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Birchall Street | Homepage > Warwickshire > Birmingham > Birchall Street |
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As
can be seen on this extract from William Westley's map of 1731,
Birchall Street was, at one time, known as Brickhill Road. This
provides a clue into the industrial activity of the past - the
section curling up towards Deritend Bridge was later called Stone
Yard. The lane led out to Birch's Pasture and, later, Birch's Hole.
Like Vaughton's Hole, a channel was cut to feed water from the River
Rea. The street was later called Birch Hole Street. Note the rough
crossing across the River Rea connecting Digbeth and Deritend High
Street. With
the river tamed and culverted, it is hard to imagine nowadays that the
Rea once formed a difficult obstacle for locals and travellers. But
there isn't a thoroughfare called Floodgate Street for no reason.
Originally called Water Street, Floodgate Street was a tranquil lane in
the early-mid 19th century. Tranquil that is until it rained heavily on
Windmill Hill between the Lickey's and the Clent Hills, the source of the
River
Rea. The name Floodgate Street serves as a reminder that Brummies
earning a living here had to occasionally harness the water source that
provided their main source of power. The force of the river in winter
acted as the impetus for the construction of the church marked on the
1731 map. The church of St. John the
Baptist was founded in the late 14th century for the Aston parishioners
living in the locality. Deritend and Bordesley were, up until relatively
recent times, part of Aston not Birmingham. Permission was
granted and a chaplain installed to conduct divine services for those
who lived some distance from the parish church at Aston and could not
attend St.Martin's in winter because of the river. The chaplain was paid
£5 per annum by the Deritend guild, the same sum that was paid to
another priest who acted as a teacher. The original church was a small
rectangular structure that featured a steeply-pitched roof. Like the
illustration by Westley, the west end of the building had square
bell-turret with a pyramidal roof and weather vane. The church was
replaced in 1735 with a edifice described by J. W. Bloe as a "rectangular
brick building with tall round-headed windows and a tower of two stages
surmounted by a balustrade with urns at the angles." Although restored
between 1881-91, the building was not in use in 1939. It was
in this year
when the parish
and benefice were united with St. Basil of Deritend. Sold to the local
authorities before the outbreak of the Second World War, the building
was hit by a bomb and later demolished.
The enlarged church of St. John the Baptist is marked on this 1778
map by Thomas Hanson. This map extract shows the early development
of the area. Bradford Street had been laid out and the estate of
Henry Bradford was underway. The line of Birchall Street can be seen
running down from St. John's Chapel, although the section near to
Deritend High Street would be called Chapel House Street. Birchall
Street was laid out in the mid-1780's, the first pub [The Minerva]
appearing in Birmingham's Trade Directories in 1791. |
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Britannia-Inn | |
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I do not know of a
photograph of the Britannia
Inn but the site of the pub would have been just to the left of
this photograph taken from Birchall Street looking towards Chapel House Street. This scene changed
dramatically during the Second World War when St. John's Church was bombed and later
demolished. The fake-timbered building on the corner of
Green Street was the Hope and Anchor. Recorded in the 1823 Triennial Directory for Birmingham in 1823, the
Britannia Inn was the second pub to trade in Birchall Street. The building was owned by
Ralph Baker who was also the proprietor of the adjoining properties. The annual ground
rent charged to Joseph Chambers was £10.0s.0d. who, according to a ratebook for Bordesley
and Deritend compiled in the same year, also had to pay rates of just five shillings.
