The claim
On Penzance's historic Chapel Street, the Turks Head styles itself the town's oldest pub, dating its origins to 1233. The story takes in pirates, a smugglers' tunnel said to run to the harbour and rebuilding after the Spanish raid of 1595. Today it is a food-led, dog-friendly local with Cornish ales and a garden.
What the records show
The 1233 is the pub's own claim. Its website, archived in June 2024, said the house is reputed to date from 1233, when Turks were said to have raided Penzance, and that it was the first inn in England to take the name; the site has since stopped resolving. The hanging sign outside claims only 'the oldest pub in Penzance', with no year. CAMRA calls it a 13th-century pub said to be the oldest in the town. The date and the invasion story are tradition: no documentary or architectural evidence for a medieval inn was found, and the building is said to have been rebuilt after the Spanish burned Penzance in 1595.
What to look for inside
- Smugglers' tunnel reputedly running to the harbour
- Claims to be Penzance's oldest pub
Visiting
The Turks Head is in Penzance, England, at Chapel Street, Penzance TR18 4AF. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- camra.org.uk/pubs/turks-head-penzance-139067
- harbourholidays.co.uk/oldest-pubs-cornwall/
- web.archive.org/web/20240614154427/https://turksheadpenzance.co.uk/about-us/
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1569120
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13894302
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
Run this pub? There is a badge for it
Free to put on your own site, no permission needed. It shows what the pub claims and what the records support, and it changes when the data does.
How to use it, and how to change what it says — if you have a document we have not seen, we would like to read it.
.jpg){kind=link}
