Norwich – Berstrete Gates (Two Julians)

Next in the Two Julians Norwich series is the Berstrete Gates which, as a disclosure, has been one of my favourite pubs for some time. I accept it’s not a craft beer haven, but many years ago a group of us used to go to the Berstrete Gates every Friday and the lovely owner, Hang Pham, merrily cooked for us every week.

Located on Ber Street, the history of this pub is complex and long, starting with when it was known as the King’s Arms in the early eighteenth century. A few weeks ago, I found an old theatre group mention in a newspaper from nearly 300 years ago and I think they were performing here. Above is the auction details of the pub when it was put up for sale in June 1879 and it had also been auctioned in January 1867 when it was known as “the old King’s Arms”. There have been twelve pubs in Norwich city centre with the name King’s Arms (including another one on Ber Street), so some form of differentiation was necessary. The current building is from the mid to late nineteenth century (I think from around 1870s from maps) and it isn’t listed, with many of the interior features hidden behind some paint, although it retains some charm. Although Nikolaus Pevsner said that the building was “uninteresting”, so don’t come here expecting beautiful pub architecture.

The pub took its current name of Berstrete Gates in June 1937 as it’s very near to the site of where the Ber Strete Gates entrance to the city was located. The gate had been pulled down in 1808, although it dated from the early twelfth century, as part of the destruction of the walls and gates in the city. There’s more about the history of the gate at https://www.norwich.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/citywalls/29/29.html.

The beer board which is visible when entering the pub and it tells its own story. This is a cheap and cheerful venue, the beer comes in cans and bottles, the product range is limited and the service is exquisite. In more recent history, this was taken over just before Covid by Gary Harvey and I think the timing of his taking over was all a bit unfortunate with a global pandemic ongoing. My friend James and I did go there in that period and the welcome was friendly, personable and immediate. I remember we were offered sausage casserole they had left over from a wake and we promptly then went about four times in that week as they were closing relatively soon after. The furniture layout was unusual to say the least, everything was based around a large central table that looked a little bit more meeting-like than pub-like. I think that the plan was to create a pub where people would talk to others when they entered, but on our final visit there a number of rather young looking girls were scrawling on the walls and so it felt best to retreat back to an adult’s pub. Since January 2024, Hang Pham has taken over behind the bar once again.

The Guinness cost £2.50, a perfectly reasonable price. To add some variety to our visit, Julian went for a can of Holsten Pils, also priced at £2.50. Does beer drinking get much more decadent?

The bar. In not trying to be on-trend, I think it’s strangely become more authentic. It’s quite a stark design and the back room doesn’t seem much used, but it is what it is.

The signage outside and it’s fair to say that it could do with a little of bit of exterior repair work.

The mural was created by John Moray-Smith (1889–1958) in 1938 when the pub was owned by Morgans Brewery. They had purchased it in the 1920s from George May brewery and through acquisition it became part of Bullards, Watney Mann, Brent Walker, Pubmaster and then finally free trade in 2002. George Plunkett, a photographer who has recorded so much of Norwich’s history which might otherwise have been lost, took a photo of it soon after the mural was installed.

This is not a destination pub, it feels much more like an estate pub that just happens to be relatively near to the city centre. It’s got some considerable charm to it and although there’s a chance that it’ll end up as an on-trend craft beer bar in a few years if it doesn’t work out in its current iteration, I rather like what it currently is and the little bit of a local institution that it has become.