Joseph Chambers named his pub the Britannia, the Roman name for Britain. It was in the
diaries of Samuel Pepys that the first mention of the symbolic female figure emerged as a
reference to a medal struck in 1665. The model for the figure was a future Duchess of
Richmond, Frances Stewart, who was then a mistress of Charles II. The now familiar pose of
her resting on a shield had earlier been used on Roman coins which many pubs
adopted. However,
they also both use the 'ruling the waves' aphorism. For the latter we have to refer to
James Thomson, the Kelso-born Scottish poet. He first wrote of Britannia in 1729
in which he criticised Sir Robert Walpole's foreign policy. However, it was his 1740 work Alfred,
a Masque which contained the song 'Rule Britannia.' In this he wrote 'When Britain
first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the Azure main, This was the charter of the
land, And guardian angels sung this strain: Rule Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never
will be slaves.' Unfortunately, Thomson could not foresee consumerism for he might have
thought twice about such a notion. Pub lovers will much prefer the line by the English
clergyman, Sydney Smith, who in one of his essays wrote: What two ideas are more
inseparable than Beer and Britannia? Joseph Chambers was succeeded by George Hemming
who traded as both a victualler and cabinet maker. In the ratebook for 1838 his name was
crossed out and replaced by that of Richard Newbold. By this time Mary Baker was recorded
as the owner. John Ward was the licensee by the time of the 1851 census in which he was
recorded as a 37 year-old victualler from Sheffield. Three years older, his wife Mary was
a Brummie. They employed Susannah Wilson as a general
servant. The couple later moved with their
children, Arthur and Rosina, to Arthur Street where John Ward worked as
a brassfounder. However, there is a Slater's Directory for 1852-3
lists a John Ward at the
Wagon
and Horses Tavern at Summer Row so the
family may have lived there for a short period - I have yet to ascertain
that it is the same John Ward. The Ward's departure from the Britannia
Inn marked the start of the Richards' family long association with the
pub. Edward Richards had previously lived in
Bishopsgate Street where he worked as a
waiter. Born in 1802
in
Bewdley, Worcestershire, Edward Richards was married to a woman 23 years younger. Ann
Richards hailed from Brereton near Sandbach, Cheshire. The couple had two
young children - 2 year-old Alice and Edward who was just 3 months old
at the time of the survey. Edward Richards employed 23 year-old Ann
Bradshaw as a general servant. Ann Richards made the
local newspapers in March 1871 [see article] - it sounds like
serving dodgy ale was more risky in Victorian times and that complaining
was not the done thing! Edward Richards died on December 20th 1875 and
the licence passed to his wife. Her son Edward also worked in the pub
but daughter Alice earned a living as a Teacher of Music. Ann Richards died on August 29th
1884, leaving a small estate of £431.10s.0d. Her son took over the Britannia Inn and
stayed until 1891. The family had run the pub for almost forty years. Edward Richards was
succeeded by James Pears who had previously kept the
Sailor's Return in
Watery Lane. Jesse
Payne was the last licensee of the Britannia Inn which seems to have come to a rather
unusual end at the start of the Edwardian period. By the time of the 1906 ratebook for
Bordesley and Deritend, it was listed as the
Ansell's-owned Floodgate Street Social Club. I
assume the brewery, who had invested heavily in the nearby White Swan, decided to close
this pub down but retain it as a club for their employees. |
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Dog-and-Partridge | |||
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This photograph dates from post-1934 but pre-1937 because it shows
the pub in the livery of
Ansell's. The Aston brewery had recently
acquired the pub when they bought the
Holt Brewery Company. Septimus
Bradshaw was the publican at the time. This is a public house that
has had three names. Today, this architectural jewel is called the
Market
Tavern. The building replaced an older pub that was
originally known as The Minerva. However, for the best part of it's
history, that stretches back for more than two hundred years, the
pub on the corner of Birchall Street and Moseley Street has been
called the Dog and Partridge. Being on the corner, it has also been
listed in both streets on a number of occasions and, for a brief
period, actually had two official addresses - 210 Moseley Street and
42 Birchall Street. Historically it belongs to the latter and can be
traced back to 1791. In that year, James Prime was listed in Pye's
Trade Directory for Birmingham as a victualler at this address. He
called his public house The Minerva. The early date makes it one of
the oldest sites in Birmingham to still have a pub trading on it.
Another old pub called the Britannia Inn opened not too long after
but it closed over one hundred years ago. Only two pubs now stand in
Birchall Street but the Dog and Partridge is around fifty years
older than the neighbouring White Swan, another pub rebuilt in 1900.
