The Old Angel Inn, Nottingham, now the Angel Micrebrewery, looking east from Warser Gate, circa 1971.
"There aren't many places which have a connection to Dick Turpin, cock-fighting, the Arctic Monkeys, and at least one murder.
But step forward the Old Angel Inn, in Stoney Street.
The venue has a long history going thought to go back as far as the late 1600s, since when it has been a brothel and a chapel, as well as a public house.
In recent decades the venue - now called the Angel Microbrewery - became renowned as a live music venue., with the likes of the Arctic Monkeys playing there earlier in their careers (March 15, 2005).
And the survival of this Grade II listed building - in an area that has witnessed so many changes - can only be because it has adapted and reinvented itself to meet the needs of the times.
Its location, at the junction of Stoney Street, Warser Gate and Woolpack Lane, in the Lace Market, is said to have been where the original inhabitants of Nottingham made their homes.
And looking in the caves beneath the pub, it can easily be imagined that this site was inhabited hundreds of years before the present building was erected.
The numerous caves which seem to form the shape of a crucifix will have seen many varied uses, from dwellings to gaming and cock-fighting hideouts.
One of these caves has a ceiling entry to a cave above which would be very useful if the authorities came calling. This underground labyrinth is presently unlit and not open to the public.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Lace Market was an area of luxurious town houses and would have been one of the fashionable places to reside in, next to Nottingham’s principal church, St Mary’s.
There was actually another Old Angel pub at the junction of St Mary's Gate and High Pavement, in a building originally called Bugge Hall, which was built in the 13th or 14th century by Ralph Bugge, a wealthy wool merchant.
After it was demolished in the early 1800s, all that as left to remind us of the presence of this Old Angel is the name of Angel Yard, off High Pavement.
With the arrival of the lace manufacturers with their factories and warehouses, many of the walled garden houses in the area were swept away, yet the Old Angel based in Stoney Street survived.
It is thought to have been in existence from around 1676, and due to its location on the original north/south route connecting London and York, it is rumoured that one of the earliest regulars was none other than highwayman Dick Turpin (although this could probably be said for most of the pubs on this route). But it is certainly listed on a map of Nottingham inns from 1744.
The walls of the rooms in the bar area clearly show so many alterations that it would take a team of experts just to hypothesise the many layers of the buildings history.
Doors, windows, and stairways have been bricked over and others inserted whilst the exterior of the building also appears to have been extended and retracted in various places.
The first floor, which was apparently a chapel, has a high ceiling and church windows, with its pews recently removed.
In 1801 the chapel was established as a meeting point for the National Ancient Imperial Union of Odd Fellows, being subsequently used by the Ancient Order of Druids and the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, who lined the chapel walls with grand portraits of the royal family.
The layout of the top floor, with two long corridors adjacent to the outside wall and numerous interior rooms, testifies to its later use as a brothel. Interior walls are still covered with the wallpaper of the period, with rooms containing fireplaces for the comfort of the customers. As you walk the corridors, you get that eerie feeling of walking where so many feet have trod before.
As you would expect, there are numerous stories to be found regarding customers and former residents of the Angel – some true, some elaborated and some possibly pure speculation.
There have been various deaths on site said to have resulted in two specific hauntings.
The death of a 'policeman' occurred in 1803 when a chimney collapsed, although, as the police force did not come into existence until at least two decades later, this was possibly a watchman.
He is not seen but his footsteps can apparently be heard, unlike the ghostly apparition of what is believed to be a young prostitute murdered within the building.
Two other deaths of note are those of Robert Pearson, who drunkenly fell down the main stairs to his death in 1831; and Edward Hulse, who mysteriously fell to the courtyard from a third-floor window in 1862.
A final anecdote of 1835 involves a beautiful barmaid and two young suitors who decided to duel for her affections – neither would, however, succeed in their ambition, with one being killed whilst the other fled to avoid arrest."
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