Cheltenham Original Brewery were the owners of the Royal Well Tavern in both the 1891 and 1903 licensing records. The licence was for a beer house and the annual rateable value throughout those twelve years was a constant £25.10s.0d.
The Royal Well Tavern became a popular music venue catering for people in their late 20’s and early 30’s. It was renamed The Well.
Today the rebranded Tavern is essentially a gastropub.
Gloucestershire Echo, 13th March 2000 – Michael finds it a walkover: It must be the longest trip to the bar ever. Michael Quittelier ran 15.7 miles in two hours on a treadmill in the Royal Well Tavern to raise money for the NSPCC. Mr Quittelier, 44, of Portland Street, Cheltenham, organised the event to get in shape for the London Marathon next month. Locals had to guess how far he would cover in 120 minutes and hand over the price of their favourite drink. Mr Quittelier raised £190.
Gloucestershire Echo, Saturday 15th July 2000 – We’ll keep chins up: Two regulars at Cheltenham’s Royal Well Tavern will be in for a close shave tonight. Factory worker Simon Rose and landscape gardener Tony Bones will sacrifice their beards in the name of charity. Simon hopes to raise hundreds of pounds for Cheltenham Community Projects. Tony will boost the Quedgeley-based Spring Centre’s Springy Appeal. The pair will be shaved by the appropriately named landlord Jeremy Beard at 8.30pm.
Gloucestershire Echo,31st August 2002 – Tavern in licence bid: The Royal Well Tavern has applied for a new public entertainment licence to Cheltenham Borough Council. The pub in Royal Well Place, wants to provide entertainment for up to 50 people on Sundays, from noon to until 10.30 pm and Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 11pm.
Gloucestershire Echo, 12th May 2004 -Pub can open until midnight: The Royal Well Tavern is to stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Licensee Margaret Beard was granted the extended opening hours at a meeting of Cheltenham Borough Council’s licensing committee. Police had objected to the plan because of trouble in Royal Well Place. But they dropped their objection after investigations showed they were not related to drinkers at the tavern.
A police representative said there had been 431 offences in the Royal Well area since January 2003, 62 of which were public order offences and only five related to the Tavern.
Gloucestershire Live, 3rd January 2026.
The team behind Cheltenham’s well-known pub The Tavern today said they were “devastated” after having to close the venue due to “circumstances out of our control”. New management took over the venue in December 2024 and had announced just two days ago that it would be closing for a refurbishment. But today, managers took to social media to say that the pub had shut. In a post they said: “It is with heavy hearts that we have to close the doors on this great pub. “Since opening a year ago, we have worked hard to get the magic back. With your help, revenue has increased by nearly 50 per cent during the course of the year, and The Tavern came alive once again. Sadly, due to circumstances out of our control, we are unable to carry on.” They said there was a possibility that The Tavern could reopen, but said for now it is shut and thanked punters.
Landlords at the Royal Well Tavern include:
1870 James Hobbs
1878,1883 Eliza Hobbs
1891 Job Dyer
1903 Eliza Dyer
1926 John Edward Jarvis
1939 Mrs Adelaide Jarvis
1999 (Dec), 2005 Jerry and Margaret (Mags) Beard
2008 Sam Pearman