The Folklore of British Pub Names Linked to Local History

There is no shortage of bizarre pub names in the UK. Some of them appear to be a combination of random objects, like the Frog and Nightgown. Others have a local story behind their odd name. I’ve covered unusual pub names before, so consider this Part 2.

Yet when I started researching these examples, it became apparent that pub names didn’t have to be unusual to be interesting. Rather, pub names can capture a slice of history, whether they commemorate a local person, notorious or otherwise, or even just part of the fabric of their local area.

And if you’re expecting me to include Nottingham’s Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, then I’ll defer to the lovely James Wright. He busts some myths about ‘Britain’s oldest pub’ in his book, Historic Building Mythbusting. As he notes, the pub claims to date to 1189 CE, christened when King Richard the Lionheart assembled his men here before they went crusading to Jerusalem (Wright 2024: 151). The biggest problem is that it’s incredibly difficult to verify, and the only time anyone can say for certain that Richard was in Nottingham was in 1194 CE for three days (Wright 2024: 153). So, as cool as that story might sound, its historical links to Richard may be tangential at best.

So read on and learn the origins of the names of some pubs related to history in some way!

The Wicked Lady, Nomansland

I had a request to investigate The Wicked Lady in Nomansland in Hertfordshire. I was very pleased to see where this pub got its name because many believe it comes from a highwaywoman!

According to legend, Lady Katherine Ferrers took to highway robbery in the 17th century. She was her family’s sole heir, but a local commissioner married her off to his nephew, who frittered away her fortune. While the legend claims she took to highway robbery as a result, historians have found little evidence in the records that any of it is true.

Another version of the story claims she took to highway robbery after being orphaned (Eat Drink Meet, n.d.). The pub apparently takes its name from the rumour that saw her shot on Nomansland Common near the pub.

But…

Alexander Smith published his Complete History of the Lives of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, published in 1714 and it makes no mention of Katherine. Many historians think she was given her unfair nickname following the execution of Laurence Shirley, the ‘Wicked’ Lord Ferrers. Despite being no relation, there’s a possibility people confused their names. No one mentions Katherine as the Wicked Lady until Lord Ferrers’ execution (Cussans 1881: 115).

Yet her ‘story’ inspired novels and films, demonstrating how truth is often less interesting to people than fiction. In 1945, Margaret Lockwood played an aristocrat-turned-highwaywoman in The Wicked Lady, alongside James Mason. The film was based on the novel, The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton by Magdalen King-Hall. Not only did she inspire films, but it seems she also inspired the name of this pub!

Incidentally, the place name of ‘Nomansland’ just means ‘land no one owns’, often on a boundary (Mills 2011).

The Ten Bells, London

Now, this one isn’t an unusual pub name per se, but the pub that bears the name is certainly a notorious one. This pub stands on Commercial Street and is most often associated with Jack the Ripper. It’s difficult to know if any of the links are based in fact. One legend claims the Ripper murdered Annie Chapman shortly after she left the pub. That would make sense since locals discovered her body a short walk away on Hanbury Street. Others suggest Mary Kelly picked up clients on the pavement outside but, again, this is difficult to verify.

It’s stood on its current site since 1851, although it did exist a few metres away in the 18th century. The pub’s original name in 1755 was the Eight Bells Alehouse (Oakley 2023). The name derived from Christ Church, Spitalfields, which stands on Commercial Street, which once had eight bells in its peal. In 1788, the church changed their bells and ended up with ten.

In 1794, an insurance record notes the pub registered as The Ten Bells (London Metropolitan Archives 1794). The bells were famous in their own right, and in the early nineteenth century, crowds assembled to hear them play Easter hymns at midnight (Sheppard 1957).

Christ Church also had twelve and then eight bells since then, but it seems the pub’s name had stuck. The owners changed the pub’s name between 1976 and 1988, when it became The Jack the Ripper. The name changed back after Reclaim the Night launched a campaign to scrap the association with the Ripper.

I’ve only ever been in the pub once due to its association with the Ripper and was thoroughly underwhelmed. If you’ve seen From Hell (2001), then the pub in reality looks nothing like the spacious tavern depicted in the film. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the place, if you walk past on a Friday evening, its patrons cluster on the pavement while a chorus of voices wafts into the street every time someone opens the door. Still, the pub is a fascinating example of a pub that has preserved part of the fabric of the local area in its name.

The House of Trembling Madness, York

This pub stands at 42 Stonegate in York, in a building that dates back to c. 1180CE. Make no mistake, though, the pub is not that old. Just the building. And yes, it’s just along the street from the Stonegate Devil.

According to one theory, the name refers to the widespread drinking of beer in the medieval era since it was safer than water. As people drank so much beer, they might be hit with a so-called “trembling madness” known as “Delirium Tremens” (Walker 2017).

This is a strange explanation since Delirium tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal. It’s not that common, though it is treatable, and it starts about 2-3 days after the person stops drinking (Worth 2024). It seems the pub name is designed to stave off the condition, though it seems a weird approach to name your pub after a condition your product can cause.

The World’s End, Edinburgh

There is a World’s End pub in London, which I mentioned in the article about Mother Redcap. We’re going to focus here on the pub of the same name in Edinburgh.

