The claim
The Boot stands on Eastgate Row, the raised walkway that runs above the shops, and keeps a jettied top storey with herringbone studding and a canted oriel window. Historic England lists it at Grade II*, dating the fabric to the early or middle seventeenth century; the whole Row level has been the pub only since alterations in 1988. Samuel Smith's runs it, and mobile phones are not welcome.
What the records show
The building is the documented part. Historic England lists 17 Eastgate Street and 9 Eastgate Row at Grade II*, dating the fabric to the early or middle seventeenth century and describing a sandstone base, timber-framed upper storeys with plaster panels, a jettied top storey on carved brackets and a canted five-light mullioned and transomed oriel window; the front was rebuilt and restored late in the nineteenth century. The 1643 is the year the house is said to have opened as an inn, and it comes to us from CAMRA's West Cheshire branch and from Wikipedia, which cites Chester Civic Trust's survey of the city's architecture. Nothing traced records drinking here in that year, which is why this is a B and not an A. CAMRA adds the one dated step we have towards it: the house has been known as the Boot Inn since 1750. For many years the front of the Row level was a barber's shop with a corridor leading back to the pub, and the whole of that level became the pub only after alterations in 1988. CAMRA names Samuel Smith's as the operator and gives hours of eleven to eleven, Monday to Saturday. Cheshire West and Chester's food register inspected the Boot Inn at 9 Eastgate Row North on 4 September 2026.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1643 | Claimed founding | CAMRA |
| 1750 | First record of a drinking house here | CAMRA's West Cheshire branch, on the Boot Inn name from 1750 |
What to look for inside
- Grade II* listed on Chester's medieval Rows
- Known as the Boot Inn since 1750, according to CAMRA
- The whole Row level became the pub in 1988
Visiting
The Boot Inn is in Chester, England, at 9 Eastgate Row North, Eastgate Street, Chester CH1 1LQ. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- westcheshire.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=59765
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Inn,_Chester
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1376216
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/290514
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Oct 2026
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