Pub Sign Study Ye Olde Dolphin Inn Derby
@arthurchappell (44998)
Preston, England
June 25, 2019 5:57pm CST
Dating from 1580, this is Derby’s oldest pub, and I enjoyed calling in for a beer on my whistle-stop tour of the city.
The hideous looking three dimensional monstrous fish creature on the sign is supposed to be a dolphin, and the pub is being authentic to the way they were depicted on heraldic shields. The artists did not know whales and dolphins are mammals and not fish.
Part of the pub was once the mortuary of a licensed vivisectionist who often bought and worked on the bodies of men hanged for their crimes in Derby.
Arthur Chappell
9 people like this
9 responses
@xander6464 (44250)
• Wapello, Iowa
26 Jun 19
I had the same thought, "Is it haunted?"
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340227)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Jun 19
@xander6464 You'd think it would have to be. :(
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 19
@JudyEv @xander6464 allegedly yes, as just mentioned in the reply post above though I don't believe in ghosts.
3 people like this
@LindaOHio (178877)
• United States
26 Jun 19
I like the unique sign, the age of the pub and its history. Neat post.
3 people like this
@pumpkinjam (8767)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 19
That does not look very much like a dolphin! Derby is not far from me - about an hour drive or 2 hours on a train - but I have only visited it once or twice. There are some lovely places around Derbyshire. I might put this pub on my 'to-do' list. I have been to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham, which claims to be the oldest pub in England.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 19
@pumpkinjam Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem One I am yet to visit
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 19
@pumpkinjam The heraldic dolphin is far from realistic - can't imagine Flipper looking like one of these
Fictitious and Symbolic Creatures in Art, by John Vinycomb, [1909], full text etext at sacred-texts.com
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23405)
• United Kingdom
28 Jun 19
OH a nice cheerful place then to hang out! BTW I like the Dolphin I think it is a nice depiction!
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
26 Jun 19
There must be some sort of irony that a mortuary is a pub.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 19
@JohnRoberts yes, too much time in one leads to the other lol
2 people like this
@simplfred (20641)
• Philippines
26 Jun 19
Quite like a half mermaid and half monster... Might be full of a ghost in there...
2 people like this
@xander6464 (44250)
• Wapello, Iowa
26 Jun 19
This one wins the Interesting History award. Mortuaries are fascinating.
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
28 Jun 19
it is a very nice pub - not scary at all
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
28 Jun 19
@Tendz09 yes it was very good
1 person likes this