The Minerva's name was changed by John Reeves who took over the
licence in 1823. The reason for this is not clear - perhaps he
simply wanted to create a new identity for his boozer. However, the
Minerva was already an established and popular pub name that
referred to the Roman equivalent for Athena, goddess of the
household arts. In Roman mythology Minerva was the goddess of
wisdom, poetry, music, medicine, arts and science. As the Roman
empire expanded she was adopted as a war goddess. However, this was
a perverse distortion given that she was the patroness of intellect
and learning. As a pub sign, the Minerva is one of great antiquity
and, like the Bush or the Chequers, was possibly used during the
Roman occupation of Britain. The Dog and Partridge is a pub name
associated with rural pursuits and may seem at odds with the pub's
location. However, at the start of John Reeves' incumbency, the
countryside was only two hundred yards away from the front door. The
building was owned by Sarah Cox and John Reeves was a tenant. The
beers sold in the pub were produced in the adjacent building, a
malthouse kept by George Stephens. Benjamin and Mary Bridgewater
kept the Dog and Partridge for five years during the 1830's before
moving to the
Barrel at
Snow Hill. They were succeeded by Joseph
Bill who had previously worked as a hairdresser in Jamaica Row. In
the 1851 census Joseph Bill was recorded as a 48 year-old
Birmingham-born victualler. Also a Brummie, his wife Matilda was
born in 1804. Joseph Bill's sister-in-law Jane Franklin also lived
on the premises and worked as a barmaid. 21 years-old, she hailed
from Gosport. The Dog and Partridge was a busy house and Joseph Bill
employed two live-in servants, Owen Pike and Abraham Fairfield.
Following the death of her husband, Matilda Bill took over the
licence and remained until 1861. The Bill family's 24-year term
remains the longest served by the pub's tenants. Hailing from
Oswestry in
Shropshire and formerly living in Shirley Street,
William Jones was 26 years-old when he took over the Dog and
Partridge in 1861. Born in Shirley, his wife Ann was the same age.
The couple had a 3 year-old daughter named Mary. Ann's younger
sister Harriet Edwards [22] lived and worked on the premises.
Caroline Freeman was employed as a live-in general servant. Tragedy
struck the pub shortly after the new tenants moved in. William Jones
died at a very young age on September 11th 1861. Ann Jones held the
licence until 1868 when it passed to her second husband Robert Cotterill. In the 1871 census he was recorded as a 32 year-old
licensed victualler from the Warwickshire village of
Rowington.
Despite the fact that some of Birmingham's breweries had developed
and started to supply a large numbers of pubs, the Dog and Partridge
continued to sell its
homebrewed
ales. This is confirmed in the
1871 census as 46 year-old brewer John Thomas is recorded as living
and working on the premises. George Mercer was the new incumbent in
1878. In the Post Office Trade Directory for that year he is also
listed as the licensee of the
New Inn at
Bromsgrove Street. He may
have worked for Joseph Lawrence who, shortly afterwards, became the
new licensee of the Dog and Partridge. Joseph and Lawrence Lawrence
controlled a small empire of pubs in Birmingham. An 1881 trade
directory shows that, between them, they operated the
Grand Turk at Hockley
Hill, the
White Hart in Moseley Street, the
Turk's Head in Lancaster Street
and
the
Whittington and his Cat in Great Brook Street.
It is likely that all
the pubs under their control were supplied with a standard range of
beers and brewing ceased at the Dog and Partridge. Although Joseph
Lawrence retained the licence for the pub, George Anderton worked
for the Lawrence family as manager of the Dog and Partridge. In the
1881 census he was recorded as barman. He lived at the pub with his
wife Matilda [28] and their three daughters. By the time of the next
census in 1891 Joseph Lawrence employed William Talbot as manager of
the Dog and Partridge. He was born in
Wolverhampton in 1861. One
year older, his wife Sarah hailed from Bishop's Wood, a small
Staffordshire village to the west of
Cannock. The couple had
previously lived and worked in
West Bromwich, the recorded
birthplace of their two children, Thomas [5] and Eliza [4]. Also
living at the Dog and Partridge was employee John Coles. Born in
Wednesbury, it is possible that the 25 year-old barman worked with
the Talbot's in
West Bromwich and joined them when they moved to
Deritend. Although operated by the Lawrence family, the leaseholder
of the Dog and Partridge was Jeremiah Howard of Dublin who, in turn,
rented from the freeholder Richard William Penn, Earl Howe. A large
landowner, he was a descendant of the Curzon family who came to
England with William the Conqueror. The Dog and Partridge became a
target for the expanding
Holt Brewery Company and they bought the
residue of the Jeremiah Howard's lease before securing a 99 year
lease in 1899. The lease agreement featured a covenant that the
Aston brewery would rebuild the Dog and Partridge within 12 months
and the cost of the new structure would be a minimum of £1,000.
