About Us

The back to back cottages which made up Leeds Street and Turkey Street were built around 1820. When exactly The Brown Cow came into being is difficult, since many pubs came into existence as "beer houses" and had no need to have a proper name. However, it appears that at some point, four back to back cottages were knocked through to make the pub as it now stands.

The trade directory of 1870 has an entry of The Brown Cow 14 Cross Street, with John Robinson as the Inn Keeper.

The pub was bought by Taylor's brewery in 1901 and the photograph shows Martin Ford, the landlord at the time, stood outside the door with his two children.

Our Ethos

The Brown Cow was the first pub in Keighley to have a total No Smoking ban, long before it became compulsory for everyone.

The Brown Cow also has a strict No Bad Language policy. Difficult to enforce you might think, but the regulars respect this and whilst initially these policies may have lost us a few customers, we have proven that long term we have been able to build up a genial, polite and friendly group of regulars that help give the Brown Cow its unique atmosphere.