What do you know about Torquay's alleged oldest pub?

Tucked behind the bustling Torwood Street and down a cosy cobbled lane is Torquay’s self-proclaimed oldest pub.

Located at 6 Park Lane, The Hole In The Wall is one of the town’s oldest surviving inns. However, as local history expert Graham Wheatley points out, its true origins are shrouded in mystery, lost to the annals of time.

Graham Wheatley is a ‘group expert’ and ‘all-star contributor’ to the Facebook group Undiscovered Torbay, which shares pictures, stories, and artefacts to help uncover the Bay’s rich history.

One of his most recent posts in this group explores the intriguing past of this mysterious local pub.

Graham explains that while many people believe that The Hole In The Wall was established nearly 500 years ago around 1540, there is no definitive record to confirm this. 

He says: “Believed by many, to have been established c.1540, the Hole In The Wall is not included in the 'Public Houses of the Parish' in 1770; J. T. White (The History of Torquay, published 1878) relates to this list of five hostelries when he writes: 'The old town of Fleete appears to have been fairly provided'.”

Above: Hole In The Wall interior 2014. Image: Graham Wheatley

According to Graham, a 1930 book written by A. C. Ellis called An Historical Survey of Torquay dates the pub between 1770 and pre-1830, as it mentions that the old Hole In The Wall public house has existed on the site for “well over a century”.

Graham adds: “It has been suggested—as the name implies—that it was literally 'a hole in the wall,' through which mugs of cider were passed to men labouring in the adjoining store; this could well have been in the mid-16th. century.

“Later, opening up with one small bar, the Hole In The Wall, may have become a secret haunt for local smugglers, who were operating from Anstey’s Cove and the like throughout the centuries. Such covert activities may have ensured the absence of its mention in the list of 1770.”

Local historian and columnist for The Torbay Weekly, Kevin Dixon, was quick to challenge this estimated establishment date.

Kevin says: “There’s a lot of spurious 1540-dated pubs around. The mediaeval period ended with Henry’s reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540. People had little access to accurate written records, and it looks like 1540 was an educated guess for the genesis of any old building that wasn’t obviously medieval. In effect, it was an advertising slogan for ‘This is one of the oldest pubs in the country’. Such pubs often completed the package by boasting a famous “visitor—“Shakespeare used to drink in here”—and” a ghost.”

While its foundation remains uncertain, The Hole in the Wall of today likely looks very different from its past, especially after interior alterations carried out in June 1953.

Julian Lawrence-Ball expresses some scepticism about its alleged connection to smugglers, saying: “It’s a bit of a trek from Ansty’s Cove.”

Tasch Scobie reminisces about the pub’s earlier days: “It’s not the same since they knocked through to the restaurant next door. and took away the door between the two bars. They used to claim it was one of Britain's smallest pubs. What happened to all the signatures on the ceiling? Some famous names were there and some signatures from the G.I's stationed here in WW2”

Despite these musings, the overwhelming majority of comments on the post are full of praise for the local haunt.

Above: Hole In The Wall 2024. Image: Graham Wheatley

Valerie Craven enthuses: “Brilliant pub with fantastic food,” while Jeff Jones recalls: “Many happy hours spent there many, many years ago.”

Christine Hill says: “Our favourite pub.”

Are there any Torquay establishments that you would like us to compare? Let us know by contacting us at torbayweekly@clearskypublishing.co.uk.