Step into the past. This historically significant gem in the centre of the universe, aka Bathurst, is the epitome of a bygone era and the cornerstone of the community. The Pig and Whistle Inn is a national monument in the heart of the Eastern Cape’s settler country, in the quaint village of Bathurst.
The hotel is famous for housing the oldest continuously licensed pub in South Africa.

The entrance hall of the Inn with its antique roll-top desk and antique furnishing takes one back in history and gives a taste of what lies beyond.
There is a large loft office upstairs leading from the Inn’s entrance hall with a private wooden staircase.
The large lounge/dining area is welcoming with a wonderful fireplace for cold winter nights.
Two more entertainment areas can be used for additional dining or lounge areas and are ideal conference or entertainment areas, adorned with beautiful antiques and ornate chandeliers. A beautiful antique stained-glass door leads to the outside patio.

The Pub has a large bar and seating for patrons as well as a lovely fireplace in the corner, and is filled with memorabilia of a bygone era.
The patio runs across the front of the building, where picnic style tables offer seating outdoors. There is more roadside seating, which is extremely popular, especially when there is live music outside.

The large hotel kitchen is well equipped to cater for large crowds.
Established in 1832 by Thomas Hartley, who had settled in Clumber in 1820, the hotel was known as Hartley’s Inn, and several prominent settlers are recorded as staying there. After Thomas died in 1840 his widow, Sarah, took over and it was renamed Widow Hartley’s Inn. Sarah died in 1849, leaving the Inn to her son, Thomas Hartley Junior.

In 1852 it was bought by Jeremiah Goldswain, famed author of the historical journal The Chronicle of Jeremiah Goldswain, which recorded the hardship and struggle of settler life and gave first-hand accounts of the frontier wars.
During World War II the inn was frequented by air force men stationed at the nearby 43 Air School who dubbed the establishment ‘The Pig n Whistle’ after a pub in England that they had frequented.
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