Although this pub closed years ago, you can still find the building of
the Acorn Inn. At the time of the bottom photograph, the premises were
occupied by Mobberley and Franks' carpet showroom. Mobberley is quite a
conspicuous name in these parts. Indeed, some Mobberley's have been
publicans.
The modifications to the frontage make it difficult to spot a former
public house. Located at the bustling end of Brettell Lane, the four bay building projects further
onto the pavement than the adjacent old terrace which once included the
Roebuck Inn.
The first photograph [left] was taken when Frank Wheatley was the publican
of the Acorn Inn
between June 24th 1940 and September 9th 1942. The entry/passageway on
the left is perhaps a legacy of the Acorn's days trading as an inn. There was certainly a stable block behind the
pub. Edwin Parkes of Stourbridge was the owner of the building when Henry Pagett was the licensee. Amblecote born-and-bred,
Henry Pagett was born in 1823. One year older, his wife Mary Ann hailed from Oldswinford.
The
couple's three children Eliza, Sarah and Thomas lived above the Acorn
Inn, as did Mary Ann Davis who was hired as a domestic servant. The
Pagett family had moved across the road to the Acorn Inn after living at
the
Red Lion
where Henry had worked as both publican and carpenter. Indeed, Henry and
Mary Ann had succeeded parents James and Sarah Pagett as mine hosts at
the
Red Lion.
The Pagett's moved to
Angel Inn
in Stourbridge where Henry died in 1877.
William and Jane Naylor succeeded the Pagett's at the Acorn Inn. William Naylor was born locally in 1820. One year older, his wife Jane
hailed from The Lye. Also living at the Acorn Inn was their niece
Susannah Bannister and a general servant named Sarah Surrell.
Austrian-born Theodore Miller kept the Acorn Inn for a brief spell
during the mid-1880's. As a glass engraver, he and his brother Edward
had moved to work at the centre of glassmaking in the Black Country. He
and his Dudley-born wife Susan later moved to the
Royal Oak
in Tipton.
Henry Sutton took over the licence
of the Acorn Inn on August 12th 1889, not long after
ownership of the building was transferred to a Mr.Travis of Pedmore. Born in
Kingswinford in 1841 Henry Sutton was both licensed victualler and
glassmaker. He kept the pub with his Kinver-born wife Mary. She was two
years younger than her husband. The couple had four sons and four
daughters living above the Acorn Inn. The two eldest sons, William and
Benjamin, worked as glassblowers whilst young teenager Harry worked at
a chemists. 39 year-old Wordsley-born glassmaker Samuel Pitt took over the licence
of the Acorn Inn on
May 7th 1900 and lived at the pub with his wife Emma and three children.
He employed 22 year-old Selina Hendley as a domestic servant and her
younger sister Elsie as a nurse to the children.
The busy house had a club room on the first floor above the passageway
where a number of events could be staged. Next door to the pub at No.110
was the Post Office which in the early Edwardian days was run by Mary
Levi in addition to her drapery business. On the other side of the pub
lived Police Sergeant Thomas Starling so Samuel Pitt would have been
compelled to keep an orderly house.
The first brewery to have an interest in the Acorn Inn was the
Netherton-based firm of
John Rolinson & Son Ltd. It was when this
company, having moved to Lovatt Street in Wolverhampton, fell into
difficulties in the mid-1920's that they were acquired
by
Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries Ltd. and the Acorn Inn became a
Banks's house.
The brewery continually spent money on repairs to the Acorn Inn but the
building's poor condition became quite a problem in the mid-1970's. The
passageway was on the verge of collapse and the structural engineering
firm of Jackson and Peplow of Franche Road, Kidderminster were called in
to salvage the decaying building.
By this time the Licensing Justices were concerned about the general
state of the Acorn Inn and, following an inspection in November 1976,
deferred the renewal of the licence. They had observed that the whole
interior needed redecorating. Indeed, they described the premises as
very dirty and the paintwork very grimy. The Justices also felt that the
outdoor toilets were inadequate and disapproved of the total lack of
washing facilities. A key criticism was however that the licensee could
not exercise any supervision from the bar over the other public rooms.
