Eastbourne Lamb Inn listed among England's oldest pubs

The Telegraph recently compiled a list of pubs that have a claim to be the oldest in England.

Introducing the article, travel writer Will Hawkes said: "Historic pubs tend to have certain characteristics.

"Acres of dark wood, including beams; cask ale; elderly trinkets hanging from the walls and ceilings; and, most fundamental of all, a (possibly spurious) history stretching back to the time of the Tudors – and further, if at all possible.

"As the dates listed on their facades demonstrate, lots of English pubs claim to be very old.

"The true elite even claim to be the oldest English pub of all."

The Lamb Inn, Eastbourne, is one of the country's oldest pubs (Image: Wikimedia)

The author then went on to talk about how difficult it can be to find out how old a pub actually is.

"Spend five minutes researching 'England’s oldest pub', and you’ll be rendered dizzy by wild claims and wilder counter-claims, with more than a dozen pubs around the country contesting the crown", he wrote.

"It’s easy to be cynical, but we can understand why pubs do this.

"The institution of the pub is a link with England’s history, and the further a pub’s roots extend into that history the better.

"When a pub claims it is the oldest in England, what it’s really saying is that it’s the keeper of England’s flame, the beery essence of more than 1,000 years of tradition."

A shot of The Lamb Inn's traditional interior (Image: Wikimedia)

The Lamb Inn, on High Street in Eastbourne, was one of the six pubs included in the Telegraph's list.

The Lamb Inn is part of the Harvey's Brewery family of pubs.

In the Telegraph article, it was given a 'Ye Olde rating' of eight out of 10, meaning that Mr Hawkes considers it to be really rather old.

The pub claims to date back to 1180AD (Image: Wikimedia)

He wrote: "'One of the oldest pubs in England' is how brewer Harvey’s, which owns The Lamb, modestly describes this delightful Eastbourne pub.

"It seems a fair shout, even if the date on the pub sign – 1180AD – is hard to believe.

"The timber-framed structure itself dates from the 16th century, although the undercroft is medieval; whether this was an inn that far back, though, is impossible to say.

"It’s a charismatic place, especially given persistent rumours about secret tunnels emanating out from the cellar, apparently once used for smuggling."