Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Bolton

Ye Olde Man & Scythe

6-8 Churchgate, Bolton

Grade C · TraditionTrading · checked Sept 2026

Ye Olde Man & Scythe is locally dated 1251. No earlier record has been found.

Claimed

1251

First record

none found

Building

no single date

The building. Reputedly rebuilt 1636 (datestone); present form largely early 20th-century remodelling; older vaulted cellar — we give it no single date because 1636 is reputed; the present form is early 20th century.

Haunted

The claim

Bolton's oldest pub sits on Churchgate, where the 7th Earl of Derby was beheaded in 1651 after sitting here before his execution; the chair he is said to have used is still kept inside. Its claim to be named in the town's 1251 market charter is doubtful, but the mock-timbered front hides a 1630s rebuild, small rooms and a vaulted cellar.

What the records show

The 1251 is published by Bolton's local history site, which says the pub dates back to 1251, the year of the charter permitting the market held beside it, and that only the vaulted cellar is that old. Boak & Bailey note an 1892 history of Bolton showing the charter does not name the house. The pub's inn sign carries no date, and the pub has no website of its own beyond a Facebook page. Historic England calls the 1636 rebuild 'reputed'. The link with the Earl of Derby's execution in 1651 is long-standing local history.

What to look for inside

James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, executed outside on 15 October 1651
Chair inscribed as used by the Earl before his execution
CAMRA historic pub interior (one star)

Visiting

Ye Olde Man & Scythe is in Bolton, England, at 6-8 Churchgate, Bolton. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.

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