At the sign of the King's Head
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| The sign of the King's Head in Loughborough |
The King's Head on Loughborough High Street has been through a number of name-changes down the years as the fortunes of the hotel have changed. As a name for a pub, inn, or hotel, the King's Head is popular, and its origins go a long way back.
Many of the sources consulted for this post are in agreement about the origin and meaning of the name and the hanging signs usually associated with an establishment, the latter serving to alert travellers and visitors to the purpose of the building.
Delderfield (1) classifies the King's Head as a royal sign and says the following:
“The Englishman’s traditional affection for his monarch is reflected in such signs … many earl kings are … represented on signs.”
He goes on to say that such names as the King's Head, the Queen's Head, the King's Arms and the Queen's Arms are very popular, and the signs that accompany the name are quite often a portrait of a monarch. Given that some of these establishments have existed with the same name for many years, it's not always possible to positively identify which monarch they are named after.
Henry VIII seems to be a popular monarch represented on these signs, and one very recently (2020) found languishing in the garage of a private house, turned out to be painted in the style of Holbein, and hung on a pub named the King's Head near Gloucester. Although the pub closed in 1960, the sign must still have been hanging on the building in 1969 which was when Delderfield was writing about it.
Interestingly, Delderfield recounts a particular issue encountered by sign painters in 1960:
“An unusual dilemma faced the brewers when the sign of the King’s Head, Shotley Bridge (Co. Durham), was due for repainting in 1960. No one was sure which monarch was reigning when the licence was first granted, so a compromise was reached and the signboard has the likeness of Henry VIII on one side and Charles I on the other. With a span of 100 years or so between them, honour is satisfied.”
In an earlier book, Delderfield (2), talking about establishments named the King's Head, wrote:
"probably the largest number of original signs were those from heraldry or coats of arms. Tenants of inns centuries back were often former stewards or retainers of great families, and quite apart from the fact that the premises usually stood on their patron’s land, it was natural that they should want to boast their close association. This they did by painting the coat of arms or an essential part of it on their sign board. Chief of this type of sign, of course, were those associated with the Royal House. The Crown, The Crown and Sceptre, King’s Arms, Queen’s Arms are the most numerous.”
He also writes that it is likely that many original signs of the King's Head would either have been representations of the head of either the Pope or the abbot, but that these would have been hastily replaced by those bearing a resemblance to Henry VIII when he broke with Rome.
The prolific writer, Delderfield, this time writing in 1967, (3) proclaims that the two kings most likely to appear on a sign for the King's Head were Charles II and Henry VIII, but notes that there is an interesting establishment in Islington which bears a picture of Henry VI.
In Pubs and pub signs (4) the signs which show a picture of a monarch with their name beneath, or simply have the written name of King's Head, Queen's Head etc. are classified as heraldic or emblematic signs. Occasionally, the monarch may be represented on a sign by a playing card, and as Delderfield also says, because there are four suits in a pack of cards, there's actually rather a wide range of cards to choose from.
Brandon (5) puts the King's Head name under the category of royal and heraldic names. He explains:
“Mediaeval
society was dominated by the Crown, the Church and the land-owning barons, and
their influences are very evident in pub signs and names. Portraits of monarchs
and other grandees are common, but sometimes, especially in the case of
royalty, the reference takes the form of a symbol extracted from their armorial
bearings and the origin may not be obvious. Complete armorial bearings of
monarchs, other royalty, and the great landed families are common, but there
are also many signs depicting the arms of various craft guilds and those of
many towns and cities.”
Not wishing to debate the position of Richard III and Henry VII, Brandon tells us of the King's Head sign at Southwold in Suffolk which shows a portrait of Henry VII whose claim to the throne, he says "was tenuous, but in his case might was right.”
Lamb (6), too, categorises the King's Head name as a royal or heraldic one, and paints an amusing picture of the life of early sign-writers:
“After the Church, the most powerful influence upon the development of inn signs was the monarchy, and nowadays there are probably more Crowns, and King’s Heads than any other sign. The reasons are obvious. Many of our inns date back to times when royal succession was anything but certain, and anyone proclaiming his trade as obviously as a publican had to be sure of keeping in with the authorities. During the Wars of the Roses, keepers of King’s Head inn and Rose inns, must have been continually hopping up ladders to change the face of the monarch or the colour of the rose, and no doubt many changed over to the less specific Crown in the hope of pleasing anyone who happened to be wearing it at the time. The crest of Richard III was a white boar and became a popular sign during his reign. After his death at Bosworth, keepers of White Boars must have blessed the Earl of Oxford whose crest was a blue boar, for supporting Henry Tudor. They had only to paint the boar blue to show a healthy respect for the new reign. The Blue Boar at North Heath, Berks., however, gets its name from the ‘stone pig’ left behind by Cromwell’s soldiers."
