android appClare Bell
listed building grade II
last updated Nov 29th, 2023.
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Clare Bell
also traded as Green Dragon, Saracen's Head
West, 52.07858,0.58177
Closed: 21st century
opened 16th century
12 Market Hill, CO10 8NN
grid reference TL 770 453
The pub is shown on this old OS map from about 1902 (interactive map)
A Grade II Listed 16th century timber framed family & commercial hotel on old market square. Quiet, comfortable lounge, busy public bar with a conservatory to rear. Full hotel service available. Good food venue and occasional live music. Under new ownership from Nov 2022 and expected to reopen early 2023.
Gallery
Nearby Suffolk pubs
Swan 0.08 mile
Cock 0.12 mile
Globe 0.15 mile
Lion 2.1 milesHistorical interest
Owner/operator: Old English Pub Co
C16th timber framed hotel on the old market square. Quiet comfortable lounge, rear conservatory and games orientated(sic) public bar provide a good range of drinking areas. Full hotel service available. The unofficial Nethergate brewery tap.
Beers: Nethergate Bitter, Old Growler; John Smith's BitterCAMRA's 1997 Suffolk Real Ale Guide
Historically listed as a family & commercial hotel & posting house.
Records show town officials having dinner there in 1611 at a cost of eleven shillings. It was greatly expanded to a post house in the 1750s when the beautiful interior carved beams including ornately carved ceilings, some with folded leaf ornamentation, were added. These are similar to the beams in the Priory and The Grove (30 Callis Street). …
Landlords
Footnote
The green dragon may be a reference to the Earl of Pembroke and appears on their coat of arms. William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk was an important medieval English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War and later Lord Chamberlain of England. He was created Earl of Pembroke in 1447 and Duke of Suffolk in 1448.
(Most pub, location & historic details collated by Nigel, Tony or Keith - original sources are credited)
(historical detail found in Clare Book II streets)
(** historic newspaper information from Bob Mitchell)
Old OS map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
