KNOTTINGLEY PUBLIC HOUSES & BREWERIES
circa. 1750 – 1998
by TERRY SPENCER B.A.(Hons), Ph D. (1998)
CHAPTER FIVE
NINETEENTH CENTURY INNS
The
number of licensed premises in Knottingley declined slightly from the mid
eighteenth century, from 18 in 1752 to 15 in 1784, remaining at the latter
number until the third decade of the following century. It is interesting
to note that despite the decline in home brewing and an increase of 1,149
in the local population between 1801-1821, there was no increase in the
number of retail outlets within the town, a fact which further suggests
that the bilk of the business undertaken by Knottingley Brewery throughout
that period was conducted with private customers for domestic rather than
public consumption. However, from the mid 1820s the number of public
houses began to rise, reaching a total of 19 by 1838, supplemented by some
25 beerhouses which had been established in the wake of the Act of 1830.
Three
new public houses were opened between 1822 and the end of the
decade whilst two of the existing ones underwent a complete or
partial name change, the whole change process reflecting the
transformation of the township from the second quarter of the new
century.
The
first significant change was of a topographical nature. Between
1820-26 the Aire & Calder canal was cut through the town and
several new bridges were built to carry traffic over the new
navigation. The development resulted in the upgrading of Weeland
Road which since 1741 had formed part of the Weeland Turnpike
Trust.
The
combination of road improvements and the construction of the canal
encouraged the use of the turnpike road over Jackson Bridge and along the
southern edge of the township by through traffic in order to bypass the
busier and more congested traditional route through Aire Street and Marsh
End. Utilisation of the alternative route caused the gradual diminishment
of the Aire Street waterfront, a trend compunded by the shift of
waterborne traffic from the river to the canal. The transition was also
important in that locations such as Banks Lane and Racca Green which had
formerly been areas of secondary settlement and occupational activity now
assumed greater prominence. The demographic change was reflected in the
establishment of a series of public houses in and around the newly
developed areas. In 1827, a new public house, the Greyhound, was opened
adjacent to the existing blacksmiths shop at Banks Lane. The premises
provided an outlet for beer produced by William Bywater at his Cow Lane
brewery. Following Bywater’s death in 1856, the inn was owned by his
son, Dr. John Hall Bywater but the early demise of John Bywater resulted
in his widow, Hannah Martha (nee Senior) letting the premises to John
Carter & Co. in 1861. (3) The conjunction of inn and forge was ideally
suited to meet the requirements of passing travellers and also served the
passing traffic along the lime route running from the quarries located to
the south of the town via England Lane and Weeland Road which had formerly
continued via Chapel Street to the riverside but which since the opening
of the canal, terminated at the Bendles staithes. The proximity of his
forge to the new terminus and the potential for additional income was not
lost on John Fell, proprietor of a blacksmith’s shop situated next to
Jackson Bridge and directly opposite the entrance to the Bendles, who by
1856 had opened a beerhouse alongside his forge, naming it the Anvil &
Blacksmith. (4)
The
potential for trade afforded by the Beer Act of 1830 is indicated by the
opening of the Golden Cup and the Sportsmans’ Inn about that date. Both
seem to have had a brief existence for neither is listed after the end of
the decade and consequently little is known of either establishment. The
Golden Cup was situated at an undefined site in Aire Street under the
proprietorship of Francis Stone (5) whilst the Sportsmans’ Inn was
located at Racca Green and may have been influenced in its foundation by
the demographic and geographic changes noted above. Although the
disappearance of both the inn names suggests that the economic potential
at the time of their establishment may have been more apparent than real
it is possible that in the case of the last named house a name change
occurred for coincidental with the demise of the Sportsmans’ Inn is the
appearance of the Three Horse Shoes, although here again, information
concerning the subsequent history of the Three Horse Shoes is so fragmentary
that the possibility that the inns were one and the same is restricted to
mere speculation. (6) If the demise of the Sportsmans’ Inn arose in
consequence of a misjudged business opportunity the long-term value of
such a venture was evident from the 1840s onwards when the rapid
concentration of population and the proximity of the waterborne trade in
areas such as Cow Lane, Racca Green, Sunny Bank, Manor Fold and Fernley
Green spawned licensed premises whose names: Jolly Sailor, Mariner’s
Arms, Roper’s Arms, Boat and Lime Keel, reflect the maritime activity
which engendered and sustained them.
