Ye Old Fighting
Cocks Inn
If you take the footpath leading down from the cathedral
at St Albans in Hertfordshire to the River Ver, you will find there on the
riverside, Ye Old Fighting
Cocks Inn, said to be the oldest licensed pub in
England. The octagonal timber-framed
building, which has monastic origins, may have started life as a pigeon cote,
and a place where cock fighting took place – hence its name. Before becoming a fully licensed pub it was
a medieval fishing lodge.
The Half Moon
Inn
The Half Moon Inn at
Wilstone in Hertfordshire was the scene of an unusual Coroner’s Inquest back in
1751, it was held to inquire into the death of an alleged witch. Ruth Osborn had been accused of witchcraft
following an incident whilst she was begging for food at Gubblecote, her
subsequent mutterings being interpreted as a curse. Notices were posted that she and her husband
would be publicly ducked at Wilstone on 21st April 1751. Despite resistance, they were dragged from
their place of refuge in the church vestry by a mob said to number some 4,000
people. They were repeatedly ducked in
the pond at Wilstone, which resulted in the death of Ruth Osborn who had been
physically held under the water by the village chimney sweep, Luke Colley. Colley was subsequently convicted of murder
and was hanged at Hertford Gaol on 24th August 1751 and his body was
hung in chains at Gubblecote.
The Hole in the Wall
There are several pubs with this name. This one, situated at
Balkerne Gate in Colchester, Essex, was actually built alongside the Roman wall
which once surrounded the town. This is the oldest part of the wall where once
stood a triumphal arch which was raised in honour of Roman Emperor Claudius in
AD 43 when Colchester was known as Camulodunum and the capital of Roman
Britain. The scant remains of the gate are the earliest and most complete Roman
gateway in the country
This pub was originally called The King’s Head, but in 1843,
when the railway came to Colchester, the landlord of this ancient pub saw the opportunity
to increase business by removing part of the wall to open up a view from the
new railway. Quite amazingly he removed not only part of the wall but part of
the old gateway. Thus the pub became known as The Hole in the Wall, a name
which was officially adopted in the 1960’s.
The Playhouse
This pub in St John’s Street, Colchester in Essex is another
innovative Wetherspoon conversion.
Originally opened as The Playhouse Theatre in 1929, it became a cinema
in 1981 and subsequently a bingo hall before remaining empty until 1994 having
retained its original interior. It was tastefully turned into a pub where the
circle and boxes are preserved with models audience without being used. The
stage is also still intact where one can enjoy a pint at one of the tables overlooking
the auditorium wherein other tables are around a circular bar.
The Royal Huts
Hotel
Five paintings in The Devil's Punch Bowl Hotel, formerly The
Royal Huts Hotel, at Hindhead in Surrey tell a story of brigandage in the 18th
century,
© Copyright Colin Smith and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
To whom Iam grateful for the use of his Geograph photograph.
A memorial on Gibbet Hill marks the spot where a sailor was
murdered and where three villains were
hanged in chains, which are also preserved at the hotel. The full story is also told on the
gravestone of the unidentified victim who was buried in the churchyard at nearby Thursley :
‘ In memory of a generous but
unfortunate sailor
who was barbarously murdered on Hindhead
on September 24th 1786 by three villains
after he had treated them liberally and promised them
further assistance on the road to Portsmouth.’
The Bat
and Ball
The old Bat and Ball
Inn, once used as the clubhouse for an ancient cricket club stands
alongside the ground on Halfpenny Down north east of the village of Hambledon
in Hampshire. This is the spiritual home
of cricket where Hambledon Cricket Club, founded in 1760, gradually developed
the laws of the modern game. A granite
monument in a corner of the cricket ground marks the hallowed site.
Hambledon Cricket Ground
The Trusty Servant
Inn
This village inn at Minstead in the New Forest has a
curious name, the origin of which lies in a picture at Winchester College, The
Trusty Servant embodies a pig which will eat any
scraps; a padlock which shows that he
will tell no tales; stag’s feet for swiftness; and a laden hand for hard
work. A useful fellow to employ.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is buried in the nearby churchyard.