You’ll find the pub on the Royal Mile in the High Street section. Edinburgh’s City Walls once ran past the pub, and the brass cobbles in the street outside show you where the city gates once stood. The gate here was the Netherbow Port, a formidable gate with heavy fortifications, including towers (Davies 2025). Everything within the walls was Edinburgh, and everything beyond the walls was not. Anyone going through the Netherbow Port had to pay a toll, even if you lived in Edinburgh. The poor couldn’t afford the toll, and ended up trapped in Edinburgh (Davies 2025). Locals decided that the gates marked where their world ended and Not Edinburgh began, hence, World’s End.

You can find other sections of the ancient Flodden Wall in Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. The Port was demolished in the 1760s but it’s perhaps hard to think of the whole of Edinburgh crammed into the space between the castle and where we now find the World’s End pub. Yet that’s how the city was before its expansion into the New Town, and the World’s End preserves this slice of Edinburgh history through its name.

Crocker’s Folly, London

Standing at 24 Aberdeen Place in St John’s Wood, the Crocker’s Folly originally bore the name ‘The Crown’. Charles Worley designed this fancy hotel, built in 1898, for Frank Crocker.

According to legend, The Crown acquired its common nickname due to where Crocker decided to situate the hotel. The authorities planned a new railway to connect London and Nottinghamshire. Crocker got a tip-off that developers would build its London terminus in Maida Vale.

Believing the railway would need a pub to serve it, he built The Crown. The only problem was that the line actually ran further east and south than expected, so it ended at Marylebone Station. It’s only 919m away as the crow flies, but that’s still too far away to be of much use. The first passenger trains began in 1899.

The legend goes further, and claims that this brought Crocker financial ruin. Even worse, versions of the myth claim he threw himself from an upstairs window. Crocker died in 1904 of natural causes, though it’s possible Crocker was confused with his successor, Charles Durden, who did throw himself from a window (St John’s Wood Memories 2020).

The Crown officially became Crocker’s Folly in 1987. It’s changed hands a few times and is now the Maroush St John’s Wood. Despite that, a Crocker’s Folly sign still hangs at the door.

Peveril of the Peak, Manchester

You can find this pub on Great Bridgewater Street, and it’s enjoyed Grade II listed status since 1988. Yet it’s eye-catching not just for its bright yellow tiles but also its name.

One theory explains that Peveril of the Peak refers to a stagecoach that left for London from the Peacock Coach Office on Market Street. This service was already running when the pub opened in 1830.

Others have claimed it refers to Sir Walter Scott’s novel of the same name, published in 1823. The only problem with this theory is that it references Peveril Castle in Derbyshire. Researcher Erik Merriman found no geographical links between the pub and the book. But as Georgina Pellant points out, no one knows if the stagecoach was named after the novel (2023).

What fascinating pub names are in your neighbourhood?

I would love to hear if you’ve heard similar stories about the pub names where you are. It would be interesting to see what names appear and what folklore has become attached to them!

Feel free to leave a comment below if you’ve got any strange or unusual pub names in your neck of the woods.

References

Cussans, John Edwin (1881), History of Hertfordshire, Volume 3, London: Stephen Austin & Sons.

Davies, Gareth (2025), ‘Old Town Edinburgh – Welcome to the World’s End’, Edinburgh Expert, https://www.edinburghexpert.com/blog/old-town-edinburgh-welcome-to-the-worlds-end. Accessed on 10 March 2025.

Eat Drink Meet (no date), ‘The Wicked Lady’, Eat Drink Meet, https://www.eatdrinkmeet.co.uk/find-a-location/venue/st-albans/the-wicked-lady#/. Accessed 9 March 2025.

London Metropolitan Archives (1794), ‘Insured: Edward Sandham, the Ten Bells, Church Street, Spital Fields, Victualler: CLC/B/192/F/001/MS11936/397/626547’, London Metropolitan Archives, https://search.lma.gov.uk/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/71I2KD4WFGHS1M2J1/2/13/2545792?RECORD&UNION=Y&URLMARKER=STARTREQUEST. Accessed 10 March 2025.

Mills, A.D. (2011), A Dictionary of British Place Names, first edition revised, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Oakley, Malcolm (2023), ‘The Ten Bells: A Historic East End Pub with a Modern Twist’, East London History, https://www.eastlondonhistory.co.uk/historic-east-end-pubs-ten-bells/. Accessed 10 March 2025.

Pellant, Georgina (2023), ‘The weird (and wonderful) history of the Peveril of the Peak’, The Manc, https://themanc.com/eats/the-weird-and-wonderful-history-of-the-peveril-of-the-peak/. Accessed 11 March 2025.

Sheppard, F H W (ed.) (1957), ‘Christ Church: Historical account’, in Survey of London: Volume 27, Spitalfields and Mile End New Town, on British History Online, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol27/pp148-169#h3-s12. Accessed 11 March 2025.

St John’s Wood Memories (2020), ‘Crocker’s Folly’, St John’s Wood Memories, https://www.stjohnswoodmemories.org.uk/content/arts/architecture-architects/crockers-folly. Accessed 10 March 2025.

Walker, Neil (2017), ‘Focus Feature: House of Trembling Madness – Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer (Single) 2017’, Society of Independent Brewers and Associates, https://www.siba.co.uk/2017/10/20/focus-feature-house-trembling-madness-best-independent-craft-beer-retailer-single-2017/. Accessed 10 March 2025.

Worth, Tammy (2024), ‘Delirium Tremens: What Does It Mean?’, WebMD, https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/delirium-tremens. Accessed 10 March 2025.

Wright, James (2024), Historic Building Mythbusting: Uncovering Folklore, History and Archaeology, Cheltenham: The History Press.