What Is the Oldest Newspaper in the UK?

When people ask about the oldest news in the UK, they’re usually thinking of the oldest newspaper. But that question doesn’t have one simple answer. It depends on what you mean by "newspaper." Was it the first printed news sheet? The first daily? The one that never stopped publishing? The answer changes depending on how you define it.

The First British News Sheet: The Corante (1621)

The very first thing that looked like a newspaper in Britain was The Corante, published in London on September 24, 1621. It wasn’t called a newspaper back then - it was a small pamphlet, just a few pages long, printed by Nathaniel Butter. It didn’t have original reporting. Instead, it translated news from Dutch and German sources - mostly about wars in Europe - and sold it to curious readers in London.

These early news sheets, called "corantos," came from Amsterdam, where printers had already started putting out regular news updates. English buyers smuggled them in. Butter’s version was the first one printed in England. The British Library still has a copy, cataloged as shelfmark 814.m.27. It’s not flashy. No headlines. No cartoons. Just straight facts, translated and stitched together. But it had the core idea: regular, printed news for the public.

Before this, most people got news from town criers, word of mouth, or handwritten newsletters among the wealthy. The Corante changed that. It was the first time ordinary people could buy a printed piece of current news. That’s why historians say it’s the first British newspaper - even if it wasn’t called one.

The First Official Newspaper: The Oxford Gazette (1665)

Then came The Oxford Gazette, published on November 7, 1665. This one was different. It wasn’t just a commercial product. It was published by order of King Charles II. His court had fled London to escape the Great Plague and needed a way to share official announcements - appointments, proclamations, court news - without spreading disease through messengers.

Henry Muddiman, the king’s official printer, produced it. It was printed in Oxford, then moved back to London when the court returned. The name changed to The London Gazette. Unlike The Corante, it was published regularly - twice a week - and it never stopped. Even today, it’s still running.

It’s not a newspaper in the way you’d think. No sports scores. No celebrity gossip. No opinion columns. It’s the government’s official journal. It publishes royal decrees, military promotions, bankruptcy notices, and changes in government appointments. If you need to know who got knighted or which company went bankrupt, The Gazette is where you look. It’s still published twice a week by The Stationery Office under Crown copyright. You can even subscribe to it online for £295 a year.

Because it’s never missed an issue, it holds the title of the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK. That’s a big deal. No other publication can say that.

The First Daily: The Daily Courant (1702)

Before 1702, newspapers came out once or twice a week. Then came The Daily Courant, launched on March 11, 1702, by Elizabeth Mallet. She ran it out of her home near Fleet Ditch - right where Fleet Street would later become the heart of British journalism.

It was the first newspaper in Britain to come out every weekday. Just one page. No ads at first. Just international news - mostly from France, Spain, and the Netherlands - written in a dry, factual style. Mallet didn’t add opinions. She didn’t editorialize. She just reported what was happening abroad. That approach became the model for modern journalism.

She sold the paper after only 40 days. But the idea stuck. Other printers copied it. Within a decade, daily papers were popping up across London. The Daily Courant itself lasted about 33 years, ending around 1735. But its legacy? It created the daily news cycle we still live in today.

The Oldest Surviving Weekly: Berrow’s Worcester Journal (1690)

If you’re looking for the oldest newspaper still being printed that regular people actually read, then Berrow’s Worcester Journal wins. It started in 1690 as the Worcester Postman. It became a weekly paper in 1709 and has been published without stopping since then.

For over 300 years, it covered local events in Worcestershire - market days, court cases, births, deaths, and later, sports and politics. It was paid for by readers until 2012, when it switched to free distribution. Today, it’s handed out at libraries, cafes, and community centers. It’s not a national paper. It doesn’t have a big website. But it’s still printed every week.

Its survival is remarkable. Many local papers folded in the 2000s. Berrow’s made it through wars, depressions, and the digital age. It’s the oldest surviving English newspaper that still serves its original community. That’s why the News Media Association calls it the oldest surviving English newspaper.

The Oldest Daily Still in Print: The News Letter (1737)

Then there’s The News Letter, based in Belfast. It first printed on November 1, 1737. That makes it the oldest English-language daily newspaper still being published in the world.

It didn’t start as a daily. It came out three times a week until 1855, when it switched to daily. It covered local politics, trade, and later, the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Today, it still publishes Monday through Saturday. Its circulation has dropped - from tens of thousands in the 1900s to around 10,500 in 2023 - but it hasn’t shut down.

It’s not the oldest newspaper in the UK. But it’s the oldest daily. And it’s still going. That’s rare. Most papers that started in the 1700s are gone. The News Letter survived because it stayed local, stayed relevant, and adapted slowly.

Why Do These Claims Conflict?

The confusion comes from different definitions:

• First ever printed news? → The Corante (1621)
• First official, continuous publication? → The London Gazette (1665)
• First daily? → The Daily Courant (1702)
• Oldest surviving weekly? → Berrow’s Worcester Journal (1690)
• Oldest surviving daily? → The News Letter (1737)

Each one is correct - if you pick the right category. The British Library says The Corante is the first newspaper. The Gazette says it’s the oldest continuously published. Berrow’s says it’s the oldest surviving paper readers actually bought. The News Letter says it’s the oldest daily.

There’s no single winner. It’s like asking who was the first person to drive a car. Was it the one who built it? The one who drove it first? The one who made it popular? Each answer is true in its own way.

What Happened to the Rest?

Between 1640 and 1700, around 30,000 news sheets, pamphlets, and newsletters were printed in Britain. Most vanished. Some were banned. Others ran out of money. The government cracked down hard. King Henry VIII required all books to be licensed in 1538. Mary I gave the Stationers’ Company control over printing in 1557. Printers who went rogue - like Thomas Archer - got jailed.

That’s why survival matters. The papers that made it through centuries did so because they were either officially backed (like The Gazette) or deeply tied to their communities (like Berrow’s). They adapted. They stopped being fancy. They became necessary.

Today’s Legacy

These old papers didn’t just survive - they shaped everything. The Gazette set the standard for government transparency. The Daily Courant taught newspapers to report facts, not rumors. Berrow’s showed that local news could last. The News Letter proved that even in conflict, a paper could hold a community together.

Today, you can read all of them - digitally or in print. The Gazette is online. Berrow’s is free at your local library. The News Letter still has a print edition. The Daily Courant is gone, but its spirit lives on in every morning paper you pick up.

The oldest news in the UK isn’t one story. It’s a chain of stories - each one a step in how we learned to share what’s happening, every day, for over 400 years.