Wolverhampton and Dudley Brewerieswere faced with either closing the
pub or spending a considerable sum of money restoring the building. The
company appointed a local architect to draw up plans for a restoration
project. Based at 14 Hagley Road in Stourbridge, J. Kenneth Dancer
estimated that the alterations and repairs to bring the Acorn Inn up to
standard would cost around £25,000. Considering that they had few
Banks's pubs in the area
[many were
Hanson's houses], the company
approved the cost of the alterations. The plans were approved by the
local authorities on May 23rd 1977.
Unfortunately for the residents of Amblecote, the cheapest tender for
the building work was £44,841 submitted by Homer Construction Ltd of
Pensnett. The brewery felt such a cost was too prohibitive and decided
to close the pub. The building plans drawn up by J. Kenneth Dancer have survived
and at least allow us to see what the pub looked like and how it was
intended to be after the alterations.
Run by Harriet Walker, this
beer house
had a short lifespan during the late 1860's and through part of the
1870's. The Alhambra became a very popular theatre name in England
during the Victorian age. Indeed, there was one such theatre in nearby
Stourbridge. The Alhambra name is taken from the great palace of the
Moorish kings at Granada in Spain. It was built during the last Islamic
sultanate on the Iberian peninsula, the Nasrid Dynasty [1238-1492]. The
palace is lavishly decorated with stone, wood carvings and tile patterns
on most of the ceilings, walls, and floors.
Now called the Moorings Tavern, this pub throws up a bit of confusion.
Locals told me that the pub has been called the Navigation Inn but for much of its history it has
been known as the Barrel Inn.
There was a pub called the
Navigation Inn
nearby during the early 19th century but this was located on the bridge
across the River Stour not the bridge taking the
Stourbridge-Wolverhampton turnpike over the canal. The
latter was extended through a tunnel under the road terminating in the
yard of the Great Western Railway though it was originally cut by
William Foster and William Orme, acting as a basin to serve their timber
yard and ironworks. Perhaps local folklore has mixed up the two pubs
over the passage of time - I certainly have not found any record of this
building being called the Navigation Inn. And just to confuse things a
bit more... there was a pub called the Bridge Inn at Holloway End.
However, like I say, there was certainly another pub called the
Navigation Inn
trading quite separately.
The Barrel Inn was located at 80 High Street. An earlier listing in
Kelly's 1921 Trade Directory places it in Lower High Street and the
census enumerator for 1881 recorded the pub in Main Road. Almost side by
side, the Barrel Inn and the Foster's Arms [see map extract below] were located next to the
Stourbridge Canal which was cut in 1776 and completed in 1779.
Both watering holes would have satisfied the thirsts of many a boatman
in those early days of the industrial revolution. The location of the
Bonded Warehouse can be seen on the map. This conserved, picturesque
building, erected in 1849, has been fully restored and now forms an
integral part of the Black Country's canal heritage.
The
scene around the Barrel Inn was once one of incredible industry - a
continual thunder of noise would sound from John Bradley's Iron Works,
the blades of the Old Wharf Saw Mills whined throughout the day, the
busy hub of the Stourbridge Canal Company was in full swing, and across
the road was the hustle and bustle of the Great Western Railway Goods
Sheds. Thomas Wellings was the innkeeper of the Barrel Inn
during the early 1850's. Born in Mitton near Stourport in 1796, he kept
the canalside pub with his wife Tracy. Four years younger, she hailed
from Hampton-in-Arden. Widowed son-in-law Thomas Corbett lived on the
premises whilst working as a pattern maker. Thomas Harmshaw had become
publican of the Barrel Inn by the early 1870's. He had previously worked
as a glass cutter whilst living with the his mother who kept the
Eagle Tavernin Wollaston.
The census enumerator for 1881 recorded 43 year-old locally-born Thomas Harshaw as the licensed victualler in charge of the Joseph Davies-owned
Barrel Inn.
Six
years younger, his wife Alice Emma hailed from Kidderminster. The couple
had two sons and two daughters. Alice, Thomas and Murray were still at
school but the eldest, Stephen, worked as a glass warehouse boy.
Following his death,
Alice Harmshaw succeeded her husband as licensee on June 13th 1881. She
re-married in 1887 and three years later handed over the reins of the
Barrel Inn to Elizabeth Rohrs, a 55 year-old
Brummie. Her two daughters, Florence and Ethel, worked as barmaids and
worked alongside Amelia Halford who was employed as a domestic servant.