Shortly afterwards Richard William Penn made a similar lease
agreement with
Ansell's for the neighbouring
White Swan.
Holt's
commissioned architects James and Lister Lea and Sons to design a
new Dog and Partridge. The plans were drawn up on October 17th but
sadly are in such a poor condition they cannot be opened without
causing irreparable damage. Consequently, they frustratingly remain
in the city archives. The building is a very similar design to that
of the neighbouring
White Swan. The windows and doors are in exactly
the same position but there are subtle differences in the brickwork
and corner tower. The Cannon Street-based firm were in a difficult
position as they could not be seen to be creating two identical pubs
for two different breweries. As a result, they 'mixed and matched'
to produce functional buildings with individual characteristics.
Both pubs are typical of the architects work during this period.
Although not in use today, there was once a door in the centre of
the building facing Moseley Street. From the two vestibules there
were large mahogany and stained glass snob screens all the way up to
the counter, creating three distinct areas within the bar. This
layout concurs with the new class divisions of the Victorians where
the multi-roomed pub became fashionable. The rear smoke room was
more luxurious and usually accessed by a separate passage from the
street. On completion of the building,
Holt's installed Arthur Murcutt as manager. In the 1901 census he was recorded as a 29
year-old Birmingham-born licensed victualler. Also a Brummie, his
wife Ruby was five years younger. The couple had a four month-old
daughter named Phyllis. Two servants lived and worked in the Dog and
Partridge - Martha Rogers [24] was from
Stourbridge and Bernard Goypins [19] was an Irishman. A 1906 ratebook for Bordesley and
Deritend shows that
Holt's were paying an annual ground rent of
£120.0s.0d. for the Dog and Partridge. As manager, Thomas Coley paid
the rates of £14.7s.6d. on behalf of the company. He later moved to
the
Gooch's Arms in
Hurst Street and was succeeded by John Hill.
Owned by the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Company, the Dog and
Partridge, in 2006, formed part of the Pubmaster portfolio. It was
the Hartlepool-based company who re-named the pub and called it the
Market Tavern to celebrate Birmingham's long history of retail
trading. Markets have been held in the area since before the Norman
Conquest. There have been several markets and Thursday was confirmed
as Market Day over eight hundred years ago. A Cattle Market was
established around 1776 in Deritend and up until the opening of
Smithfield Market, pigs and sheep were sold in
New Street. An
ancient market formed part of 'le Bul ryng' which started as an open
trading space. Eventually, stalls were introduced on which farmers
displayed their samples of grain and, on occasions when the grain
harvest was poor, and subsequently a bread shortage, the
stallholders often needed protection from the constables. A
vegetable market also began it days in the Bull Ring prior to being
moved into the Smithfield Market. Elaine Talbot took over the
licence of the Market Tavern on December 13th 2001 and, together
with her partner Steve, run this famous old Deritend corner pub.
They had previously kept the
Moseley Arms in
Ravenhurst Street. |
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Duke-of-Edinburgh | |
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Located close to the
corner of
Cheapside,
this
beer house
can be traced to 1838 when John Rhodes was
listed in an Aston ratebook living in a property owned by Elizabeth
Penn. In the following year the beer retailer
and
fire iron maker was listed in
Wrightson's trade directory for Birmingham. The pub was named in honour of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and
Goth who became the Duke of Edinburgh after marrying Queen Victoria in 1840.
