Great Historic Pub Tours

The Barley Mow stands at the top of Angel Yard, where the initials GG and the date 1802 recall builder George Green. The yard takes its name from the former Angel Hotel at its lower end. It was also the scene of a terrible event in 1912 involving local resident Mary Churchill and her children. Inside the pub, stained glass still bears the Wards Brewery name, while the word ‘mow’ refers to a stack of barley. The building and its surroundings have plenty of reminders of older Chesterfield.

The Chesterfield Arms opened in 1857 as the Chesterfield Arms Hotel and has been part of Newbold Road ever since. In April 2022 the pub launched its own brewery, Resting Devil, named after one of the legends surrounding Chesterfield’s Crooked Spire. According to the tale, a devil twisted the spire after hearing that a virgin was marrying in the church, and it will straighten if it happens again. The brewery can be seen from inside the pub, linking an old building with a much more recent chapter in Chesterfield’s brewing history.

The building now known as Gasoline opened in 1864 as The County. In 1867, members of Chesterfield Cricket Club met here to discuss forming a football club, giving the pub a notable place in the town’s sporting history. Saltergate itself was named after the old route used by merchants carrying goods such as salt from Cheshire. The pub later passed into the hands of William Stones and gained a mock-Tudor frontage. More recently it traded as the County Music Bar before becoming Gasoline, but its football connection remains a particularly interesting part of its story.

The Golden Fleece has a long history on Chesterfield’s High Street, with a date of 1762 traditionally associated with the pub. It later became known as the High Street Vaults and went through several alterations as the town centre changed around it. In 1939, the premises were divided into three parts, while a further remodelling around 2000 changed the rear entrance. Look beyond the familiar frontage and there’s a story of different names, buildings and uses stretching back more than two centuries.

The Market Pub began as part of a row of shops on New Square. In 1864, Thomas Evinson took over a former grocery shop to sell ales and porters, expanding into the neighbouring premises in 1869. The resulting pub became known as the Post Office Vaults. Over the years it has also used the names New Square Inn, Market Inn and Market Tavern, before taking the Market Pub name in 1892. Its history shows how the shops and businesses surrounding Chesterfield’s market gradually became familiar places to enjoy a drink.

Before opening as a pub, the building at 46 St Helens Street is said to have been a post office, a haberdashery shop and even a chapel of rest for an undertaker. It became the New Inn in 1862, later taking the Neptune name and earning the local nickname ‘The Neppy’. The pub was granted a full licence in 1951 and passed through several brewery owners. Its more recent name, Neptune Beer Emporium, dates from 2015. Few Chesterfield pubs can point to such an unusual collection of former uses.

Long before it became the Pig & Pump, this pub was the Swan Inn and later the White Swan, affectionately known as the Mucky Duck. An advertisement from 1839 described cottages, stabling and a brewhouse on the site. The old building was demolished and rebuilt in 1902 when St Mary’s Gate was widened, but swan details still recall its earlier name. In later years it was known for live music and went through several different uses and names before reopening as the Pig & Pump in 2018.

Ye Royal Oak is one of Chesterfield’s oldest pubs, tucked away in The Shambles. Parts of the timber-framed building date back to the sixteenth century, and records show it trading as an inn by the early eighteenth century. Stories connecting it to the Knights Templar are part of local legend rather than proven history. In 1967, redevelopment plans threatened the building, and there was even a proposal to move it on rollers. Thankfully it survived, reopening in April 2025 after several years closed.

Before becoming the Rutland Arms, this was the home of Samuel Dutton, who served as Mayor of Chesterfield several times. After his death, the property was bought, enlarged and opened as a hotel in 1860. Its unusual shape owes much to road improvements: the front was cut back in 1906 to widen Stephenson Place. The pub also survived fires in nearby buildings in 1900 and 1916. The building was bought by Tennants Brewery in 1921. It later spent time trading as a Hogshead before returning to the Rutland name, with plenty of its history still visible.

Opposite Chesterfield’s Crooked Spire, Saints Bar occupies one of the town’s oldest surviving buildings. Parts of this Grade II-listed property date back to the fifteenth century, with rebuilding during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. More recently it was known as Heathcotes and S41 before standing empty after the pandemic. Following a careful renovation it reopened as Saints Bar in March 2026. Its walls have seen hundreds of years of changes, making this much more than just another new bar in the town centre.

The Spa Lane Vaults takes its name from a nearby spring once believed to have healing properties. In the 1880s the pub became the Phoenix Inn, and the building was later rebuilt during Chesterfield’s programme of street improvements. One of its most memorable landlords was Billy Green, a former boxing champion who took over in the 1920s. Stories say that he kept a pair of gloves behind the bar and offered to settle trouble with a boxing match, although nobody accepted. The pub’s history reaches well beyond its current name.

