About
The History of The Bear Hotel
The Bear Hotel is a stunning building. Built in 1757 is redolent of all things nautical. The pub sign is like the spar of a ship, the figureheads acting as corbels are enigmatic and again associated with a nautically, the cartouche is elegant and like a vessel making the whole silhouette very much like a ship in sail. With its front in the High Street, facing the old Town Hall and its side in The Parade, The Bear Hotel is late 19th century Jacobean and Georgian in style and has looked this way since 1889 after it was luxuriously re-built. The public House/Hotel would have been the visual marker as horse traffic turned left into the High Street from the Parade (then The Marsh) before New Road was built in 1812.
A directory of 1914 was emphatic in its praise of The Bear Hotel. “The house is fitted with all the latest and best appliances,” it said. “Wines, spirits and cigars of the finest quality” and “good stabling”. It was then called “The Bear and Castle Hotel” until 1949 when it was rechristened to “The Bear Hotel” – possibly to avoid confusion with another Marlborough pub/hotel with a similar name. Its present appearance is due to a brewery remodel by Weymouth ales at the start of the early 1900s Arkell’s bought the pub/hotel in 1987.
A 1792 directory records “25 inns in Marlborough with signs; besides two other victuallers’ houses and a lodging house, not thus distinguished”, nearly a dozen other signs not recorded in the directory are mentioned in the licensing order of 1782, and “four and forty coaches used to call daily at one or other of the Marlborough inns” (A. Dryden, 1906).
The 1852 Slaters Directory records 5 brewers, 4 Inns, 18 Taverns & Public Houses and 7 Retailers of Beer in Marlborough. Today there are about 9 pubs and bars within a short walk of each other.
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Grade: II. List Entry Number: 1253158. Date first listed: 21 October 1974.
A few words from Liz & Iain
The Bear at Marlborough is a fantastic town centre pub. Over the last three years the landlords Iain and liz Watson have transformed it and are building on that success with a great new menu using local suppliers.
It helps that The Bear is right next door to Marlborough’s best butchers, Andrews. “I visit the butchers almost daily to pick the meat I want to cook,”. We source vegetables from local supplier Arthur David.
Most pubs in Marlborough have a signature dish, but we are just cooking good quality food. I suppose the Bears signature dish if I had to chose one, is the famous beer battered fish and chips using Arkells 3b ale.
Landlord Iain Watson is delighted to have attracted Mike to The Bear. “Liz and I took over the pub around two years ago. The bar is busy and so is the accommodation. The icing on the cake for us will be a brilliant food menu too.”
Arkell’s Brewery, which owns The Bear, has refurbished the hotel’s bed and breakfast accommodation we now have great rooms at The Bear to offer customers. Arkell’s managing director, George Arkell, said: “The Bear has flourished under Iain and Liz’s management and we’re looking forward to tasting Mike’s food. With a new menu, and updated hotel accommodation later this year, the pub will have a lot more than just the ‘bear’ necessities of life.”
A Beautiful Place to Be …
Situated in the beautiful Wiltshire market town of Marlborough, The Bear is a Marlborough pub ideally situated at the end of the town.
Great Accomodation
The Accommodation at The Bear hosts 8 beautifully refurbished En-suite rooms two Family rooms with shared bathroom and shower facilities and two double rooms with shared showers and bathrooms
With help from Arkells our rooms have been upgraded to a great standard but still incorporate the old parts of the building
Address
The Bear Marlborough,
1 High St,
Marlborough,
Wiltshire
SN8 1AA
Contact Us
Email: info@thebearmarlborough.com
Facebook: facebook.com/TheBearinMarlborough
© 2023 The Bear Marlborough