Bar billiards is a traditional pub game which almost died out in the Norwich area until around 2005. At that point the only table in the city was at the much-missed Rosary Tavern.
Jon Smith and Roland Coomber, regulars at the pub and fans of the game, having been involved in the then-Enterprise Inns-owned Nelson on Nelson St, bought the Kings Head on Magdalen St, and after a major refurbishment, reopened it, complete with a dozen handpumps and a bar billiards table.
Rivalry between the to pubs resulted in a mini-league being established, which has since expanded to several other pubs in the city and county, and a Norwich Bar Billiards League, organising a league of (at August 2026) two divisions and 18 teams, a singles tournament, and other occasional events.
The other pubs with a table, all of which play the 4-pin game, rather than the 3-pin version favoured in other areas of the country, are the Rose Inn, White Lion, Golden Star, Cottage (Sliver Rd), Gibraltar Gardens, Coach & Horses (Bethel St) and the Artichoke.