The claim
On Drymen's village square at the start of the Rob Roy Way, the Clachan claims Scotland's oldest surviving pub licence, granted in 1734. Its first licensee is said to have been Mistress Gow, Rob Roy MacGregor's sister. A family-run free house with a wood-burning stove, church-pew seating, cask ales and three letting rooms, it welcomes dogs and walkers.
What the records show
The inn, the village heritage trail and CAMRA all repeat a licence of 1734 and a first licensee called Mistress Gow, said to be Rob Roy's sister; the licence itself has never been produced. The national designations have now been searched across Drymen rather than left open: they hold the Winnock Hotel on the other side of the square and 4 The Square, a cottage the record dates 1864 from a window lintel, and no entry at all for the Clachan. So there is no listing description to date these walls, and the 1734 rests on the village's own telling. What is certain is the trade: CAMRA's Forth Valley branch has the Clachan in the Good Beer Guide, licensed from eleven in the morning Monday to Saturday and half past twelve on Sunday, with two handpumps of Loch Lomond and other Scottish beers, in freehold hands and with children admitted until nine.
What to look for inside
- Claims Scotland's oldest registered pub licence (1734)
- First licensee reputedly Rob Roy's sister
- Hidden salt box in the old fireplace from the salt-tax era
Visiting
The Clachan Inn is in Drymen, Scotland, at 2 The Square, Drymen G63 0BL. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- www.clachaninndrymen.co.uk/history/
- camra.org.uk/pubs/clachan-inn-drymen-168603
- www.drymen.org/heritage-trail
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/53909
- portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB49636
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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