Pub names#Beer and wine
{{Short description |Identification method of public houses}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=August 2023}}
File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden (wide).jpg, Oxfordshire, recalls a sheaf of barley, the principal grain from which beer is made.]]
File:The White Hart Signboard.jpg was the badge of King Richard II and several noblemen.]]
Pub names are used to identify and differentiate traditional drinking establishments. Many pubs are centuries old, and were named at a time when most of their customers were illiterate, but could recognise pub signs or objects such as a boot hung up outside. Pubs may be named after and depict anything from everyday objects, to sovereigns and landowners (shown by their coats of arms). Other names come from historic events, livery companies, occupations, sports, and craftsmen's guilds. Other names derive from myths and legends, such as the Green Man and the Moonrakers of Wiltshire.
Pub names may straightforwardly describe their building, or services other than serving beer provided by the establishment. Several names allude to the stages of growing barley, and brewing and transporting the beer, such as John Barleycorn, Hop Pole, Malt Shovel, Mash Tun, and Three Barrels. Pubs that served wine could have names like the Spread Eagle, indicating the coat of arms of Germany. Sporting pubs had names like the Hare and Hounds or the Bowling Green. Several pub names are literary, denoting books like Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Hobbit, fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes, or authors like Edgar Wallace.
Many old pubs are named for famous figures or ordinary trades. Several have names intended to be humorous, including the names used by some pub chains.
Among the most common pub names are the Red Lion, the Royal Oak, the Crown, and the Swan. Closed pubs are marked †.
Heraldry
= Badges =
File:Sign for the Blue Boar - geograph.org.uk - 1650019.jpg.]]
{{anchor |Red Lion}}
Many pubs have heraldic names, often directly naming the animal or object used as a badge or heraldic charge. Among the most common, both in heraldry and on pub signs is the Red Lion. As a pub sign, it probably has multiple origins: in the arms or crest of a local landowner; as the personal badge of John of Gaunt, founder of the House of Lancaster; or in the royal arms of Scotland, conjoined to the arms of England after the Stuart succession in 1603.{{cite book |author=Dunkling, Leslie, Wright, G. |title=The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pub Names |year=1994 |orig-year=1987 |publisher=Wordsworth Reference |location=Ware, Hertfordshire |isbn=1-85326-334-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio0000dunk }} The White Hart was the livery badge of King Richard II of England; it became so popular as an inn sign during his reign that it was adopted by many later inns and taverns.{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Jacqueline |title=Green Men & White Swans: The Folklore of British Pub Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ot6AzT3fO6AC&pg=PA249 |year=2011 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-09-952017-7 |page=249}} The Blue Boar, the name of many pubs in Westminster, Norwich, Billericay, Maldon, Witney and elsewhere, was the badge of the Earls of Oxford. The White Boar on the other hand was the badge of King Richard III, while the White Horse was for the Hanoverian Kings. King Edward III's badge was the Rising Sun, while the Red Dragon denotes Wales. The Eagle and Child, Oxford, its name derived from the arms of the Earls of Derby,{{cite book |last=Rothwell |first=David |year=2006 |title=The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pub Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-4SrdUPNFoC |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |location=Ware, Herefordshire |isbn=978-1840222661 |page=126}} was a meeting place of the Inklings; the name was in 2005 shared by 25 other pubs.{{cite book |last1=Cocker |first1=Mark |last2=Mabey |first2=Richard |author2-link=Richard Mabey |title=Birds Britannica |title-link=Birds Britannica |date=2005 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=0-7011-6907-9 |page=474}}
= Arms =
{{multiple image
|total_width = 250
|image1 = Worshipful Company of Carpenters - Three Compasses.jpg
|caption1 = The Worshipful Company of Carpenters' emblem, 3 compasses
|image2 = Three Compasses, Hornsey, N8 (2509772818).jpg
|caption2 =The Three Compasses pub, Hornsey, London N8
}}
Names starting with the word "Three" are often based on the arms of a London Livery company or trade guild. Thus the Three Compasses is named for the Worshipful Company of Carpenters.{{cite web |title=Coat of Arms |url=http://www.thecarpenterscompany.co.uk/pages/history/coat_of_arms/default.aspx |publisher=The Carpenters' Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522104616/http://www.thecarpenterscompany.co.uk/pages/history/coat_of_arms/default.aspx |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=22 May 2015 }} Sometimes the livery company or guild is named directly, as in the Blacksmiths Arms, Bricklayers Arms, Carpenters Arms, Masons Arms, and Saddlers Arms; people in these trades often met in these places. Another old profession recorded in a pub name is the Drover's Inn, Loch Lomond, Scotland, named after the cattle drovers.{{cite web |url=https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/food-and-drink-2/celebrating-10-of-the-most-historic-pubs-in-scotland/ |title=Celebtrating 10 of the Most Historic Pubs in Scotland |website=Food & Drink |date=3 May 2019 |access-date=21 September 2021}}
History, myth and legend
Many pub names record aspects of history, real or imagined, from specific events to local legends.
= Historic events =
Several historic events are commemorated in pub names. A few of these, such as the Royal Oak, are extremely common. One or two events, like the Battle of Trafalgar, have resulted in multiple different pub names.
File:SaracensHeadpubsign.jpg , Somerset recalls the crusades.]]
File:Sign for the Rose and Crown (cropped).jpg, marking the end of the Wars of the Roses. ]]
= Religion =
File:Lion and Lamb Court, Farnham. - geograph.org.uk - 136630.jpg, Surrey]]
The amount of religious symbolism in pub names decreased after Henry VIII's break from the church of Rome. For instance, many pubs originally called the Pope's Head were renamed to the less contentious King's Head.{{cite web |last1=Ochota |first1=Mary-Ann |title=The history of pub names |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/the-history-of-pub-names/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=18 April 2025 |date=23 October 2016}} Publicans sometimes changed the names of their premises to something close to the original Catholic meaning, so the St Peter could be renamed to the Crossed Keys (that the saint holds, to the gates of heaven), or the Ark could be called the Ship.
