Later known as The Peacock. More details to follow....

The original Blue Boar Inn [pictured here] was some 200 yards away on the corner of Highcross Street and Blue Boar Lane. It was demolished in the 1830's and replaced by the Blue Boar in Southgate Street. Legend has it that King Richard III slept at the inn on the eve of his march to Bosworth Field in 1485. Another legend claims that King Richard hid £300 in gold coins in the bedstead and these remained undiscovered for many years until a later publican, Thomas Clarke, found them. He kept the Blue Boar Inn with his wife Agnes until his death in 1603. His wife remained in charge of the Blue Boar Inn until the autumn of 1604 when the fugitive Thomas Harrison sought lodgings at the pub. Folklore has it that during his drinking session he got chatting with the Alice Grimbold, a maid employed by Agnes Clarke, who confided that a stash of gold coins were hidden on the premises. Along with some accomplices he waited until Agnes Clarke and the maid were on their own. The villains grabbed them and tied them up. However, licensee Agnes Clarke put up a struggle and screamed for help. In order to silence her Harrison shoved his fingers down her throat which caused her to choke to death. Leaving the maid shackled up, the thieves made off with almost £500 in gold and silver and a manhunt ensued. They were hunted and caught. Harrison was condemned to death for the murder of Agnes Clarke. During the hearing, the maid Alice Grimbold was convicted of being an accomplice and sentenced to be burned at the stake. More details of these historic pubs to follow.....

Replacing a much older Shakespeare's Head, this building was erected following the local council's decision to destroy much of old Leicester and forge a new dual carriageway through Castle Park and The Newarke. So, the Shakespeare's Head now stands close to the underpass that connects Vaughan Way with Southgates. It would be easy for me to cry in my beer and mourn the loss of another historic house, so I'll try to be positive and admire some of the more appealing characteristics of the replacement building. The curved exterior does at least attempt to convey a theatrical roundhouse on the one side. Indeed, the structure would not look out of place next to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre which clearly was an influence on the designer of this public house. In more recent years, the pub was operated by Shipstone's so I assume this was the brewery responsible for the construction of the building.

In the 21st century, the Shakespeare's Head has formed part of the small empire belonging to the Oakwell Brewery. William Millson was the licensee of the old Shakespeare's Head in the late 1830's. William Peel moved from a public house in Duns Lane and was running the Shakespeare's Head by the mid-1850's. Born in Leicester in 1819, William Peel kept the Shakespeare's Head with his second wife Sarah who hailed from Bagworth. John and William Peel, sons from William's first marriage, also lived on the premises. Eldest son John worked as a wood carver. William and Sarah Peel employed Ellen Milford as a general servant. William Peel was both publican and maltster, producing homebrewed ales for his customers. The family moved to Highcross Street where William, together with son William, continued to trade as Maltsters. Thomas Mayne was the licensee of the Shakespeare's Head by 1870. He kept the pub with his wife Sarah. The couple later moved to the Queen Victoria on Church Gate before they retired to Charnwood Street where Thomas lived to a ripe old age.

By the 1870's the adjacent brewery was operated by Anne Broughton who, along with her husband Thomas, had been running the Chelsea Pensioners pub a little further along the Southgate Street. The brewery was certainly trading as the Shakespeare Brewery by 1880 when Joseph Cant was the publican of the Shakespeare's Head [see advertisement below]. The ale and porter brewer was born in Whetstone in 1852. When the maltster and brewer was working next door, the pub was kept by his wife Mary who was helped by servant Annie Roberts who hailed from Burtonwood. Joseph Cant employed the brewer Joseph Almond, suggesting that production was sufficient enough to supply other houses in the local area. Indeed, casks could be transported further afield as the Shakespeare's Head was a noted carriers establishment. In the 1880's Mr.Cufflin operated a weekly service to Ansty on every Wednesday, Mr.Lord ran a twice weekly service to Aston Flamville and Burbage, and R.Haynes travelled three times a week to Littlethorpe. Joseph Cant had learned much of the trade from his father who kept the Duke of Northumberland on Old Mill Lane. Joseph brewed the homebrewed ales for his father but, after a few years at Southgate Street, died at a very early age in 1883. The brewery became a yard for the expanding Beeston Brewery Company Ltd. The firm installed William Burton as manager. The Beeston Brewery involvement may explain how the Shakespeare's Head became a Shipstone's house because the Basford brewery acquired the company in July 1922.

The brewery at Beeston was converted into a large maltings which operated until recent years. In the early 1890's James and Elizabeth Wagg kept the Shakespeare's Head. Born in Barrow-upon-Trent in Derbyshire in 1850, James Wagg grew up on his father's small farm and found employment as a footman to the Arkwright family at Sutton cum Duckmanton. His wife Elizabeth hailed from Kibworth; the couple had a young daughter by the time they were running the Gardeners' Arms on Belgrave Gate in 1880's. It was as a widow, that James Wagg later moved to the Shakespeare's Head with his son William and daughter Nellie. He later re-married and, together with his wife Ruth, moved to Station Road where he continued to work as a publican. Fast-forwarding to 2004... Ruth Rodger was the licensee at the Shakespeare's Head. Ruth was born Ruth Turner in 1965 in Nottingham. She attended a number of different schools as a child and had been brought up in pubs in the Northampton and Cambridge areas since the age of seven. On leaving school, her first job was pressing in a local factory. Over the years she did a lot of bar work, something she felt comfortable doing. She always considered herself as a “Biker Chick”. In 1982 whilst at a friend’s house, she met John Rodger, a guy who she took a shine to. A few dates later, they were married at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire in 1987. The Shakespeare's Head was Ruth’s first pub. She took it on as a manager in November 2002 having worked at Sileby and District Liberal Working Men's Club, first as barmaid, then manager. In 2004 husband John worked as a dye house manager leaving Ruth to run the pub her own way. He also played guitar in a band called The Swampsnake Blues Band. The couple have two daughters - Laura and Katherine, the latter working behind the bar of the Shakespeare's Head. With interests in music, travel and windsurfing, Ruth's ambition is to own her own pub in order, as she put it, "to line my own pockets instead of the brewery”. The Shakespeare's Head won a local CAMRA award in May 2006 and on the night of the presentation she was supported by Oakwell Brewery’s area manager, Steve Spencer and Jonathan Stancill, the company's head brewer. On being presented the award, Ruth thanked Leicester CAMRA, and Bill Woolley for nominating her. She also thanked the management from Oakwell Brewery for giving her the opportunity to run the pub and a special thank you went to Tim Bott, her right hand man, helping with many of the tasks of day-to-day running, as well as being the mainstay behind the counter.
© Copyright. Pub image supplied by Digital Photographic Images and reproduced with kind permission. Text and photograph of Ruth Rodger courtesy of Keith Williams, Leicester CAMRA Chairman and reproduced with kind permission.