public house

public house, an establishment providing alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises. The traditional pub was an establishment found originally in Britain and regions of British influence. English common law early imposed social responsibilities for the well-being of travelers upon the inns and taverns, declaring them to be public houses which must receive all travelers in reasonable condition who were willing to pay the price for food, drink, and lodging.

In Tudor England (1485–1603), selected innkeepers were required by a royal act to maintain stables; in addition, some innkeepers acted as unofficial postmasters and kept stables for the royal post. In the mid-1600s some public houses even issued unofficial coins, which the innkeepers guaranteed to redeem in the realm’s currency. By the 1800s many of these establishments were divided internally to segregate the various classes of customers. Public houses—inns or taverns—were considered socially superior to alehouses, beerhouses, and ginshops.

The early inns or taverns were identified by simple signs, such as lions, dolphins, or black swans. Many colourful pub names (e.g., Bag o’Nails, Goat and Compass, and Elephant and Castle) are actually corrupted forms of historical, ecclesiastical, or other proper phrases and titles (e.g., “Bacchanals,” “Great God Encompassing,” and “Infanta de Castile,” respectively). In the 18th century the word Arms was appended to many pub names, indicating that the establishment was under the protection of a particular noble family, although some heraldic signs were references to the original ownership of the land on which the inn or tavern stood.

Although public houses were traditionally owned and operated by licensed victuallers or publicans, by the early part of the 20th century many of them were owned by or otherwise connected to a comparatively small number of brewery companies. In the latter part of the 20th century and the early 21st century, increasing numbers of pubs were independently owned and operated.