Among the surviving religious references, the Lion and Lamb, Pennington, Hampshire is named from St Augustine's usage, where the lion represents the resurrection of Christ, and the lamb denotes Christ's sacrifice.{{cite web |title=Local Pubs and Inns |url=https://www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Local-pubs-and-inns.pdf |publisher=St Barbe Museum |access-date=17 April 2025}} The Shaven Crown, at Shipton-under-Wychwood, once belonged to the monks of Bruern Abbey.{{cite web |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/Blog/Twelve-Oldest-Inns-In-England/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001134810/https://www.historic-uk.com/Blog/Twelve-Oldest-Inns-In-England/ |archive-date=1 October 2020 |title=Shaven Crown |website=12 oldest pubs |date=12 February 2019 |access-date=20 September 2021}} The Cardinal's Hat, Harleston, Norfolk{{cite news |title=To Graziers |newspaper=Bury and Norwich Post |date=6 March 1822 |page=3}} was an inn from at least 1591.{{cite web |title=Cardinals Hat, Harleston |url=https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkh/harleston/harlesca.htm |website=Norfolk Public Houses |access-date=18 April 2025}}
= Myths and legends =
Several pub names commemorate English myths and legends.
File:Interior of The Green Dragon Inn at Hardraw, Nth. Yorkshire - geograph.org.uk - 1755494.jpg, North Yorkshire]]
File:The Robin Hood Inn - Monnow Street, Monmouth - pub sign.jpg.]]
= Historic opinions =
File:All Labour in Vain - geograph.org.uk - 905902.jpg, Shropshire, 2008]]
All Labour In Vain or Labour In Vain is a pub name probably of Biblical origins. The name was formerly often illustrated by a person trying to scrub the blackness off a black child. Such signs have been mostly replaced with more innocuous depictions of wasted effort.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Labour-Vain-Yarnfield-Cookman-Review/story-12528881-detail/story.html |title=The Labour In Vain, Yarnfield: The Cookman Review |access-date=17 March 2021 |archive-date=14 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814000030/http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Labour-Vain-Yarnfield-Cookman-Review/story-12528881-detail/story.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} There are numerous old pubs and inns in England named The Black Boy(s), many now claimed to refer either to child chimneysweeps or coal miners, or to a (genuine) historic description of King Charles II. The Black Boy Inn in Caernarfon, North Wales, has received at least a dozen complaints from visitors over the name, which dates back at least 250 years.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/04/04/is-historic-black-boy-pub-racist-55578-20718901/ |title=News: The latest North Wales news from the Daily Post |website=www.dailypost.co.uk}} In 2021 brewer Greene King changed the names of three pubs called The Black Boy, and another called The Black's Head.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-56040545 |title =Greene King Black Boy pubs renamed in 'anti-racist' move |work =BBC News |date =13 February 2021}} The Black Bitch, a pub in Linlithgow, West Lothian, is named after the local legend of a black greyhound who is said to have repeatedly swum to an island in the town's loch to bring food to its imprisoned master, only to suffer the same fate when its efforts were discovered. The pub's name has caused more than a few surprised tourists to question the name or decry it as racist.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/what-mr-scott-was-black-bitch-1-1340540|title=What! Mr Scott was Black Bitch?}}
The pub itself
= The pub building =
File:Thecrookedhouse-2023-06.jpg, Himley, known for its extreme lean, caused by mining subsidence]]
The Hippodrome in March, Isle of Ely was once a cinema.{{cite web |title=Hippodrome |url=https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/all-pubs/england/cambridgeshire/the-hippodrome-march |website=www.jdwetherspoon.com |access-date=24 September 2020}}
The Hole in the Wall is the name of several very small pubs. One such at Waterloo, London, is spacious but built into a railway viaduct. The Hole in the Wall, Gibraltar was an iconic bar well frequented by the navy workers.{{cite web |url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTpoic-g187510-i1247-k8111551-Hole_in_t_wall-Gibraltar.html |website=www.tripadvisor.com |title=Hole in the wall |access-date=20 September 2020}}
The Hundred House Inn, Great Witley originates from when the building was a collecting house for the tithes from districts in the Doddingtree Hundred.{{cite news |title=NOTICE is hereby given, that the TOLLS arising |newspaper=Worcester Journal |date=30 May 1833 |page=3}}
The Lattice House, King's Lynn was named for its timbered structure.{{cite web |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF12005-Lattice-House-Chapel-Street&Index=2&RecordCount=2&SessionID=670b9042-4138-452a-93a2-45a0f410605e |website=Norfolk Heritage Explorer |title=Lattice House |access-date=19 September 2021}}
The Thatched House Tavern, Cambridge is named after the building's roofing.{{cite news |title=University Intelligence |newspaper=Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |date=8 May 1835 |page=2}}
The Three Legged Mare, High Petergate, York is named after the design of a gallows, like the one in the pub's garden; affectionately known as the Wonky Donkey.{{Cite web |url=https://www.withinthewallsyork.com/threeleggedmare.html |title =The Three-Legged Mare}}{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/the-23-weirdest-pub-names-in-britain |website=Weirdest Pub Names |title=Three Legged Mare |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=20 September 2021}}
= Services provided by the pub =
File:The Farriers Arms - geograph.org.uk - 527610.jpg, Northumberland ]]
