The claim
A promenade pub at the north end of Douglas bay, in a building the Manx register dates to before 1826 and takes to have been put up as cottages and stables for Castle Mona next door. The register has it called the Queen's Hotel by 1854. Okell's runs it now, with the brewery's ales on the bar; the kitchen closes at eight and the bar goes on until eleven or midnight.
What the records show
Registered Building No. 201 on the Isle of Man's register, registered on 20 September 2002, describes the house as a public house built before 1826, probably first as cottages and stables for Castle Mona, and called the Queen's Hotel by 1854. That 1854 is the earliest record of drink-led trade traced here and is what the row is graded on. The register's own notice could not be read: every gov.im media link tried from this machine answers 404, including the one OpenStreetMap records against this building, and the Internet Archive was offline when a copy was looked for, so the register's wording is known from the English Wikipedia list that transcribes it with its numbers and dates. The printed Manx directories, transcribed on the Manx Note Book, carry the house forward from there. Thwaites's guide and directory of 1863 lists a house called the Queen, kept by Felix Bregazzi, on the Crescent among the hotels, inns and taverns of Douglas. Brown's directory of 1882 has the Queen's Hotel on the Crescent under Thomas Swift, Porter's of 1889 under Enoch Rowlinson, and the Douglas directory of 1892 under Edwin Lambert, whose street list puts it among the houses beyond Castle Drive. Brown's of 1894 gives it both ways under William Henry Metcalf: on the Crescent in the classified list, and on Queen's Promenade in the alphabetical one, which is what ties the Crescent entries to the address the house has now. Quiggin's directories of 1836 to 1852 name no Queen's in Douglas, only a separate Crescent Hotel; that fits a name first recorded in 1854 and proves nothing earlier either way. Question one is answered by the operator: Okell's publishes opening hours to eleven or midnight against a kitchen that stops at six, eight or nine depending on the day, and OpenStreetMap tags the building amenity=pub.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1854 | Claimed founding | Its listing |
| 1854 | First record of a drinking house here | Wikipedia |
What to look for inside
- Registered Building No. 201, registered 20 September 2002
- Called the Queen's Hotel by 1854 in the register's own account
- Okell's ales; the bar outlasts the kitchen by three hours
Visiting
The Queens is in Douglas, Isle of Man, at Queens Promenade, Douglas, Isle of Man IM2 4NL. 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/Registered_Buildings_and_Conservation_Areas_of_the_Isle_of_Man
- pubsandbars.im/venue/the-queens/
- www.openstreetmap.org/way/77818835
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/tg1863/doclass.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/bd1881/do_chtl.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/pd1889/do_cl.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/dd1892/dor_a.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/bd1894/do_class.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/bd1894/do_mz.htm
- www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/qg1841/dir_52.htm
- okells.co.uk/pub/the-queens/
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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