John Rhodes was succeeded by Samuel Leadbetter,
another man that conducted two trades at this address. In the 1845 Post Office
Directory he was listed as a manufacturer in Carpenters' Bits and Braces, Iron and Brass
Ship Sail, Thimble and Malleable Iron Nail. Sounds like
he was a busy bloke. By 1852 Thomas Clift was
selling ales at No.64 Birchall Street. He came from a
family of shopkeepers in Deritend. He
later moved to the
Red Cow in
Gooch Street. In the 1861 census
widow Hannah Evans was listed as the licensee of the
Duke of Edinburgh. Born
in Portsmouth, 49 year-old
Hannah Evans was widowed
after her husband lost his life serving on a coastguard vessel. Her sons William and Edward, both
brassfounders,
were born in Bristol. They had previously in lived the
St. Paul's district of Bristol where Hannah had run an eating house.
Henry Swinfen arrived as the landlord in 1863. He had previously been the licensee of
the
Green Man on
Aston Road, where, in the 1860 Post
Office Trade Directory, he was recorded as a "manufacturer of English and Foreign
Weights of every description, all kinds of weights accurately adjusted
[established
1817]." He continued to operate his brass
weight-making business in Birchall Street
along with operating the Duke of Edinburgh. His wife Elizabeth probably looked after the pub
during the day and he would have served ales in the evening. However
his listing, along with the
record of Samuel Leadbetter,
suggests that the
beer house
adjoined a substantial workshop building. By 1866 Henry Swinfen's Brassweight Manufactory was based
in
Darwin Street whilst he had moved to a
house in
Legge Street at Gosta Green. William Grove was the licensee at the time of the
1871 census in which he was recorded as a 32 year-old Birmingham-born
retail brewer, suggesting
that
homebrewed
ales
were produced on the
premises. The Grove family were all Brummies. His wife Emma was two years younger. The couple
had five children - Elizabeth, William, Harry, Florence and Thomas. They employed 44
year-old Emily Turvey as a general servant.
The Grove's soon moved
to the
Roebuck at
Moor Street and were succeeded by
former coal dealer William Pickersgill who came from
the
George and Dragon in
Wharf Street. The Victorian age seems to be a period of musical
pubs for many of the licensees of the town.
Evidence of
home brewing
was still in evidence at the Duke of
Edinburgh in the 1880's. Charles Teale was the licensee
at the time of the 1881 census
in which he was listed as
a retail brewer. He was born in
Pershore in 1844. Two years younger, his wife Ann hailed
from the Black Country town of
Tipton. Their six children also lived at the pub. Five years later the family moved to
the
Manor Arms at
Cato Street before taking
over the
Bull's Head in
Villa Road where Lozells meets Handsworth. Charles Teale was succeeded by Mary Ann Phillips who
came from the
Vine Inn at
Blews Street West. Despite
holding the licence of the pub, Walter Harley was recorded as "living on his own
means" in the 1891 census. It was his wife Emma who was listed as publican and
daughter Ann helped her run the place. The ratebook for the same year details the pub as a
retail beer house with brewhouse, maltroom, workshop and premises.
Still in Birchall Street but on the other side
Cheapside was the maltroom,
kiln and premises of Walter Thomas Kirkland.
The
Holt Brewery Company had
acquired the Duke of Edinburgh by the time
the ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend was compiled in 1906.
The annual rent for the property was £34.0s.0d. As manager John Hodgkins paid the rates
of £4.19s.2d. on behalf of the Aston-based brewery. The Duke of Edinburgh
closed during World War One. |
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Malt-Shovel | |
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The Malt Shovel was
originally, and for
good many years, known as the Old Bricklayer's Arms. In
the mid-late 1830's the
beer house
was owned by Joseph Baskerfield
and kept by George Haydon, a maltster and
retail brewer who also took over the business of Richard Hill in the
street's malthouse. It was probably George Haydon who named the pub. The
malthouse was located on the opposite side of Birchall Street, further
towards
Cheapside. The building was on the south-east side of the street
next to the post office on the corner of
Cheapside.
