The Bull Inn.

Throughout its history this street has been the centre of the butcher's trade in Shrewsbury. At one time it was known as the Flesh Shambles, then as Double Butcher Row, to distinguish it from Single Butcher Row on Pride Hill and finally to its present name. Up until the 19th century animals were still being slaughtered in this street, which would have been very unpleasant for the inhabitants, especially on a hot summer's day. Butchery must also have been a very thirsty business as at one time six public houses with such names as the Tankerville Arms, the Lamb, the Rising Sun, the Cock and the Butcher's Arms once stood in this street.

The Bull is the last surviving inn on the row and the name can be linked with the street for nearly four hundred years. In St. Alkmund's Parish Register the inn is mentioned as early as 1624 and again in 1645. An old indenture dated 1653 refers to "a house called the Bull in a street called the Butchers Roe in Shrewsbury," and it is also appears in the Corporation rentals in 1657.

Whether the location of the earlier inn is on the site of the present Bull is unknown. The present inn is situated in a building, which dates from around 1800 and was first recorded in 1868. In 1900 the owner and landlord was George Edwards who had lived at the inn for twenty years. There were nine rooms, five private and four public and accommodation for six overnight visitors in three bedrooms. There were no stabling facilities but up an alley to the right of the inn was Bull Passage, which led to five houses. The passageway has since been incorporated into the inn.

When the Bull in Abbey Foregate closed in 1937 its signboard featuring the prize winning bull "Commandant" was removed to the Bull in Butcher Row. It was the work of local artist Edwin Cole and it adorned the front of this inn for many years.

From around 1938 until the late 1970s the Bull was run by the Kemmy Family, first by Patrick and the by his son Bill.