The Nutshell, Bury St Edmunds

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Robert Gale in Pubs

The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds is one of the smallest pubs in Britain (there are others that claim to be smaller). Until recently it had a Guinness World Records title but that was taken by a pub in the US.

I had read about the pub before and whilst touring the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds, the tour guide mentioned that the brewery owned the pub and it was located in the town. I just had to visit it.

At 4.57m x 2.13m (15ft x 7ft), the pub is certainly small. At a push you can fit 20 in the pub although many will be standing. When I visited there were 10 there and the only seats available is the window sill. There is just one small table in one corner of the pub.

As the pub is owned by Greene King, the beers on offer are Abbot and IPA. They also sell the usual lagers.

As the pub is so small, this is not the place to go for a private chat. It’s practically impossible to have a private conversation and everything you say will be heard by everyone in the pub. Whilst I was there, there was one guy (you can see him in the rear of the pub with the goatee) who was very vocal and would comment of pretty much anyone that walked past the pub.

The pub (when I visited) appeared to be a real locals pub that welcomes the occasional curious tourist.

This BBC link has more information about the history about the pub.

Venue Location

The Nutshell

17 The Traverse

Bury St. Edmunds

IP33 1BJ

Tel: 01284 764 867

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.