The Barrel Inn dates back to 1822, when this stretch of Brampton was known as Welshpool. The pub was rebuilt in 1915, incorporating a neighbouring shop into the new building and gaining a striking mock-Tudor frontage. One of the best reminders of its earlier appearance is a stained-glass picture inside showing the pub that stood here before the rebuilding. That small detail gives visitors an unusual chance to compare the old building with the present one and see how Chatsworth Road has changed.

Brampton Brewery was revived by local enthusiasts in winter 2007, bringing brewing back to the area after a gap of 52 years. Its Bierhuis is on an industrial site formerly linked with the East Midlands Electricity Board. Nearby were maintenance sheds for Chesterfield’s old tramway, and an outdoor swimming pool once stood behind the site. Historical items displayed here have included an old clocking-in machine and the sign from the Terminus pub. Few brewery visits combine as many different threads of Chesterfield’s industrial and transport history.

The Britannia can trace its history back to at least 1831. During the time of landlord John Lenthall, a bowling green and running track were built beside the pub, turning it into a place for more than just drinking. The bowling green can still be accessed from the pub car park today. In 1904 the Britannia was bought by William Stones Ltd. The pub later underwent major alterations in 1906. After a period of closure, The Britannia has reopened in 2026. Its sporting past remains an important part of Brampton’s local history.

The Duke was originally The Red Lion and has a history reaching back to the nineteenth century. Samuel Gregory was landlord for around thirty years, and the pub was once noted as the only local place selling Reid & Co’s London Porter. Its eye-catching mock-Tudor frontage is part of a distinctive row of Brampton pubs. Plans for rebuilding the pub were approved in 1920. After a spell of closure, it reopened in March 2018 as The Crafty Dog, later becoming The Duke. The different names tell a story of a pub changing with its neighbourhood while holding on to its older character.

The Junction was once known as the Masons Arms. Its full drinks licence was granted in 1917 after being transferred from the Bulls Head in Chesterfield’s Shambles, another pub belonging to Truswell’s Brewery. The move allowed the Bulls Head to close while the Masons Arms gained the right to sell a full range of drinks. After a later spell of closure, the pub reopened as The Junction in November 2016. It is a fascinating example of how licensing decisions could change the fortunes of two different pubs.

The Peacock Inn has an unusually long licensing story. An application for a full drinks licence was made as early as 1869, but the pub did not receive one until 1954 — a wait of eighty-five years. Over the years it has been associated with Scarsdale Brewery, Whitbread and several later owners. The building remains a familiar stop on Chatsworth Road, with rooms on either side of the bar. Its licensing history is a reminder of the different rules and restrictions that shaped how local pubs could operate.

Real Ale Corner opened in 2009, making it one of the early adopters of the modern micropub idea that followed the Butchers Arms in Kent. Unlike the grand old inns on the Brampton Mile, this little venue belongs to a newer chapter in pub history, when small independent drinking spaces began appearing across the country. Its focus on well-kept beer and friendly conversation shows how the pub tradition has continued to change. It went on to win Chesterfield CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2019. For anyone interested in the growth of micropubs, it is an important part of the story.

The Rose & Crown began as a house before it was bought in 1878 by Sheffield brewer John Richdale. The pub was rebuilt in 1940, with the earlier building standing where the car park is today. It later went through closures and changes before reopening in 2009 as a Brampton Brewery pub. That brought another chapter to a building already woven into the history of the Brampton Mile. The mix of an old pub site and a revived local brewery makes it a particularly interesting stop on Chatsworth Road.

The Tramway Tavern dates back to 1869, when it was known as the New Inn. Its full drinks licence followed in 1952. It reopened as Sweeney’s in October 1998, later returning to the New Inn name. In December 2010, a major refurbishment brought a new name and a fresh start under Brampton Brewery. That name celebrates Chesterfield’s former tram service, which once passed along Chatsworth Road and helped connect Brampton with the town centre. Pictures and details of the old trams keep that story alive inside the pub. It is an enjoyable connection between a traditional local and Chesterfield’s transport history.

Built in 1864, The Victoria is one of Brampton’s more distinctive historic pubs. Alterations in 1943 included the addition of indoor toilets, while its full drinks licence was granted in 1959. The pub later passed into the hands of Wards Brewery of Sheffield in 1990, whose name can still be seen in stained glass at the front. Its unusual frontage and surviving details help tell the story of a Victorian local that has been changed and adapted over many generations.

