The Flying Horse

The Flying Horse Hotel, @The Poultry Nottingham dates from 1483, the year in which the Princes were murdered in the Tower.

It stands on the site of the house which the Plumptre family erected for themselves when they first came to Nottingham in the 13th century.
In 1799 the inn was known as " The Traveller’s Inn," and in 1813, a great dinner was held to celebrate the victories over Napoleon. To make merry, a figure of Napoleon had been brought down from London on the top of a coach, which figure was duly burnt in the Market Place amidst scenes of great excitement and rejoicing, oxen and sheep being roasted whole to mark the occasion.

It is hard to account for the name of the Flying Horse being attached to this inn, for Pegasus, the mount of the muses, seems to have little connection with so prosaic a place. Possibly the name was chosen to tempt would-he travellers in days when horse-drawn vehicles were the only means of communication, and may have some reference to the superior stamina and speed of the animals supplied by this inn.

At any rate, just in front of the inn stood one of the saw-pits of Nottingham that was left continually open, with no provision made for public lighting, and so the pit must have collected quite a few of the less than sober customers of the inn!