Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem

About The Name

Travellers to the city of Nottingham invariably find their way to this quaint old Inn which is carved into the rock and connected with the labyrinth of sandstone caves at the foot of Nottingham Castle. As its sign says, it truly is “Well known throughout the World”, but the very first question every visitor asks inevitably relates to how it came to have such an unusual name.

The answer to this lies in the date painted on the exterior walls of the Inn, that of 1189AD. This was the year of ascension to the throne of King Richard the First, known as Richard the Lionheart, and one of his first acts as King was to crusade against the Saracens who at that time occupied the Holy Land of Christian Religion. Nottingham Castle was a stronghold favoured by the King and legend has it that the brave Knights and men at arms who rallied to his call to fight in this Third Crusade, gathered at the Castle to rest before journeying to Jerusalem.

Legend also has it that these Crusaders stopped off at the Inn at the foot of the Castle for welcome refreshments - or perhaps more accurately, for ‘one for the road’. Given that in the Middle Ages, a ‘Trip’ was not a journey as such but rather a resting place where such a journey could be broken, it is understandable how the Inn came to be called ‘Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem’.

The Legend of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem

The original Castle of Nottingham was established on the rock in the year 1068 by William Perverill for William the Conqueror. Perverill caused the course of the River Leen to be altered to pass by the foot of the rock, partly as a moated defence and partly as a water supply for the Castle.

After the building of the Castle, one of the first additions would have been the Brewhouse. Since water for drinking was notoriously bad in the Middle Ages, ale was brewed and drank, because as well as providing alcohol, the brewing process served to sterilise the drink. The brewing of ale requires a steady temperature and the caves at the foot of the Castle Rock were ideal because they provided not only a very effective ‘air-conditioning’ system, but also necessary storage space.

Whilst there no maps of that era, examination of the caves suggest that the original location of the Brewhouse was in the area of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem. Two vertical passages through the rock emerge into the open air outside the Castle walls - one of which leads from the present upstairs Lounge of the Inn. It seems very likely that these two passages were used in the malting process. This would have required a large fire and also a very wide ‘chimney’ and although these chimneys may have been partly natural, the similarities between the two suggest that they were probably altered to suit the needs and were thus the malthouses of the day.

Much of the history of the Inn is very poorly recorded. An archaeological dig in 1974 proved conclusively that the location of the original Brewhouse could only be that of the caves of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem. This established that the Castle Brewhouse existed prior to 1189AD but the first dated reference is to be found is in the records of the City Council for the year 1618. The parochial rights to the area now known as the Brewhouse Yard did not in fact belong to the Castle but passed backwards and forward over time between the Priory of Lenton, The Knights Templar and the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem.

The black and white half-timbered section of the outer buildings of the Inn most certainly dates to around 1650 to 1660 and is shown accurately and in the correct location on Badder and Peat’s map of 1744. This was used as the basis for Charles Deering’s map in his 1751 book, “History of the Antiquities of Nottingham”.

Shortly later, the Inn was bought by William Standford who was responsible for many of the period buildings of Nottingham. This resulted in the structure of the Inn as it can be seen today and those with a keen eye for detail and old architecture will be able to spot the join between the old and new structures.

The first reference to the Inn with a name came in Deering’s book, where he referred to it as” The Pilgrim”. Bearing in mind the connection with the Court of St John of Jerusalem it seems but a short step to the name “Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem” which first appeared in Willoughby’s Directory of Nottingham, dated 1799. Interestingly, in deeds of sale recorded in 1834, the Inn was noted as “Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, formerly known as The Pilgrim”.

The next point of particular note was the acquisition of the Inn by George Henry Ward. A colourful character known to everyone as “Yorkey”, he had his nickname painted on the outside of the Inn where today the inscription “Well known throughout the World” is to be seen. Wright’s Directories of Nottingham record that “Yorkey” was the licensee of the Meadow Inn on Arkright Street in 1891 and the Fox and Owl on Parliament Street in 1893. By 1894 it is recorded that he had taken over the licence of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem and remained there until his death in 1914.

The visitor to the Inn will notice as they step into the Inn that it is a step into something of a cross between an inn and a museum.

Another point of interest in the Ward Room, is the fireplace. Once having chimneys that emerged through the top of the rock, they also had the added benefit of only needing to be swept every thirty years or so, due to a large chamber behind the fireplace.

The sharp-eyed visitor to the Trip will notice a black painted wall on the right near the stairway to the upstairs lounge. This area houses the Chimney Alcove, featuring a breathtaking chimney that once emerged through the top of the rock beneath the walls of Nottingham Castle, reputedly having a secret entrance to the network of caves that joined up with Mortimer’s Room, although that entrance is now blocked off.

