Why The Rose And Crown?

Here I delve into the world of pub names which throws up a fascinating insight into our history, culture, folklore, local features, industrial heritage, agriculture, and many other weird and wonderful things. Here's a few of the things I've discovered along the way....

I have often wondered how pubs got their names, particularly the unusual ones that I've come across up and down the country. Some of these date back for centuries from a time when most of the customers were illiterate so a sign depicting a familiar object, a coat of arms, the monarch, or something relating to a trade or activity would be used rather than a written sign. Add into this local names and legends and the pub names of the country started to build up. And whilst no doubt some of the names that have appeared over the years have simply being a case of opting for something familiar rather than for any other particular reason, the names of pubs can provide a fascinating insight into the history of the country. 

The most popular pub name in the country is the Red Lion, of which there are approximately 435 examples. Its origins can be traced back to a couple of historic reasons. One was John of Gaunt (1340 -1399) who was Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of Edward III. He became Viceroy to his father, who subsequently became senile, and consequently became de facto ruler of England and was thus the most influential person in the country for that time. He became increasingly unpopular amongst the ordinary people though which saw an insurrection led by Wat Tyler in which his palace was destroyed. His legacy lives on though as his badge was of a red lion. It was also a heraldic reference to Scotland, and so when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, he ordered that the sign of a red lion be displayed in public places.

The Red Lion, Histon, Cambridgeshire. One of  435....

Meanwhile what else is lurking in the list?

Here are 20 of the most commonly found pub names, please be aware that these are subject to change due to the sad decline in pub numbers we have experienced over the past few years and all numbers are approximate;

1. Red Lion - approximately 435 pubs

2. Royal Oak - 349

3. Crown - 268

4. White Hart - 238

5. Rose and Crown - 202

6. White Horse - 195

7. King's Head - 194

8. King's Arms - 188

9. Swan - 175

10. Queen's Head - 173

11. Prince of Wales - 158

12. Plough - 152

13. Wheatsheaf - 140

14. Black Horse - 133

15. Bell - 121

16. Fox and Hounds - 120

17. White Lion - 118

18. Coach and Horses - 117

19= George -114

19= Three Horseshoes - 114

Meanwhile, looking through the list of the Top 20 pubs there are plenty which relate to the monarchy, with names like the King's Arms. Queens Head, and Prince of Wales quite obvious, as are the Royal Oak, the Crown, and the Rose and Crown (as shown in the opening image, the sign is that of the pub of that name in Ludlow, Shropshire). Less obvious ones with a royal connection are White Hart at number 4 which was the heraldic symbol used by Richard II and whilst the Swan could quite easily refer to the bird, the fact that all swans belong to the monarch implies a royal connection. Other themes that occur in the Top 20 pub names hark back to agriculture with the inclusion of the Plough and the Wheatsheaf, whilst Coach and Horses was a popular name for the coaching inns that sprung up along the turnpikes, providing food and refreshments and a bed for the night and stabling for the horses. Bell was a popular visual symbol used, and may also have been adopted for pubs built near to a church. Fox and Hounds recalls hunting. And further down the list of pub names there are many variations and derivatives from the above, such as Rose and Thistle and Ring O'Bells.

The Crown Hotel, Liverpool

Other names that commonly occur relate to transport such as the Railway, the Station, the Navigation, and the Ship, of which there are plenty of variations up and down the country. As the Industrial Revolution took hold other names began to be adopted which reflected the various trades that grew up, such as the Colliers Arms, the Miners Arms, the Builders Arms, the Engineers, and the Spinners, which were often limited to the areas in which the particular trade was predominant. So there would be say a Tinners Arms in Cornwall where tin mining took place but not in places like Liverpool or Birmingham where different trades dominated. Some would be quite obscure as well to the uninitiated, such as the former Slubbers Arms in Huddersfield, which related to a process within the woollen industry which in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a big employer in the area. Other trades and professions referred to include the navy, with for example the Jolly Sailors a common name or the army, with such as the Volunteers. Then there is the famous Blind Beggar in Whitechapel, the Fleece and Golden Fleece in various locations which recall the wool trade again, the Chemic Tavern in Leeds which referred to the workers at the nearby Woodhouse Chemical Works and the Drum and Monkey in Glasgow which recalls the showmen who used to travel around with a performing monkey that used to beat a drum as part of the act.

