Home > Yorkshire > Bradford > BD1 > Old Crown Old Crown

© Copyright Betty Longbottom and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The Old Crown was situated at 23-25 Ivegate and is now used as Raffles Gaming Emporium.  This pub was present by 1822 when the publican was George Lumb.

The rooms of the original Old Crown were rather small and the ceilings low. This pub also contained a Musical Hall. An embossed sign on the stonework painted up and now readable states that the building was rebuilt in 1928.

John Yeadon (March 2017)

The Old Crown had the distinction of being called 'Bradford's second Labour exchange' . If you were a builder and you wanted say, a plumber or a plasterer, you could go into the pub on a lunchtime and probably find one or certainly put the word out that you were looking for certain tradesmen. Also if you were in the building trade and you were looking for a job, a good place to start would be the Old Crown. This started in the 1950s and continued up to the pub's closing.

Keith Barrett (February 2018)

The Old Crown Hotel dates back to the 19th century, and was built on the edge of a quarry between Ivegate and Millergate. It was originally known as 'The Crown and Cushion' and in 1805 owned by a woman known as Widow Varley. The pub was rebuilt in 1928 and became infamous in the 1980s for its regular lunchtime strip shows. In 1982, the landlord was fined under the Indecent Displays Act for showing blue movies. He said showing the movies attracted more customers than football. In 1991, the pub was shut after police found it was staging strip shows without a licence. The pub was later turned into a bingo hall, before becoming a gaming arcade named Raffles.

John Yeadon (December 2018)

Now reopened as Ye Olde Crown.

John Yeadon (March 2019)

Do you have any anecdotes, historical information, updates or photos of this pub? Become a contributor by submitting them here. Like this site? Follow us on Make email contact with other ex-customers and landlords of this pub by adding your details to this page.