Several old pub names describe services (other than serving beer) that were provided by a pub. Checkers or Chequer(s), such as at March, Isle of Ely, harks back to ancient Rome, when a chequer board indicated banking services. The checked board was used as an aid to counting, and is the origin of the word exchequer.{{cite news |title=This is to give Notice |newspaper=Stamford Mercury |date= 12 November 1724 |page=12}} The Pewter Platter, Cross Street, Hatton Garden †, identified a pub where meals were served.{{cite news |title=An account of Francis David Stirn |newspaper=The Scots Magazine |date=1 September 1760 |page=6}} The Coach & Horses indicated a coaching inn, while the Farriers Arms was a pub with a farrier who could re-shoe the traveller's horses while he relaxed, and the Wheelwrights was a name for a pub where a coach's wheels could be repaired or replaced. Names could also be one-offs, like the Free Press in Cambridge, named for when part of the building was used to print a newspaper.{{cite web |title=The Free Press |url=https://cambridgefoodtour.com/the-free-press-pub/ |website=www.cambridgefoodtour.com |access-date=24 September 2020}}
= Food =
Some pub names refer to items of food to tempt the hungry traveller. For example, The Baron of Beef in Cambridge refers to a double sirloin joined at the backbone,{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/life/britains-strangest-pub-names/the-baron-of-beef-in-cambridge/ |title=Britain's strangest pub names |newspaper=Daily Telegraph | date=15 February 2016}} while the Red Herring, Great Yarmouth is named after a product of the local fishing industry.{{cite book |last=Bridgewater |first=Beth |title=Norfolk |publisher=Encompass Press |year=1995 |page=133}}
= Beer =
File:Pub names from brewing process.svg
Several pub names allude to the stages of brewing and serving the beer. The Hop Pole names an item used to support hops, that flavour the beer, while the Barley Mow names the process of harvesting the barley that will be fermented into the beer itself. Names of this type may indicate pubs founded as early as the 12th century. The Malt Shovel names a tool used to turn over the soaked barley grain.{{cite news |title=Middle Level |newspaper=Lynn Advertiser |date=19 March 1870 |page=8}} The Mash Tun names the brewery vessel used to mix grains with water.{{cite web |title=The Mash Tun: Brighton's Beating Heart |url=https://www.mashtun.pub/ |website=Mash Tun |access-date=13 January 2024}} Three Barrels names containers for beer. The Brewery Tap was a pub on site or adjacent to a brewery; it often showcasing its products to visitors.{{cite web |title=The Brewery Tap Public House Shefford |date=22 June 2019 |url=https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Shefford/BreweryTapPublicHouse.aspx |publisher=Bedford Borough Council |access-date=21 February 2024 |quote=The modern name of the public house is derived from the fact that it is owned by the brewery and sells its produce.}}
Many traditional pub names allude to the beer available inside.{{cite web |title=A history of British pub names |url=https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/a-history-of-british-pub-names/ |publisher=The History Press |access-date=30 December 2023}} The Barley Mow is a stack or sheaf of barley, the principal grain from which beer is made.{{cite journal |last1=Kok |first1=Yee Jiun |last2=Ye |first2=Lijuan |last3=Muller |first3=Jeroen |last4=Ow |first4=Dave Siak-Wei |last5=Bi |first5=Xuezhi |title=Brewing with malted barley or raw barley: what makes the difference in the processes? |journal=Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology |volume=103 |issue=3 |date=2019 |issn=0175-7598 |doi=10.1007/s00253-018-9537-9 |pages=1059–1067 |pmid=30515549 }} John Barleycorn is a character of English traditional folk music and folklore, similar to a Green Man. He is annually cut down at the ankles, thrashed, but always reappears—an allegory of growth and harvest based on barley.{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |year=1976 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/34 34–35] |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-7204-8021-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/34 }}
The Cock and Bottle names the stopcock used to serve beer from a barrel, and a beer bottle.{{cite web |last=Saunders |first=Elaine |url=http://www.britainexpress.com/History/culture/pub-names.htm |title=British Pub Signs - a short history |publisher=Britain Express |access-date=9 September 2016}} The Pint Shop names a common unit of volume,{{cite web |title=Pint shop |url=https://pubs.sawdays.co.uk/britain/england/cambridgeshire/pint-shop#search_type=keyword&search_text=cambridgeshire& |website=www.pubs.sawdays.co.uk |access-date=24 September 2020}} while The Tankard, London is named after the drinks container.{{cite web |url=https://www.brewdog.com/uk/bars/uk/tankard |website=Brewdog |title=Tankard |access-date=20 September 2021}}{{-}}
= Wine =
File:Hoop and Grapes - London's Oldest Pub^ - geograph.org.uk - 543347.jpg, Aldgate, was originally the Hops and Grapes, as it sold both beer and wine.]]
The pub name the Castle sometimes denoted the Coat of Arms of Castile in Spain, meaning that Spanish wines were available within.{{cite book |title=The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |year=2001 |page=883}} The Spread Eagle's name is from the heraldic depiction of an eagle 'displayed', probably from the arms of Germany, indicating that German wines were available within.
The name of the Hoop and Grapes, Aldgate High Street, London is a version of the Hops and Grapes, its original name, meaning that it sold both beer and wine. The pub survived the 1666 Great Fire of London, which stopped just short of the building.{{cite web |title=Welcome to The Hoop and Grapes, an historic pub in Aldgate |url=https://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/london/thehoopandgrapesaldgatelondon#/ |publisher=Nicholsons Pubs |access-date=19 April 2025}}
= Objects denoting the pub =
File:The 'Crooked Billet', Worsthorne, Lancashire - geograph.org.uk - 553587.jpg, Lancashire]]
Before painted inn signs became commonplace, medieval publicans often identified their establishments by hanging or standing a distinctive object outside the pub. This tradition dates back to Roman Britain, when vine leaves were hung outside tabernae to show where wine was sold.{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ben |title=Pub Signs of Britain |url=http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Pub-Signs-of-Britain/ |publisher=Historic UK |access-date=9 September 2016}} Pubs named the Hollybush, the Bull and Bush, or just the Bush may represent survivals of this custom.
