Hand and Shears Pub

The Hand & Shears is traditional side/back street pub. There has been a pub selling beer on this site for 500 years with the date above the door dating it to 1532. This building dates from the mid 1800s though. The décor inside of the pub looks as though it has not been updated since this building was built. It even has a private are which would have once been frequented by wealthier patrons, as well as women during a time when it was frowned upon for ladies to be seen visiting a pub.

The name might have come from the Bartholomew Fair that was held on nearby Smithfield for centuries. The Lord Mayor of London would open the fair by cutting a piece of cloth with some shears which might be the reason a ceremonial ribbon is cut to open an event. 

The pub has gone through many names & many roles in their history, but they have been an important part of British culture for over 1000 years.

The Anglo-Saxons established alehouses after they settled in the country from approximately 450AD onwards. These earliest alehouses were most probably just someone’s house where the owner would brew beer for their local community.

Beer would have played a significant part in people’s lives, especially before the discovery of bacteria. The brewing process kills bacteria in the water. Beer is also a source of calories & nutrients as well a being safer to drink than most water. The alcohol content, traditionally much lower than beers today would have provided a temporary boost of energy, handy for labourers working the fields.

Alehouses morphed into Inns & Taverns, offering lodgings & food respectively. The beer brewed on site would have been the only location that particular beer would have been available.

The pub, short for Public House, sprung up in the 1800s. Pubs sprung up as the demand for beer grew. This was also the time of the Industrial Revolution so breweries producing beer on a grand scale were founded, using the railway network to export their beer for sale outside of their local area.

The pub could be used for other functions:

·         A meeting place. This could include societies, sports clubs, inquest & coroners’ courts.

·         The wonderfully named Pye Powder court would have been held in the pub. This dates to the Medieval era & would meet to settle disputes between merchants & the public. With Smithfield market just along the road, this might have seen a lot of use. These courts were abolished in 1971.

The pub has had a special place in British society. Both Samuel Johnson, compiler of one of the earliest English dictionaries & diarist Samuel Pepys both extolled the virtues of the drinking house & the happiness they bring, & who would argue with them.