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Pub facts

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Pub facts

Pub facts

  • The use of animals as pub names harks back to times when literacy was rare, and pictures of swans, horses or dogs were used to mark houses where beer was brewed. The Black Horse became popular in the 17th century as it was the nickname of the popular 7th Dragoon Guards.

  • Royalty was often honoured by loyal publicans. The Queen’s Head was probably first used for Elizabeth I, but she got so annoyed with inferior portraits she insisted all amateurish signs be burnt. Prince Albert was a particularly popular choice, with more than 30 remaining in London alone.

  • The word Arms in a name often refers to the ownership of the land, which is why you will find the Devonshire Arms in London, Derbyshire and Yorkshire as well as the county itself, the pubs being originally built on estates owned by the hugely wealthy dukes of Devonshire.

  • Admirals are well represented in pub names, sailors being enthusiastic drinkers in times past. Nelson was the most popular, with more pubs being names after him than any other person. Vernon, another naval hero of the 18th century, also gave us Portobello, after his capture of the Panama islands.

  • EastEnders’ Queen Vic speaks for itself, and the Woolpack is a popular name for a pub in sheep farming country like Emmerdale, being the word for a bale of wool prepared for sale, but Coronation Street’s Rovers Return is more obscure, named in honour of veterans of the Boer War.

  • The coming of the railways in the 19th century made a huge impact on life in Britain and was reflected in a flood of newly accessible pubs, often right next to the station. As well as the obvious, pubs took names like Morning Star and North Star – locomotives designed by George Stephenson.

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