George Haydon was born locally and kept the Malt Shovel with his wife
Mary. The Haydon family moved to
Cheapside
where, ironically, they had
another pub called the
Bricklayer's Arms. George continued making
beer - in 1854 he was listed in the Post Office Directory for
Birmingham as a brewer, maltster and
hop merchant. No doubt,
George Haydon supplied a number of pubs in the locality, if not for beer
then certainly for the ingredients used by other small scale brewers. The new incumbent
of the Malt Shovel in 1851 was William Stych, a 30 year-old
retail brewer from
London. Three years older, his wife Ann worked as a lacquerer. They had two young
children. William Stych also had another trade - in Slater's 1852-3 Trade Directory he was
listed as a beer retailer and cabinet maker.
In fact, he returned to this trade when he moved with his family to
Price Street. The Stych's later moved to
Upper Gough Street where his
son, also named William, followed in his footsteps as a cabinet maker.
The pub was trading as the Bricklayer's
Arms during the tenure of Henry Shaw. Born in the
Warwickshire village of Ansley in 1808, he kept the pub with his wife
Maria. The couple's two sons lived on the premises in the early 1860's;
17 year-old James worked as an apprentice to a tailor whilst 14 year-old
Job was a brass caster.
Both born-and-bred in Birmingham, William and Sarah Palmer were running
the Bricklayer's Arms in the 1870's. They were succeeded by John Brett in 1878. He had previously kept the
Freemasons' Tavern in
Mary Street, Balsall Heath. His stay at
Birchall Street was brief and he was succeeded by Joseph Sumner. I suspect that he was the
man behind the pub's name change. Certainly, the
beer house
was listed as such in Kelly's
Trade Directory for 1880. In the following year's census Joseph Sumner was recorded as a
40 year-old retail brewer from Solihull. His Brummie wife Mary was one year older. The
couple had four sons and two daughters. The owner of the pub during Joseph Sumner's
tenancy was Edward Peyton. He charged the brewer an annual ground rent of £27.0s.0d. The
pub seems to disappear from the records around the turn of the 20th century. It's final
listing in the rate books for Bordesley and Deritend is 1901. |
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White-Swan | |||
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The White Swan is arguably the finest surviving James and Lister Lea
and Sons pub in Digbeth, the reason being it has retained much of
the interior features. The passageway leading to the lounge and
toilets is a sea of beautiful Minton tiles and mosaic flooring.
Incredibly, a few years ago this building was scheduled for
demolition in order to widen the road junction. Thankfully, the
ridiculous action was scrapped and Deritend is all the richer for it
- what a pub! Replacing an older structure known as the Swan Inn,
this building was erected in 1900. A simple
beer house rather than a
fully licensed house, the older building was first operated by Elias
Foster who was previously a butcher at 226 High Street, Deritend.
Indeed, White's Trade Directory for 1849 lists the Swan Inn as a
butcher's and
beer
shop. Elias Foster was born in the Black Country
town of
Sedgley in 1806. He kept the Swan Inn with his wife
Elizabeth who was a born-and-bred Brummie. The couple's six children
lived on the premises; daughters Martha and Elizabeth acted as a key
attraction to customers by working as barmaids. In 1851 the Foster
family moved to the
Coach and Horses in Upper Dean Street and were
succeeded at the Swan Inn by John Bradley. The beer retailer moved
on to a short-lived
beer
shop at 33 Bishop Street. Benjamin Perks
took over the licence in 1865. He was previously the landlord of the
nearby
King William IV in Bradford Street. However, he had enjoyed
success as an iron bedstead maker and, at one time, he was employing
four men in this field. Following his death, his wife Louisa became
the licensee. In the 1871 census she was recorded as a 58 year-old
beer house keeper. She later moved to the
Cross Keys in
Emily Street
and was succeeded by Edward Newton who had previously been listed as
a maltster and hop merchant close to the
St.Matthew's Tavern in
Lupin Street. Edward Newton was born in
Bromsgrove in 1842. The
maltster kept the Swan Inn with his Birmingham-born wife Clara. The
couple lived here with their four children and shared the
accommodation with the Bloyd family who were all hired as servants.