Other objects used as pub names include a Boot, Copper Kettle, Plough, Boot and Slipper,{{cite web |url=https://www.chefandbrewer.com/pubs/buckinghamshire/boot-slipper/ |title=Boot and Slipper |website=Chef & Brewer |access-date=21 September 2021}} Horn(e),{{cite book |title=Wisbech Inns, Taverns and Beer-Houses : Past and Present |last=Ketley |first=Andy |volume=3 |publisher=Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum |year=2022 |page=76}} and Crooked Billet (a bent branch).{{cite news |title=Public Office, Bow-street |newspaper=Sun (London) |date=17 August 1805 |page=3}}
Sports
= Hunting, shooting, and fishing =
Names like Fox and Hounds, Greyhound, and Hare and Hounds indicate hunting grounds nearby. The Anglers Beerhouse, Wisbech{{cite book |last=Ketley |first=Andrew B. N. |title=Wisbech Inns, Taverns and Beer-Houses:Past and Present |publisher=Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum |year=2021 |page=28}} similarly indicates fishing in the vicinity. An unusual foxhunting pub name is the Hark to Bellman, Clitheroe, named after a hound of the huntsman John Peel.The Manchester Courier And Lancashire General Advertiser 8 July 1848 Finally, the Rabbits, Gainsborough names a frequent object of shooting.{{cite news |title=Mary Ringrose |newspaper=Stamford Mercury - Friday 23 August 1833 |page=4}} The Bird in Hand denotes falconry, possibly from King Henry VIII's liking for that activity. The Dog and Duck once named pubs where duck-baiting events were held.{{cite web |url=https://dl.tufts.edu/concern/images/2f75rh564 |title=Image | Old sign of the dog and duck. | ID: 2f75rh564 | |publisher=Tufts Digital Library}} The Fighting Cocks (or just 'Cock') indicated cockfighting (or a heraldic charge). Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in Saint Albans rivals Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham for the title of oldest pub; its name advertised actual cockfighting entertainment in the pub, accompanied by gambling on the winner.{{cite web |url=https://www.oldest.org/food/pubs-england/ |title=Ye Old Fighting Cocks |website=Oldest Pubs in England |date=13 November 2017 |access-date=21 September 2021}}
= Other sports =
Some pubs are named for other kinds of sport. Bowls is popular in the Manchester area: some of the greens are attached to pubs, including the Bowling Green Hotel in Chorlton-cum-Hardy.Lloyd, John (1972) The Township of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Manchester: E. J. Morten; pp. 104–06{{cite web |url=http://www.thcamra.org.uk/cms/images/stories/TheNotOxfordRoadPubSurvey.pdf |title=The not Oxford Road pub survey, October 2008 |last=Bruderer |first=Adam |access-date=13 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309042708/http://www.thcamra.org.uk/cms/images/stories/TheNotOxfordRoadPubSurvey.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2012 |url-status=dead}} The Nine Pins, Cambridge † was named after that sport,{{cite web |title=Nine Pins |url=https://www.closedpubs.co.uk/cambridgeshire/cambridge_ninepins.html |publisher=The Lost Pubs Project |access-date=21 April 2025}} while the Cricketers Arms and the Bat and Ball indicate cricket.{{cite web |title=The Bat and Ball |url=https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/food-and-drink/the-bat-and-ball-p1665021 |website=Visit Hampshire |access-date=20 April 2025}}
Places and things
Some pubs are named for a place, building, nearby topographic feature, or local animals and plants.
= Nearby structures =
File:First and Last Inn, Sennen - geograph.org.uk - 5463900.jpg, Cornwall, at the Western tip of the Penwith peninsula ]]
A simple example is the Barrack Tavern, Woolwich Common, which is near the army's Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.{{cite news |title=Masonic Intelligence |newspaper=Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser |date=10 June 1828 |page=3}} The Horsefair Tavern, Wisbech (from 2023 The Magwitch) was amed after the Horsefair (once a site for selling horses).{{cite web | url=https://www.admiraltaverns.co.uk/pubs/horsefairtavern/ |title=Horsefair Tavern |website=www.admiraltaverns.co.uk |access-date=30 December 2020}}{{cite web |title=Liberal Club |url=https://calm.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=KWL1%2FV%2F157 |website =Cambridgeshire County Council |access-date=28 September 2021}}
The Bridge Inn, Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, was named for the nearby floating bridge, held in place with chains, across the River Great Ouse.{{cite web |title=Bridge Inn, Twenty Pence Inn, Wilburton |url=https://capturingcambridge.org/east-cambridgeshire/wilburton/bridge-inn-twenty-pence-inn-wilburton/ |website=Capturing Cambridge |access-date=21 April 2025}}
The Windmill Inn, Newbold Verdon, Leicestershire was named for the nearby windmill, which ground grain until about 1910.{{cite web |last1=Reay |first1=Jim |title=Jim's Jaunt: Newbold Verdon & Brascote |url=https://leicester.camra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2017-Feb-Newbold-Verdon-Brascote.pdf |publisher=Campaign for Real Ale |access-date=21 April 2025}}
A few pubs are named for features of the natural landscape: The Nene Inn, Wisbech is named for the nearby river,{{cite book |title=Images of Wisbech no.4 |year=2020 |publisher=Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum |author=Andy Ketley}} while the Bunch of Carrots, Hampton Bishop is named after a rock formation.{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/the-23-weirdest-pub-names-in-britain |website=Weirdest pub names |title=Bunch of Carrots |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=20 September 2021}}
