About The Malt Shovel Tavern

Summary of Beer Scores

	Total
	3
	22
	13
	4
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Website.

The pub is found in Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 1QF.

Bridge Street the local premier pub for many guest real ales. The current owners bought the premises in 1996. A major refurbishment programme included changing the front façade back to how it looked in the 1940s. The pub was renamed The Malt Shovel Tavern and reopened for business in late December 1996. Today’s Malt Shovel Tavern was built in 1914 by the then Northampton Brewery Company, but its history goes back to some of the earliest days of the town. The Malt Shovel stands on Bridge Street, one of the four main entrances to the medieval town of Northampton. This area, known as the South Quarter, contained small houses and probably numerous inns, with spacious accommodation for stabling and to shelter wagons and merchandise. The Malt Shovel Tavern was one of these old hostelries and, according to Speed’s map and surveys of 1610, was the oldest building on the street. The original Malt Shovel and the adjacent buildings were demolished in 1914 as part of a widening scheme for Bridge Street. It was rebuilt in the same year in its present location and adopted by the Northampton Brewery Company (NBC), just across the road, as its brewery tap. In 1957, NBC merged with its close neighbour Phipps Brewery; between them they owned 1,171 pubs. Watneys bought out the partnership in 1960 and demolished both breweries in 1974, selling the entire site to Carlsberg, whose Danish lagers are still being brewed opposite the Malt Shovel Tavern today. The Malt Shovel Tavern became a Watney Mann pub, but was sold in 1981 to Michael McManus because of lack of trade. It was renamed the Tudor House and enjoyed a period of revival before being sold to John Liddington and Sons, beer wholesalers from Rugby. It quickly sold the pub on and over the following years it became the subject of a number of themed ideas, including an infamous period as Barney Rubbles. On display is a vast collection of breweriana from local and nationwide breweries. Regular live music.

We have visited this pub 11 times, seen 49 different beers and tried 34 of them.

Map location

Postcode: NN1 1QF