A buildings archaeologist working for Historic England has concluded that none of the more than two dozen pubs claiming to be England's oldest can justify the title, The Guardian reports.
Dr James Wright used dendrochronology, which dates the felling of the timber in a building's beams, alongside archive and archaeological evidence. He named the George Inn at Norton St Philip in Somerset, set up by monks from nearby Hinton Priory and in continuous use as an inn since about 1430, as the oldest.
He said claims of Saxon or Viking origins made by pubs such as Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans and the Bingley Arms in West Yorkshire appeared to be marketing rather than history. He added that no pubs at all are recorded in the Domesday Book, despite several saying they are.
Source: The Guardian UK