Another theme adopted for pub names include literature. Examples include the Peveril of the Peak, which as well as being a classic Manchester pub was the title of a novel by Sir Walter Scott. The Moon Under Water was a name adopted by Wetherspoons for several of their earliest pubs which referred to an essay written by George Orwell in which he described his ideal pub. Another Wetherspoons pub is the Herbert Wells in Woking. In his classic book The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells describes how the Surrey town was destroyed by invaders from Mars. There is a Sherlock Holmes in Charing Cross, London. There are several pubs called the Three Pigeons up and down the country, not least the famous one in Halifax. Now the name could refer to the practice of pigeon-fancying which was common in the north of England, but there are several in other locations further south in places like Norwich and Banbury where they don't fancy pigeons as much which could have been named after the pub featured in several works of literature including Our Mutual Friend, the last novel written by Charles Dickens.

The Three Pigeons, Halifax

Famous people crop up regularly in pub names. Common ones are the Shakespeare which has examples all over the country. Others relate to military figures such as Lord Nelson or Admiral Benbow, whilst the Boleyn Tavern in east London recalls one of Henry VIII's six wives, Anne Boleyn. Many well known figures and names with local connections are recognised, often by Wetherspoons. So the Spoons pub in Morecambe is known as the Eric Bartholomew, the real name of comedian Eric Morecambe, the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel is celebrated in Portsmouth, children's author Richmal Crompton in Bromley, the man who first ran carrying a football from which developed rugby is acknowledged at the William Webb Ellis in Twickenham, as is another sporting legend, Yorkshire cricketer from the sepia era, Hedley Verity at one of the Wetherspoons in Leeds, with actor Peter Cushing lending his name to the Spoons in Whitstable.

Sport is another recurring feature. In addition to the examples above there are several pubs called the Sportsman, such as in Huddersfield, the Cricketers in St Helens, the Footballers in the Lancashire village of Summerseat near Bury, bowls in several pubs across the country called the Bowling Green, and fishing such as in the former Jolly Angler in Manchester, the Angler's Rest in Bamford, Derbyshire, and the Angler's Retreat in the village of Wintersett near Wakefield.

The Sportsman, Huddersfield

In acknowledging the wealth and variety of pub names around the country it is only fair to pay some credit, for all their other shortcomings, to Wetherspoons, whose large estate often acknowledges not just people but local events and places that might otherwise be overlooked or forgotten. Many acknowledge their former use, such as the Ritz in Lincoln which was a cinema previously, the Old Chapel in Darwen, the Counting House in Glasgow which was formerly a bank, whilst the Wagon Works in Eastleigh acknowledges the importance of the local railway yards. 

The Ritz, Lincoln

The coming of micropubs and more modern bars brought with it some quirky and quite humorous names in and amongst more prosaic names like Malt and Hops, and - insert owner's name - Bar. One of my favourites is the Golden Smog in Stockton-on-Tees which refers to the glow from the local steelworks on a cloudy night. The Meandering Bear in Halifax is named after a bear which escaped from a short-lived and ill-fated zoo on the edge of the town in the early years of last century, the story of which is commemorated in a poem on a wall panel in the bar.

One interesting fact relating to pub names is that the pub with the shortest name in the country and the one with the longest are both in the same town. Stalybridge is the home of both Q and - deep breath -The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn which closed in its original location in 2016 but was then re-opened a few years later in a different building less than 50 yards away from Q. Mind you in this town with such a notable place in the world of pub names Wetherspoons for once missed a trick. Instead of calling their pub in the town the rather bland Society Rooms they could have called it the Jack Judge. He was the composer who wrote the song It's a Long Way to Tipperary in the town's Newmarket Tavern in 1912, after being challenged to come up with a song in just one night, which he performed for the first time in the town's Grand Theatre.

That is only a brief overview and there are plenty of other stories behind the names given to our pubs. And so the next time you go for a pint, just think, there may well be an interesting reason behind the name of the place you are visiting....

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