The story of the King’s Head Part 2
Last week we looked at the most recent history of the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel, which had previously been known as the King’s Head. This week, we’ll look at the various names the establishment has had over the years, and see what, if anything, is the significance of these names. In order to do this we need to look more closely at the development of establishments like the King’s Head.
So, I know what constitutes a hotel, and I know what I mean when I refer to a ‘pub’ in the 21st century, but I’m also aware that the word ‘pub’, while these days seems to refer to something many people recognise, does hide a multitude of different names, and historical establishments – inns, taverns, coaching inns, posting houses, beerhouse, alehouses, gin palaces – all with subtle differences.
Pub origins
Apparently,
the pubs of today have developed over many years. In the words of Pryah (1):
“customs and
design of the public house today are the results of centuries of gradual
development and their roots can be traced back to three separate types of
establishment, the alehouse, the tavern and the inn.”
And this is in part confirmed by this comment about the pub – an abbreviation for public house - as we know it, as defined by Ainsworth (2):
“a house open to the public. The name refers … to much earlier centuries when individuals would open their houses for the sale of drink. In the 19th century ‘public house’ tended to refer to fully-licensed premises selling all types of intoxicating liquor, as opposed to beerhouses [or alehouses] which sold just beer.”
The thoughts of Tresidder (3), who writes about the licensed premises in Nottingham between 1758 and 1764, suggests the origins of today’s pubs stem from the posting houses, the taverns and the public houses of the past.
The inn
The inn was often built along the main public highway, or around a market, and served passing trade, as well as the more wealthy inhabitants of a place, like merchants, guild members, aldermen, justices and the richer pilgrims.
The coaching inn
There had been a small number of taverns and alehouses along the highways from as early as the 14th century, but it was in the 17th century that the coaching network began to be established, when the first turnpike acts were passed in 1663. Despite being situated on the main London to Manchester turnpike road - turnpiked around the mid-1700s - the King’s Head in Loughborough has never been a coaching inn.
However, Charles G. Harper (4) writing in the early 20th century, has the following to say about this particular road:
“our ancestors could not complete their journeys between morning and night, and so the inn was a thing of almost the first consideration. Along these great roads of ours there were inns for every class, for every taste, and to suit all purses.”
He makes
mention of these inns in the various places that the travellers passed through,
including Leicester, where he finds the Grand, the Bell and the White Hart, and
Loughborough where the road passes the King’s Head, the Old Bull’s Head, and
the Station. The latter would refer to the Station Hotel associated with the Charnwood Forest Railway on Derby Road, as the route in question would proceed from Loughborough to Derby, and thence on to Manchester via the Peak District.
The Bull’s Head was Loughborough's main coaching inn along this road, with stables where horses could be changed along the journey, as horses could generally only travel about 10 or 12 miles. Although the original building was demolished for road widening, the establishment continued to trade in a new building and today is destined to become a coffee house.
The post or posting house
Graham (5), in his description of Falmouth as the station for the departure of the mail packets, that is, the overseas postal service, mentions the regular coach service which ran to London and which were serviced by a number of inns and taverns.
In 1794, John
Palmer had introduced the idea of carrying mail by coach and this led to the
building of what were known as post houses along some of the major early roads.
The post house would provide refreshment for anyone who might travel on the
mail coach, as well as a change of horses and postillion. Sometimes the post
house wouldn’t actually have its own stables, but there would be one very close
by.
The keeper of the post house would act as the local postmaster, and would either hold onto the mail for people to collect, or would personally deliver it. The posting house might be the forerunner of the hotel, and it is certain that the King’s Head in Loughborough, once known as the King’s Head and Commercial Inn, was indeed such an establishment. Given that the Bull's Head with its stables was very, very close, it would make sense that the King's Head was a posting house, rather than a coaching inn.
Taverns
Sometimes the line of distinction between a posting house and the best tavern in the town was narrow, and some of the oldest taverns, had a superior reputation, as was certainly the case in Nottingham. Ainsworth, writing about Nottingham, has this definition of a tavern:
“an urban drinking house serving wine and food, mostly to better-off customers. In modern times the term has been adopted by all kinds of pub establishments.”
Pryah defines a tavern as a place that “catered for farmers, lower-class craftsmen and others with a little money to spend; they probably sold wine rather than ale and in addition they also offered food and accommodation.”
The ale or beerhouse to the public house
The mediaeval alehouse served drink, and fed the social needs of the lower orders of the environs, and was rather like what we might call the local today. However, such places were not open on a permanent basis and most of the ale sold was for consumption off the premises. This developed into premises which sold only ale – a term which has been used interchangeably with the word ‘beer’ for over 200 years – so wine and spirits would not be available here. This was often just an ordinary house in which the landlord was licensed to make a room available for serving beer: often the landlord or landlady would lean through a hatch and serve drink to a customer via a pot boy, so not in individual glasses. The law was changed at some point and so such premises were also able to sell spirits, and in 1830 when the Beer Act was passed, duty on beer was abolished and so anyone was allowed to sell beer in their own house upon payment of two guineas.
The public house was the place to go for discussion and argument, and often, those who were unable to read would go to the pub to listen to the latest news being read aloud from the newspaper. Also, property sales were often held in public houses, as were shows, like the Nottingham annual Auricula and Polyanthus Show, which were often followed by a dinner. Back rooms of pubs often became home to working-class organisations, like friendly societies and later trade union branches.
The King’s Head – a coaching house? A posting house? An inn? A public house?
In a trade
directory for 1822, John Fowler is listed as the postmaster at the King’s Head
and Commercial Inn (and posting house), and states that the mail coach for
London leaves the King’s Head at five in the evening, and that for Manchester,
Nottingham and Leeds leaves the premises at nine in the morning. In addition to
the mail coach, the stagecoach to London, called the Royal Telegraph, departed from
the King’s Head every morning at two, and to Manchester every morning at eight.
John Fowler
is still listed as the postmaster in a trade directory for 1828-9, and the
London mail arrives in Loughborough at eight in the morning and is despatched
at six in the evening. The mail from the North arrives in Loughborough at six
in the evening and is despatched at eight in the morning.
The situation is similar in 1841 as listed in the trade directory, and John Fowler is still the postmaster. Letters from London arrive every morning at seven, and are despatched every evening at six. Letters from the North arrive every evening at six and are despatched every morning at a quarter past seven. There is an important addition to the entry in this directory that senders would do well to be aware of: “The Box closes an hour before the departure of the mails; but letters are received until the despatch upon payment of one penny each.”
In all three directories, as well as its entry under the general heading of 'Post office', the King’s Head is also listed under the section headed ‘Inns’, and followed by the names of John and George Fowler.
Conclusion
So, it would appear that the King’s Head was both a posting house and an inn. To find out if the premises could at one time also have been described as a public house, pop back next time!
References:
(1) Pryah, Chris (1984). Inns and taverns of Leicester. Blaby: Anderson Publications
(2) Ainsworth, Paul (ed.) (2015). Real heritage pubs, the Midlands: pub interiors of special historic interest. St Albans: CAMRA
(3) Tresidder,
R.S. (1980). Nottingham pubs. (Get to know Nottingham – 5). Nottingham:
Nottingham Civic Society.
(4) Harper, Charles G. (s.d.). Historic and picturesque inns of old England. London: Ed. J. Burrow
(5) Graham, Frank (1965). Old inns and taverns of Cornwall. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: V. Graham. 3rd ed.
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 28 February 2021
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