The First and Last is the nickname of The Redesdale Arms, the nearest pub to the border between England and Scotland, on the A68 between Rochester and Otterburn, Northumberland.{{cite web |title=Redesdale Arms |url=https://redesdale-arms.co.uk/about-us-1 |publisher=Redesdale Arms |access-date=17 April 2025 |quote=The Redesdale Arms in a 16th century coaching inn, known as the "First & Last" Inn on route to Scotland}} Similarly commemorating an isolated location is the Five Miles from Anywhere Inn: No Hurry, Upware, Cambridgeshire.{{cite web |url=https://www.fivemilesinn.com |title=Five Miles from Anywhere |website=www.fivemilesinn |access-date=30 December 2020}}
= Animals =
File:Sign at the Bustard Inn - geograph.org.uk - 5564012.jpg
Several pubs have animal names, some of them old. The Pied Bull in Chester in reputed to be the oldest licensed house in that city and dates back to 1155.{{cite web |url=https://www.piedbull.co.uk/ |title=The Pied Bull Restaurant, Hotel, Pub and Brewery in Chester |website=The Pied Bull}} The Pyewipe Inn, Lincoln (attested in 1863{{cite news |title=Lincoln City Police |newspaper=Stamford Mercury |date=18 December 1863 |page=5}}), gets its name from the Lincolnshire dialect word for the lapwing.{{Cite web |url=https://www.expedia.co.uk/Lincoln-Hotels-The-Pyewipe-Inn.h16270047.Hotel-Information|title=The Pyewipe Hotel information}} Other pubs with animals in their names include the Bald Faced Stag Inn, Finchley; it was notorious as frequented by murderers and criminal gangs, and possibly at the site of the local gibbet.{{cite book |title=The History of Gibbeting |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9vdDwAAQBAJ&q=wisbech+paddy%27s+nightcap&pg=PT156 |via=www.google.co.uk |isbn=978-1526755193 |access-date=2 February 2021 |last1=Priestley |first1=Samantha |date=30 March 2020 | publisher=Pen and Sword History |page=PT156}}
The Black Bear, Walsoken once had a stuffed black bear at its entrance.{{cite web |title=The Black Bear |url=https://www.visitcambridgeshirefens.org/the-black-bear-192 |website=www.visitcambridgeshirefens.org |access-date=24 September 2020}}
The Bustard Inn, South Rauceby (†, now a restaurant) was named in 1860 for a large bird; local tradition holds that the last great bustard in England was shot on the hill behind the restaurant.{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://thebustardinn.co.uk/bar/ |publisher=The Bustard Inn |access-date=21 April 2025 |quote=The Bustard Inn, which is a Grade II listed building, was so named because of the legend which states that the last Great Bustard in England was shot on Bustard Hill, which is sited behind the inn and is now known as Tom Lane. The Great Bustard, which is the heaviest flighted bird in the world with the male bird weighing up to 20kg, became extinct in this country in the mid 19th century.}} The Crane, Cambridge was named for that species, once numerous in The Fens; crane is a nickname for the inhabitants.{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Edith |title=Victorian Cambridge: Josiah Chater's Diaries |publisher=Phillimore |year=1975 |page=19}} The Lobster, Sheringham was patronised by the lifeboat crew who formed the Shanty Men.{{cite book |title=Norfolk |author=Beth Bridgewater |publisher=Encompass Press |year=1995 |page=80}} The Windmill, Tabley Inferior, on the site of a 16th-century listed building, is named after a racehorse once owned by former local landowner Lord de Tabley.{{Cite web|url=http://camra.org.uk/pubs/windmill-tabley-173567|title=Windmill, Tabley|website=CAMRA - The Campaign for Real Ale}}
= Plants =
Several plant names are used for pubs; if "Royal Oak" is accepted as one such, then it is one of the commonest, as the name is used by hundreds of pubs across England. Among the pubs named Hand and Flower(s) is one in Hammersmith, London.{{cite web |title=Welcome to The Hand & Flower |url=https://www.handandflower.co.uk/ |publisher=The Hand & Flower |access-date=17 April 2025}} Other plant-named pubs include the Artichoke at Chartham, Kent,{{cite web |title=Welcome to the Artichoke |url=https://www.artichokechartham.co.uk/ |publisher=The Artichoke, Chartham |access-date=21 April 2025}} and the Olde Yew Tree Inn, Westbere, Kent, founded in 1348.{{cite web |title=Kent's Oldest Pub |url=https://www.yewtreewestbere.co.uk/ |publisher=Yew Tree, Westbere |access-date=21 April 2025}}
Transport
= Land =
Some pub names allude to the road they are on, like the Highway Inn, Burford,{{cite web |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/Blog/Twelve-Oldest-Inns-In-England/ |title=Highway Inn |website=12 oldest pubs |date=12 February 2019 |access-date=20 September 2021}} or to things that were once seen on their road, like the Steamer, Welwyn, Hertfordshire: the pub is at the top of a steep hill where carriers required an extra horse (a cock-horse) to help get the wagon up the hill. After its exertion the cock-horse could be seen standing steaming on a cold day as its sweat evaporated.{{cite web |url=https://www.mcmullens.co.uk/steamer |website=www.mcmullens.co.uk |title=Steamer |access-date=2 February 2021}}
Several pub names are from common sights on 18th century roads, like the Coach and Horses, Horse and Groom, or Waggon and Horses. A less common name is I Am the Only Running Footman, Mayfair, London; it is named after a servant employed to run ahead of a carriage and pay tolls.{{cite book |last=Ash |first=Russell |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8Lrn8fcsrMC&pg=PT268 |title=Top 10 of Britain |chapter=British pubs with the longest names |publisher=Hachette |year=2009 |isbn=978-0600622512}} More recently, the Rusty Bicycle has become the new name of the Eagle in Oxford: the University of Oxford's students often cycle round the town.{{cite web |url=http://www.arkells.com/pubs_more2.php?id=609 |title=The Rusty Bicycle, Oxford - Cowley pub/food/functions - Arkell's Brewery Swindon |work=arkells.com}}
With the construction of canals and then railways in the Industrial Revolution, pubs named Navigation Inn and then Railway Inn or Station Inn became commonplace.
= Water =
File:The Politician - panoramio.jpg's only pub, was named after the SS Politician which sank there in 1941, releasing its cargo of cases of whisky.]]
