The Pub, an English Institution

The Kings Arm, Cartmel, Cumbria

Roman Tabernae

The role of the English pub has changed over the years, they are more than just a place to consume alcohol. We have the the Romans to thank for giving us English our first 'pubs' nearly two thousand years ago. In Roman towns tabernae served food and wine (and probably the local ale too), they displayed vine leaves outside to advertise their trade. When the Romans left, the tradition of tabernae left with them.

Medieval Alehouses

In the medieval period alehouses were ordinary dwellings where the householder served home-brewed ale and beer. If lodging for travellers was offered, this might be no more than bedding on the floor in the kitchen, or in a barn. Inns by contrast were generally purpose-built to accommodate travellers. They needed more bedrooms than the average house and substantial stabling. Some of the earliest great inns were built by monasteries in centres of pilgrimage. Taverns sold wine. Since wine was far more expensive than ale or beer, taverns catered to richer patrons who could afford it. They were restricted to towns and hugely outnumbered by alehouses. All three were social centres, but the larger inns had more scope for events. The type built with galleries around a courtyard provided an arena for plays or sports such a cockfights.

Alehouses in the Middle Ages

Just like other tradesmen of their time, inns, taverns and alehouses advertised their business with a sign hanging outside. A pole above the door, decorated with foliage, identified an alehouse. From the C14th inns and taverns displayed a pictorial sign by which they could be identified in this illiterate age. 

Georgian Alehouses

By the C16th many alehouses followed suit. The tradition has continued for licensed premises, as they were exempt from the Georgian restrictions on hanging signs. The earliest signs used motifs drawn from heraldry, but by Georgian times there was greater variety.

C18th Public Houses

By the mid-18th century larger alehouses were becoming common, while inns beside the major highways grew in grandeur and new ones sprang up in this coaching era. The term alehouse was gradually replaced by public house during the 18th century. Taverns meanwhile were being replaced by or converted into fashionable coffee houses as social centres for the wealthier classes.

Victorian Public Houses

Today, when we talk about the 'pub' it's a term invented by the ever innovative Victorians, an abbreviation of 'public house'. From the 1810s purpose-built public houses were popping up more frequently, starting here in London and then moving out to larger provincial towns. The number of pubs grew with the population. The late Victorian era saw the creation of flamboyant pub interiors, notable for their sumptuously decorated mirrors, tiled walls and etched glass.

Most housing was rented, with fewer than one in ten people owning their own home. For the working classes it was only possible to own a home if the area was prosperous and income was stable, and repayments towards ownership would be approximately 10s per month. The pub provided the lower classes a communal space in which to socialise and relax as many families lived in two-up and two-down properties providing little space.

The rent on a top-of-the-market house would cost £10 per year.A two-up, two-down with privies would cost £8 (and without was £6 or £7)A one-up, one-down back-to-back would be £2-4 a year.A bed in a common lodging house would be about £1 10s per year.

By the 1850s a new terraced house with four rooms, privy and running water would cost between 5-7s per week. This exceeded most impoverished families’ income, forcing them into lodgings or slums which were likely to be dark, dirty and have many others in the same building. Many people are shown in the census as “lodger” or “boarder” (the latter meaning they also shared meals with the family).  

The Modern Day Pub

Often a male dominated place, due to changes in the law, the pub is now a place for non-smokers and in many cases for families. The identity of the pub is re-establishing itself as the place to eat, a tradition that had all but disappeared after WWII. Many pubs provide affordable accommodation, particularly in rural areas. In remote communities pubs often serve a dual role, such as church or post office. Who knows, with all the closures of police stations in London, maybe they too can move into the local watering hole.