The establishment that claims to be Britain’s “oldest pub” is closing its doors, the landlord announced Friday, citing hardships made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christo Tofalli, the landlord of Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, a 1,200-year-old pub, said in a Facebook post announcing the closure that financial struggles prior to the health crisis have now become untenable due to the loss of business.
“Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going,” Tofalli said. “However, the past two years have been unprecedented for the hospitality industry, and have defeated all of us who have been trying our hardest to ensure this multi-award-winning pub could continue trading into the future … It goes without saying I am heartbroken: this pub has been so much more than just a business to me, and I feel honored to have played even a small part in its history.”
The pub, which, according to its website, was established in 793, is located in St. Albans, England, north of London. Many changes to the pub have been made over the centuries. The pub’s main structure is believed to have been built in the 11th century. The current name comes from the chicken fights the pub hosted in the 19th and early 20th centuries, according to CNN.
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The pub previously held the record for the oldest pub in England as recognized by the Guinness World Records. However, the Guinness World Records could not verify what pub in England was actually the oldest and withdrew the title in 2000, a spokesperson told CNN.
“Even when we did publish information in this regard in the past, we were never able to state definitively which was the oldest pub in the country, since the age and historical usage of buildings is in many cases uncertain,” the spokesperson said.
This closure will not be the first time the pub closes its doors. According to Tofalli, the pub was shuttered for nine months when he purchased it in 2012 after the previous tenants faced hardship from the 2008 financial crisis. The landowners and brewery company Mitchells & Butlers said they are doing everything they can to find new owners to reopen the pub, according to the Washington Post.
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A GoFundMe page, created by one of the bar’s regulars, was launched Friday to help save the pub. So far, the page has raised nearly 2,500 pounds, with a goal of 100,000 pounds.
“Ye Olde Fighting Cocks has been a pub in the heart of St Albans since the 11th century. If you live here, you will know of [its] origin being one of the oldest pubs in the country,” the page says. “I’ve spent countless nights here with friends, family and even met my fiance here. It’s an irreplaceable piece of history that must be saved.”