Many pubs are beside water or in ports, benefiting from visitors from both land and sea. Pub names recalling sailors include the Jolly Sailor,{{cite web |url=https://www.almond-pubs.co.uk/pubs/the-jolly-sailor/ |website=www.almond-pubs.co.uk |title=Jolly Sailor |access-date=28 May 2025}} Jovial Sailor,{{cite web |url=https://www.baronspubs.com/jovialsailor/ |website=www.baronpubs.com |title=The Jovial Sailor |access-date=28 May 2025}} and Valiant Sailor.{{cite news |title=Lynn |newspaper=Norwich Mercury |date=31 August 1833 |page=3}} The Black Buoy, Wivenhoe is named after a type of channel marker buoy, as the owners had nautical connections.{{cite web |url=http://www.blackbuoy.co.uk/food.html |website=www.blackbuoy.co.uk |title=Black Buoy |access-date=2 February 2021}}
Pubs by canals include the Locks Inn, Geldeston, named for the nearby locks.{{cite book |title=Norfolk |author=Beth Bridgewater |publisher=Encompass Press |year=1995 |page=198}} The Shroppie Fly: Audlem, is named after a type of canalboat, the 'Shropshire Fly'.http://www.shroppiefly.co.uk/ {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213004047/http://www.shroppiefly.co.uk/ |date=13 February 2012 }} The Shroppie Fly website
As for rivers, the Tide End Cottage, Teddington marks the former tidal limit of the River Thames.{{cite web |title=Tide End Cottage |url=https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/middlesex/tide-end-cottage/book/ |website=www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2021}}
Some pubs are named for types of boat, including The Fishing Buss, Southwold;{{cite news |newspaper=Norfolk Chronicle |title=To Brewers, Wine and Spirit Merchants |date=29 July 1820 |page=1}} the Lifeboat Inn, Holme-Next-The-Sea, once a smuggler's inn;{{cite book |title=Norfolk |publisher=Encompass Press |author=Beth Bridgewater |year=1975 |page=50}} the Old Ferryboat, Holywell, Cambridgeshire;{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/pubs-and-bars/britains-oldest-pubs-in-pictures/the-old-ferryboat-inn-holywell-cambridgeshire/ |website=Telegraph |access-date=19 September 2021 |title=Old Ferryboat |date=6 May 2016}}
the Pilot Boat, such as at Bembridge, Isle of Wight; and the Steam Packet Tavern, Norwich.{{cite news |title=The Steam Packet Tavern |newspaper=Norfolk Chronicle |date=20 March 1858 |page=8}}
A special case is {{lang|gd|Am Politician}}, Eriskay. It is named (in Gaelic) after the SS Politician which sank close to the island in 1941 with a cargo including large amounts of whisky, prompting the story of the Compton Mackenzie novel Whisky Galore.{{cite web |title=Am Politician |url=https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/food-and-drink/am-politician-p525701 |website=Visit Outer Hebrides |publisher=Outer Hebrides Tourism (Trading) |access-date=12 June 2023}}
= Air =
File:Hatfield, The Comet hotel - geograph.org.uk - 209701.jpg]]
Air transport began with balloons, commemorated in pubs such as the Balloon, Stamford † (attested in 1848), near where the balloonist Mr. H. Green had made several ascents,{{cite news |title=Stamford |newspaper=Stamford Mercury |date=3 March 1848 |page=2}} and the Air Balloon, Birdlip, Gloucestershire, again near a field where early ascents were made.{{cite web |url=http://www.airballoon-pub-gloucestershire.co.uk/ |title=Pubs in Birdlip - The Air Balloon - Old English Inns |work=airballoon-pub-gloucestershire.co.uk}}
From the 20th century, several pub names recall pioneering aircraft, like the Comet at Hatfield, Hertfordshire: the pub is named for the de Havilland DH.88 racer, famous for winning of the 1934 McRobertson Cup air race.{{cite web |title=History of the Comet Hotel |url=https://comethotel.co.uk/history/ |publisher=Comet Hotel |access-date=17 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119224043/https://comethotel.co.uk/history/ |archive-date=19 January 2025 |url-status=live}} The Canopus, Hill Road, Borstal, Rochester † is similarly named after the flying boats produced at the nearby Short Brothers aircraft factory,{{cite web |title=Canopus |url=http://www.dover-kent.com/2014-project-a/Canopus-Borstal.html |website=Dover Kent Archives |access-date=17 April 2025}} while the Flying Boat, Dartford is housed in what was the office of Beadles, a company which manufactured the floats for Sunderland flying boats in the Second World War.{{cite web |title=The Flying Boat pub |url=https://www.kentlive.news/whats-on/music-nightlife/hidden-history-behind-every-wetherspoons-3851667 |publisher=Kent Live |access-date=17 April 2025}} The Airman, Feltham, Middlesex is named for its proximity to the London Air Park (latterly Hanworth Air Park).{{cite web |title=Airman, Feltham |url=https://camra.org.uk/pubs/airman-feltham-121724 |publisher=CAMRA |access-date=17 April 2025}} The Flying Bedstead, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire † (now demolished): was named after the prototype aircraft which led to the Harrier Jump Jet.{{cite web |title=Flying Bedstead, Hucknall |url=https://camra.org.uk/pubs/flying-bedstead-hucknall-162727 |publisher=CAMRA |access-date=17 April 2025}} Finally the name of the Red Arrow, Lutterworth, Leicestershire recalls the name of the RAF aerobatics team; the pub has a sloping triangular roof and was formerly called the "flying saucer".{{cite web |title=Lutterworth heritage assets preserved for future generations |url=https://rugbyobserver.co.uk/news/lutterworth-heritage-assets-preserved-for-future-generations/ |publisher=Lutterworth Observer |access-date=17 April 2025 |date=23 February 2022}}
Literature
= Names from fiction =
File:The 'Moon Under Water', High Street, Watford - geograph.org.uk - 610214.jpg|The Moon Under Water, Watford, named after George Orwell's description
File:Escaped convict Magwitch, by J. Clayton Clarke (Kyd), c. 1900.jpg|Abel Magwitch, by "Kyd" (Joseph Clayton Clark), c. 1900
File:The Hobbit Southampton (cropped).JPG|The Hobbit, Southampton, named for the 1937 book by J. R. R. Tolkien
Several pubs are named for works of fiction, their lead characters, or their authors.
= Pubs in fiction from real-world pubs =
{{further|List of real London pubs in literature}}
File:The Ivy Bush pub - geograph.org.uk - 152096.jpg, West Midlands]]
Some well-known pub names in fiction derive from real English pubs. The Ivy Bush is a "small inn on the Bywater road" near Hobbiton in The Shire in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Here Gaffer Gamgee recounted to the other regulars his stories about Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who were about to throw a magnificent joint birthday party.The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Long-expected Party". The most likely real-world source is an Edgbaston pub called the Ivy Bush, near where Tolkien lived when he was growing up in Birmingham.Blackham, Bob, 'Tolkien's Birmingham', in Mallorn, the journal of The Tolkien Society issue 45, Spring 2008, p.27{{cite book |last=Hooker |first=Mark T. |date=2009 |title=The Hobbitonian Anthology |publisher=Llyfrawr |page=81 |isbn=978-1448617012}} The Fortune of War, Smithfield was on "Pie Corner" (where the Great Fire of London stopped) and was frequented by Resurrectionists including the London Burkers, two of whom, John Bishop and Thomas Williams, were hanged for murder after they sold the bodies for dissection.{{cite news |title=Executions |newspaper=Leicester Journal |date=9 December 1831 |page=4}} The pub is mentioned in William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 Vanity Fair.{{cite book |last=Thackeray |first=William Makepeace |author-link=William Makepeace Thackeray |title=Vanity Fair |year=1848 |chapter=How to Live Well on Nothing a Year}} The 1903 music hall song "Down at the old Bull and Bush" is named for The Old Bull and Bush pub in Hampstead.{{cite web |title=Artist Biography: Florrie Forde |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/florrie-forde-mn0000798137 |website=Allmusic |access-date=20 April 2025}}
People
= Individuals =
File:Portrait of the Marquess of Granby.jpg.]]
