Some of the most iconic pubs in the UK have earned their glory by simply being around for a really, really long time. Our isles are overflowing with ye olde establishments with tenuous links to historical figures (pint in a boozer Sir Francis Drake may or may not have sat in once, anyone?), but some are really special, and deserve credit for weathering the storm of hospitality throughout multiple centuries.
One such spot was the Hole in the Wall, Torquay’s oldest pub, which had been serving pints since 1540. Despite surviving wars, crises, pandemics and the shifting fortunes of the hospitality industry for nearly 500 years, it tragically closed its doors on April 13.
Complete with cobbled floors and wooden beams, the Devon watering hole was famed in the area for its daily live music and local brews. It opened in the same year that Henry VIII married and subsequently divorced Anne of Cleves, and its first customers were smugglers and pirates.
After nearly half a millennium, the establishment was forced to shut this month due to the rising costs leading to hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of debt, according to its 81-year-old landlord, Richard Rossendale-Cook. Speaking to ITV News last month, he stated: ‘I'm very, very sad, of course, I'd like to carry on. But unless somebody comes up - a Russian oligarch or someone will give me £360,000 to go and pay off the bill, you are going to shut and that's the end of it.’
The pub’s closure was officially announced on March 26 when its Facebook page posted: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce that the Hole In The Wall will cease trading from the close of Sunday, 13th April 2025.
‘We'd like to thank you all for your loyal custom over the years, with many great memories created, to add to the centuries' more storied history here at the Hole.’
One of the last musical acts to grace the pub was Mike Weave, who formerly played guitar for Prince.
The Hole in the Wall’s closure follows a trend of pubs closing down following the pandemic – 412 shut last year, only slightly down from a high of 444 in 2021. A mixture of pressures due to rising costs, the struggle to make up for lost earnings during lockdowns, and the changing drinking habits of younger generations have all been cited as reasons why pubs are struggling to survive.
Stonegate Group, which owns the pub, has not stated what will happen to the building now that there is no licensee, but has said it is committed to its future.
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