Situated in the Royal Square at the heart of St Helier, the Cock and bottle is one of the four oldest hostelries in the town of St Helier, although for many years it was known as the Cosy Corner.
The original name is said to refer to the availability of draught and bottled ales, the former supplied from the ‘cock’ (tap).
Before it became the Cosy Corner, the establishment was know for a time as The Central, a reference to its position between the Pierson and the property on the other side where the offices of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce were situated for many years.
Other buildings around the square are privately owned. The former Corn Market, for some years a bank, now houses the island’s Public Registry and a gentlemen’s club on the first floor. At the eastern end of the square are two public houses, The Pierson and The Cock and Bottle, and a house that served as headquarters of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the oldest chamber in Britain, and was once home to diarist Jean Chevalier, which is now under Liberation Group and served as their head office for many years.