The Cock & Magpie has a remarkable connection to the events of 1688, although the current pub was built later. Supporters of the Glorious Revolution are said to have met at the old Cock and Pynot, the building now remembered as Revolution House. Around 1790 the earlier pub became a private house, and a new Cock & Magpie was built behind it. Chesterfield Brewery bought the later pub in 1884, with significant alterations in 1938 and further extensions in the 1980s. Few local pubs have such a direct association with an episode that helped change the course of British history.

The Derby Tup has stood on the corner of Sheffield Road and Shaw Street since at least the 1860s, when it was known as the Brunswick Hotel. In 1983, after Whitbread sold it, the pub became the Derby Tup. The new name refers to a traditional Derbyshire folk custom, giving an old local a fresh connection to the county’s heritage. The building has continued serving Whittington Moor through major changes in the surrounding area. Its story neatly combines Victorian pub history with a distinctive part of Derbyshire’s folklore.

The Speedwell Inn has a strong connection with Townes Brewery, which began brewing in 1994 before moving production to the pub in 1997. That brought a working brewery into a traditional Staveley local and gave visitors the chance to enjoy beer made on the premises. Brewer Alan Wood retired in 2013, with Lawrie Evans carrying on the brewing tradition. It is a lovely example of how a long-established community pub can become an important part of local brewing history.

The Castle Inn once stood beside Chesterfield’s Market Place, with a sheltered entrance beneath a colonnade that was useful for travellers arriving by coach. The building is believed to have dated back to the seventeenth century and was known as the Royal Oak until 1797. Over the years it passed between different owners, including local and Sheffield brewers. It eventually closed on 7 April 1910 under a licensing compensation scheme. Its disappearance is one more reminder of how much the old market area has changed.

The Castle Inn closed on 7 April 1910 under the licensing compensation scheme.

Near the entrance to The Shambles once stood the Cathedral Vaults, remembered by locals as Pretty Windows. The pub was part of a group of old buildings facing Market Place, with evidence suggesting some of the structures at the rear dated back to the seventeenth century. Their fronts were changed in later years as Chesterfield’s market area developed. The Cathedral Vaults building was demolished in 1976, although its exact pub closure date is not confirmed. The site was rebuilt. Today the pub lives on mainly in old photographs and memories of the town centre.

The building was demolished in 1976. I could not establish a reliable final trading date, so 1976 should not be taken as a confirmed closure year.

The Crown stood on Lordsmill Street, an area that looks very different today after major changes to Chesterfield’s roads. In 1901 its landlord was Joseph Green, who had previously run the King’s Head on Knifesmithgate. The Crown remained part of the street’s pub life for many more years, but the building was demolished in 1966 as the road layout was altered; the precise closure year is not known. Its former site is now associated with a large roundabout, making it difficult to imagine the old pub and the street that once surrounded it.

The Crown was demolished in 1966. Its exact last day of trading has not been established.

The Garibaldi was built on Albert Street in 1864 by Thomas Turner Senior, with later generations of the family continuing to run it. Like many smaller pubs of the time, it began as a beerhouse rather than a fully licensed public house. Brampton Brewery bought the premises in 1899, but it was not granted a full drinks licence until 1951. The pub closed in 1964 and was demolished not long afterwards. Its story survives through family records, local research and the memories of people who knew the building.

The Garibaldi closed in 1964 and was demolished shortly afterwards.

The Hidden Knight began as storage vaults for a beer and wine merchant. The cellars beneath are said to be around four times larger than the pub rooms upstairs and were once useful for storing goods before refrigeration. Accounts also suggest that pigs were kept in part of the underground space. The premises have traded under several names, including Soresby Vaults, Dyson Vaults, Woods Vaults and, from 1905, the Welbeck Inn. Its final name recalled a local story about Lord Soresby secretly sheltering Catholic priests and knights from persecution. The pub closed on 31 May 2025.

The Hidden Knight served its final customers on 31 May 2025, as reported by Chesterfield CAMRA.

The former Tap House on Chatsworth Road traces its origins to a blacksmith’s house in 1842. When it later became a pub, the name Three Horse Shoes was a fitting reminder of that trade. It went through several brewery owners and eventually became one of the stops on the famous Brampton Mile. After a closure and reopening during the pandemic years, the venue closed again on 5 December 2024, according to CAMRA. Its former use as a blacksmith’s premises is one of the more interesting stories behind this stretch of old pubs.

CAMRA records the Tap House as closed from 5 December 2024, with its future uncertain.