During summer there’s nothing quite like supping on a pint in the uniquely British setting of an historic pub. So it’s a sad fact that so many of the nation’s hostelries are closing and some of our most historically important pubs are now at risk. Across the country 26 pubs are shutting a week according to the latest figures from the Campaign for Real Ale. Yet these institutions have often been at the heart of their communities for centuries.
Unlike churches or stately homes there are rarely concerted campaigns to save our oldest watering holes. However, while pubs are suffering thanks to the hard economic climate and our changing drinking habits, we have to realise that these are more than just businesses. As well as their architectural interest they are buildings rich with stories that provide us with a vital link to the past, whether it’s in the form of momentous national events or local history.
In the last 1000 years pubs have served all sorts of functions alongside quenching our thirst from being the first playhouses to guesthouses for of our kings and queens on their travels.
But the contribution of ‘the pub’ to our national heritage is often ignored. For one reason or another we have already lost Southwark’s Tabard, the real life inn where Chaucer placed his pilgrims on the start of their journey in his Canterbury Tales, the White Horse in Ipswich, frequented by writer Charles Dickens and lovingly described in The Pickwick Papers and the Blue Boar in Leicester which was last resting place of Richard III, before the Battle of Bosworth.
Thankfully you can still visit the George, London’s last galleried pub dating back 500 years and known to Shakespeare, the New Inn at Gloucester where Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen and pubs with a truly ancient heritage like The Bingley Arms near Leeds dating back to 905AD. But for how long will they, and many less well known old pubs, survive?
In Tudor times there was an inn, alehouse or tavern for every 200 people. Today that figure is more like one for every 1200. One of the problems is that even those who drink in old pubs are often unaware of their history. It’s up to all of us - customers, staff, community groups, local planners and national government - to rally round and make sure we cherish our pubs, especially the really old ones. So this summer, seek out your local historic hostelry, order a drink and wallow in a proud tradition, knowing that you are also helping to preserve a piece of our nation’s story.
James Moore is one of the authors of 'Ye Olde Good Inn Guide, A Tudor Traveller’s Guide to the Nation’s Finest Taverns', by James Moore and Paul Nero. It is published by the History Press and out now. Visit www.historicpubguide.com to find out more about Britain's most historic pubs and hotels.