King Street is now the heart of Bris­tol’s the­a­tre-land (see ‘Old Vic’ below) but it once lead down to the docks at Welsh Back, where the old sail­ing trows (a type of sail­ing barge) used to dock after their jour­neys from South Wales. The street has changed lit­tle since those days, and the pub dates back to 1663. It is rumoured to have been patro­n­ised by pirates of old, not to men­tion Robert Louis Steven­son whilst writ­ing Trea­sure Island.