Town & village · Kent
Canterbury
The company says the Bishops Finger beer name refers to a signpost on the Pilgrim's Way pointing toward Canterbury and Thomas Becket's shrine.
The place and its story
A direction you can drink
Bishops Finger first appeared in 1958. Its name points towards Canterbury.
The brewer says it recalls a finger-shaped Kentish signpost on the Pilgrim’s Way, directing travellers towards Thomas Becket’s shrine. An old direction became a beer name.
The particular signpost has not yet been located. The naming story survives on the label. It is an invitation to look at the ordinary roadside objects that can carry a much older journey.
Continue the journeyFind living history in the hop fieldsLocation note
The written record names this place. An exact site position has not been established, so the atlas does not invent a marker.
Continue the story
A direction you can drink ↗
A signpost gave Bishops Finger its name.
Follow the historical sources
Follow the evidence
- Bishops FingerShepherd Neame · company product/history page · accessed 2026-10-07
- The Millennium brewhouse windowsShepherd Neame · company heritage interpretation · accessed 2026-10-07
- Post-warShepherd Neame · company history · accessed 2026-10-07