The Importance Of Pubs In British Society
INTRODUCTION
Public houses, commonly known as pubs are an essential aspect into understanding British culture, with over 60,000 spread along the United Kingdom, these in contrast to most countries provide not just a place to drink in, but rather a social centre in where it is possible to appreciate a mix of traditions, joviality and human interaction, not to mention the fact that these also provides jobs to over 600,000 people. In this essay I will give a brief look into the history, licensing laws and types of pubs before moving onto how pubs are dealing with modern day business schemes and the impact this has had on British society.
HISTORY
Pubs in Britain date back as early as Romans arrival, when the first inns were opened to provide travellers with a place to get some refreshment, food and entertainment by the time Romans left many villagers had opened their own alehouses brewing the beer in their own houses and letting people know when this was ready by putting a green bush up on a pole. By 965 this kind of alehouses had become so common that King Edgar decreed that there should be no more than one alehouse per village.
The next major development came about due to a 12th century murder. The assassination of Thomas Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury) in Canterbury Cathedral resulted in many pilgrims travelling to sites such as Becket’s shrine, causing inns and hostels to proliferate in order to provide shelter for them.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries these establishments sold mainly ale and lager (the former one does not contain hops) until the first half of the eighteenth century when the so-called “Gin Craze” took hold. With more than half of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London being gin-shops and the increasing number of problems they brought with them, in the early 19th century the government decided to amend the situation by establishing the Wine and Beerhouse Act which restricted the hours Public Houses could sell...
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