One of Britain’s oldest pubs closes doors for final time after nearly 500 years as owner says he’s ‘very, very sad’
ONE of the country’s oldest boozers has closed down after nearly half a millennium of pouring pints.
The aptly named Hole in the Wall in Torquay has survived the English Civil War and the Second World War.
The iconic pub has served pirates and smugglers since 1540- the same year that Henry VIII married and divorced his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
The pub has charmed Torquay, the town famous as the backdrop to Fawlty Towers, with its cobbled floors and low-beamed ceilings for nearly 500 years.
Rather than flatscreens showing sports, it boasted daily live music.
Pub landlord Richard Rossendale-Cook, 81, said rising costs meant he could no longer afford the rent.
He told ITV News last month: “I’m very, very sad, of course, I’d like to carry on.
“But unless somebody comes up – a Russian oligarch or someone will give me £360,000 to go and pay off the bill, you are going to shut and that’s the end of it.”
On March 26, the pub’s Facebook page posted: “It is with great sadness that we announce that the Hole In The Wall will cease trading from the close of Sunday, 13th April 2025.
“We’d like to thank you all for your loyal custom over the years, with many great memories created, to add to the centuries’ more storied history here at the Hole.”
Richard estimated he had paid £ 1.2 million for the brewery in the past 7 years, but declining footfall had made the situation financially untenable.
But right until its last weeks, Richard couldn’t believe the pub would close.
Just two weeks before its closure, he told ITV News: “I can’t see it being shut down, it’s too famous- but the brewery will probably find a better way.”
But tragically, it closed its doors on April 13.
Liquidators from HMRC arrived on April 16, priced up all the fixtures and fittings and took ownership of the building.
Going out in style, legendary Prince guitarist, “the Funktastic Mike Weave,” graced the historic hole with some tunes on April 4.
“Life goes on and so must the show…” wrote the pub.
Asked why Richard thinks the resilient pub is finally having to close the door, he mused that he thinks habits are changing.
He said: “The world is totally changing!
“(People say) Oh, I love your pub, I’ve never been anywhere like it- but they don’t come back.
“They’ve been here, they’ve got the T-Shirt and that’s it.”
One dismayed customer, Oliver Nuther, commented on the closure: “So we are losing a real pub, one without big sports screens and gambling machines dominating the place.
“A place to chat with people from around the country and the world who have found the Hole.
“The local musicians brought a great atmosphere to this unique pub in Torquay; it will be greatly missed.
“I hope that Richard will be able to move on from the unhelpful way he has been treated by the distant hand-off landlords.”
The pub is legendary across the world, with Debbie Swan Saunders lamenting that she had planned to visit her “favourite old pub” when she travelled from Australia for the first time in 35 years- but she arrived a day after it was shuttered.
A third fan lamented: “Aww no, so sad. I only managed to visit this perfect pub for the first time last year on holiday.
“I was really looking forward to coming back again! All the best for the future.”
“I’m absolutely gutted. There will be no decent pubs left at this rate,” fumed another.”
The tragic news comes as some 412 pubs closed in the last year in England and Wales, around 34 a month, with many demolished or converted into homes, offices and nurseries.
Covid lockdowns and soaring energy prices, along with changing drinking habits, particularly amongst the young, have hit boozers where it hurts- in their finances.
This was a rise of 6.7% on the previous year of rocketing pub closures, and the sharpest fall in numbers since 2021, when 444 pubs closed their doors.
The Pink and Lily in Princes Risborough pulled its last pint in Buckinghamshire after 7 years of business.
In the last five years, a whopping 2047 watering holes have closed, according to an analysis by Altus Group.
What is happening to the hospitality industry?
By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter
MANY Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out.
Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.
Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing branches.
Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs.
Pizza giant, Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores soon.
Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.