The claim
Once one of more than twenty inns serving travellers on the Great North Road at Boroughbridge, the Black Bull is said to be the only one left. It claims a 13th-century origin, which its own listing does not support: Historic England reads the house as probably 17th-century. We could not reach a current website for it in September 2026, so confirm opening before visiting.
What the records show
The 13th century is CAMRA's: its Harrogate and Ripon branch entry calls the Black Bull a 13th-century inn and a Grade II listed building. Regional round-ups (On: Yorkshire 2021, The Yorkshireman October 2025) repeat the same origin and note it is the last of the town's 22 former inns. The pub's own domain no longer resolves to a site. The listing CAMRA points at has now been read: Historic England designated the Black Bull on 19 December 1984 and calls it a public house of probable 17th-century origin, much altered in the 18th century and later, rendered under a swept Welsh slate roof, keeping one stout chamfered ceiling beam and a chamfered fireplace beam inside, and included partly for group value in the square. The register CAMRA cites for the grade therefore dates the house some four hundred years later than the date CAMRA gives it, and the 13th century stands as tradition.
What to look for inside
- Reported as the sole survivor of Boroughbridge's 22 inns
- Haunting stories
Visiting
The Black Bull Inn is in Boroughbridge, England, at 6 St James Square, Boroughbridge YO51 9AR. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- the-yorkshireman.com/yorkshires-oldest-pubs/
- www.on-magazine.co.uk/yorkshire/stories/yorkshires-oldest-pubs/
- camra.org.uk/pubs/black-bull-inn-boroughbridge-181415
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1869287
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1315499
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
Run this pub? There is a badge for it
Free to put on your own site, no permission needed. It shows what the pub claims and what the records support, and it changes when the data does.
How to use it, and how to change what it says — if you have a document we have not seen, we would like to read it.
.jpg){kind=link}
