The claim
Beside Sir Roger Manwood's Elizabethan almshouses on St Stephen's Green, this brick-and-beam pub was built in 1570 and has been serving drinkers since at least 1740. Flagstones, oak beams and a large walled garden set the scene, and the garden is reputed to be where the Kentish game of bat and trap began.
What the records show
The 1570 is not the pub's own date. CAMRA gives it, crediting the house to Sir Roger Manwood, who built it in 1570 along with the almshouses next door, and Historic England lists the inn Grade II as said to be of the same date as those almshouses; inn and almshouses are listed as a group. The listing also narrows the claim, because the only fabric of that period visible from outside is the crow-stepped gable in the west front, the front itself being 18th-century. Use as an inn is recorded from 1740, when the house was known as the Hospital; it became the Beverly in 1839 and took its present name in the 1950s.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1570 | Claimed founding | CAMRA |
| c.1570 | Present building | Historic England list entry 1065785, which says the house is said to be of the same date as the 1570 almshouses; only the crow-stepped west gable is visibly of that period and the front is 18th-century |
| 1740 | First record of a drinking house here | Historic England |
What to look for inside
- Built 1570 by Sir Roger Manwood beside his almshouses
- Annual December meeting held to help the parish's elderly
- Walled garden linked to the game of bat and trap
Visiting
Ye Olde Beverlie is in Canterbury, England, at St Stephen's Green, Canterbury CT2 7JU. 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/olde-beverlie-canterbury-132690
- kent.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=287037
- historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1065785
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1760715
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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