When this alcove or chamber was eventually opened up in 1996, seven and a half tons or more than 50 sacks of soot and sand were removed over three day building operation!

Yorkey's Lounge & The Haunted Snug

Yorkey’s Lounge

Passing round the Bar (hopefully first having stopped for a drink!), visitors will find themselves entering Yorkey’s Lounge. Situated in the section of the Inn built around 1660 and little altered since that time, it is pure 17th Century, with a massive oak beam bisecting the ceiling north to south. A photograph of Yorkey, who was licensee of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem from 1894 until he died in 1914, hangs on the wall of the Lounge and his ghost is said to still frequent the Inn and to have been seen on many occasions.

Visitors will also observe the many autographed photographs of famous music-hall stars from the mid-1900’s. These mostly belonged to ‘Auntie Ada” - Mrs Ada Geraldine Etherington-Ward - who was owner of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem between 1950 and 1966 and whose name is still in place above the main entrance door to this day.

The Haunted Snug

Located at the far end of Yorkey’s Lounge and the ideal place to enjoy a quiet drink.

This cosy little room has succeeded in sending a shiver through many a folk over the years. Sitting above an unused basement area known as the ‘Secret Cellar’, the Haunted Snug was once a shop and has also been used to provide a bedroom facility for private quarters of the Inn.

The Rock Lounge & The Museum Room

The famous Rock Lounge is accessed via a short stairway. Once the malting room of the old Brewhouse, a major feature of this room is the massive chimney that extends some sixty feet or so up through the Castle rock. This shaft, believed also to have been used as a hoist to and from the Castle for the ale that was brewed, is reputed to link into the extensive network of caves that honeycombs the rock.

Undoubtedly, the centrepiece of the Rock Lounge is the infamous Cursed Galleon. Legend has it that it that this nameless model of a galleon may have been presented to the Inn by a parting sailor but the motive for him having done so is unknown. Whatever the motivation may have been, this Galleon truly is possessed of a hideous curse - Legend has it that the last three people who cleaned it died very mysterious and unexpected deaths. No wonder that today the Cursed Galleon is housed in a glass presentation case above the Bar, safe from would-be cleaners and shrouded in what looks like at least fifty years of layers of undisturbed dust and cobwebs.

Festooned with relics of bygone ages, the Rock Lounge also houses the ‘pregnancy chair’. A decorative ancient wooden chair sitting by the fireplace, legend has it that any female that sits upon it will become pregnant. So, sit on it if you dare!

Also in this room is the entrance to Mortimer's Hole (see the seperate listing on the left of this page)

Check out the galleon now encased behind glass above the bar. It has accumulated several more than 50 years of dust from hanging in its orginal place in the chimney!

The Museum Room

Linked to the Rock Lounge by a bridging passageway through the rock, the Museum Room walls are home to a tapestry which very graphically depicts the history of Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem.

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem and Mortimer's Hole

One of the legends associated with the Inn relates to the downfall of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and paramour of the then Queen mother, Isabella.

Visitors to the Castle will doubtless have seen the railed-off entrance, south of the palace that leads down into the network of caves that honeycombs the Castle rock.

This is where, in the year 1330AD, King Edward the Third entered the Castle to arrest his mother’s lover, Roger Mortimer, who had treasonously murdered his father, King Edward the Second. Mortimer was captured in the royal apartment and subsequently hanged. It is said that Mortimer and Isabella used to meet in secret in Mortimer’s Room, a small room, cut out of the rock at the back of the Inn.

This was connected to the Castle grounds by a small passage, known as Mortimer’s Hole, through the interconnected network of caves.

Beneath the Inn exists another network of caves.

Yorkey, who never wanted to leave Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, is said to regularly visit the cellar caves. Having been seen in the cellars on many occasions, he apparently plays tricks on the staff and likes to move things around.

Located in the Cellars is an old cockfighting pit and part of the Castle Gaol was said to be housed in the cellars at one time. This included the condemned cell, a small cell with a very low ceiling with small holes drilled to allow a little air to flow through. The Gaoler would have sat just outside the cells on the ‘Gaoler’s Chair’ which was etched out of the rock and can still be seen today.

Also to be seen in the cellars, is the end of a ‘speaking tube’ that was bored through to the Castle to make the ordering of ale a simple process. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine how effective or otherwise this might have been since the Castle end of the ‘tube’ is now irretrievably lost.

thank you to http://www.triptojerusalem.com