Pub serving Food
The pub is popular in the daytime with its good value food offering, but it turns into a "circuit" venue at night, thus it can become noisy! (Live music Friday nights, DJ on Saturdays). The Hole in the Wall venue was an entry in the early days of the Good Beer Guide in 1975. Details were sparse at the time, but apparently Bass Worthington Bitter and M&B Mild were for sale, and it was said to be "an old pub of character"! For the early birds, confirmation that the bar opens at 9am, same time that the kitchen does for Breakfast (10am Sundays). A renovation in 2022 resulted in the removal of the handpumps.
Historic Interest
This historic inn was, until 1985, two different pubs. The current entrance on Shoplatch was originally the entrance to the Market Vaults (known locally as "The Bloodtub"), it had an alternate entrance off Gullet Passage. Indeed, it probably occupies the site of the 16th Century Gullet Inn, the name change coinciding with the building of the original Victorian market hall across the road (replaced in the 1960's). The original Hole in the Wall was only accessible from Drayton's Passage further down Shoplatch (the old entrance has now been relegated to a Fire Exit). The current Hole in the Wall name is in fact another nickname, originally it was the Star Vaults. This nickname probably arose from the usage of the building's cellars in it's pre-pub days as a debtors prison. The Cellar Bar area is now primarily used for live music nights.
Hole in the Wall, Shrewsbury