Royal pub names include the King of Prussia, Gosport, for Frederick the Great;{{cite news |title=To be sold by auction |newspaper=Hampshire Chronicle |date=24 September 1798 |page=1}} the Queen of Bohemia, Wych Street, London, † named after Elizabeth, daughter of James I and Anne of Denmark;{{cite news |title=Sunday Night |newspaper=Bury and Norwich Post |date=29 April 1801 |page=2}} and the Three Queens Inn, Burton.{{cite news |title=Advertisement |newspaper=Derby Mercury |date=5 February 1735 |page=4}}
People commemorated directly in pub names include the local lifeguard William Adams at Gorleston-on-Sea,{{Cite web|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/20729789.this-beyond-wildest-dreams---familys-pride-new-wetherspoon-pub-opens-gorleston/|title=‘This is beyond my wildest dreams’ - family’s pride as new Wetherspoon pub opens in Gorleston|date=March 13, 2018|website=Eastern Daily Press}} the soldier poet Rupert Brooke in Grantchester,{{cite web |title=Rupert Brooke |url=https://pubs.sawdays.co.uk/britain/england/cambridgeshire/the-rupert-brooke#search_type=keyword&search_text=cambridgeshire& |website=www.pubs.sawdays.co.uk |access-date=24 September 2020}} the actor David Garrick, Cambridge †,{{cite book |title=Victorian Cambridge =Josiah Chater's Diaries |author=Enid Porter |publisher =Philimore |year=1875 |page=164}} and the many pubs named after John Manners, Marquess of Granby.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-4SrdUPNFoC&q=Marquess+of+Granby+pub&pg=PA250 |title=Dictionary of Pub Names – Google Books |date=September 2006 |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |isbn=9781840222661 |access-date=26 July 2009}} Other famous figures on pub signs include Shakespeare, Redland, Bristol,{{cite web |url=https://theshakespearebristol.co.uk/ |title=The Shakespeare |work=Redland, Bristol}}{{cite web |url=https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en/4-pubs-shakespeare-actually-drank-you-can-too |title=Shakespeare's Tree |work=Visit Britain |date=21 April 2016}} and the politician Robert Walpole, at the Walpole Arms, Itteringham.{{cite book |title=Norfolk |author=Beth Bridgewater |publisher=Encompass Press |year=1995 |page=92}}
Victorious sailors commemorated in pub names include Admiral Lord Nelson,{{cite web |title=Lord Nelson |url=https://www.lordnelsonsouthwark.com/ |publisher=Lord Nelson, Southwark |access-date=18 April 2025}} Admiral Rodney at the Rodney Inn, Wisbech,{{cite book |title=Wisbech Inns, Taverns and Beer-Houses : Past and Present |last=Ketley |first=Andy |year=2023 |publisher=Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum |volume=5 |page=79}} Admiral Collingwood in several pubs in the North-East of England, Guy Earl of Warwick, in Welling, Dartford,{{cite web |url=http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/53134/ |title=Guy Earl of Warwick |work=Pubs Galore}} dates from at least 1896.{{cite web |url=http://londonpublichouse.com/LondonSuburbs1896/Publicans1896SouthG.shtml |title=London (South) 1896 Suburban Publicans directory listing - G |work=londonpublichouse.com}}
= Trades =
File:The Blind Beggar - Whitechapel - E1.jpg, Whitechapel, London E1]]
Many pub names record long-forgotten professions.
Names with a purpose
= Puns, jokes and corruptions =
File:Cat and Fiddle public house - geograph.org.uk - 40707.jpg, Hampshire]]
Although puns became increasingly popular through the twentieth century, they should be considered with care. Supposed corruptions of foreign phrases can have simpler explanations. The Dolphin is anglicised from the French Dauphin, commemorating battles in which England defeated France. For example the one in Wellington, Somerset is named in honour of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo.{{cite web |url=http://www.thedolphinwellington.co.uk |title=The Dolphin - Wellington, Somerset |work=thedolphinwellington.co.uk}} Some names are simply humorous, like the Paraffin Oil Shop †, in eastern Liverpool, named so that people could say that they were going to buy paraffin.{{cite web |url=http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/lancashire/liverpool_l13_paraffinoilshop.html |title=Paraffin Oil Shop, Liverpool - another lost pub |website=www.closedpubs.co.uk}} [https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4099299,-2.9170457,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1k-k5U11NpKA3tPjlBAhrg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en Google Earth view]
= Curiosities =
File:Drunken Duck from Black Crag - geograph.org.uk - 1184439.jpg]]
The pubs with the shortest and longest names in Britain are both in Stalybridge: Q and The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn.{{cite news |last1=Wolfe-Robinson |first1=Maya |title=Pub with longest name in UK reopens next to pub with shortest |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/16/pub-longest-name-uk-reopens-next-pub-shortest-stalybridge-rifleman-q |access-date=5 September 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=16 June 2019}} The longest name of a London pub, I am the Only Running Footman,{{cite web |title=I am the Only Running Footman |url=https://www.diffordsguide.com/pubs-and-bars/1588/london/the-only-running-footman-pub |website=Difford's Guide |access-date=5 September 2020}} was used as the title of a mystery novel by Martha Grimes.{{cite book | last=Grimes | first=Martha | title=I am the only running footman | publisher=Headline | location=London | year=1987 | isbn=978-0-7472-3103-5 | oclc=32016323 | page=Title page}} There is a "pub with no name" in Southover Street, Brighton,{{cite web |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g186273-d3722852-Reviews-Pub_With_No_Name-Brighton_East_Sussex_England.html |title=The Southover |work=tripadvisor.com.au}} and another near to Petersfield, Hampshire so known (despite having an actual name), because its sign on the nearest main road has been missing for many years.{{Cite web |url=https://www.whitehorsepetersfield.co.uk/ |title=The White Horse - Home |website=www.whitehorsepetersfield.co.uk}} The Salley Pussey's Inn at Royal Wootton Bassett is said to have been named after Sarah Purse, whose family owned The Wheatsheaf pub in the 19th century. In the 1970s the name was changed to the Salley Pussey's.{{cite web |last=Marshman |first=Mike |title=Sarah Purse becomes Sally Pussey |url=https://wshc.org.uk/sarah-purse-becomes-sally-pussey/ |publisher=Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre |date=25 February 2014}} The Defector's Weld, Shepherd's Bush is apparently named for the coming together of the Cambridge Five spies who were working at the BBC nearby during the Cold War.{{cite web |title=Defector's Weld, Shepherds Bush |url=https://camra.org.uk/pubs/defectors-weld-shepherds-bush-128695 |publisher=CAMRA |access-date=19 April 2025}}
The Lake District pub the Drunken Duck is supposedly named for a 19th century event, when a landlady found her ducks apparently dead. After she had plucked them in preparation for cooking them, they awoke, recovering from eating some beer-soaked feed. She is said to have knitted woollen waistcoats for them to replace their feathers.
