The most popular local pub names - with a few old favourites on the list

Everyone loves an old pub - quaint, relaxing and often with plenty of history to boot.

And if you're heading to The Black Bull, Red Lion or Travellers Rest, then it's no surprise - as data shows there are more pubs bearing that name than any other in our area. In fact there are 22 pubs across the North East called The Black Bull such as The Black Bull in Yarm.

Next most popular pub name is Red Lion, with 18 pubs. Two Teesside pubs are called The Red Lion – The Red Lion in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough and The Red Lion Inn in Norton, Stockton.

There are 17 pubs called Blue Bell, including The Blue Bell Hotel in Acklam, Middlesbrough, The Blue Bell in Yarm and The Blue Bells Inn, in Newton Bewley.

There are 17 Queens Heads including The Queens Head in Eston, Middlesbrough, and The Queen’s Head in Stokesley. Then there are 16 pubs called The Ship, plus another two called The New Ship, two Old Ships, and one Olde Ship. This includes The Ship in Yarm and The Ship Inn in Hartlepool.

There are also 13 Travellers Rests, 12 Bay Horses, 12 Wheatsheafs, 11 Black Horses, 10 Ploughs and 10 Suns. This includes pubs which are better known as an inn, hotel, pub or public house, or simply include the article “the” in their names, such as The Black Horse Inn, for example.

The data is taken from records of more than 70,000 pubs, bars, nightclubs, hotels and bed and breakfasts across the UK on the Food Standards Agency website. Any establishment preparing or serving food has to be registered with the FSA. Records show that there are a total of 7,587 pubs, B&Bs, hotels, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, canteens and cafes registered with the FSA in Staffordshire. According to pub listings site, Pub Galore - which tracks a number of statistics related to the industry - Red Lion is the most popular pub name across the whole UK.

This moniker probably comes from James VI of Scotland, who came to the throne of England in 1603 (as James I). He ordered the red lion of Scotland to be displayed on all important public buildings - which of course included inns and taverns.

But many pub names have royal links. Apart from the Crown, obviously, the name “White Lion” dates back to the War of the Roses and King Edward IV, who carried a white lion in his coat of arms.

The Royal Oak, of which there is one in Great Ayton, meanwhile, is said to date back to the English Civil War. After the future King Charles II was defeated in the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he managed to escape the Roundheads by hiding in an oak tree in Bishops Wood in Staffordshire.

But the naming of pubs first became common around the 12 century - a time when few of the regulars who frequented them could read the words on the signs outside. It then became law for pubs and inns to have a sign to identify them in 1393, during the reign of King Richard II.

Many adopted the name “White Hart” which was the personal badge of the king. There's one in Hart Village in Hartlepool. Pub Galore estimates there are 548 Red Lions in Britain, compared to 491 bearing the name Crown, 426 Royal Oaks, 314 White Harts and 293 Ploughs.

The most common pub names in the North East:

Black Bull - 22
Red Lion - 18
Blue Bell - 17
Queens Head - 17
Ship - 16
Travellers Rest - 13
Wheatsheaf - 12
Bay Horse - 12
Black Horse - 11
Plough - 10
Sun - 10

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