Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham

This is one of Britain’s most ancient drinking establishments dating back to 1189AD when King Richard I (The Lionheart) was crowned. The name of the pub (known as ‘The Pilgrim’ before 1799) relates to this era and the third crusade which King Richard supported in 1190AD. It is thought that this pub may have been used by knights from Nottingham Castle before departing to the Holy Land.

The caves under the pub which are used as its cellar have been confirmed as the location of the castles original Brewhouse. In the cellars are also the remains of a cockfighting pit and the Castle Gaol.

Ghosts and Legends
George Henry Ward “Yorkey” was the landlord of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem between 1894 and 1914. He is reputed to haunt the Inn and its cellars, having been seen on several occasions. Perhaps he is the cause of the footsteps that have been heard in the cellars.

At Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem they have a cursed model ship that sits in a display case and has not been cleaned for fifty years. Local legend believes that who ever cleans the model which was left by a visiting sailor will die unexpectedly, just like the last three who attempted it.

The Inn is supposed to be connected to a series of passages and caves that honeycomb the rock the castle sits upon. In 1330AD King Edward III arrested and hung Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, lord of Ludlow Castle, for the murder of his father King Edward II in Berkeley Castle. Mortimer was also and lover of Edwards mother, Queen Isabella of France who helped Roger to dispose of her husband. He was captured in the castle above the Inn. According to local tradition, there is a small secret place that Isabella and Roger would meet in called Mortimer’s room, connected to the castle by Mortimer’s Hole and this is at the back of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem.

Someone shouting in Medieval French as a US serviceman left the Inn has not yet been explained away. Though how it was identified as Medieval French I do not know.