Hotels, Pubs, Bars and Taverns United Kingdom-wide by Publocation

In 1393 Richard II ordered anyone brewing ale to sell to hang out a sign or forfeit their ale. With most drinkers unable to read, a picture worked better than a name.

The UK had 44,656 pubs in 2025, down from 46,829 in 2020. In the first nine months of 2026, 295 more closed for good, about one a day.

The timber-framed Seven Stars at Foots Cray in Bexley is listed as probably 16th century or earlier, and parts of it are said to be 600 years old.

The Rake, tucked behind Borough Market, is so small it's often called London's tiniest pub, though the owners have never claimed the title themselves.

The George Inn on Borough High Street is the only surviving galleried coaching inn in London. Rebuilt after a fire swept Southwark in 1676, it has belonged to the National Trust since 1937 and gets a mention in Dickens' Little Dorrit.

Mabel Mudge ran the Drewe Arms at Drewsteignton, Devon, for 75 years, from 1919 until she retired in 1994 aged 99, making her Britain's longest-serving licensee.

Five London Underground stations are named after pubs: Royal Oak, Angel, Elephant & Castle, Swiss Cottage and Manor House. Count Maida Vale, named after the Hero of Maida inn, and it's six.

In 1946 George Orwell described his perfect pub, the Moon Under Water, in the Evening Standard, then admitted it didn't exist. Seven pubs on our list now carry the name.

There's been a pub at 145 Fleet Street since 1538, rebuilt around 1667 after the Great Fire. Dickens, Chesterton and Twain drank here, and Polly the parrot, who died in 1926, is still on display, stuffed.

Manchester's Old Wellington Inn dates from 1552. It was jacked up about 5 ft in 1971, then after the 1996 IRA bomb it was taken apart and rebuilt nearby as part of Shambles Square.

The Old Bell on Fleet Street is said to have been built for Christopher Wren's masons while they rebuilt St Bride's church after the Great Fire of 1666.

Bolton's Ye Olde Man and Scythe claims a history going back to 1251, and the building was rebuilt in 1636. The 7th Earl of Derby is said to have rested there before he was beheaded by the market cross outside in 1651, and the chair he reputedly sat in still carries a plate saying so.

George Orwell was a regular at the Dog and Duck in Soho. When Animal Farm was picked by America's Book of the Month Club he celebrated there with absinthe, and the upstairs bar now carries his name.