Boy And Barrel - Huddersfield, UK - Pictorial Pub Signs on Waymarking.com

Although this boy is dressed as a sailor he represents Bacchus the Roman name for the God of Wine.

A famous painting by (visit link) Guido Reni of 1623 shows Bacchus as a boy drinking wine from a barrel. Although pubs are primarily associated with beer, a number of pubs have used the reference to barrels to advertise their premises using the boy and barrel name.

The pub opened in 1898 and by 1994 years of exposure to the Huddersfield elements had meant that the figure had become badly damaged with various pieces missing. The fact that the pub is an English Heritage Listed Building meant that any repair work had to be done sensitively and so The Bradford Industrial Museum was given the job of renovating him.

This website (visit link) shows some of the restoration work and repositioning back onto the roof.

This impressive sign sitting high up on the roof is very hard to miss.

Date of current sign: 1/1/1996 Date of first pub on site: 2/16/1898 Name of Artist: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   03/22/2024 I_Rhys visited it 02/09/2013 hulletteers visited it

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