What is the Oldest Pub in England? This One!

Pubs (from Public Houses) evolved over centuries in England and, if you really need to know, can be separated into three categories – these are inns, taverns and ale houses.  Each had a slightly different purpose, which the video below by Historic England explains really well.  However, if you go to any town or city in the UK that has been around for a thousand years or more (and there are many of those!), then you will often find this pub or that pub being mooted as the oldest in the land.  Sometimes, the reasons for the claim are stretched beyond the credulity of even the sympathetic of tourists, but we at last have an answer for which is the oldest pub in the UK.

It’s gorgeous too – just dripping with history that would make a location scout for a costume drama swoon with that adrenaline rush that comes when you have found something that would fit almost any occasion.  The George Inn (in Norton St Philip, Somerset) fits that exactly – built in the 14^th century for the monks of Hinton Charterhouse, it served to give merchants attending the monastery’s markets and fairs a place to stay and get drunk after a hard day of merchandising.  Lots of features have been added over the course of the centuries – all to enhance the original and extract more profit.  That makes me wonder – how much money has The George Inn made over the six centuries it has been in existence? Now I’m beginning to swoon.  Watch the video about the pub below.