At this time the boot maker Thomas Webb lived next to the pub and
next door-but-one was a sweet shop run by the confectioner George
Matthews. Henry Whitfield arrived as the publican in 1885. He moved
here from the
Boar's Head in
Macdonald Street. Two more licensees
came and went before the arrival of Edward Hope. The Birmingham-born
retail brewer kept the Swan Inn with his wife Sophia. The fact that
he was documented as a retail brewer suggests that
homebrewed
ales
were produced on the premises. There was once a large malthouse in
Birchall Street and this was the likely source of brewing
ingredients for Edward Hope. The malthouse was located on the
south-east side of the street next to the post office on the corner
of
Cheapside. Edward and Sophia Hope had previously kept the
Warwick Arms in Great King Street at Hockley. The move into the licensed
trade represented a departure from Edward's earlier career in the
jewellery trade. The son of a manufacturer of nickel and silver
goods, the Hope family had traded in Hylton Street where they
specialised in spoon making. Edward Hope was succeeded at the Swan
Inn by Arthur Shrimpton. Born in
Walsall in 1863, he married Lavinia
Latham in 1888 after he had moved to Birmingham to work as a brass
founder. The couple later kept the Gunmaker's Arms at
Smethwick.
William Foxhall was the licensee of the Swan Inn when
Ansell's
acquired a 99 lease on the property from Richard William Penn, 3rd
Earl Howe. He owned substantial tracts of land in Birmingham. Born
in 1822, he was the son of Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st
Earl Howe and Harriet Georgiana Brudenell. The family's name is
commemorated in a number of Birmingham's streets such as Howe
Street, Penn Street and Curzon Street. The latter was a result of
the marriage of Penn Assheton Curzon [Richard William Penn's
grandfather] to Lady Sophia Howe, daughter of Admiral Howe. She was
the niece of Charles Jennens, the wealthy eccentric who was dubbed "Solyman
the Magnificent." He built Gopsall Hall near Twycross and where, it
is claimed, that his protégé Handel composed part of Messiah. His
name was remembered with another of Birmingham's streets - Jennens
Row and the house was commemorated at Gopsall Street. The lease
agreement between Richard William Penn and
Ansell's featured a
covenant that the Aston brewery would rebuild the White Swan within
12 months and the cost of the new structure would be a minimum of
£2,000. The
Holt Brewery Company had entered into a similar
agreement with the nearby Dog and Partridge - but for half the sum.
This is perhaps why the interior decor of the White Swan is more
ornate. Indeed, the lessor, Earl Howe, had specified that the new
White Swan was to be "a building of good class and suitable to the
character of the neighbourhood." The lease was sealed on October
27th 1899. The annual rental on the site, which originally included
an adjoining cottage, was set at £100.0s.0d. per annum. The
Ansell's
property register shows that the company were to commence rebuilding
from December 25th 1899 and, in the interim period, paid a rental of
£1 per week.