= Pairing and branding =
File:Slug & Lettuce, St Mary Street, Cardiff.jpg chain of pubs, in Cardiff ]]
Common enough today, the pairing of words in the name of an inn or tavern was rare before the mid-17th century. By 1708, it had become frequent enough for a pamphlet to complain of "the variety and contradictory language of the signs", citing absurdities such as 'Bull and Mouth', 'Whale and Cow', and 'Shovel and Boot'. Two years later an essay in The Spectator echoed this complaint, deriding such contemporary paired names as 'Bell and Neat's Tongue', though accepting 'Cat and Fiddle'. One explanation for doubling is the combining of businesses, for example when a landlord of one pub moved to another premises.{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Jacqueline |author-link=Jacqueline Simpson |title=Green Men and White Swans: The Folklore of British Pub Names |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-84794-515-0 |year=2010 |pages= }}
Some pub chains in the UK adopt the same or similar names for many pubs as a means of brand expression. Examples include "The Moon Under Water", commonly used by the JD Wetherspoon chain (and inspired by George Orwell's 1946 essay in the Evening Standard, "The Moon Under Water"), and the "Tap and Spile" brand name used by the now defunct Century Inns chain.{{cite web |title=Moon under Water |url=https://www.jdwetherspoon.com |website=www.jdwetherspoon.com |access-date=2 February 2021}}{{cite web |title=Century inns |url=https://dev.qynn.co.uk/company/02638211/century-inns-limited |website=www.dev.gynn.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2021}} Paired names intended to be amusing like the Slug and Lettuce pub chain (all with the same name),{{cite web |title=Feel Good at Slug and Lettuce |url=https://www.stonegategroup.co.uk/press/feel-good-at-slug-and-lettuce/ |publisher=Stonegate Group |access-date=19 April 2025}} and the Firkin Brewery's chain with names like 'Frog and Firkin' in the late 20th century (discontinued when it was taken over by Punch Taverns), was responsible for many more pub names.{{cite news |last=Murray-West |first=Rosie |title=Firkin chain to go as Punch Taverns looks to future |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4463723/Firkin-chain-to-go-as-Punch-Taverns-looks-to-future.html |accessdate=1 July 2016 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=1 September 2000}}
Most common
{{see also|List of pubs in the United Kingdom}}
File:Red Lion public house.jpg|Red Lion, Avebury, Wiltshire
File:The Royal Oak (2) - sign, 15 Trinity Churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 2100861.jpg|Royal Oak, Guildford, Surrey
File:SwanInn.jpg|Swan, Stroud, Gloucestershire
File:Crown Hotel, Nantwich (1).JPG|Crown, Nantwich, Cheshire
An authoritative list of the most common pub names in Great Britain is hard to establish, owing to several ambiguities, such as what counts as a pub as opposed to a licensed restaurant, so lists of this form tend to vary hugely. Major surveys include those by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), and Pubs Galore.{{cite web |url=http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/stats/pubs/pub-names/#Most |title=Common pub names on Pubs Galore |website=www.pubsgalore.co.uk}} In addition, many pubs have closed. In 2008, there were some 50,000 pubs in Britain; by 2018 there were about 39,000.{{cite web |title=Economies of ale: small pubs close as chains focus on big bars |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/articles/economiesofalesmallpubscloseaschainsfocusonbigbars/2018-11-26 |website=Census 2021 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=30 January 2025 |date=26 November 2018}}
| +Most common pub names according to different sources
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See also
References
{{reflist}}
= Sources =
- Brewer, E. Cobham (1898) Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Cassell and Co.
- Cox, Barrie (1994) English Inn and Tavern Names. Nottingham: Centre for English Name Studies, {{ISBN |978-0-9525343-0-3}}
- Dunkling, Leslie (1994) Pub Names of Britain, London: Orion (1994), {{ISBN |1-85797-342-9}}
- Dunkling, Leslie & Wright, Gordon (2006) The Dictionary of Pub Names. Ware: Wordsworth Editions {{ISBN |1-84022-266-2}}
- Myrddin ap Dafydd (1992) Welsh Pub Names. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch {{ISBN |0-86381-185-X}} (Translation of: Enwau tafarnau Cymru)
- Wright, Gordon & Curtis, Brian J. (1995) Inns and Pubs of Nottinghamshire: the stories behind the names. Nottingham: Nottinghamshire County Council {{ISBN |0-900943-81-5}}
Further reading
- [Anon] (1969) Inn Signs: their history and meaning. London: the Brewers' Society.
- {{cite book |last=Delderfield |first=Eric R. |year=1965 |title=British Inn Signs and Their Stories |location=London |publisher=David & Charles |ref=none}}
- Douch, H. L. (1966) Old Cornish Inns and their place in the social history of the County. Truro: D. Bradford Barton.
- Lamb, Cadbury and Wright, Gordon (1968) Inn Signs. London: Shire Publications.
- Monson-Fitzjohn, G. J. (1926) Quaint Signs of Old Inns. London: Senate Books.
- Richardson, A. E. (1934) The Old Inns of England. London: B. T. Batsford.
- Townsend, C. R. (2005) Inn-vestigated. The Origins of Public House Names. Leicester: Reprint.
External links
{{commons category-inline}}
- [http://www.innsignsociety.com The Inn Sign Society]
- [http://www.breweryartists.co.uk Brewery Arts], a short history of studio inn signs