Preston Pub Sign Study The Bull And Royal

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There are conflicting accounts of which is the oldest surviving pub in Preston. CAMRA’s Good Beer guide from a few years back claimed it is Ye Olde Blue Bell which dates from 1716 while Stephen Halliwell traces The Bull And Royal Hotel to 1670, including its previous incarnation as The White Bull. The Bull in pub signs is not always literally a bull in farmer’s field, though it can be that simple. The name sometimes refers to a Papal Bull, or orders from the Catholic Pope, so Bull And Royal makes reference to both church and royal state, especially in the wake of the time when the Protestant Reformation divided the two. This pub’s patrons and guests have included the famous and infamous. The ruthless Bloody Assizes Judge George Jeffries, who hanged and deported hundreds of participants from the Monmouth Rebellion stayed here for a time. Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe stayed at the inn, as did Charles Dickens while writing his grimmest novel Hard Times in which the city of Coketown is Preston in all but name. Despite such a rich historic claim to fame, the pub lacks plaques and a good sign, other than a board saying simply Bull And Royal. It really deserves better. The Bull And Royal sign in nearby Longridge manages it so why not my current home city’s oldest pub? Arthur Chappell