Page 2 - Closed Pubs and Breweries issue 2

Background

This leaflet provides a walking trail of pubs and breweries that have been closed
in Wokingham and both quotes from and partially updates “Public houses, inns,
beer houses and breweries of Wokingham” produced by Chris French, May 2020,
which can be found here: - https://www.wildservice.org.uk/FHD/cpf-pubs.php

The leaflet is available from the Wokingham Town Council Information Centre
and the Wokingham Library. The objective is to: -
Promote the history of Wokingham
Get people of all ages walking
Support our independent traders.

Additional information has been obtained and quotes from:
https://museum.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/
https://www.wokinghamsociety.org.uk/ ,
Richard Gibbs’ “WOKINGHAM A POTTED HISTORY”, “THE INNS
AND PUBLIC HOUSES OF WOKINGHAM” by Dennis Ayres and Judith
Hunter, “Royal Ales” by Mike Brown, Brewer History Society and The
WOKINGHAM BLUE PLAQUE TRAIL. I would also like to thank fellow
Wokingham Society members, Guy Grannum for providing information from
“The Genealogist”, Hazel Guile for her knowledge of Rose Street and Peter
Must for proof reading this document. Unless otherwise stated, the
photographs were taken by Kevin Lenton (who wrote this document) in 2025
and updated in 2026. Many thanks to Ian Burn for producing the map.

It is rumoured that Wokingham had more pubs per square mile than any other
town in England. Richard Gibbs records that in 1580 had sixteen alehouses
and two inns. Today there are a dozen pubs and a brewery, so a number have
closed. The trail is focused on the town centre: The Terrace, Broad Street,
Rose Street, Peach Street, Market Place and Denmark Street. The trail starts
and ends with two pubs that are still open, The Queen’s Head and The
Crispin, which are included in this guide for completeness. A map can be
found on page 27.

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