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Frequently asked questions

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I'm using Internet Explorer or another old browser and your site either looks a mess or just doesn't work. Why?

The Web has moved on a long way since Internet Explorer, which as far as Microsoft is concerned has been superseded by MS Edge. It simply isn't feasible to continue supporting obsolete browsers. We recommend that you upgrade to a more modern browser such as Firefox or even Microsoft Edge.

Why list all thos old pubs? Surely it's only the open ones that are of interest?

The open pubs are the most important ones for us, and part of the reason for this website is so that people can find them, use them and keep them open. But the pub heritage of Suffolk is something that's important to us and we want to get it publicly documented while people still remember about the old pubs.

Why are there so many "unidentified" or "possible" pubs?

The problem with a historical research project like this is that we don't always have all the information we need to identify a particular pub. Sometimes this is because a building that was obviously once a pub has been found while our researchers were travelling around the county; other times because an old map shows an inn in a particular location. Sometimes we can make a reasonable guess as to the identity of the pub concerned (perhaps because we have a single closed pub listed for that village, so there's a good chance that's the one) but otherwise we show what we have so far (location and, if we have one, photograph) in the hope that someone may be able to identify it. In some places, we have names for several old pubs but no addresses; we've also found several pubs there on old maps, but currently don't know which is which.
Generally speaking, if we know a building was a pub but don't know its name, we mark it as "unidentified". If we think a building might have been a pub, we mark it as a "possible old pub". We set a fairly low probability threshold for buildings that look like ex-pubs. This means a lot of these were probably never pubs but it also means we'll miss fewer actual ex-pubs. That way, there's more chance someone might see a photo and remember the pub, as has happened with some puttives (and with luck, someone may also know for certain that a building was never a pub).

I'd like to make use of some of the information on this website for my own website/book/etc. Is that OK?

Part of our reason for being here is to promote pubs, so general information, such as pub names, addresses, etc. may be used freely providing you acknowledge us as an information source. Most photographs are copyright (and marked as such) and must not be used without the express permission of the copyright holder. Similarly, the text of the site is copyright and may not be reproduced without our express permission.

I know a particular pub used to exist in a particular place, but you don't have an entry for it. Why is is missing?

The most likely explanation is that it's a pub we've never found a reference to. Our best guess is that we've managed to list something like 95% of all the pubs that have existed in Suffolk over the past couple of centuries, but that leaves plenty for us to find. If you know about a pub we don't mention, please let us know about it so we can add it.
Another possibility is that the pub wasn't actually in that particular place. There are two particular situations where this may happen: Sometimes a pub is generally referred to as being in one parish when it's actually over the border of another one. An example of this is the Fox in Willingham St Mary, which is normally referred to as being in neighbouring Shadingfield.
In a number of instances, boundary changes have resulted in a pub now being in a different parish to the one where it has been historically listed. An example of this is the White Horse in Risby. At one time (certainly before the 1890s) this pub was within the boundaries of Great Saxham and is frequently listed under that parish name. However, due to boundary changes, it's now in Risby, so that's where we list it.
Where we are aware of pubs in these situations, we try to make it clear in both the pub's entry and that of the parish it used to be in. It's quite probable that we still have a number of pubs listed in more than one place due to boundary moves that we haven't yet identified.

I've found a problem with the website. What should I do?

If you've found an error in some of the information, or have information to add, please contact Nigel Smith. For technical problems with the site (such as pages not displaying correctly or search results being incorrect) please contact Tony Green.

What are "other licensed premises"?

We were faced with something of a problem because of premises that historically were pubs, although they could no longer be classified as pubs, but were still trading under the same or a similar name. An example of this would be Eastern's in Sudbury, which has a history going back some time as a pub, but these days is a nightclub and not a pub. To actually show this establishment as "closed" wouldn't be correct, as it's still trading. But we didn't want to list it as a pub either. So we decided to create a new category that places such as this could be listed under without either including them as pubs or amongst the closed pubs lists. We generally only list such premises if they were pubs in the past. Where the name of the establishment has changed, such as the Yaxley Bull (now the Auberge restaurant) we feel it legitimate to list it as closed. Other types of premises this category includes are wine bars (where little or no beer is available on tap), restaurants and licensed hotels (mainly those which have at some time in the past had publicly-accessible bars).

Why are you now using Bing maps instead of Ordnance Survey and Google maps?

The Ordnance Survey have changed the way their mapping API works to something which would mean incurring significant costs to use it, so we had to move away from their mapping. Since Bing maps actually provide us with OS map layers at most zoom levels, as well as providing aerial views like Google maps, it was the natural choice. Removing Google is generally considered a good idea as this company uses every product to spy on users.

Why are the grid lines on your maps "on th'huh"?

Grid North actually deviates from true north by several degrees. As the maps are oriented correctly for true north, the grid lines are off-set.

I have an iPhone so I can't use your app. Is there any chance of a version compatible with Apple equipment?

Unfortunately, Apple make it impossible to create iPhone apps without using Apple computers. The app was created for us by a local member who doesn't have access to the necessary hardware, so unfortunately an iPhone version is not currently possible.
If you have the hardware and skills to create an iPhone app, we're happy to help as much as possible. Please contact Tony if this is the case.

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