A pub that has traded for more than 160 years in York will close before the end of the year.
The Vaults on Nunnery Lane announced that it will shut on Wednesday 11 December.
Also known as the Victoria Vaults, in recent years the pub has become one of the stalwarts of the live music scene.
Licensees Chris White and his partner Niki broke the news in a post on Facebook today.
“We regret to inform all our valued customers and gig-goers that the Vaults freehold has sadly been sold by the owner,” they wrote.
“Despite everyone’s best efforts the matter was beyond our control.
“Ourselves, bands and promoters alike would all like to thank you so much for supporting us through the years.”
Popular York band The Mothers will perform a ‘Farewell To The Vaults’ gig on Sunday 1 December. And tribute Jack Sabbath Official will be the last show on the closing night.
The sale looks set to bring the pub’s long history to an end. It was first mentioned in the York records in 1857, when it was called The Victoria.
By 1889 it was known as the Victoria Vaults, the name it kept for many years.
In the 2000s, the Victoria Vaults went through six changes of ownership until, in 2014, it became a freehouse.
The building’s owner is property company Appleton Estates Ltd. run by the France family from their base in Appleton Roebuck.
It bought the pub, based at 47-49 Nunnery Lane, in 2013 for £289,100.
‘Cracking venue’
News of the The Vaults’ closure has dismayed many. Miles Salter, frontman of York band Miles And The Chain Gang, told YorkMix: “It’s a great shame for the York music scene.
“They have had some really good gigs there over the years.”
On social media, one music fan commented: “The York Vaults was a cracking venue with lovely staff and a great performance space for bands.”
Another said: “This is so sad, more venues been closed we need to keep music live!”
The loss of the Vaults follows the closure of long-established live music venue Fibbers in 2020.
There were fears that changes to another music pub, The Roman Bath, could see the end of the live gigs there.
But owners the Stonegate Group say bands will still play at the St Sampson’s Square pub after it is changes to become part of their Craft Union brand.