The Old Queen's Head is a public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 on Pond Hill in the City of Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 that occupies the oldest domestic building in the city. This timber framed

Timber framing

Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...

 building is thought to date from c.1475, although the earliest known written record of it is in an inventory compiled in 1582 of the estate of George Talbot

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal was a 16th century English statesman.-Life:...

, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

Earl of Shrewsbury

Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the peerage of England.-First creation, 1074:The first creation occurred in 1074 for Roger de Montgomerie, one of William the Conqueror's principal counselors...

 that included the furnishings of this building, which was then called "The hawle at the Poandes". As a part of the Earl's estate, it may have been used as a banqueting hall for parties hunting wildfowl in the nearby pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s. These ponds, which formed in the area where the Porter Brook

Porter Brook

The Porter Brook is a river in the City of Sheffield, Englanddescending over 300 metres from its source among the sedge grass on Burbage moor behind a small farm on Hangram just inside the Peak District National Park in the west of the city at Clough Hollow, near the village of Ringinglow...

 meets the River Sheaf

River Sheaf

The River Sheaf is a river in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its source is the union of the Totley Brook and the Old Hay Brook in Totley, now a suburb of Sheffield. It flows northwards, past Dore, through the valley called Abbeydale and north of Heeley...

, are now gone, but are commemorated in the local names Pond Street, Pond Hill (formerly Pond Well Hill) and Ponds Forge

Ponds Forge

Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in the City of Sheffield, England that contains an Olympic-sized swimming pool with seating for 2,600 spectators, family and kids pools, water slides and other sports facilities.-Brief history:...

.

By the beginning of the 19th century the building was being used as a residence. In 1840 a pub called the Old Queen's Head was opened in the neighbouring building, and sometime after 1862 the pub expanded into this building. The building was given Grade II* listed status in 1952. The pub was refurbished in 1993, as part of the Tom Cobleigh chain, but is now served by the Thwaites

Thwaites Brewery

Thwaites Brewery is a regional brewery founded in 1807 by Daniel Thwaites in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The firm still operates from its original town centre site. A variety of cask ales, draught beers, lagers and ciders are produced in Blackburn or imported from Europe by Thwaites. In 1999,...

 Brewery.

The Queen in the pub's name is likely Mary, Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned in Sheffield from 1570 to 1584.