Name
changes, as indicated by the examples quoted in the case of the Royal Oak
and the Limestone inns, whilst not commonplace were not unique. A further
example is evident by reference to the John Bull Inn which was sited
alongside the canal at Manor Fold. The inn is first recorded in 1827 and
originally belonged to Edward Spence (7) Following Spence'’ demise the
property was let to Gaggs, Carter & Co., by his widow Mary, at which
time the name was probably changed to that of the Jolly Sailor. (8) The
lease was renewed in October 1847, by which time William Dey, a mariner of
Knottingley, had acquired the premises either by direct purchase or
through an unredeemed mortgage loan, although both Mary Spence and her son
were retained as successive licensees. (9) William Dey and his brother
Michael, were both indebted to John Carter during the following decade,
using the property deeds as security for their loans but in each case the
mortgage was redeemed. The inn therefore continued in the possession of
the Dey family until the twentieth century at which time it acquired the
unique distinction of being the only public house in Knottingley to make
the transfer to the status of a workingmens’ club. Known as the Foundry
Lane Club & Institute but still affectionately known as ‘The Jolly’,
as a sign in the main entrance mutely testifies, the club retains an
exclusive male membership being a private club corporately owned by the
members.
The
Roper’s Arms was established by Samuel Atkinson, a ropemaker who owned
the Bendles Ropewalk, now part of the ex Bagley glassworks site. (10) The
inn is variously referred to in trade directories as the Rope Maker’s
Arms and the Rope Arms (11) By 1857 the property was in the hands of
Bowers executors but by the last quarter of the century belonged to
Elizabeth Pickersgill of the Old Castle Brewery, Pontefract, before
passing top Bentley’s Yorkshire Brewery in 1935. (12) The Roper’s Arms
closed in March 1971 and the property was then converted into private
flats. Fortunately, the building retains much of the external appearance
presented when the property was a public house. In this respect it is an
imaginative example of architectural adaptability which one could wish had
been applied to many more of the towns former buildings.
Another
canalside inn, situated at the opposite end of Sunny Bank to the Roper’s
Arms, was the Boat. The inn was not established until the late 1860s,
being the property of John Raddings, a ships chandler, who owned a crane
standing at the opposite side of the canal near Shepherd’s Bridge and
used for dismasting local keels and sloops to enable storage or
refurbishment of the same. Raddings provided stabling on the site of the
Boat Inn for the horses used to haul the vessels along the canal. (13)
The
Beehive Inn at Fernley Green was also established in the 1830s. The inn
stood adjacent to the malt kilns which occupied land between Liquorice
Lane and the canal side. The premises had originally served as a private
residence, known as Charles House, which was opened as a beerhouse by the
owner, Charles Coward, and kept by William Womack, a farmer. (14) By mid
century, however, the owner of the property was Thomas Nichols, the
beerhouse being one of the few such premises to obtain the status of a
fully licensed public house. (15)
By
the 1830s a new type of inn had made an appearance as the result of the
construction of the canal. The flyboat passenger and mail services had
originally plied on the river Aire where the vageries of flood and tide
had made it impossible to ensure an accurate and efficient time-table.
Following the opening of the canal the service was transferred to the
inland navigation and by 1831 steamboats and paddle steamers were in
general use, supplementing the horse-drawn flyboats which offered a
swifter and more comfortable service to travellers than that available
overland, not withstanding the terrestrial improvements promoted by the
Weeland Turnpike Trust. By 1830 the Commercial Inn had been built to
accommodate the needs of the waterborne travellers. John Hall, a coach
proprietor, kept the inn at that date, together with adjacent stables in
which the coach horses were groomed, fed and rested. A scheduled passenger
service connected Pontefract, Wakefield, Leeds, Askern and Hull with
Knottingley inns such as the Roper’s Arms, Swan and Commercial where
travellers rested and refreshed themselves whilst awaiting transportation.
