The claim
A long, low thatched house at Salt, in the lanes north-east of Stafford, with a bar, a dining room and a snug behind the front door. It traces itself to 1190 and says it was the second English inn to be granted a licence; the oldest fabric under the thatch is of the early seventeenth century. Shut in September 2025, it reopened in January 2026 under a Staffordshire family.
What the records show
The claim is the house's own and reaches us through CAMRA, which records that the pub traces its origins to 1190 and is reputed to be the second inn in England to be granted a licence. No licence has been produced, and there was none to grant: a keeper of an alehouse first needed a licence from the justices under the Ale Houses Act of 1551, which had royal assent in April 1552, three and a half centuries after the year on the claim. What CAMRA's own note dates is later and more modest — the oldest surviving part of the house, under its thatch, probably of the early seventeenth century, in a building raised in the first two decades of the 1600s and much altered; and a brewer, Louisa Foster, running the business until about 1902, with Lewis Foster last recorded brewing there in 1910. That is the earliest dated trace of the trade anybody has published for the house. Nothing names it before the 1600s. The National Heritage List for England was searched within 150 m of the building on 24 October 2026 and holds no entry at all, so the fabric has never been described by a statutory listing; what would settle the age is the Staffordshire Record Office's licensing and quarter sessions records, which are not published online. Trading is firmer than the date. The house shut in September 2025 and reopened on 15 January 2026 under Mike and Dawn Hewitt, with their son as head chef, as the Express & Star reported; the Food Standards Agency inspected the kitchen on 30 April 2026 and rated it five; and CAMRA updated its entry on 3 August 2026 with daily hours from noon, Dawn Hewitt as leaseholder and Admiral Taverns as freeholder.
What to look for inside
- Thatch over the early-17th-century end of the house
- Reopened on 15 January 2026 after four months shut
- Sharp's Doom Bar and two changing beers
Visiting
Holly Bush Inn is in Salt, England, at Salt Road, Salt, Stafford ST18 0BX. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- camra.org.uk/pubs/holly-bush-inn-salt-145775
- www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/food-and-drink/2026/01/15/historic-pub-near-stafford-ready-for-new-life-after-makeover-by-family-team-with-big-plans-for-the-future
- api.ratings.food.gov.uk/Establishments/1195591
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale_Houses_Act_1551
- www.openstreetmap.org/way/1162968599
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Oct 2026
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