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The pub’s story
Orocco Pier occupies the much-altered Category B former Queensferry Arms Hotel. Heritage material dates the core to the late seventeenth century, while the operator attributes an even earlier 1664 date; the latter is an operator claim, not a reason to describe the whole complex as an untouched seventeenth-century inn. Renaissance Ecosse formed in January 2001 and opened Orocco Pier after a major refurbishment in December 2003, taking its name from iroko wood used in that work. The modern hotel then developed in stages: Fuchsia in 2004, Antico café bar in 2009 and Samphire seafood bar and grill in 2011. A story that the hotel occupied the Glenforth Distillery site is misleading: archaeology records that it adjoined the distillery instead. Read Orocco as a historic building with a clearly dated early-2000s hospitality reinvention and later internal venues, not as a single continuous seventeenth-century bar.
What to notice
- 01
Antico and Samphire have separate service patterns within the same hotel operation; check the right venue before making plans.
- 02
The 2003 refurbishment’s iroko wood explains the modern Orocco name.
- 03
The former hotel adjoined, rather than occupied, the Glenforth Distillery site. Avoid repeating the distillery story as a property history.
The time rail
The building, the pub and its interior may date from different periods. The timeline keeps documented dates separate from tradition.
Heritage records date the core of the former Queensferry Arms Hotel to this period; the operator separately attributes 1664.
Renaissance Ecosse Limited was formed to own and operate the future Orocco Pier.
Orocco Pier opened after extensive refurbishment using iroko wood, which inspired its name.
The operator records the opening of Fuchsia within the hotel operation.
The operator records the opening of Antico café bar.
The operator records the opening of Samphire seafood bar and grill.
The operator publishes current Antico café-bar, Samphire, hotel and opening-hour information.
Sources & confidence
The operator supplies the unusually precise 2001-11 business chronology and attributes 1664. Trove and the listed-building record independently support a late-seventeenth-century, much-altered hotel. A later CFA archaeology report corrects the old distillery-site claim. The story therefore keeps old fabric, 2003 business identity and later bar rooms distinct.
Research reviewed
- About UsOrocco Pierofficial
SupportsThe former Queensferry Arms identity, attributed 1664 date, January 2001 company formation, December 2003 reopening, iroko naming and later internal venues.
- Orocco PierOrocco Pierofficial
SupportsCurrent hotel, Antico café-bar, Samphire and published opening-hour information.
- Orocco Pier, South QueensferryCAMRAspecialist
SupportsIndependent current pub/bar record and venue identity.
- South Queensferry, 17 High Street, Queensferry Arms HotelTrove Scotland / Historic Environment Scotlandheritage
SupportsLate-seventeenth-century former hotel, Category B context and national record identity.
- Orocco Pier standing-building and archaeology reportCFA Archaeology / Historic Environment Scotland archivearchive
SupportsThe distinction between the hotel and adjacent former Glenforth Distillery site.
