Most people who visit The Beer Emporium are intrigued as to the history of the building. Well, let’s shed some light into the cellar…
The whole street is steeped in history. King Street is a 17th-century street named after Charles II. The street lies just south of the old town wall and was laid out in 1650 to develop the Town Marsh, Numbers 14–15 were built around 1860 as a warehouse.
The Beer Emporium is a Grade II listed building, it was originally used by Bristol’s oldest wine merchant. J.R. Phillips and Co. Ltd. to store wine, and now it is residence to some fabulously tasty beer.
Opposite our hidden in cellar is the Bristol Old Vic:
The Old Vic in Bristol has laid claim to being the oldest continually operated theatre in the country, which is pretty impressive when one considers that theatre companies are a dime a dozen and rarely last long possibly due to artistic disagreements. It opened its doors on 30 May 1766. The Georgian auditorium was renovated in 2011 and now it hopes to refurbish the foyer their 250th anniversary in 2016.
Amongst the historic buildings such as the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer and the King Bill lies the Llandoger Trow. Its name comes from the village of Llandogo that is north of Bristol and was home to trows, which are flat-bottomed barges. The pub was built in 1644 and nearly did not survive bombing during the Second World War. It’s very closely related to the pirating days of Bristol. Bristol’s most famous pirate, Blackbeard, was allegedly born in the city, near the old harbour. Also known as Edward Teach, the infamous sailor led a reign of terror over the Caribbean Sea and the islands that inhabit it. We would like to think he enjoyed some grog in The Beer Emporium.