Large and lively community local in a traditional saloon bar style. With a friendly welcome, several TV screens, pool table, dart board and fruit machines, this is very much a drinkers' pub. The building is Edwardian with a later extension and internally it is decorated with photographs of old St Albans. The unusual name is thought to derive from a turnpike toll house which stood on the site and fell into rat-infested disrepair in the late 19th century. Briefly renamed the "Castle" in the 1960s by its then owner Ind Coope, the pub name was restored after a campaign by locals. A more detailed pub history can be found at https://www.stalbansowneastend.org.uk.