The Sir Walter
Tyrrell Inn
This New Forest inn,
The Sir Walter Tyrrell, gives its name to the man thought to be responsible for the death of
King William 11. The Rufus Stone, which
can be seen in a clearing nearby at the side of an unclassified road north of
the A31, recalls the death of King William 11 (1056 – 1100). It was erected in 1745 to replace a tree
which had marked the original spot where William Rufus was killed by an arrow
whilst hunting in the New Forest. But
was the death an accident ? Called
Rufus supposedly because of his ruddy appearance, William was a man, so it is
said, who was ill tempered and small both in body and in mind. He was loathed by his people and few tears
were shed when he was killed, and indeed the clergy at Winchester Cathedral
refused religious rites to his remains.
Whilst his death was probably an
accident, Tyrrell has by tradition been suspected of being
responsible. Was it an accident or was
it regicide? We will never know.
The Sir Walter Tyrrell Inn can be found nearby.
© Copyright Jonathan Kington and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
To whom I am grateful for ther use of his Geograph photograph.
The former forge at nearby Avon is where,
according to legend, Sir William stopped before fording the river, and made the
blacksmith reverse his horse’s shoes in order to mislead his pursuers, whilst
fleeing the scene.
The Crown
Inn
Back in the 12th
century, King John, another unloved
King, had occasion to spend the night at
the Crown
Inn at Kingsclere in Hampshire and
spent a very uncomfortable night being severely bitten by bed bugs. The King had been following his favourite
pursuit of hunting in the area when a thick fog had prevented him from
returning to the Royal apartment and hasty arrangements had been made for his
accommodation at The Crown.. The story
goes that as a result of this unfortunate experience, the King ordered that an
effigy of a bed bug be displayed on the church tower, and so a rather regal bed bug weathervane is
to be seen on the church tower to this day.
The Snakecatcher Inn
The
Snakecatcher Inn at Brockenhurst, also in the New Forest tells a quite
different story about an interesting local character who died in 1905 at the
age of 67 years. Harry Mills, who was
better known as Brusher Mills, lived
in an illegal shack in the forest for almost 30 years, actually the shack burned down just one day
before the 30 years required to claim the home and land upon which it stood
under ancient forest law. He was known
as Brusher simply because of the
meticulous way in which he brushed the village cricket pitch. His main occupation however, was that of snake catcher and he is credited with having killed a
total of 3,186 New Forest adders, which he sold to London Zoo as live feed for
the larger snakes.
Mills was buried in
the old churchyard just outside the village where a very fine marble stone
marks his grave. The stone depicts a
carving of Mills 
The Hare and Hounds
The Hare
& Hounds is a thatched pub in Downend Road at Arreton on the Isle of Wight
and has a micabre connection to a local murder.
Close by is the curiously named
Burnt House Lane and also a Bronze Age barrow known as Morey’s Hump.
In 1736, an
elderly woodcutter called Michael Morey lived in an old cottage, in what is now
called Burnt House Lane, with his grandson James who was 14 years of age. In
June of that year, the boy’s dismembered body was found concealed in leather
bags in nearby woods together with a billhook and bloodstained gloves. Morey had set fire to his cottage and
absconded. He was subsequently arrested and convicted of the murder at
Winchester and executed. His body was hung in chains from a gibbet which was
erected on the barrow at Arreton.
The gibbet
cost the parish £6 and it was later sold to the landlord of the Hare &
Hounds to recover some of the cost. The 22 foot upright was used as a beam in
the pub tap room.
© Copyright Chris Allen and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
To whom I am grateful for ther use of his Geograph photograph.
Burnt House Lane
The Pilot Boat Inn
As seen in the photograph, this pub at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, is partly built in the shape of a boat.
To whom I am grateful for the use of his Geograph photograph.
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