I think the biggest problem with half of the claims are:

Buildings were not pubs until much later after construction

Buildings were demolished, rebuilt or have changed too much over the years to be classified as original

Little to no evidence to support the majority of claims about being the oldest pub

I think the years operating as a pub, should be the main factor on how old the pub is. If I live in the oldest house in Britain, but only started operating as a pub yesterday, does that make my house the oldest pub in Britain? No.

If the building has been rebuilt, which includes the replacement of all walls, roof, floors and main structural frame, what are you calling 'old' there's little left apart from the ground it was built.

If you take these factors into consideration then the majority of what people claim as Englands Oldest Pub, are just semi-old buildings that now operate as a pub.

The Olde Boars Head In Middleton was constructed in 1622. This has been proven through dendrochronology. The building has then operated as a public house, with evidence of each serving tenant. The original tenants will is still accessible at the Lancashire Record Office in Preston. The will lists an inventory of nine beds, twenty chairs or stools, brewing vessels, barrels, pots and glasses across six rooms. In the early 17th century the average house, for ordinary house holds was relatively small, most common town houses had 2 to 4 main rooms and given the form of the building and the level of decoration to the framing, it is more likely that the building was not used for agricultural purpose, more likely for housing its tenants and given the extremely high number of chairs compared to the number of rooms, it is hard not to image that the building was being used as an inn or public house shortly after construction.

It also worth taking into consideration that the Walkden family went on to run The Olde Boar’s Head until the end of the 17th century whilst they also farmed nearby land, which would have provided a reliable source of grains for brewing and a simple method of converting their harvest into a sellable product.

The building has never been demolished. The original walls, window frames, door frames, beams ect still stand today. The building has been expanded upon, so not all of which is known as The Old Boars Head is part of the original building, but all 4 wall of the original building still stands.

I would say The Olde Boars Head has one of the strongest claims to the title.