The claim
The official start of the Pennine Way stands a few strides from this low gritstone inn under Kinder Scout, where the lintel over the door is cut 1577. Inside are flagged floors, small rooms and fires; outside, boots and dogs. Food runs all day and there are rooms upstairs for walkers heading north.
What the records show
The date the pub gives, 1577, is cut into the stone. Historic England lists the building as a public house of 1577 and early C20 date and records the dated lintel over the right-hand doorway, along with a C16 doorway inside the porch and a chamfered mullion window. That fixes the fabric to the claimed year, which is a grade B. Historic England's map service for the national list gives the entry its date: 1096618, grade II, designated on 24 September 1984, under the name The Old Nags Head — which matters here, because the listing is the only authority for the 1577 that is not the house or somebody repeating it. What no document yet shows is drinking here in 1577: the house was built as a farmstead in a valley of scattered booths, and the walkers who now start the Pennine Way at its door came much later.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1577 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| c.1577 | Present building | Historic England listing |
What to look for inside
- Doorway lintel dated 1577
- Stands at the southern start of the Pennine Way
- Under Kinder Scout in the Dark Peak
Visiting
The Old Nag's Head is in Edale, England, at Grindsbrook Booth, Edale S33 7ZD. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1096618
- camra.org.uk/pubs/old-nags-head-edale-147630
- www.the-old-nags-head.co.uk/
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1259096
- www.the-old-nags-head.co.uk/news-offers-events/
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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