With their low ceilings, timber beams and roaring fires, many of England’s inns lay claim to being the oldest in the land and to have been visited by Vikings and Saxons.
But an archaeologist working for Historic England says not one of the more than two dozen pubs that make this claim is being accurate.
While many claim origins dating back ۱,۰۰۰ years, Dr James Wright, a buildings archaeologist, said it was difficult to verify whether any pubs were built and used as inns or ale houses and kept in continuous use prior to the ۱۴۰۰s.
After painstaking investigation, including tree-ring dating on the wooden beams of pubs – a process known as dendrochronology – Wright named the George Inn, of Norton St Philip, Somerset, which has been in continuous use as an inn since around ۱۴۳۰-۱۴۳۲, as the oldest pub in England.
He told the Guardian: “Not one of the claimants to be the oldest pub (and there are over two dozen of them) are even vaguely close to being so in reality.”
Of the George, he said: “The architectural history of the George Inn’s stone and timber suggests that this building has been in continuous service for over ۶۰۰ years.” He said the pub was set up in the ۱۴th century by the monks of nearby Hinton Priory.
Tree-ring dating had helped “to understand scientifically exactly how old the timbers are,” he said. “Because we know medieval carpenters didn’t muck around at all and they would fell the timber when it was green and build almost immediately afterwards, the actual date of felling gives us the near date of construction.”
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Hertfordshire, claims to have been established around AD۸۰۰, and the Bingley Arms in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, declares on its site: “It’s the original English pub – officially the oldest in Britain – dating back over ۱,۰۰۰ years to a time when Vikings were conquering parts of the country.” Similarly, the Royal Standard in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, boasts that it was a favoured watering hole of King Alfred the Great’s West Saxons in around AD۸۸۰.
Wright said most of these claims seemed to be “modern marketing strategies”. “The Fighting Cocks is often said to date to AD۷۹۳. This date was probably not arrived at until ۱۹۲۶ when it appeared on a postcard. Prior to that, it was speculated to date to ۱۰۳۰, ۷۷۰ and ۶۷۲,” he said. “There does not seem to be a basis in reality for any of those claims. Instead, the building started as a monastic dovecote, built around ۱۴۰۰. The earliest date when we can say for sure it was active as a public house is the first decade of the ۱۹th century.”
Many of the pubs claiming to be the oldest say they were mentioned in the Domesday Book, but the historian said: “There are no pubs mentioned – at all – in the Domesday Book, so any pub claiming to be in it is having you on.”
Wright added: “The claims are likely to originate less in folklore and more in canny marketing strategies by landlords, tenants, breweries and pub companies. The claims potentially rely upon the public not being aware of how to accurately date historic buildings.”
He provided the Guardian with a list of the pubs he believes to be the oldest in the country. His methodology was to determine that it was purpose-built as a public house, that it had been in continuous service and that there was archaeological, archival or dendrochronological evidence for the existence of significant primary fabric remaining from the original construction.
“I did consider buildings which had been converted and others which had periodically changed in land use,” he said. “Even with those taken into consideration, there are only about ۱۲ to ۱۶ genuine contenders which have been doing trade since the medieval period. Of these, the oldest date to the ۱۴th and ۱۵th centuries.”
Revealed: Wright’s list of oldest pubs
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George Inn, Norton St Philip, Somerset: late ۱۴th century and ۱۴۳۰-۳۲.
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Bull Hotel, Ludlow, Shropshire: ۱۴th and ۱۵th centuries.
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King’s Head, Shrewsbury, Shropshire: ۱۴۲۶, ۱۴۳۰-۳۱.
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New Inn, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: ۱۴۳۲.
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White Hart Inn, Hook, Hampshire: ۱۴۱۹-۵۱.
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George Hotel, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: mid ۱۵th century.
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Angel Inn, Andover, Hampshire: ۱۴۴۵-۵۵.
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Kings Head, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: ۱۴۴۵-۵۵.
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Angel, Grantham, Lincolnshire: circa ۱۴۵۰.
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George and Pilgrims Inn, Glastonbury, Somerset: ۱۴۶۱-۸۳.
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Saracen’s Head, Southwell, Lincolnshire: ۱۴۶۰s.
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George Hotel, Odiham, Hampshire: ۱۴۸۶-۸۷.