Ansell's commissioned architects James and Lister Lea
and Sons to design the new pub. The building plans were drawn up and
submitted on December 12th 1899. The building is a very similar
design to that of the Dog and Partridge. The windows and doors are
in the same position but there are subtle differences in the
brickwork and corner tower. From the two vestibules there were large
mahogany and stained glass snob screens all the way up to the
counter, creating three distinct areas within the bar. The centre
door on Birchall Street was included for a jug department - an
essential watering hole for the factory employees working the hot
foundries nearby and, in particular, those slaving in the Patent
Enamel Works next door to the pub. This factory, with its frontage
on Bradford Street, dominated the area between Birchall Street and
Rea Street. The White Swan served as the factory's key watering hole
for many decades. A club room [see building plan] for the use of
societies and even political gatherings was included on the first
floor. This was later used as a billiards hall and is advertised as
such in the photograph [above] taken in the early 1930's. On
completion of the building, Ansell's installed John Whitehouse as
manager, though a succession of publicans came and went throughout
the Edwardian period. Alfred Iliff moved on to the
Smithfield Arms
in Jamaica Row before Harry Froggatt put at least a few years into
the pub. He was followed by Hannah Jordan who was custodian until
the 1920's when Albert and Mary Butler were at the helm for three
years. George Winters had a brief spell behind the counter in the
1930's. He had previously kept the
Calthorpe Arms in
Handsworth. He
was succeeded by Christopher and Agnes Payne who remained at the
White Swan throughout the Second World War. Indeed, Christopher
Payne held the licence until February 1956. The pub then had a
revolving door fitted for a succession of come-and-go managers and
tenants. These included William and Dorothy Corfield, Bartley and
Jean McGovern, Thomas and Katherine Naughton, and James and Bridie
Matthews. However, this instability was brought to an end at the end
of the 1960's when the Creaton family took over the pub. Indeed, the
family who run this pub today have enjoyed one of the longest runs
of any pub in the city. Rosscommon-born Michael and Agnes Creaton
first took over the White Swan on May 15th 1969. After Michael's
death in 1975, Agnes took over the business and has achieved
remarkable success with her daughter Angela. The late Michael
Creaton was one of the great characters in the Irish community and
is still remembered fondly by many people. Their son Andy, along
with his wife Geraldine, both regularly worked behind the bar
for many years. Two other daughters, Bridget and Maggie are often to
be found in the White Swan but not on the same side of the counter
as Angela and Agnes. Clocking up nearly forty years behind the
counter, Agnes Creaton is one of the longest-serving tenants in
Birmingham. In fact, in the current pub climate this sort of term is
very, very rare. Her daughter Angela intends to take over the
licence when Agnes decides to put her feet up and enjoy a well
earned rest. When I had a drink in here in 2001 I was chatting to
Dave Kirby who Angela teased as being one of the fixtures and
fittings. He exemplified the continuity this pub enjoys as he used
to work behind the bar in the 1950's. Talking to me, he recalled
some of the previous gaffers - he had even worked for long-serving
publican Christopher Payne. The White Swan remains very much a
community pub and has been enjoyed by several generations of the
same families which helps to create a unique relaxed atmosphere for
a city pub. I have enjoyed enjoyed many a happy hour in here. In
2007 I found it better than ever, especially as the beer range had
increased so that a good range of the
Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries portfolio was available. Sitting in the bar with a pint of
well kept beer, one can enjoy the sight of the wooden floor,
decorative ceiling, tiled walls, light pouring through the leaded
stained-glass windows and, of course the enormous servery - a
monster of a creation in carved wood with a highly decorative back
bar including two inlaid clocks. The pub also has a cosy smoke room accessed via the magnificent corridor. The walls feature a few frames to remind folks
that this was once an
Ansell's house. Towards the end of their lease
agreement signed in 1899, the White Swan formed part of the Allied
Domecq empire. However, the freehold of the building had been
acquired by
Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries in 1989 creating the
bizarre situation of Allied renting the building from a rival
brewer. The Penn Curzon connection ended in 1935 when the building
was conveyed to Deritend Estates Ltd. By 1989, the property was in
the possession of the Wesleyan and General Assurance Society. The
Colmore Circus-based company sold the White Swan to
Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries. In 1995 Agnes Creaton won the
Ansell's "Lady
Lessee of the Year." The quality of the beer was deemed so good that
when directors from
Ansell's took champagne to the pub to help
celebrate her time at there, they ended up drinking the mild
instead. At the time
Ansell's business development manager John Kent
said "Agnes is one of the nicest and most professional licensees I
know and is well respected in the community... she is virtually
tee-total but does all the cellar work herself and, without doubt,
the quality of the beer is second to none." Once the old
Ansell's
lease agreement expired on March 24th 1998 beers from Wolverhampton
appeared on the counter. After personally sampling the beer since
that date, I can confirm that Agnes and Angela have maintained their
very high standards. |
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“A horrid alcoholic explosion scatters all my good
intentions like bits of limbs and clothes
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History and Information on the Public Houses of Birmingham with Licensees and Newspaper Articles PLUS Genealogy Connections |