Writing in 1985, Hackwood (7) describes a "roomy old tavern with quaint corners" which was situated near Stationers Hall Court in London. Originally a fashionable coffee and chop-house, it was called the King's Head. In Hackwood's own words:
"At the beginning of the nineteenth century the famous fat man, Daniel Lambert, took up his lodgings at this house, and here he held public receptions, at which visitors, for a modest fee, might look upon his fifty-two stone of human flesh. For years after Lambert had departed this life his portrait in oils hung upon the tavern walls, and his walking-stick was also preserved as a curiosity. From that time this house, which had been used as his show place, became known as the Daniel Lambert."
Daniel Lambert is a reasonably local connection, he being born in Leicester and being the gaoler. A wider connection can be found in the literary works of Charles Dickens, particularly Barnaby Rudge, for the establishment known as The Maypole is said to be based on the King's Head in Chigwell. Closer to home, and in fact, almost adjacent to the King's Head in Loughborough, we find that Charles Dickens dined at the Bull's Head en route to Mount St Bernard Abbey in 1859.
The question is, is there a local connection between Loughborough and the pub alongside the Thames at Chelsea, known as the King's Head and Eight Bells? The answer is probably not, as the bells in question were rung out on the river Thames whenever Charles II was out on it, which would have been around 1660-1685, long before Taylors bellfoundry came to Loughborough. Also, this was only one theory associated with the pub name, another being that it was actually a merging of two different establishments - as expected, one being the King's Head and the other the Eight Bells. Apparently, the monarch pictured on the sign bore more of a resemblance to Charles I than Charles II, so who really knows?
The landlord of the King's Head inn in Stockbridge, Hampshire is noted by Harper (8) for the "whimsical epitaph" that appears on his headstone in the churchyard of the deserted old church, an extract from which appears in an article by Rosalind Hill. While the churchyard of the Church of All Saints with Holy Trinity Loughborough contains headstones with lyrical inscriptions, the only one pertaining to landlords of pubs seems to be the one for Mary, the wife of William Smith of the Green Man Inn: although the epitaph is simple, if I remember correctly, the pictorial engraving is rather pretty.
Of course, we know that Loughborough's King's Head was in existence in 1806, but whether or not it was around before then, is uncertain. In supposing that 1806 sees the beginning of the King's Head, and since George III had already been on the throne for over 40 years at that time, maybe the pub is named in his honour? It is, of course, rather whimsical to suppose that the current building, constructed in a Neo-Georgian architectural style, is also a homage to George III, as this style was simply rather popular at the time. On the other hand, perhaps the King's Head refers to Charles I or Charles II given that Loughborough was a Royalist area during the Civil War. Since the recent revelations about Richard III it would be a shame if the King's Head was so-named to commemorate Henry VII, but given that we had a pub named the Blue Boar, down on The Rushes, before the shopping centre made an appearance, and that such a sign was the symbol of the Earl of Oxford, a supporter of Henry VII, then maybe Henry VII is our monarch? But no! The sign which currently hangs above the King's Head in Loughborough shows a king with much more of a resemblance to Richard II.
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| Any advance on Richard II? |
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| Lovely view of the King's Head sign from a third-floor bedroom window! |
(1) Delderfield, Eric R. (1969). An introduction to inn signs. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. 1969, r.2007
(2) Delderfield, Eric R. (1966). Inn signs: brief guide. Newton Abbot: Raleigh Press. 6th ed.
(3) Delderfield, Eric R. [1967]. More about inn signs: brief guide. Newton Abbot: Raleigh
(4) Pubs and pub signs. St Ives (Cambs): Colourmaster International, 1973
(5) Brandon, David (2010). Discovering pub names. Botley: Shire Publications
(6) Lamb, Cadbury, and Wright, Gordon (1968). Discovering inn signs. Tring: Shire Publications
(7) Hackwood, Frederick W. (1985). Inns, ales and drinking customs of old England. London: Bracken Books
(8) Harper, Charles G. (1906). The old inns of England: a picturesque account of the ancient and storied hostelries of our own country – Vol. II. London: Chapman and Hall
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 14 March 2021
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