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All the United Kingdom England Bury Saint Edmunds The Nutshell Pub
Gastro Obscura

The Nutshell Pub

The smallest pub in Britain was once a cabinet of curiosities and it still has the dead cat to prove it.

Bury Saint Edmunds, England

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Nic Gusset
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The Nutshell   Stephen Fulljames on Flickr
The dead cat.   David on Flickr
The Nutshell   Alexander Baxevanis on Flickr
Front of pub, Sep 2022   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
The Nutshell , August 2021.   greggc80 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Located on a picture perfect English street corner, the self-proclaimed "smallest pub in Britain" is a cozy little watering hole that was once home to museum of sorts that showcased all manner of trinket and oddity, the legacy of which can still be seen today. 

Like many English pubs, the building that houses the historic bar dates back over a century. The pub itself likely dates back to 1867 when the former owner, a fruit seller, sold the space. After that the little storefront officially became The Nutshell in 1873. At first they called themselves a "museum of art and curiosities," displaying everything from rare musical instruments to war relics. They also held a collection of models of local buildings and landmarks all made of cork. The space quickly moved into being primarily a bar after not long despite its cramped size.

The little bar consists solely of a single short bar that takes up a large portion of the central room. The rest of the small room has just enough room for patrons to stand or sit in the window wells. The bar still gets packed near to bursting on busy nights with the small crowd threatening to spill out into the street. One of the few remnants of the bar's former life as a curio museum is the desiccated corpse of what seems to be a cat that clings to the light fixture overhead.

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Bars Architectural Oddities Shops Architecture

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Added By

alleywaykid

Edited By

GYO, EricGrundhauser, Gavin, greggc80

  • GYO
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Gavin
  • greggc80

Published

December 12, 2014

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  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutshell
The Nutshell Pub
The Traverse
Bury Saint Edmunds, England, IP33 1DY
United Kingdom
52.246102, 0.711905
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