The steam packet ‘Magnet’ plied from the Commercial, offering a daily
return service between Knottingley and Goole, whilst passengers using the
Swan Inn made the connection with the flyboat at the stepped landing stage
known as Packet Hill, near Gaggs Bridge. (16) The coaching era was of
brief duration, however, being dealt a swift and mortal blow by the
introduction of the local railway line between Wakefield and Goole in 1845.
Nevertheless, despite the decline of the coaching trade the Commercial
remained in existence albeit in a somewhat less prosperous style. By mid
century the Commercial Inn was in the dual ownership of Messrs. Smallpage
& Wood, (17) and by 1857 John Curtis commenced a family tenancy which
was to last almost sixty years thereafter.
The
dispersal of much business and its associated traffic from Aire Street to
other areas of the town caused an obvious decline in the prosperity of the
Royal Hotel which is named by one source of 1871, merely as the Royal Inn,
an implied loss of status which may have resulted in its closure shortly
afterwards. The decline and ultimate demise may however, owe something to
the competition for dwindling trade engendered by the establishment of the
Aire Street Hotel which had been opened on a site at East Parade during
the 1850s. The proprietor of the new hotel was George Greenhow and his
undertenant was William Holmes, who remained as the licensee for over
twenty years. (18) The fact that the maritime trade had been ebbing away
from the riverside for upwards of a generation did not curtail the
importance of Aire Street as the social hub of the town, a fact which
explains the establishment of the new hotel in the face of demographic
change.
Here
again, however, a change of name may explain the absence of the name Royal
Hotel for the Census of 1891 records the existence of a hotel by the name
of the King George IV while a newspaper reference the following year
concerning the transfer of the licence of the George Inn reveals the said
premises to be connected to a chemists shop in Aire Street. The fact may
indicate that the George Hotel / Inn was the renamed Royal Hotel / Inn of
earlier date, particularly as the owner, George Greenhow, was a chemist
and druggist. (19)
A
public house which opened in the wake of the Wellington Act was the
Mariners’ Arms, the site of which was on land in Racca Green directly
opposite the eastern end of the Bendles and for many years past a derelict
plot. The earliest known reference to the inn is dated 1848 when Charles
Sefton was the landlord. (20) The inn was still occupied by Sefton in
1851. (21) Six years later the premises are recorded as being "in
hand", the owner being George Sefton. (22) The fact suggest that
Charles Sefton had recently died for two years later his son, George, is
named as the owner but the licensee is one John Barber. (23) the last
recorded reference to the inn is dated 1866 when William Jackson was the
licensee. (24) An indication that the property had ceased to function as a
public house by 1870 is the tripartite agreement of February 1870 between
John Barber, the owner, John Carter, the leaseholder and William Goulding,
concerning the division of the site and its buildings which in addition to
the inn included a shoemakers shop and cottage. The agreement was of
considerable legal significance for some twelve years later it formed the
basis of an action in the Chancery Division of the High Court between the
trustees of Barber’s widow and Goulding, as a result of which a
settlement was imposed by which Barber’s Trustees retained the inn and
the adjacent properties. (25) It was, presumably, the eventual decision of
the Trustees to demolish the property, although the premises were still in
situ shortly after the turn of the present century and the vacant plot
remains to this day.
