The Lost Pubs of North Yorkshire / Boroughbridge
Every pub has a story. Some have simply stopped serving.
For centuries, Boroughbridge was much more than a Yorkshire market town. Its position on the Great North Road made it an important stopping point for coaches, travellers and horses moving between northern and southern England.
The River Ure brought additional trade, while cattle drovers, horse dealers and visitors to local fairs all contributed to the town’s busy streets.
At its peak, Boroughbridge supported 22 inns. The Crown alone could stable around 100 horses, illustrating the scale of the coaching trade.
During the busy droving season, as many as 2,000 cattle a day crossed the bridge on their way from Scotland to southern markets.
Then the railways changed the town. By 1853, stagecoach transport had disappeared and seven of the original 22 inns had already been lost.
Some former inns became shops or homes. Others disappeared altogether. Several survived and continued to welcome customers.
Today, traces of this history remain hidden in old buildings, street names and the stories of local families.
This archive aims to recover those stories, one pub at a time.
Source: The History of Boroughbridge
Every pin is a site whose position is documented. A dashed ring means the position is approximate. Sites whose location hasn't been established are in the directory below but not on the map.
Streets, river and railway from OpenStreetMap © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), showing today's layout.
The 36 sites in Bernard Porter's 2010 compilation, grouped by street and village, plus a short supplementary list (marked +). It isn't every licensed house there has ever been. The filters also apply to the map.
Showing all 38
The road, the river and the railway, and how the inns fared. Only documented dates are shown; general events are never used to guess when a particular pub opened or closed.
Source: Baines's Directory, 1823: Kirby Hill parish trades and professions
Source: The History of Boroughbridge
Sources: The History of Boroughbridge; Langthorpe Loop heritage walking guide; Boroughbridge railway station
Source: The History of Boroughbridge
Source: Boroughbridge railway station
Source: Bulmer's Directory, 1890: Kirby Hill parish trades and professions
Source: The Three Horse Shoes Public House, list entry 1245941
Source: Boroughbridge
Source: Boroughbridge railway station
Sources: Langthorpe Loop heritage walking guide; The History of Boroughbridge
Source: Boroughbridge railway station
Source: The History of Boroughbridge
Source: Bernard Porter, Hostelries in Boroughbridge (February 2010)
Source: Pubs in Boroughbridge
Sources: Wild Swan at Minskip closes (8 January 2026); Tap on the Tutt, Boroughbridge
Five short walks linking sites whose locations are documented, along public streets. The dotted line joins the stops in order and isn't an exact walking route.
Start by the Ure at the Borough Bridge. The Three Horse Shoes and Riverside Court (once the Blinking Owl) face each other on Bridge Street. Walk south up Bridge Street to the Crown at the junction with Horsefair and Fishergate.
From the Crown, the old post office building next door on Horsefair is the listed former annexe of the Three Greyhounds Hotel. Return to the Crown and follow Fishergate and the High Street south to St James Square for the Black Bull.
The Crown and the Black Bull bookend the High Street. The Black Horse, Black Swan, Saddle and White Hart all stood on this street, but their exact buildings are not yet confirmed, so they are not marked. Look up as you walk.
Cross the Borough Bridge north. The Grantham Arms is on the Milby side; the Anchor stands on Leeming Lane; and the Fox and Hounds is west along Skelton Road. The Langthorpe Loop guide from the town council covers the brewery buildings in more detail.
The Blue Bell stands on Leeming Lane, the old Great North Road, north of Langthorpe. The listed milestone is about 10 metres south of the pub.
Historic photographs will sit beside the same view today, with a slider to compare them. Only licensed or permitted images are used, with credits. None are in yet; these are the first ones we're hoping to find.
Photographs, stories, old menus, landlords' names and corrections are all welcome. Did you drink in the Musketeer or the Malt Shovel? Do you know where the Wellesley Arms stood?
Email a memory or correctionThe list of 36 sites follows Bernard Porter's Hostelries in Boroughbridge (2010). Its notes on how buildings were used describe 2010, not today. Statuses marked as checked on 28 October 2026 were confirmed against the source named on each page.