Elizabeth Rohrs moved to Balsall Heath within a few years and was
succeeded by Amy Staynes. However, she came and went quickly and it was
left to Cornelius Penny to steady the ship. Born in Birmingham 1839, he
spent his childhood at the Red Lion in Lancaster Street, a pub kept by
his parents John and Esther who had earlier run the Accommodation on
Snow Hill, a boozer than evolved into The Wheel.
Following the death of Cornelius Penny in 1895, the
licence of the Barrel Inn was transferred to Frederick Turley. Another woman to succeed
her husband as licensee of the Barrel Inn was Hannah Smith. She
married whilst serving as licensee of the pub - her name changed to Perrins.
The 1901 census records a Hannah Bird - did she marry for the third
time?
In 1908 Samuel Cox was caught committing what many would call a heinous
crime. On June 15th of that year he was convicted for selling
adulterated whisky and fined 40 shillings plus costs.
Living at Coalbourne Villa, Elizabeth Sutton was recorded as the owner
of the building in 1914 when the pub was occupied by Samuel Cox. She had
purchased the building from the executors of Joseph Davies in 1908.
Timothy Worrall bought the Barrel Inn and became the licensee on
December 1st 1919. It is his name that can be seen on the signboard
outside the building in the photograph dating from around 1930. The
board also advertises the fact that the Barrel Inn sold
homebrewed ales.
Personally, I consider this
beer house
a part of the Delph not Amblecote but being as it was included in the
listings for Amblecote Bank in 1861 I'll include it here too. The
Beehive Inn was located in Delph Lane, an old thoroughfare that has just
about survived as a footpath within the modern Withymoor Estate. In 1861
the
beer house
was kept by William and Mary Skelding. Born in the local area in 1802,
William Skelding also worked as a coal miner. His wife Mary hailed from
Montgomeryshire. The couple employed Ann Brooks as a house servant.
The extensive Withymoor estate has almost swallowed up this old cottage.
However, it once stood amid a small cluster of dwellings on Amblecote
Bank. The building stands close to the junction of Amblecote Road,
Stamford Road and Vicarage Road. The latter is now a cul de sac but, as
a dirt track, it used to meander down the hill past Amblecote Hall to
the junction where the Royal
Oak
stands. The resident of Amblecote Hall
was William King, owner of the Withymoor Works which produced Fireclay
and Brick. The bricks for Holy Trinity were supplied at cost by William
King. The workers of the Amblecote Works were the principal customers of
the Birch Tree Cottage in the 19th century. The pub was on the way home
to those who lived in the small hamlets of Ravensitch and Aston's Fold.
In addition to the brickworks, the area around the Birch Tree Cottage
was littered with shallow mined collieries. Indeed, the pub's first
licensee was himself a miner. It was in 1850 that he moved into a small
terraced cottage close to Amblecote Colliery.
Today's
pub is two of the old terraced cottages combined. Taking advantage of
the
Beer House Act of 1830, he opened part of his
cottage to the public and started to sell his
homebrewed ales. Born in
1825, Elijah Wilcox was recorded in the 1851 census living in Birch Tree
Cottage with his wife Ann. One year older, she was born in
Brierley Hill. The couple had two sons, 2 year-old John and 6 month-old Thomas.
The living accommodation was fairly cramped because Elijah Wilcox's
brother John and three sisters, Zepporah, Hannah and Ann, had all moved
in with the family. It is thought that Elijah Wilcox chose the sign of
the Birch Tree because a fair number of the plants were growing on the
many pit and shale mounds on the hill around the cottage.
Ann Wilcox was both widow and landlady by 1860 when, in addition to the
demands of a licence, she looked after her expanded family: Elijah, 7,
Sarah, 4, Joseph, 3, and Ann, 1. For good measure she boarded her two
brothers-in-law, Richard and John Wilcox. On reaching the age of 70 Ann
Wilcox retired in 1894. Number four son John was appointed tenant. He
had previously kept the
Raven
Inn
at Wordsley. Stourbridge magistrates
granted a full alehouse licence on August 23rd 1898, allowing the sale
of wines and spirits in addition to ale, porter and cider. The Birch
Tree Cottage was rated at £30.0s.0d. per annum in 1900, indicating a
relatively small house. The respected publican John Wilcox died at the
Birch Tree Cottage on June 18th 1902 following a few days illness. John
Wilcox had been for over 20 years a member of the Stourbridge and
District Licensed Victuallers Association. The arrival of John Jeavons
in 1907 marked the end of 57 years consecutive licences for the Wilcox
family.
