Top 10 Best British Pub Names | Picture BritainPicture Britain
Top 10 Best British Pub Names
June 21, 2012
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Every now and then I come across a really wonderful, clever, or funny name for a bar or restaurant, but that is a rarity. Most names are fairly predictable, the same on every corner, as if the owners were trying to give their patrons a comforting sense of the ordinary. British pubs, on the other hand, break all of the rules. Named for objects, people, puns, body parts, food, fantasies, and natural phenomena, these places force themselves onto the imagination, and have the added bonus of being extremely memorable—even through a lager-induced haze. 
The Crooked Billet, Morton, Lincolnshire , a photo by  Lincolnian (Brian)  on Flickr. 
Combination names seem to be popular (though the trend is comparatively recent, beginning in the mid-1600s), even to the point of ridiculousness (The Slug and Lettuce is taking things too far). Thankfully, other names are certainly more original, and often have wonderful stories behind them. Let’s go on a crawl through my list of the top 10 best British pub names, in no particular order:  
1.  Dinneywicks  – The Chipping, Kingswood, Wotton Under Edge, Gloucestershire. The address is about as fun as the name. This pub once straddled a highway and the enterprising landlord demanded tolls from passerby, forcing them to leap over the gate. 
2.  The Jolly Taxpayer  – Plymouth, Devon. Having a pint or two is probably a great recipe for cheering up around tax season. 
3.  The Bucket of Blood – Phillack, Cornwall. Now doesn’t that sound appetizing? Supposedly a pub owner of long ago went out to draw water from the well but instead brought up a bucket of gore, courtesy of a corpse. I hear they serve huge portions of very good food.
Rook and Gaskill Inn , a photo by  Matthew Black  on Flickr.  
4.  The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn  – Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. This establishment holds the Guinness World Record for the longest pub name in the UK. They actually lengthened the name to keep the title. The pub with the shortest name (if you don’t count nameless pubs) is also located in Stalybridge, and is simply called Q.
5.  Spinner and Bergamot Inn –  Comberbach, Northwich. This one is just charming!
6.  Moon Under Water  – Deansgate, Manchester. This pub’s name comes from  an essay  by the English novelist George Orwell, stipulating his requirements for the perfect London Pub. It must have Victorian architecture, dart games, “draught stout, open fires, cheap meals, a garden, motherly barmaids and no radio.”
A Pub Sign , a photo by  oatsy40  on Flickr.
8.  Bull and Spectacles  – Blithbury, Staffordshire. Nearly 400 years old, this pub was once called the Bull’s Head, until a tipsy patron clambered up to the sign and graced the bull with his spectacles. “Serving straight-up, straight-down hearty and wholesome pub fare, it’s a place to settle, sup and savour.”
9. Goat and Compasses – London, now closed. This one sounds simply absurd, but apparently has something to do with the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers.
10. The Office  – Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Ah, the creativity of landlords! 
“Where are you, honey?” 
“Oh, I’m still at The Office, dear.” 
What is the quirkiest pub you’ve ever seen or heard of?
The Cheshire Cheese , a photo by  Duncan~  on Flickr.
Bonus Brit-bit: Some establishments are less creative than these and share their names with hundreds of other public houses. Five of the most common pub names in the UK are the Crown, Red Lion, Royal Oak, Swan, and White Hart. King’s Head and Rose & Crown are pretty high up there too.
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