Pubs and pub signs

Some readers may be surprised to learn that ale was being brewed here before the Romans landed and that ale houses were trading before the Normans came. The pub has a long and proud tradition. A unique and seemingly indestructible British institution, it is the envy of the rest of the world. Among our 70,000 licensed premises there are some that are set in dismal surroundings and are nondescript in themselves but there are also many of outstanding architectural interest and importance, located in some of the most beautiful parts of Britain. Some of them have fascinating links with Church and State while others have associations with famous and also with infamous figures from many walks of life-artists and men of letters, highwaymen and smugglers, cranks and criminals, some of them notable, others notorious, all of them interesting. Our pubs are an integral part of the British way of life and the ensuing pages are designed to provide an interesting illustrated background to the story and to say something about the origins of the signs which nearly all of them carry.