The reason for the name of Stamford Road is because the Earl of
Stamford and Warrington owned much of the land here, including Birch
Tree Cottage. It was from the trustees of the estate that the Simpkiss Breweryacquired the pub in 1930. The brewery were already supplying
their legendary ales to the free house so there was no major change at
the counter. Managing the pub for Simpkiss was Percy Jewison Greensmith
who took over the licence on July 24th 1933. He had served in the Royal
Navy for more than twenty years. He later became the President of
Amblecote Cricket Club. Following his death in August 1968, he was succeeded by
his son Peter who kept the pub for many years with his partner Margery.
The old photograph above was taken towards the end of their period at
the Birch Tree Cottage.
Simpkiss spent £30,000 refurbishing the pub in
1981. The premises were closed for a period and
re-opened on Thursday October 1st 1981. It was only then that customers
didn't have to tramp outside to use the loos; indoor toilets were added
to the pub which also had the lounge extended. A lot of people missed
the old lounge which, with a capacity of around 45 people, was very
cosy. The extra space was created when an interior wall was removed and
the old children's room integrated into the lounge. There was a large
assembly room upstairs; this was also refurbished and the brewery
announced that it was to be used as a wine bar. I'm not sure if this
ever happened? The biggest change at the pub was not in the fabric of
the building but the introduction of a new management team, replacing
the Greensmith's who, as a family, had kept the Birch Tree Cottage for
just over forty years. Graham and Joyce Boyes had previously kept the
Dudley Arms
at Himley for ten years. They moved to Amblecote Bank with
daughters Jayne and Lisa.
This pub was located on the Stourbridge Road almost opposite King
William Street and close to another pub called the Queen's Head Inn. The
two pubs were part of an area known as Coalbournbrooke.
This is the locality centred around the old Fish junction and is between Holloway End and Audnam. The name is derived from the Coalbourn
Brook which flows down from the Delph area of
Brierley Hill
to connect
with the River Stour. Amblecote's National School was built here in 1815
and stood to the east of the
Glassmaker's Arms. In the 1861 census the
Governor and Certificated Headmaster of the school was William Bullock.
He was born in Eardisland in Herefordshire. The road leading up from the
Fish junction to Brettell Lane was once called Tobacco Box Hill. This
can be seen in this photograph. Featuring a small clock tower, the
interesting building to the right sold coffee, tea and cocoa and was
probably welcome refreshment rooms for those waiting for the tram to
Kinver. The Board Inn would have been at the top of the hill on the
left.
The
name of this pub turns up in the 1886 Stourbridge Almanack when the
licensee was Noah Brown. I was glad to find this because he appears in
Kelly's Directories as simply a beer retailer in Lower High Street. Even
the census enumerator failed to record the pub name when listing Noah
Brown in 1881. A later edition of the Almanack shows the pub in Holloway
End.
The only problem is I am not quite sure where the pub was exactly - the
beer house
had disappeared when the earliest surviving ratebooks detailed
the area around the canal basin. However, the name implies that it was
close to either the Stourbridge Canal or River Stour. Dating from around
1930, this photograph shows the
Foster's Arms
on the north corner of Canal Street. But was the building on the
opposite corner once the Bridge Inn? Certainly, the
Fenestration
and frontage that survived to the date of this photograph suggests a
public house? And did the licence for the Bridge Inn come from the
Navigation Inn
which once stood next door?
The premises of the Builder's Arms have survived. The retail unit has in
recent years been used as a fireworks shop. I suspect that the property
to the left was also part of the
beer house because I noticed that the hood
moulding line above the first floor windows used to extend across the
entire frontage in an old photograph taken from the top of Platt's Lane.
Located close to the
White Horse Inn
at the bottom of Brettell Lane, this
pub opened in the mid-19th century and was originally called the Swan
Inn - a ploy to place it in direct competition with the original
Swan Inn
public house further up the hill close to the Dudley Arms. The confusion
ended in 1897 when this
beer house was re-named the Builder's Arms.
The property was owned by a Miss Hill of Wolverhampton when William Hale
was the licensee of the Swan Inn. I noticed that the 1845 Post Office
Trade Directory lists a John Hill running a
beershop in Brettell Lane
and this could be here at this location. The licensee i
