Ale Tales is an exhibition that tells the history of Hallaton through its pubs. Although we know the Celts were drinking and feasting when they buried the Hallaton Treasure up on Hare Pie bank two thousand years ago, our story starts a bit later when we see that Isabella Wirth and other ‘ale wives’ were fined at the Leet Court of the Hacluit Manor for breaking the brewing laws.
The beer that was being brewed back then is remembered today at Bottle Kicking because the little barrels that we compete for are how ale was carried by workers then, and the tree branch, “Ale Bush”, is still displayed outside pubs to show that they have beer for sale.
The oldest public house in Hallaton was the Angel Inn first mention in records in 1572 which was situated on High Street on the north side of Hog Lane. And there are a further eight known (check!) public houses recorded over the next 500 years the locations of which are shown on the Ale Tales Trail map….””In recent history Hallaton had only three pubs The Royal Oak, The Fox and the Bewicke, and these visited by the Bottle Kicking parade even though the Oak closed in abcd.
You can walk the Ale Tales Trail and imagine the busy pubs serving the people coming to Hallatons busy markets, and if you time your walk well you can ………………something about the Horse Fair and the Fox
