Lussmanns Reopens in Berkhamsted as The Five Bells

One of Berkhamsted’s oldest and most famous pubs is being brought back to life, more than 150 years since serving its last pint, by Hertfordshire’s most popular and sustainable restaurant group.

Lussmanns has renamed its existing restaurant on Berkhamsted High Street to The Five Bells. It’s a very different establishment to the one that closed its doors in the 1860s, when landlord Stephen Holloway refused to assist police with their enquiries ‘on the occasion of a lot of navvies making a disturbance’, as history books recall.

Owner of the new-look Five Bells, Andrei Lussmann, says it will be a destination where people can come and enjoy a relaxing drink and/or meal – a far cry from the bare-knuckle boxing that the pub became notorious for in Victorian times.

A corn merchant, dairyman, coal merchant, electricians and tailors have all occupied the beautiful, listed building over the last century and a half, along, more recently, with a tea house and a fish restaurant. Lussmanns opened its fifth restaurant on the site in December 2021. The new look includes a discreet, traditional bar area with beer pumps, where customers can sit at a handful of tables and pews from 12 noon. Behind the bar area is a more formal restaurant space where lunch and dinner are served.

Andrei says: ‘In the same way that all Lussmanns restaurants are designed to be the kind of place I want to go and eat, The Five Bells is where I would like to hang out, knowing that I’m supporting ethical British brewers, butchers and bakers and all at affordable prices. We’re delighted to be breathing new life into a piece of Berkhamsted history, bringing it into the 21st Century.’

Roger Protz, Hertfordshire resident and one of the world’s leading beer writers and tasters, who pulled the first pint from the new bar, said: ‘With so many pubs closing, it’s wonderful to see an historic site like The Five Bells being returned to its former glory. Lussmanns have been supporting local brewers for the last two decades and with their relentless commitment to and reputation for quality, food and drink produced to the highest environmental standards, it feels like the perfect match.’