The
period 1835-80 was certainly the high period of liquor consumption in
Knottingley. Nationally, the effect of the 1830 Act was to double the
number of retail outlets from 24,000 to 46,000 by 1836. (26) At
Knottingley an even higher percentage applied when in addition to 19
public houses an additional 25 beerhouses provided retail outlets. A
breakdown of the locations of the new pot shops for the year 1838 reveals
the following locational pattern:-
Hill
Top 8. Low End (Fernley Green) 5. Aire Street 5. Racca Green 2. Cow Lane
1. Undesignated 1. (27) As noted earlier, most beer houses had a brief
existence as the initial expectations of their proprietors failed to
materialise. Nevertheless, with over 40 liquor outlets in the town vending
their wares to a motley band of ‘outsiders’ such as mariners,
commercial travellers and transient visitors, all supplementing the
demands of the local inhabitants, there must have been some lively times
at Knottingley during the mid nineteenth century. Indeed, a resolution in
the Select Vestry Minute Book for the 24th November 1840 records,"that
the Constable convey to the publicans the request of the Select Vestry to
discontinue fiddling and dancing in their houses."
The
extent to which the mission of the Parish Constable was successful is
unrecorded but as the majority of licensed victuallers in 1848 were those
whose names were recorded a decade earlier we may assume that an
acceptable, if temporary, degree of order was attained. Again however, on
the 4th January 1842 the Vestry resolved"That
the Constable shall warn George Sefton against keeping his house in a
disorderly manner."
Things
do not seem to have improved, however, for on the 7th April 1852"The
Select Vestry resolved after hearing the most respectable testimony, that
stringent measures shall be adopted for the suppression (sic) of
drunkenness, vice and immorality now so unhappily prevalent in the Town
and neighbourhood."
Acts
of 1834 and 1840 redefined the terms by which licences to sell liquor were
obtained. Henceforth an ‘on’ licence could only be granted to a
resident or occupier of premises seeking a full public house licence upon
payment of three guineas and production of a reference testifying to the
applicants good character signed by six parishioner's. By mid century
only a few beerhouses were still in existence and the number of fully
licensed premises in the town had decreased to 17. A Licensing Act
of 1869 restored full responsibility for the granting of licences to
retail outlets to the local justices who had always been hostile to the
legislation which enabled beerhouses to be established with such relative
ease and without recourse to magisterial approval and control. In
1871 the Liberals proposed a stringent Licensing Bill which led to such an
outcry amongst parties with vested interests in the victualling trade that
the proposals had to be modified before becoming legalised by the Act of
1872. Nevertheless, the combined effect of the legislative programme from
the mid century dictated a more restrictive pattern of control and
reorganisation of the trade which resulted in a reduction in the number of
licensed premises.
Amongst
the Knottingley beerhouses which survived to attain fully licensed status
were the Mariner’s Arms, Beehive, Aire Street Hotel, Commercial Hotel
and Anvil & Blacksmith. Other beerhouses were more anonymous in terms
of title and exact location. The township Rate Book of 1857 lists a
beerhouse situated on 2 perches of land belonging to John Adam and
occupied by Furniss Moore at an undisclosed location. Also, a beerhouse at
Racca Green, three perches in extent, owned by John Eyre with John Fozzard
as the publican features in the same source. (35) The 1859 Rate Book does
however, list a beerhouse, barn, stable and yard at Low End, kept by
William Womack and belonging to Robert Coward [known to be the Bee Hive]
and another at an undefined location owned by William Moorhouse
(ironically a local magistrate) and tenanted by William Heald. (36) The
names of Womack and Fozzard feature in the list of beerhouse proprietors
in 1838 and therefore indicates a twenty year association with the trade.
Following
the building of Knottingley Railway Station in 1845, the town developed
into an important railway junction with the Lancashire & Yorkshire
Company’s line being joined by those of the Great Northern Railway and
North Eastern Railway Company. (38) The station served all parts of the
country and its importance was reflected in the construction of several
new licensed premises adjacent to the terminus during the two following
decades. (39)
The
first such edifice was the Royal Albert Hotel which was erected in the
late 1840s by William Moorhouse at the junction of Weeland Road and
Station Road. (40) In April 1854 however, Moorhouse sold the property to
Christopher Sturdy and his brother James. (41) Sturdy, described as an
innkeeper of Knottingley, was probably the publican at the unidentified
premises situated at Racca Green and believed to be the Three Horse Shoes.
