Do you know your Alehouse from your Tavern and your Inn from your Public House?
The existence of what we now call a ‘Pub’ goes back many hundreds of years. It seems our desire to meet and socialise over a tipple or two is timeless, stretching back across countless generations. Over the years, however, the public house has had many iterations – from alehouse to taverns and inns. Do you know the difference between them?
Alehouse
Alehouses have existed in the British Isles since before the Norman Conquest. However, it wasn’t until the 14th century, when the hop arrived in Belgium that alehouses began to be established. The Black Death also meant that there was a labour shortage, which, in turn, drove up wages and meant that people had more disposable income. By 1577, there were around 24,000 alehouses in existence in the United Kingdom. However, like the name suggests, alehouses were simply houses in which ale or beer was sold and quite dissimilar to our pubs of today.
Tavern
A tavern was different to an alehouse in that it tended to be larger in size and concentrated more on serving wine as opposed to beer. They also tended to attract a better standard of customer. During the seventeenth century, a tavern was regarded as the meeting place for a gentleman, latterly being usurped by the introduction of coffee houses by 1800.
Inn
This was typically a house to accommodate travellers. There were generally two types of Inn – those that faced the road and those that were built around an inner courtyard. By the end of the seventeenth century, thanks to the growing coaching network and new turnpike roads, inns were increasing in number.
Public House
The term public house can be applied as the collective noun for taverns, inns and alehouses, with the first recording of the term appearing in 1669. Despite the fact that many public houses had a bar and a cellar – features that we now recognise in our modern day public houses – these establishments at this time remained quite primitive. By 1880 there was more regulation around licensing and standards. The difficulty in obtaining licenses meant that brewers began to acquire pubs, leading to a ‘golden age’ of pub building with many fine buildings appearing in our towns and cities.
Pub names
Pubs are often named after animals, monarchs, locations and historic events to name a few. Many customers of early public houses were unable to read so pictorial signs were used to differentiate each public house. However, before painted inn signs became commonplace, publicans would often identify their establishment by hanging or standing a distinctive object outside the pub, such as a boot, a copper kettle, or a crooked billet (a bent branch from a tree) and their names derived from there.
Some pub names are corruptions of phrases or puns. Take for example, the pub name ‘The Cat and Fiddle’ – this is a possible corruption Caton le Fidèle (a governor of Calais loyal to King Edward III). Alternatively the name may derive from Katherine la Fidèle, Henry VIII’s first wife.
According to a survey conducted by the British Beer and Pub Association, the top three most common names for pubs in Great Britain are:
- Red Lion
- Royal Oak
- White Hart
