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Napoleon Inn, Boscastle

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High Street, Boscastle, PL35 0BD (View on Google Map)
  • Historic Interior

This comfortable, two-bar 16th-century inn can be found at the very top of the western side of Boscastle, set back from the main road. Surprisingly spacious inside, the two bars are set at right angles, the smaller functioning as the 'public' and hosting the dartboard, and TV for special occasions. Child and dog-friendly, the pub is simply furnished with wooden settles, tables and chairs, and the walls display old Boscastle scenes. The larger 'lounge' in fact consists of three separate drinking rooms, and an adjacent restaurant (no dogs allowed), while the decor is a mix of drinking pots and assorted bric-a-brac. Note the gravity dispense; another beer from the St Austell range appears in addition to the regular offerings but can vary, and a fourth brew may appear in summer. The beer garden is at the side in a former orchard, and a beer terrace is across the road opposite. There are singers on Wednesdays and live music Friday & Sunday nights. The pub has a colourful history, having been a 'recruiting centre' for press gangs during the Napoleonic wars, and it enjoyed a reputation as a bawdy house. There are also ghosts said to haunt the place.

Information for this venue is provided by the Cornwall Branch of CAMRA
Previous Names
Local Authority
Cornwall
Last updated
19/08/2024
Last surveyed
27/01/2023
Leasehold owner
unknown
Freehold owner
St Austell Brewery
Pub ID
COR/25
Asset of Community Value

One star - A pub interior of special national historic interest

Listed status: II

SRI. Multi-roomed, early 17th-century pub with fittings from the 1950s and not greatly changed since. The small public bar has a Delabole slate floor, slatted wooden counter, fitted seating and a stone fireplace. Similar floors and fittings are found in the other rooms – a lounge, a small room up two steps, the ‘Fun Bar’ in a (now old) extension and a dining room in what was a separate cottage.

General information about historic pub interiors

An early 17th-century with later extensions. This multi roomed village pub appears to have fittings from the 1950s - Boscastle Manor Estate sold the freehold of the Napoleon Inn in 1946 so the changes could be shortly after that date. The main bar is the former Saloon Bar and has an old Delabole slate floor, a slatted wood counter (top may be a replacement), old fitted seating, a large old stone fireplace, also a hatch/small bar on the left of the main counter with a door for staff and with an old tongue and groove frontage. It maybe that service was from the left hand small bar and the main bar counter added post-war?

The room on a lower level was two small store rooms and a passage (confirmed by floor markings) and converted into a small lounge with a Delabole slate floor, a couple of settles and a small stone fireplace with old stove. Up two steps is a very small room with an old Delabole slate floor that was the ladies' snug with a hatch so the counter with a stone frontage is a modern replacement. Up two further steps is Boney's Bistro, originally a private living room, now a dining room with modern floor.

A passage to the right of the pub leads to 'Funs Bar' (named after Funny Phelps, a local who came here with his father in the 1950s) in an extension to the original building and is the public bar. It has a modern Delabole slate floor and a curved slatted counter. On the wall is a photo dated 1950 showing a lapped wood counter but it has 8 planks instead of the present 4 so the present counter is a replacement. The lower shelving behind the bar looks old but all the higher shelving is modern. The small stone fireplace looks to be from the 1950s but the two high backed settles are imports / modern.

Casks of St Austell beers are stillaged behind the bar - the shelving above does not look particularly old. Outside gents' and ladies' (modernised).

General information about historic pub interiors
Monday
Noon - Midnight
Tuesday
Noon - Midnight
Wednesday
Noon - Midnight
Thursday
Noon - Midnight
Friday
Noon - Midnight
Saturday
Noon - Midnight
Sunday
Noon - Midnight
Monday
Noon - 8:00pm
Tuesday
Noon - 8:00pm
Wednesday
Noon - 8:00pm
Thursday
Noon - 8:00pm
Friday
Noon - 8:00pm
Saturday
Noon - 8:00pm
Sunday
Noon - 8:00pm

TasteMatch

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Current beers

This Pub serves 2 changing beers and 3 regular beers.

Regular and recently seen

St Austell - Cornish Best Bitter TasteMatch Prediction

View beer
St Austell - Cornish Best Bitter
St Austell - Cornish Best Bitter Session Bitter • 3.4%
St Austell - Cornish Best Bitter
St Austell - Cornish Best Bitter

This beer is served regularly at Napoleon Inn, Boscastle.

ABV 3.4%
Dispense Gravity, straight from the cask
Style Session Bitter
Colour
Vegan No
Gluten Free No

St Austell - Hicks TasteMatch Prediction

View beer
St Austell Hicks Pump Clip
St Austell - Hicks Premium Bitter • 5% Spotted twice.
St Austell Hicks Pump Clip
St Austell - Hicks

This beer is served regularly and Spotted twice. at Napoleon Inn, Boscastle.

ABV 5%
Dispense Gravity, straight from the cask
Style Premium Bitter
Colour
Vegan No
Gluten Free No

St Austell - Tribute TasteMatch Prediction

View beer
St Austell Tribute Pump Clip
St Austell - Tribute Session Pale Ale • 4.2% Spotted once.
St Austell Tribute Pump Clip
St Austell - Tribute

This beer is served regularly and Spotted once. at Napoleon Inn, Boscastle.

ABV 4.2%
Dispense Gravity, straight from the cask
Style Session Pale Ale
Colour
Vegan No
Gluten Free No
Changing

Changing beers typically include: St Austell (varies)

Source: Local


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Facilities
Sports TV Sports TV
Lunchtime Meals Lunchtime Meals
Evening Meals Evening Meals
Live Music Live Music
Fridays and Sundays, and 'singers' night' on alternate Wednesdays
Garden Garden
Family Friendly Family Friendly
Parking Parking
Dog Friendly Dog Friendly
(not in the restaurant)
Games Games
Real Fire Real Fire
Restaurant Restaurant
Separate Bar Separate Bar
Smoking Smoking
Wi Fi Wi Fi
Features
Cask Ale Cask Ale
Real Heritage Pub Real Heritage Pub
Quiet Quiet
Transport
Close to bus routes (150m)
First Kernow: 95; 96
Bus stops ID (text to 84268 for next services): cordmptm (NE-bound); cordmptj (W-bound) [Doctor's Corner]
Ordnance Survey Reference
Directions
at top of village, off B3266

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