(42) By 1861 Sturdy was bankrupt and the premises were in the hands of
William Earnshaw who installed his brother George as the licensee, (the
latter incidentally also being associated with the Racca Green inn). (43)
Thus began the family connection which led to the Hill Top premises
becoming better known amongst the local populace by its colloquial name of
‘Earnshaw’s Hotel.’ (44) The Earnshaws’ appear to have previously
followed financially successful occupations. William Earnshaw, originally
a master mariner from Beal, had purchased several properties in
Knottingley during the previous decade. (45) George Earnshaw had
previously been a joiner at Darrington. (46) The strategic position of the
Royal Albert Hotel and the prospective financial return arising from the
development of Knottingley as an important railway junction may have
provided the Earnshaw’s with the incentive to purchase the hotel.
However, by 1866 the development of newer lines and passenger services in
the district had caused the diversion of the principal routes from
Knottingley and this may have resulted in the diminution of the hotels
trade which led to the sale of the property to John Carter & Co., in
1871, by which date the premises were renamed as the Railway Hotel. (47)
Whilst
the Railway Hotel may not have permanently fulfilled the expectations of
its early owners there is no doubt that the advent of the railway was the
making of the premises which stood almost opposite the Hotel. The house
was originally the site of a blacksmiths shop which added a beerhouse in
the early 1830s. (48) Although confined to the status of beerhouse until
the 1880s, the attempt to attract the passenger trade resulted in the
adoption of the rather more imposing name of the Commercial Hotel under
the proprietorship of Mrs Eleanor Jackson, widow of the original licensee
and blacksmith Robert Jackson. The metamorphosis of the establishment is
clearly apparent from the designation within the 1857 Rate Book which
refers to the establishment as the ‘Commercial Eating House’. (49) Mrs
Jackson however, placed a higher estimate on the status of her
establishment and in various trade directories emphasised the suitability
of her accommodation for family groups by listing the inn as the
Commercial & Family Hotel. The extent to which this emphasis on social
respectability gained clients at the expense of the neighbouring Railway
Hotel is conjectural but it appears to have enhanced the status of the
Commercial Hotel for a time and it is interesting to note that by 1892 the
proprietors of the Railway Hotel had begun to advertise their premises as
the Railway Family & Commercial Hotel & Posting House. (50)
The
presence of Robert Jackson at the upper end of Hill Top may date from the
early 1840s for a document of November 1841 reveals Jackson in occupation
of property adjacent to the White Swan Inn at that date, being a cottage
sold to him in May 1825, and lately used as a beerhouse with blacksmiths
shop and other outbuildings. (51) The precise date of Jackson’s lease of
the property is not known. He earliest mention of Jackson’s occupation
of the property is dated August 1823, (52) and his tenure must have
commenced sometime after 1816 at which date the forge was occupied by John
Bingley. (53) By the 1830s Jackson had moved to the western end of Hill
Top to become the tenant of a beerhouse and blacksmith’s shop. (54) With
the construction of the nearby railway station the premises were upgraded
to full public house status, becoming known as the Commercial Hotel.
Jackson’s transfer to the upper end of Hill Top must have occurred late
in the 1830s for it was not until November 1840 that his property adjacent
to the Swan was obtained by John Carter. One of the five cottages
identified as being "lately
used as a beerhouse." was
the one previously associated with William Hirst and may have been kept by
Jackson following Hirst’s retirement. (55)
Built
in 1864, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Hotel was founded to rival
the nearby establishment of George Earnshaw, as shown by a notice inserted
in a local newspaper which reveals "Charles
William, late of the Dragon Hotel, Pontefract, begs to inform the
Commercial Public and others that he has just entered on the [Lancs &
Yorks] Hotel which has been fitted up and furnished for the reception of
private families, commercial gentlemen, and others, where all parties
patronising the House will receive every attention. Choice wines, spirits
and ale of first-rate quality will be provided. N.B.
