A Brief History of Pubs and Beerhouses
Inns, pubs, taverns, alehouses and beerhouses. What’s in a name? Piped water was only supplied to this parish in the 1950’s, until then beer was considered the only bulk drink available to working people. Inns offered drink, food and accommodation, Public Houses just beer and spirits, with Taverns offering food as well. Beerhouses and Alehouses, as the names implied, offered just beer or ale, often in someone’s converted front room. There were also beershops which sold beer to take away. This was also offered from an off-licence at the rear of the Wheatsheaf after the Axe & Compass had been closed as a beerhouse.
Beer or Ale? It’s all in the ingredients used. From the Bronze age, 4,500 years ago, fermented beverages produced from grain were known. About 2,000 years ago it was discovered that by malting (cooking sprouting barley) that a more satisfying drink could be produced. About 500 years ago the addition of hops gave the world:
Beer - produced with hops, or:
Ale - produced without hops.