The Rovers Return Inn opened in 1902 on the newly built Coronation Street (1902 being Coronation year for Edward VII). It was originally to be called The Coronation but the brewery was forced to change the name as the go-ahead had already been given for the street to be named Coronation Street.[2] When Lieutenant Philip Ridley returned from active service in the Boer War, the pub was named in his honour.[2]

In 1918, to celebrate the return of the soldiers from World War I, the apostrophe was removed, thus making it The Rovers Return.[2] When Coronation Street began in 1960, the signage of the pub read "The Rovers Return" but at some point was changed to read "Rovers Return Inn", without a "The". Albert Tatlock (Jack Howarth) was among the World War I veterans who were still living in the street when the first episode was aired, and continued to live there for more than 20 years afterwards.

Originally, the pub was divided into three separate bars: the public bar, the snug (usually inhabited by unaccompanied ladies, where drinks were half a penny cheaper) and the select (where drinks were more expensive but were served by a waitress).[3] As late as 1960, the ruling in the pub was that ladies were not allowed to remain at the bar after being served. These archaic rules were dropped soon afterwards. When the pub was damaged by an accidental fire in 1986, the three bars were knocked into one large room.

The living quarters downstairs bear no resemblance to the exterior set of the pub. In reality, the living room (the "back room") would be in the middle of the street at the side of the pub, outside the medical centre.

Since 1960 the toilet and cellar doors on the other side of the building would seem to enter the Barlow's kitchen, next door at number one Coronation Street. There is also no obvious room for a commercial kitchen, despite the lunchtime serving of Betty Williams' (Betty Driver) noted hotpot while she was a barmaid at the pub.

Since 2008, viewers have seen scenes in a kitchen/dining room in the upstairs of the pub (for use by the licensee/residents), although no other characters had ever used or referred to this room previously.[4] A mock-up of the snug was a feature of the Granada Studios Tour.

The set's exterior doors are narrower than the doors on the interior set. This has always been the case as the exterior set is reduced in scale.

​