Once called the Coach and Horses, the Hole in the Wall pub on the corner of Queen Square is a well known Bristol landmark.
In the 18th century it was one of a number of pubs frequented by seamen in the times when sailors could be kidnapped by press-gangs during wartime and forcibly recruited into serving in the British Navy.
The spy house on the dock side of the pub was reputedly used to watch out for press-gangs as well as for government agents searching for smugglers. Although press-gangs were not used for slave ships, underhand methods were employed to get sailors aboard. (Slave ships were not popular with sailors because of the high death rates among the crew, and the danger of slave rebellions).
It was common in many of the taverns around the centre of Bristol for landlords to receive money from ship owners in return for getting sailors drunk in order to get them into debt. The only way sailors could then avoid going to the poor house or debtors’ prison was to work onboard a slave ship.
Inspiring Robert Louis Stevenson?
The Hole in the Wall is also linked with Treasure Island. It is thought to mirror the Spy Glass Tavern in the novel and there are rumours that the character 'Long John Silver', was based on a landlord of this pub.
This information was taken from Discovering Bristol.
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