The Blue Bell: York’s Smallest Pub
Established in 1798, The Blue Bell is York’s smallest and arguably most beautiful pub.
The compact and intimate Blue Bell is a true national treasure and one of very few public houses to have the distinction of Grade II* listing status for the outstanding importance of its interior.
Last decorated in 1903 and retaining all of its Edwardian charm, a drink in The Blue Bell is a step back in time.
These old features include glazed screens with service hatches and varnished matchboarding on the walls.
The original structure was built around 1600.
From then on it was used for a variety of purposes, but in 1798 it was converted from a warehouse into a public house.
Legend has it that when this conversion took place a lot of church towers in York were undergoing renovation.
The bells from these towers were made with gun metal and stored in the warehouse for safe keeping.
So when the pub was refitted the owners decided to name it after the contents found – hence why the pub is named after the bell, not the flower.
The pub is entered through a corridor, widened slightly into a lobby, which contains a single tip-up seat by the bar.
The inner door, which opens both ways, has a 'Smoke Room' decoratively engraved and frosted glass panel on the door and beyond it a drinking lobby with a hatch counter in a wider area at the front.
Around the hatch with its intact two-part sliding screen/window are glass panels - frosted at the lower level and plain at the top.
Note the tiny seat usually folded away which is something like the ‘walking' ones seen at a race meeting.
The passage continues to the smoke room at the rear and on the right is another door with a 'Smoke Room' decoratively engraved and frosted glass panel.
A glazed screen forms the division between the servery and the rear smoke room and has a two part sliding sashed service hatch and an entrance to the servery for staff with curtains – very traditional.
All the walls and the ceiling of this small room are also covered in varnished and polished matchboarding, there is fixed bench seating on two sides with bell pushes above and a baffle near the door, also an old bench on the north side wall.
There is a 1903 cast iron and red tiled fireplace with Art Nouveau decoration and only three small decorative pub tables by A Reynolds & Co, Bar Fitters, Leeds with copper tops.
The building was constructed as a five-bay timber-framed house, with a central staircase.
It originally had a jettied front, but it was re-fronted in the 18th century.
The facade of the lower two floors was replaced with brick, while the top floor appears to have been retained and rendered over.
At the rear, the original jettied facade survives, although its ground floor is obscured by later outbuildings.
A lot of what you see and experience in The Blue Bell today is due to what we affectionately call ‘The Robinson Dynasty’.
In the January of 1903 George and Annie Robinson took on the pub and created the House Rules you can still see today.
Annie gave birth to a baby girl who they named Edith in the December of the same year.
The pub was given a very trendy Edwardian make-over, the glazed bricks were added and the front door was moved to its current position on Fossgate.
They ran the pub through World War One, the Spanish Flu, the depression of the thirties and World War Two.
They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1947 before Geroge sadly passed away a year later.
Annie then took over the running of the pub and celebrated her 85th birthday here in 1962.
When she passed away in 1963 the lease transferred to their daughter Edith who by now was 60 herself.
Edith (or Mrs Pinder as she preferred to be known) kept her mother and father’s rules in place and wasn’t one for change.
She ran The Blue Bell with the uncompromising attitude learnt from her parents until 1992 when she passed away after 89 years of being at the pub.
In that time, she saw 17 US Presidents, 18 British Prime Ministers and five monarchs come and go – all whilst nothing in her treasured Blue Bell changed one bit.
But that’s just the beginning! During the pub’s closure in the Coronavirus lockdown John researched the history of the pub and has written the first volume of The Blue Bell’s story.
Originally grade II listed in 1954, in 1997 it was upgraded to grade II* on the strength of its interior, one of very few pubs to be awarded this grade for internal features.
A Grade II listed building is one that is recognised as having special architectural or historic interest.
These buildings are deemed important enough to warrant preservation and are protected by law from demolition or significant alteration without special permission.
The pub today
The pub is small, so it can get busy.
Their quieter times are during the week, especially in the early afternoons, where you’re much more likely to get a seat and a table.
They are dog friendly too, but they ask that you keep your four-legged friends off the furniture - treats and water bowls are always available.
They don’t have TVs, music, games machines or any other modern ‘attractions’ that could interrupt the enjoyment of your pint.
As such, they also ask that all mobile phones are turned to silent and phone conversations take place outside the public rooms.
If you want to play with your phone, there’s every other pub in York for that: they’re just a proper pub for proper pub people.
Someone who recently visited the pub said: “What a fantastic little city pub. Love the rules...no noisy mobile phones etc etc. Such a friendly, quirky little place.
”Just soo friendly and the 'Ghost Porter Ale' was sublime. The locals were friendly and the guy behind the bar was a font of knowledge about Medieval York.”
Another person added: “Probably the best pub in York. A gem for so many reasons. Firstly historically its a perfectly preserved Edwardian timepiece.
”It has a brilliant atmosphere with friendly clientele and regulars. Its serves top class beers - 5 real ales on draught including their own unique Blue Bell IPA.
”It has a brilliant landlord who treats you like a friend the minute he meets you. Oh and York City FC were formed in the back room in the 1920's...”
If you’d like to visit, the address is: 53 Fossgate, York YO1 9TF.
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