Ye Olde Salutation Inn

Ye Olde Salutation Inn
Ye Olde Salutation Inn
Location within Nottinghamshire
General information
Location	Hounds Gate
Town or city	Nottingham
Country	England
Coordinates	52°57′06″N 1°09′00″W / 52.95177°N 1.15013°W / 52.95177; -1.15013
Completed	c.1240

Ye Olde Salutation Inn is a public house dating from around 1240 that lays claim (along with Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn and The Bell Inn) to being the oldest in Nottingham.

The current building was constructed as a workshop for a tanner with living accommodation above in 1240 on the site of an old alehouse known as The Archangel Gabriel Salutes the Virgin Mary. The name led local historian J. Holland Walker to speculate a connection with the local Carmelite monastery but no documentary has been found to support this.

Borough records from 1440 record a private dwelling belonging to John Alastre on the site.

During the English Civil War (1642–1646) both factions established recruiting rooms in the Inn. Following the Puritan victory the authorities objected to the religious implications of the sign and the Inn was renamed Soldier and Citizen. The original name was restored along with the Monarchy in 1660.

An investigation by the Thoroton Excavation Society in 1937 dated the caves to the 9th century and concluded that they were part of a Saxon farm later used for servants' accommodation and brewing.

Extensions to the pub in 1966 included the hanging of a wrought iron hand outside that was stolen that same night.

The Inn was featured along with its rivals Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn and The Bell Inn in a 1998 episode of the Channel 4 TV series History Hunters which used records, building architecture and timbers, and local legends to decide which was truly the oldest.