The claim
Next door to Harvard House on Stratford's High Street, the Garrick is a showpiece Elizabethan timber frame rebuilt after the town's fires of the 1590s. Known in turn as the Greyhound and the Reindeer, it took the name of actor David Garrick in 1795. It claims to be the oldest pub in Shakespeare's town, a title others dispute.
What the records show
The date is the listing's: Historic England describes a public house of about 1596 with a facade heavily restored around 1912, replacing a brick front of about 1800, and lists it Grade II*. Documented inn use on the site runs from 1718, as the Greyhound and later the Reindeer; the pub's claim to be Stratford's oldest is contested. Who carries the 1718 is worth saying, because it is thinner than the fabric date beside it. The year is Wikipedia's, and the authority it cites is David Ross's Britain Express entry on the inn — a travel writer rather than a record — for the line that there has been an inn in the present building since 1718. The same article notes that its sources confirm the Greyhound and the Reindeer as former names of the house without establishing when either was used. No licence, deed or directory for 1718 has been read here.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1596 | Claimed founding | Its listing |
| c.1596 | Present building | Building fabric |
| 1718 | First record of a drinking house here | Wikipedia, citing David Ross of Britain Express for 1718 |
What to look for inside
- Renamed after actor David Garrick in 1795
- Grade II* Elizabethan timber frame
- Restored again in 2025
Visiting
The Garrick Inn is in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, at 25 High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrick_Inn
- camra.org.uk/pubs/garrick-stratford-upon-avon-153720
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1187814
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/503501
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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