About us

Situated in an area of huge redevelopment, The Barley Mow is surrounded by a mixture of old terraced houses and new apartments.  Five minutes from Temple Meads and Old Market, it's an area with a fast-changing demographic, as scrap metal yards and warehouses are replaced by smart offices and hotels.

A splendid double-fronted old pub with plenty of original features and character, The Barley Mow feels like a proper local as soon as you walk through the door. It has original floorboards and fireplaces, a simple bar with a line of real ale handpulls (including two dating from 1936) and settles.

It feels both original and new at the same time and this is reflected in the huge cross-section of customers since it opened its doors.

HISTORY

Saved from redevelopment by the Bristol Beer Factory, The Barley Mow, which dates back to 1828, reopened its doors in 2008 following refurbishment.

Tucked away in a part of Bristol known locally as The Dings, just by Barton Hill Trading Estate, The Barley Mow closed at the beginning of 2008 when owners Wadworth decided that it was no longer financially viable and it was time to sell the building.

Freehold pubs such as this rarely come up in the city, but the award-winning Ashton-based brewery Bristol Beer Factory heard about it through the local Campaign For Real Ale (Camra) which alerted them to the fact the pub was for sale.  One prominent local supporter of the campaign is architect George Ferguson, the man behind the Tobacco Factory in Southville.  Ferguson also owns the Bristol Beer Factory and as soon as he discovered The Barley Mow was for sale, he was quick off the mark to check out its potential.

When the Bristol Beer Factory took over the pub, it was in a sorry state and needed a complete makeover, including a new roof and toilets. One wall was so damp that you could put your finger through it. They hadn't spent any money on it for years. When it was a bikers' pub it was very well used but then it was run into the ground.  As with most old pubs, it comes with all sorts of stories and anecdotes, as well as rumours of its own ghost.

Until the late Seventies, when Wadworth took over, it was called The Duke Of York, but its current name apparently came about by accident.  It was supposed to be called The Barley Fields because that's what the school was called, but apparently somebody in the admin department at Wadworth got it wrong and called it The Barley Mow, and the name stuck.