Old Pubs in the UK

The Ostrich Inn, Colnbrook, England (near Heathrow)

The UK is renowned for its pubs and you will want to go into one or more while you are visiting, whether you consume alcohol or not. Many non alcoholic drinks are served too and many pubs now have food of an excellent standard.  And of course there is usually fish and chips, as British standard.

I lived near the Ostrich Inn at one time and I took a friend to see it last year while in England for a visit. It was my friend's first English pub experience and she loved it.  The old timbers and the old fireplaces and furnishings make for a special ambience.  The Ostrich Inn offers rooms for the night as it has done for centuries.  Two separate parties checked in while we were there.

There is some controversy as to the date of its origins.  It is thought by many to originate from 1106 as there is a note that a Hospice in Colebroc (Ostrich in Colnbrook) was gifted to Abingdon Abbey in 1106.
Colnbrook was on the London road so would have been on a well trodden route to and from London.

The historical information around this Inn is that a landlord by the name of Jarman (thought to have been there in the 12th Century) killed.lodgers by managing to pull pins in the kitchen which upended the bed after which a trap door opened and the poor person slid into a large pot of boiling water or fat.
What I was told when I was there, was that the landlord would choose a guest who was travelling alone so wouldn't be missed.  That guest would be put in the room over the kitchen. If someone did ask where the person was the next morning, they would just be told that he had left early.  Jarman was caught after the last man's horse returned to the Inn empty and a search was undertaken for its master.  Jarman was found in Windsor woods.  He said he had killed 60 guests.

There are quite a few older pubs in the UK which include the Old Ferry Boat Inn in Cambridgeshire (from 560 AD), Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Alban's (793 AD), )Porch House, Gloucestershire (947 AD) and Bingley Arms in West Yorkshire (953 AD). There is a pub in Llanvihangel Crucorney, Wales that is said to have originated in 1160 and once was a courthouse.

It is often difficult to say which have been the longest ongoing running pubs as sometimes the original building was used for something else or has been replaced at some time.  It is said, however, that the Old Ferry Boat Inn has serviced alcohol since 560 AD!  

When you go to the UK, have fun searching out old pubs and learning of their history.