When the oringinal Inn of this name and location was demolished in 1815, a miserable dungeon was discovered underneath the foundations. It was believed that it had been used to imprison clergy who had broken Church Law, or for nuns who had broken their vow of chastisty - but perhaps not both at the same time! The discovery of a Saxon sculpture of a man in the agonies of death with his soul hanging above him suggested that this site had been a prison for many centuries.
The pub occupying the curent site opened in 1800 and was known as The Board for many
years. It was refurbished and reopened in its current guise in 1981.
Extract reprinted with permission from Pete Coxton's York's Historic Inns
The name could refer to a hole in the wall of a debtor's prison through which the
charitable could donate money. It could also be from the Bible ("and when I looked behold I saw a hole in
the wall":Ezekial). It's a name that has crossed the Atlantic, a bar in the House of Representatives, Washington
being of the same title.
Thanks to "Pub Signs" by Paul Corballis