
In fiction
Pubs are a common setting for fictional works, including novels, stories, films, video games, and other works. In many cases, authors and other creators develop imaginary pubs for their works, some of which have become notable fictional places. Notable fictional pubs include The Admiral Benbow Inn in the ''Treasure Island'' pirate story, The Garrison in the 1920s crime TV drama ''Peaky Blinders (TV series), Peaky Blinders'', The Golden Perch in the high fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', The Leaky Cauldron (pub), The Leaky Cauldron and The Hog's Head in the ''Harry Potter'' fantasy series, Moe's Tavern, a working-class venue in ''The Simpsons'', and The Oak and Crosier in ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' video game.
The major soap operas on British television each feature a fictional pub, and these pubs have become household names in Britain. The Rovers Return is the pub in ''Coronation Street'', the British soap broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The The Queen Victoria, Queen Vic (short for the Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria) is the pub in ''EastEnders'', the major soap on BBC One and the Woolpack in ITV's ''Emmerdale''. The sets of each of the three major television soap operas have been visited by some of the members of the royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II. The centrepiece of each visit was a trip into the Rovers, the Queen Vic, or the Woolpack to be offered a drink.
The Bull in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers'' is an important meeting point.
See also
* Tavern
* Bar (establishment), Bar
* Flat-roofed pub
*
Campaign for Real Ale
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...
* Pub crawl
* SpåraKoff
* Public houses in Ireland
* Public houses in Australia
* List of award-winning pubs in London
* List of microbreweries
* List of public house topics
* List of public houses in Australia
* Alcohol licensing laws of the United Kingdom
* Alcohol licensing laws of Ireland
References
Bibliography
*
* Cornell, Martyn (2003). ''Beer: the story of the pint''. London: Headline. .
* Haydon, Peter (2001). ''Beer and Britannia: an inebriated history of Britain''. Stroud: Sutton. .
* Jackson, Michael & Smyth, Frank (1976). ''The English Pub''. London: Collins. .
www.breweryartists.co.uk A history of the Brewery Artists Inn Sign studio
Further reading
*
* Burke, Thomas (1927). ''The Book of the Inn: being two hundred pictures of the English inn from the earliest times to the coming of the railway hotel''; selected and edited by Thomas Burke. London: Constable.
* Burke, Thomas (1930). ''The English Inn''. (English Heritage.) London: Herbert Jenkins.
* Burke, Thomas (1947). ''The English Inn'' (Revised ed.). (The Country Books.) London: Herbert Jenkins.
* Clark, Peter (1983). ''The English Alehouse: a social history, 1200–1830''. Harlow: Longman. .
* Clark, Peter (1978). "The Alehouse and the Alternative Society", in: ''Puritans and Revolutionaries: essays in seventeenth-century history presented to Christopher Hill (historian), Christopher Hill''; ed. D. H. Pennington & Keith Thomas. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978; pp. 47–72.
* Douch, H. L. (1966). ''Old Cornish Inns and their place in the social history of the County''. Truro: D. Bradford Barton.
* Everitt, Alan. "The English Urban Inn 1560–1760." ''Perspectives in English urban history'' (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1973) pp. 91–137. (''The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History'' (ed. David Hey), 1996, describes this as "the starting point for modern studies [of inns]"; Everitt described most of the previous literature on the topic as "a wretched farrago of romantic legends, facetious humour and irritating errors".)
* Gutzke, David W. ''Pubs and Progressives: Reinventing the Public House in England, 1896–1960''(Northern Illinois University Press, 2006).
* Hackwood, Frederick W. (1910). ''Inns, Ales and Drinking Customs of Old England''. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
** Reissued: London: Bracken Books, 1985. .
* Hailwood, Mark. ''Alehouses and Good Fellowship in Early Modern England'' (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2014).
* Jennings, Paul. ''A History of Drink and the English, 1500–2000'' (Routledge, 2016).
* Jennings, Paul. "Liquor Licensing and the Local Historian: The Victorian Public House." ''Local Historian'' 41 (2011): 121–137.
* Martin, John (1993). ''Stanley Chew's Pub Signs: a celebration of the art and heritage of British pub signs''. Worcester: John Martin. .
* Monson-Fitzjohn, G. J. (1926) ''Quaint Signs of Olde Inns''. London: Herbert Jenkins (reissued by Senate, London, 1994 ).
* Mutch, Alistair. "Improving the public house in Britain, 1920–40: Sir Sydney Nevile and 'social work'." ''Business history'' 52.4 (2010): 517–535.
* Nicholls, James. "Alcohol licensing in Scotland: a historical overview." ''Addiction'' 107.8 (2012): 1397–1403.
* Albert Richardson, Richardson, A. E. (1934). ''The Old Inns of England''. London: B. T. Batsford.