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The Whale Inn was situated at 48 Main Ridge, being demolished in 1974 to make way for the inner relief road. This pub got its name from a whale skeleton It housed and for which admission was charged to view. The building was two and a half storeys high with a timber panelled front with etched glass panels and toplights to the ground floor. The first floor had two sash windows and an oriel window with a flat roof to the right. The pantile pitched roof had 3 dormer windows and a ridge chimney stack. This pub was owned by the Soames Brewery and sold to Steward & Patteson in 1949.

Source: cbtoppy

This pub's star attraction was the skeleton of a whale. The unfortunate animal was captured in the Boston Deeps in 1847. Richard Ball, the landlord of the Bricklayer's Arms, seized on the opportunity to bring in extra business. He erected a unique building to house the 53-foot long skeleton, which he arranged 'with anatomical precision and artistical skill'. Visitors were invited to 'enter the jaws and pass beneath the massive vertebrae of this huge inhabitant of the Northern Deep.' As well as the whale room (admission sixpence), the pub also had a museum room full of objects from old Boston, a grotto decorated with pictures and patterns made from seashells. Despite protests, the pub on Main Ridge was demolished to build John Adams Way in the 1970s.

Inns On The Edge (December 2025)

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