The nearest House to Knottingley Station." (56)
Like
its rival, the new hotel soon became identified with its first proprietor,
being listed as the William’s Hotel. (57) However, the combination of
fierce on-site competition and a reduction in passengers as a result of
the decline in status of Knottingley as a railway junction meant that the
opening of the hotel proved to be an expensive miscalculation. By 1866
Williams had left after selling the hotel. The property consisted of 2
acres 3 roods 25 perches of land and on which stood a coach house,
granary, dwelling house, with adjacent croft and gardens. The site was
described as being "…admirably situated for the erection of Malt
Houses & Co., being adjoining the Lancs & Yorks Railway and having
an unlimited supply of excellent water." (58)
At
an auction sale, conducted in the hotel on Monday 19th April,
the property was purchased by the Tadcaster Tower Brewery Co. who retained
the ownership until 1952. (59)
Mention
has already been made of the origins of the Anvil Inn which was
established as a beershop in premises belonging to Jane Jackson and
occupied by John Fell, a blacksmith, during the 1850s. (60) Indeed, the
name of the inn was only abbreviated from its original title of the Anvil
& Blacksmith following the purchase of the premises in 1871. (61)
A
rather amusing, if macabre, event associated with the Anvil concerns a
local seafarer, residing in Knottingley, who in August 1864 made a coffin
for himself. Constructed of red deal, painted and with a gilt bordered
lid, complete with a sliding panel which when drawn back revealed a pane
of glass allowing the face of the deceased to be viewed. The lid was also
inscribed with the seaman’s name, together with the date of the coffin’s
construction (12-8-1864). The coffin was exhibited within the Anvil Inn
for a period of time where it no doubt achieved its purpose of drawing
curious customers to the inn. The subsequent use to which the object was
to be put in the event of the death of the owner while at sea, or if
indeed, he carried it onboard with him, is not recorded. (62)
An
inn first mentioned in the 1870s but probably of earlier origin is the
Potters Arms. (63) Indeed, a deed of 1839 concerning property at the
Holes, Knottingley, may refer to the inn which although not named as such,
does name sundry persons who are known at a subsequent date to have been
associated with the inn which was also on occasion referred to as the
Pottery Arms. (64) For instance, it is known that the site of the inn was
land owned by Edward Tomlinson, the Ferrybridge Pottery owner whose
executors were still in possession of the inn in 1887. (65) Tomlinson was
one of the parties named in the document of 1839, as is Sarah Masterman,
whose family are associated with a small pottery situated in the Holes and
may be the premises occupied by Robert Wrigglesworth, potter, in 1879, at
which time there was a minor legal dispute concerning damage to [beer?]
crates owned by Robinson who may have supplemented his income by holding a
beerhouse licence. (66) Knowledge concerning the inn is sparse but it
remained in existence until the renewal of the licence was refused in July
1907, at the end of which month the premises were closed. (67)
The
Wheatsheaf Inn, in common with the Red Lion and the Limestone (Lamb) inns,
was originally a farmstead. Situated at the corner of Chapel Street, next
to St. Botolph’s Church, the premises became a beerhouse about 1840 for
the owner, William Knapton, is not named in the list of beerhouse
proprietors of 1838 but does feature in that of 1848. (68) Although the
nominal owner in the 1857 Rate Book, the inn is recorded as being "in
hand", suggesting a transitional phase following the recent death of
William Knapton. (69) The theory is reinforced by the fact that the 1859
Rate Book, whilst showing William’s widow, Elizabeth, as the owner,
records one S. Lightowler as the publican. (70) Lightowler’s tenancy
seems to have been fairly short, however, for by the mid 1860s the
landlord was Charles Knapton. (71) The entry of Charles Knapton was
probably marked by a change in the name of the inn for by 1871 the
premises are listed as The Sailors Home. (72) The name change reflects the
transition of the township from a predominantly agricultural economy to
one dominated by the maritime trade which by the third quarter of the
nineteenth century was at its zenith, a fact which had not gone unobserved
by Knapton who astutely sought to capitalise on the change. The Sailors
Home continued in the ownership of the Knapton family until early 1902
when the property was sold by the trustees of William Knapton. (73)
The
predominance of the maritime trade is also reflected in the name of the
Lime Keel Inn which first appears in records about 1870. (74) At that time
the inn is variously referred to as the Limekiln (which may be a
typographical error based upon a mishearing of the name) and the Keel Inn.
