Pub history · No.12 of 18 · Ironbridge
Ye Olde Robin Hood
1828 | Come and drink with Little Ted
The Robin Hood is one of Waterloo Street's great survivors.
An 1828 directory lists the pub, so we're now using 1828 as our working date.
That makes it a couple of years younger than the 1830 often quoted, and going back further is difficult because so few earlier sources survive.
But it's the people who make this one.
The pub became deeply connected with the Owen family, a dynasty whose names appear repeatedly in the pub history of Ironbridge and Jackfield.
And then there was Edwin “Ted” Owen.
Ted was famously short.
The sign above his door reportedly read: “Now that Robin Hood is dead, come and drink with Little Ted.”
His family connections read like a crawl of their own.
His sister Hannah ran the Railway Tavern. Their father George kept the Foresters Arms. Ancestors were connected with the Coopers Arms. Their great-niece Emmie Goodwin later ran the Horse & Jockey.
The Robin Hood even briefly stopped being a pub during the 1970s and became an antiques shop, before returning to licensed use later in the decade.
Other Waterloo Street pubs disappeared.
The Robin Hood survived.
How we know this date
- DocumentedThe Robin Hood is listed in an 1828 directory, giving us a firmer documented date than the traditionally quoted 1830.Source: 1828 directory listing
- DocumentedThe Brewery History Society records Edwin “Ted” Owen as licensee by 1926, anchoring the pub's documented history at least a century back.Source: Brewery History Society
This is a working date. If you have a document or photograph that changes it, we'd genuinely like to see it.
“Now that Robin Hood is dead, come and drink with Little Ted.”
Then
Now
Ye Olde Robin Hood Inn · Ironbridge
Can you help with Ye Olde Robin Hood?
We're still researching this pub. Old photographs, licences, newspaper cuttings, brewery documents or family memories all help — and if you have evidence that changes our date, we'd genuinely like to see it.
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