The claim
A low, dark, four-room house on the corner of Queen Street below the cathedral, with 16th-century beams upstairs, a snug behind a glazed screen and bell-pushes still in the corner bar. Ghost walks stop here. CAMRA counts the interior among the most important in the country, and the beer range is long.
What the records show
The 1530 is Visit Derby's, whose listing calls the Dolphin the city's oldest pub, dating back to 1530; the pub has no website of its own recorded, and CAMRA says only that it claims to be Derby's oldest and occupies a late 16th-century building. Historic England lists it as a public house of late C16 date, much restored in the early 20th century, and records that the licence is only said to date from 1580. Large C16 beams survive upstairs; the showy half-timbering outside is Edwardian. So the claim sits half a century before the fabric, and even the 1580 licence is reported rather than cited. CAMRA rates the interior — bar, snug and glazed screen — as nationally important.
What to look for inside
- Three-star entry on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors
- Historic England records the licence as said to date from 1580
- A stop on Derby's ghost walks
Visiting
Ye Olde Dolphin Inne is in Derby, England, at 5a Queen Street, Derby DE1 3DL. 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/1228932
- camra.org.uk/pubs/olde-dolphin-inne-derby-143488
- www.visitderby.co.uk/listings/ye-olde-dolphin-inn
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/1581794
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Sept 2026
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