(75) A deed of February 1870 reveals that the Lime Keel was situated on
the site which had but recently formed part of the Mariners Arms Inn (76)
and must have been opened within a couple of years of the closure of the
inn, although as late as 1882 the Lime Keel was only accorded the status
of beerhouse. (77) Despite its antecedent title the Lime Keel was
established at a time when the township was about to enter into a second
phase of economic development characterised by the rise of the glass
container industry and the gradual decline of the maritime trade,. Indeed,
the inn was to owe much of its future prosperity to the custom afforded by
the glassworkers employed at the nearby works of Bagley & Co.
From
earliest times inns had provided recreational activities as an adjunct to
refreshment and relaxation and local houses were no exception. (78) It is
known that bear-baiting took place on the green in front of the Dog (&
Gun) and the Wagon & Horses had an adjoining cock pit. (79) Similar
activities, together with recreational pursuits more acceptable to late
twentieth century society, such as skittles, bowls, darts, dominoes and
cards, were doubtless a feature of other inns within the town. (80)
Indeed, most pubs today retain dominoes and a dart board although cards
are anathema, being associated with gambling and therefore, in company
with dice, pitch and toss and other games of chance, were proscribed by
the late nineteenth century, having previously been a common feature of
public house activity. (81)
In
addition, local inns had frequently provided venues for social functions;
official, semi-official, commercial and informal by nature. For instance,
a coroners inquest was held at the Royal Oak in 1864 concerning the death
of a man killed by a fall of stone in a nearby quarry. (82) Less formally,
but no less official, it was resolved in June 1842 that"Members
of the [Select] Vestry meet at Robert Hall’s sign of the Greyhound at
5-00p.m., Thursday next to value the new erections in the Township."
(83)
Local
inns were frequently used as venues for public auctions (84) and provided
regular and occasional meeting places for organisations such as savings
clubs, building and friendly societies and the emergent trade unions. The
Local Authority kept a careful check on such activities for both fiscal
and social reasons. In June 1843, the Select Vestry resolved that"W.
Clayton and all others who received money out of the Dog [Inn] Club be
stopped [from receipt of Parish Relief] for a season." (85)
The
existence of such money clubs was a common feature of public house life by
the mid nineteenth century when the first fruits of material prosperity
combined with the doctrine of self-help to shape the national psyche. A
money club is recorded at the Rising Sun in 1852 (86) and another, known
as the Victoria Society was still in existence in 1872. (87)
A
club room was a feature of the Boat Inn later in the century (88) and
other local inns offered facilities for use by trade unions and other
social groups. The towns’ glassmakers are known to have met for their
annual feast at the Cherry Tree in 1873 (89) and it is interesting to note
that these fraternal gatherings were financially subsidised by Carters
Brewery Co., in order to draw such meetings to their tied houses, the Bay
Horse and the Wagon & Horses being additional venues for the
glassmakers annual gatherings on subsequent occasions. (90) The Brewery
company itself made use of the function rooms offered by their
undertenants and the annual supper for the Brewery workers is on record as
being held at the Cherry Tree, (91) Bay Horse (92) Anchor Inn, (93) and
Railway Hotel (94) amongst others.
The
next significant phase of public house development within the town
occurred in the decades following the conclusion of the Second World War.
Many changes took place during the interregnum, including the
disappearance of many long established public houses. Such developments
form the basis of a later chapter but an incident which occurred in 1879
provides an apt coda to the departing era, revealing a lingering element
of the time-honoured, casual system of organisation which was about to be
swept away by the demands of modernity.
Officially,
any person wishing to open a beershop was required to formally notify the
Select Vestry of the town by posting a notice of intent upon the door of
the Parish Church. William Fozzard, whose family had early and
long-established connections with beershop proprietors, duly posted his
notice but was refused the desired licence, having attached the document
to the door of Christ Church instead of that of St. Botolph’s. (95)
Terry Spencer, 1998
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