Hand and Shears

{{Short description|Pub in Farringdon, London}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}

File:Hand and Shears, Farringdon, EC1 (2835149161).jpg

The Hand and Shears is a Grade I listed public house at 1 Middle Street, Smithfield, London.{{NHLE|desc=Hand and Shears public house|num=1193734|access-date=21 June 2014}}

It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.{{cite book|last1=Brandwood|first1=Geoff|title=Britain's best real heritage pubs|date=2013|publisher=CAMRA|location=St. Albans|isbn=9781852493042|page=76}}

It was built in the early-mid 19th century.

The Hand and Shears was named after the former Bartholomew Fair, held at Smithfield for centuries, at which the Lord Mayor of London would come and cut a piece of cloth with a pair of shears to announce that the fair had begun.{{cite book|last=Rennison|first1=Nick|title=The Book of Lists - London|date=2006|publisher=Canongate|location=Edinburgh|isbn=9781841959344|page=10}}